Help with beerworks Presidents Siera Pale Ale

[TastyMcbrewski]

Hi All,

I started this kit on Saturday afternoon and all was going well.... until I went to add the yeast and my useless butter fingers dropped the packet while opening it. I put the rest in but of course unsure how much yeast went in - very rough guess half so 10g of the 20g pack (wyeast).

I then compounded this by forgetting to switch my heating mat on meaning it’s dropped to 14 degrees over night before I switched it on and put its coat on.

3 days in am pleased to say it is now fermenting quite nicely but worried my initial carelessness will come back to haunt me.

what are my options?

let it ferment out and take a FG reading and pray it’s under 1.010 or something more proactive?

will this lack of yeast causing priming issues when bottled?

many thanks for any help

 

[Clint]

If it's started keep it warm it'll be ok and there will be plenty of yeast.

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

If it's started keep it warm it'll be ok and there will be plenty of yeast.

Thanks Clint - when you say keep warm I.e over 20 (and under 25)?

 

[Clint]

20 should be fine.

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

Ta - In case it makes any difference what I wrote above re yeast is wrong - the yeast is whatever yeast comes with the kit e.g 20g West Coast yeast (not wyeast)

 

[YouFUMS]

I've done this kit twice, and it's a crackin beer. I hope it turns out well for you.
just checked my brew notes for this...I fermented at 22degrees, pitched the challenger hops on day 14. On Day 19 with FG reading of 1.003, I cold crashed for 2 days before racking. It's well worth the wait.

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

I've done this kit twice, and it's a crackin beer. I hope it turns out well for you.
just checked my brew notes for this...I fermented at 22degrees, pitched the challenger hops on day 14. On Day 19 with FG reading of 1.003, I cold crashed for 2 days before racking. It's well worth the wait.

Nice one cheers for info - did you use the Citra provided on your first, how did you find the challenger? I have some azaca I’m tempted to put in with Citra. Also did you follow the instructions to a tee with regards to adding boiling water to the hops and spooning in?

 

[GhostShip]

Beautiful beer - one of the best I've done. I followed the instructions to the letter - including crushing the hops and spooning the liquid in. I left a review in the reviews section if you haven't already seen it.

 

[YouFUMS]

Nice one cheers for info - did you use the Citra provided on your first, how did you find the challenger? I have some azaca I’m tempted to put in with Citra. Also did you follow the instructions to a tee with regards to adding boiling water to the hops and spooning in?

Sorry, I meant the Citra not Challenger hops. Yes I crushed and added boiling water as per intructions. Let it cool, and then used a tea strain to transfer the hope to FV, leaving liquid behind.

 

[dwhite60]

You'll be good to go. I'd have cut the pouch open and used a sanitized knife or whatever to
scrape out what yeast I could. Next time.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

Beautiful beer - one of the best I've done. I followed the instructions to the letter - including crushing the hops and spooning the liquid in. I left a review in the reviews section if you haven't already seen it.

Thanks GhostShip - your review actually was my guiding light for trying it!

 

[YouFUMS]

Nice one cheers for info - did you use the Citra provided on your first, how did you find the challenger? I have some azaca I’m tempted to put in with Citra. Also did you follow the instructions to a tee with regards to adding boiling water to the hops and spooning in?

Sorry, I meant the Citra not Challenger hops. Yes I crushed and added boiling water as per intructions. Let it cool, and then used a tea strain to transfer the hope to FV, leaving liquid behind.

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

So quick update after 7 days - still bubbling at about 2 a minute but SG reading is 1.020. After this time period would this be at risk of a stuck fermentation? If the answer is potentially yes (which could be due to me spilling more yeast than I thought) - presumably stirring, sugar solutions wouldn’t help much?

If this is the case, as I dont have any more yeast, would a plan of pouring the bottom sediment (including yeast) of my last bottled ipa add a few sg points and get me lower? Or is thisthe ramblings of a mad man?

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

Or secondary thought (not sure if equally mad) I have a 7g packet of bread yeast I could use

 

[stpete]

If its only been 7 days, don't worry, expect it to take 14 at a minimum, this is a grear kit and the yeast is I believe M44 from mangrove jacks or similar, it will be probably be fine. Don't worry about hopping it just yet, give it time. Good beer takes time, sorry. I love this kit and have done it many times, the amount of yeast you get is quite high to make sure it really takes off, you have pitched about a std packet, they are often 11g. You won't have a problem with bottle conditioning, read the instructions about keeping the bottles somewhere dark and warm for a while to allow the priming sugar to be turned to co2 by the residual yeast. Richard at Love brewing really knows his stuff and the instructions are brilliant, just follow them and I think you will be drinking great beer a month from now.

 

[S.R.S]

. I love this kit and have done it many times

I have seen many positive responses on this kit as you have above. Sadly my experience was the opposite, possibly due to user error!

 

[stpete]

Pretty hard to mess up, how did you manage that?

 

[stpete]

Or secondary thought (not sure if equally mad) I have a 7g packet of bread yeast I could use

No, don't do that...

 

[S.R.S]

Pretty hard to mess up, how did you manage that?

that's a very good question.
my only thought was perhaps I stressed the yeast as I pitched it into the wort at a temperature of 26c.
However, 1st 3 days saw a gravity drop to 1.020, so pretty quick, it then went down to 1.012 and seemed to have stuck there.
Beer came out a little sweet and perhaps oxygenated while bottling as it turned out quite dark.
Who knows?!

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

Hi all, in case it us useful to anyone else for future issues/interest I thought I’d update on this as it turned out to be an “experimental kit”.

After I dropped half the yeast on the floor before pitching and presumed it got stuck at 1.020 (in hindsight it was only about a week in so think I was too hasty), I decided to take action...

After the usual suspects of raising the temp, swirling etc failed to change anything, I decided to pitch more yeast. I had none to hand and due to corona, the only yeast I could get my grubby little mitts on was wilko wine yeast 6g so rehydrated this and added in.

As I had already changed this kit I decided to add 50g azacca dry hop pellet alongside the supplied 50g Citra.

The result? FG dropped to 1.009 & Incredibly tasty beer! It’s just finished carbing up so still needs 2 weeks conditioning in my cellar but have to say it is already excellent.

Is adding wine yeast to beer a good practise? I’m not sure of the science so can’t comment more generally, but specifically for my brew it seems to have worked well.

Cheers!