Malt miller speckled hen won’t clear!

[Jordang]

I did this kit recently too but with wy 1275 and it’s still not cleared after 4 weeks in a corny. But I did forget a protofloc…. In all honesty though it tastes bloody lovely so I’m not that precious about the clarity.

 

[Slid]

It was mangrove jacks liberty bell dried yeast- x2 packs.
The yeast it was meant to be supplied with was out of stock and this was supposedly a close match

Liberty Belle is much less flocculant than, say US 05 (my go-to for many things). Why you added 2xpacks I know not. 1 pack does 25L with some ease in my experience. Gravity will drop out the yeast in time, but it does stick much higher up any bottle than most yeasts, so there is a chance that even though it looks a bit rubbish in the bottle, the yeast may be increasingly attached the sides of the bottle and no longer in suspension.

 

[Monkhouse]

Liberty Belle is much less flocculant than, say US 05 (my go-to for many things). Why you added 2xpacks I know not. 1 pack does 25L with some ease in my experience. Gravity will drop out the yeast in time, but it does stick much higher up any bottle than most yeasts, so there is a chance that even though it looks a bit rubbish in the bottle, the yeast may be increasingly attached the sides of the bottle and no longer in suspension.

This is EXACTLY what I’m finding! I’m checking the bottles every day and I’m actually seeing the top neck of the bottle and about a couple inch below that starting to clear but it’s woefully slow!
So I’m pretty confident that it IS clearing now but I’m deliberately not opening a bottle in case it still tastes tart and I go back to thinking it’s an infection. Hell the more I think about it the more I think maybe I was confusing tartness with the home brew twang of a green brew

 

[Monkhouse]

**UPDATE**
This beer did NOT come good, I tried a bottle tonight and it was vile!! Yep it had got worse! Sour nasty cidery vomit.
I dumped every bottle down the sink, took me a good 45 minutes aswel. THE most disheartening 45 minutes I’ve ever spent doing anything home brew related.
I wish I knew how this went so wrong so I can actually learn from it! Like I’ve said my sanitation procedure is obsessive and I leave absolutely NOTHING to chance.
The only thing I can note about this particular brew is the fermentation- I remember thinking how….”meh” (for lack of a better word) the fermentation was. It started after 24hrs but never really picked up to a decent rate- krausen was pathetic and hardly there and then bubbles on the surface of the beer had all but finished after 3-4 days leaving a completely smooth millpond surface.
I then left the beer for a total of 2 weeks for the yeast to drop out and bottled it.
When I bottled the beer it was not clear but I didn’t feel phased by this as I added no finings to the boil.
The beer fermented down to the correct final gravity so again I didn’t question if the fermentation had finished- the same reason I didn’t question the cloudiness.
Was it the yeast??
Even if it wasn’t the yeast I will NOT ever be using mangrove jacks again!!!
Any input gladly appreciated!

Dave

 

[foxy]

Hard to help remotely, is there a brew club near you. Worthwhile joining one for advice and some clubs have tasting nights, not of beers but how to recognise off flavours.
Don't blame the yeast, it is very rarely that.
Usually an infection you can taste or smell even, the FG plummets well below intended the FG forecast.
Also Mangrove Jack is only the label of a repackaged yeast.

 

[sifty]

I've only just started using MJ yeast and it's gone very well to date. I'd look elsewhere for the issue.

 

[Monkhouse]

I’ve just had another brewday (Tuesday) brewing a saison. This time using Safale S-05. Fermentation started no problem so far. I guess I’ll post updates in this latest brew on this thread. I really hope this one goes well I need a picker upper right now. Fingers crossed

 

[Monkhouse]

Hard to help remotely, is there a brew club near you. Worthwhile joining one for advice and some clubs have tasting nights, not of beers but how to recognise off flavours.
Don't blame the yeast, it is very rarely that.
Usually an infection you can taste or smell even, the FG plummets well below intended the FG forecast.
Also Mangrove Jack is only the label of a repackaged yeast.

Nah no brew clubs that I know of…. Just a brother in law who has so far never had any issues with infections.
Yes we use the same sanitation practices

 

[Brew_DD2]

I’ve just had another brewday (Tuesday) brewing a saison. This time using Safale S-05. Fermentation started no problem so far. I guess I’ll post updates in this latest brew on this thread. I really hope this one goes well I need a picker upper right now. Fingers crossed

A shame to hear of your woes. Does sound like something went awry with fermentation, and it appears it's been a wild yeast infection.

On your next brew, if you're using US-05 it won't be a Saison. That style requires a very particular style of yeast, as most of the flavours are yeast-driven, and US-05 is neutral.

 

[Monkhouse]

A shame to hear of your woes. Does sound like something went awry with fermentation, and it appears it's been a wild yeast infection.

On your next brew, if you're using US-05 it won't be a Saison. That style requires a very particular style of yeast, as most of the flavours are yeast-driven, and US-05 is neutral.

Yeah I just went by the book (Jon finch) on this one, it said use a saison yeast or S-05 so decided in the end to stick with what I know and trust as I didn’t want another dodgy batch

 

[Agentgonzo]

Don't worry too much about whether this beer is a saison or not - call it what you like and (hopefully!) Enjoy it. If you fear that the last batch was an infection (it sounds like it's the most likely cause) then aggressively clean/sanitise your kit (possibly too late advice given you've got another in the fermenter). Consider replacing hard-to-clean and easy-to-replace items like siphon tubes etc.

Fingers crossed this one turns out nicely!

 

[Agentgonzo]

It started after 24hrs but never really picked up to a decent rate- krausen was pathetic and hardly there and then bubbles on the surface of the beer had all but finished after 3-4 days leaving a completely smooth millpond surface.

I'm wondering whether the yeast you got was bad in some way. Dried yeast can lose its effectiveness if it gets too warm, either at your vendor, in transit or at your house. How much, I don't know. I'm just clutching at straws.

 

[Monkhouse]

I'm wondering whether the yeast you got was bad in some way. Dried yeast can lose its effectiveness if it gets too warm, either at your vendor, in transit or at your house. How much, I don't know. I'm just clutching at straws.

Possibly, I brewed it pretty quickly after getting it (a few days at most) and it was stored in my cellar at around 16c so doubtful if it was my end.
With my next brew fermenting atm, it’s been going now since Tuesday- I’m super anxious about knowing if it’s infected. I’ve never ever checked a brew (opened fv) before it’s finished or even dry hopped but something is begging for me to sample it even at this early stage just to rest my mind it’s not infected. Is this a ridiculous notion?

 

[Agentgonzo]

Is this a ridiculous notion?

It's not. Whilst it isn't good to be paranoid and checking it every 5 minutes, the urge to see whether it's ok is natural. I would definitely recommend testing it at the different stages of the brew. If you have a tap on your fermenter, you can draw off a tablespoon and test it without letting air in (I can normally draw a sample off from mine slowly before I get suck back of the water/sanitiser in the airlock).

If you are going to open it up to dry hop anyway, that's a perfect time take a quick sample using some sanitised dropper or scoop. If nothing else, it'll give you a base point for comparison for future brews.

 

[Monkhouse]

Unfortunately I don’t have a tap on the fv- it’s a fermentasaurus so really only have the top to draw from. I’m not dry hopping the beer.
My other issue is the limited headroom for taking a sample from by way of the top lid.
Not entirely sure what implement I could use to successfully do this. I’m so paranoid about further infections- I was paranoid even before the last infection! Also paranoid regarding oxidation but I’ve been told not to worry about this as a blanket of co2 will protect the beer from that? Is this correct?

 

[Monkhouse]

Oh and btw my fermentasaurus is currently sitting in my purpose-made brewery cabinet during fermentation.
I don’t have the luxury of a dedicated brewing space.

 

[Sadfield]

On your next brew, if you're using US-05 it won't be a Saison. That style requires a very particular style of yeast, as most of the flavours are yeast-driven, and US-05 is neutral.

That's not entirely true.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beeran...-de-baets-explains-saisons-greatest-myth-the/

 

[Agentgonzo]

Get a sharpie and rename the yeast USaison-05. Problem solved!

 

[Sandimas]

Might just be the time of year - we've just been through a hot spell, there's wild yeast in the air and lots of bugs around. Many of us stop brewing this time of year due to the increased risk. When I've had infections they've always occurred in June or July. I've got a brew on at the moment but it will probably be my last until late Aug.

Hopefully your bad brew is just a randon one-off, I've had them and the next brew is fine: you can't control everything even with obsessive sanitisationm.

 

[Brew_DD2]

That's not entirely true.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beeran...-de-baets-explains-saisons-greatest-myth-the/

Funnily enough, I read that article a couple of weeks ago. Yvan is a lovely guy, and a masterful brewer. Taras Boulba is a work of genius.