Totally Tropical, not, well tropical

[GerritT]

Burning tongue sensation, sounds like high IBU. Reminds me of my Chinook Smash What is your bitterness ratio?

 

[xozzx]

I cant be much help but I just finished my last bottle of Totally tropical. It was an outstanding beer and Im definitely makeing it again! I used 2 packets of CML US Pale Ale yeast.

 

[Duxuk]

I now cool to 80C for flameout hops. I get much better late hopped flavours from leaf hops. I did a couple of brews with pellets at flameout, adding the pellets straight away. They were horribly bittter. Cooling to 80C works well adding no appreciable bitterness. As for dry hopping I have a beer ATM which is cloudy and I’m blaming dry hopping with pellets. It taste good, though. Time to drink it from a Mug, I think!

 

[Stephenj]

Update- 3 days at 22c has seen no movement at all. Smell/taste still there and dry hop still floating. Options based on internet search and feedback so far

1. Pitch another packet of yeast to see if it gets going and finish of fermentation
2. Accept the FG and cold crash to drop the hops
3. Siphon to secondary.

What do people reckon?

 

[xozzx]

Did you try stirring it? You could also try adding a little sugar dissolved in water and see if this kick starts it again

 

[Stephenj]

Yeah give it a gentle stir as I was worried about oxygen being added. The dry hop still hasn't dropped so not sure any sugar would get down to be honest.

 

[AdeDunn]

It'd be unusual, but between the stuck fermentation, and the sulphur smell, I have to say it sounds kinda like the yeast ran out of nutrients? I know that in cider making you often get sulphur smells when this happens, and with mead sometimes too. Doesn't usually happen with all grain brewing though, as the grain adds more than enough of the needed nutrients.

I'd still be very very tempted to rack it to secondary. There's a chance this might actually kick start fermentation back up (had a couple of beers that were pretty much done drop a couple more points after been racked to secondary myself).

If you don't mind the flavour, you could also pitch a packet of something like Mangrove Jack's M29 French Saison, or Lallemand Belle Saison, as these are almost guaranteed to drop the FG (the recent braggot I made with Belle Saison went all the way down to 1.000....). I know this won't give you the exact beer you were looking for, but it should still be very drinkable (I love making Saison though... lol).

 

[Stephenj]

It'd be unusual, but between the stuck fermentation, and the sulphur smell, I have to say it sounds kinda like the yeast ran out of nutrients? I know that in cider making you often get sulphur smells when this happens, and with mead sometimes too. Doesn't usually happen with all grain brewing though, as the grain adds more than enough of the needed nutrients.

I'd still be very very tempted to rack it to secondary. There's a chance this might actually kick start fermentation back up (had a couple of beers that were pretty much done drop a couple more points after been racked to secondary myself).

If you don't mind the flavour, you could also pitch a packet of something like Mangrove Jack's M29 French Saison, or Lallemand Belle Saison, as these are almost guaranteed to drop the FG (the recent braggot I made with Belle Saison went all the way down to 1.000....). I know this won't give you the exact beer you were looking for, but it should still be very drinkable (I love making Saison though... lol).

Thanks for reply. Not really gonna get a chance to get any yeast for at least the next 3 days, even if order online. I have some Wilkos which I always have as a back up yeast, would that be any use?

My main issue as I said was taste, not that bothered about the FG really as still a relative newbie and honing my skills. Makes me think maybe racking to secondary might be more likely to save it?

 

[AdeDunn]

I've honestly never used Wilko's beer yeast, but I know plenty of folks swear by it on here. You won't get the same attenuation as you do with a Saison yeast, most the numbers I see posted are similar to US pale ale yeasts.

I'd try racking to secondary first, keep re-pitching as your next option. The thing with the FG is, that when it's high there is a chance that fermentation could kick back in after been bottled. So if you do decided to ignore it, I'd recommend bottling at least some into PET bottles so you can keep an eye on the pressure. Tip the secondary vessel whilst racking into it to begin with, that way you'll minimise splashing. Once there's enough in there you'll be able to set it down again. Give it 2 to 3 weeks in secondary, checking the FG doesn't go down any more before you call it done. You'll then need to give it time to condition in the bottle, for the bitterness to calm down a bit. Usually US styles you don't want to leave too long as the effects of the dry hop fade over time, but if it's that bitter you may well have to give it longer for it to be drinkable. I'd definitely want to get it away from those dry hops though, as at this point they're going to be having negative effects on the beer rather than positive ones.

 

[Spapro]

I've used US 05 a good number of times, prior to moving to liquid yeasts and would have no quambs about starting it at 20°C and then dropping to 18°C for fermentation. Should be fairly clean ferment even at 20°C constant - although if you have no cooling facility then it may have drifted up higher as the vigorous stage of fermentation does create heat.

I never noticed any sulphur/egg smells with US05 but I typically only brew beers with a SG of around 1.050 ish.

As others state worth racking to secondary to get it off the dry hop, let it splash a bit into the seondary FV during the transfer to get some oxygen in, warm it up to 22°C to try and get it to finish off, 1.017 is too high a final gravity imho, should get down to 1.010 or thereabouts.

 

[Stephenj]

Cheers. I'll rack off to secondary (although canny match on tele tonight so kids might be getting ignored for a bit tomorrow!) and see how that goes. Leave it for about 2 weeks you say? Would that be best at 20C as in primary?

 

[Stephenj]

So while the kids sat comatosed in front of their tablets (terrible father!!) I racked to secondary - got about 19l. The dry hop had fallen when I took the lid off so thats good, I think. FG dropped 1 point when I checked, also the smell has gone, and the acidic eggy burning taste is still there but nowhere near as bad as it was 3 days ago. There is also a fruity taste coming through which is a good sign also.

How long do people think I should leave in secondary before bottling? Eager to get another brew on but need the fermenting freezer for temp control.

As is the advice off everyone every time, patience is the key. Good things and all that. cheers for the advice so far everyone.

 

[Stephenj]

Big thanks, particularly to @AdeDunn for advice on racking to secondary. Been there at 20c for two weeks. Just drawn a trial and down to 1.014 and no rank smell or taste, in fact it tastes absolutely lush. Cheers

 

[AdeDunn]

Glad it worked out for you bud. :thumb: