WLP001 / Cal Ale fermentation time

[50quidsoundboy]

Pitched a WLP001 starter into my 1064 OG beer exactly a week ago. the yeast took off after a few hours. there's still a big sticky krausen covering the beer, lots of CO2 and some rather odd smells coming out of the thing. is this normal? i thought ale fermentation was supposed to happen quicker than this.

 

[50quidsoundboy]

gravity has dropped from 1064 to 1020 in a week. seems slow? the beer has a strong smell and taste that is unpleasantly fruity. it's cloudy as hell and there appears to be a LOT of yeast in suspension. krausen has turned brown in the last 24 hours which i think indicate progress of some sort? should i worry? right now i've got a bucket of sickly, bananaish, smelly cloudy yellow yuk and it's making me depressed...

 

[RobWalker]

pretty high OG i assume. give it some time! the answer to "should i worry" is always "nope." It's doing its thang. Let it go :)

 

[50quidsoundboy]

yeah the OG was 1064. i don't want to worry but it's just so far from being drinkable. AG#1 on the other hand (OG: 1052, WLP002 yeast) was in great shape after a week.

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

1064 is a lot of fermentables for the yeasties to chew through.

WLP001 is a top fermenter whereas WLP002 sits at the bottom of the FV. did you see some stuff that looked like cream cheese off the top of the FV? Generally WLP001 needs to be chilled to drop it out of suspension.

 

[50quidsoundboy]

it's certainly a different yeast. there seems to be a LOT of it flying around in there. i will give the beer plenty of time but i just can't imagine something so disgusting right now turning into something remotely drinkable.

oh, and i have no temp control apart from wet towels so i guess this one is going to be a "learning experience" rather than the triumph i've been dreaming about

going back to WLP002 this weekend for a stout....