Fermentation Advice??

[prieff]

I have about 200 batches under my belt. Most were extract/specialty grain. I have done 3 all grain. Almost all were 1.060 and under.

I did an all grain Imp Porter 2 weeks ago and pitched onto US-05 yeast cake from an American Rye. Starting refacto reading was 1.089 Also aerated with O2 and use yeast nutrient. Fermented at 66F

Opened to transfer to secondary today and all looks normal. Fermentation seemed to have stopped after about 5 day but I gave it 2 weeks. Took a sample and tastes OUTSTANDING. Secondary will get vanilla beans and bourbon oak chips. Hydro reading however appears to be 1.028??

here is the recipe:

Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter ::: 1.079/1.017 (6 Gal)
Grain Bill (70% Efficiency assumed)

13 lb.- 2-Row Pale Malt
2.5 lb. - Munich Malt (15 L)
1.5 lb. - Brown Malt
1 lb. - Crystal Malt (120L)
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (40L)
1.25 lb. - Chocolate Malt (edited - Thanks Denny)
Extras :
Kentucky Bourbon (Jim Beam, Knob Creek, etc.)
Real, Whole Vanilla Beans (Extract just won't do)
Oak Chips or Cubes

Hop Schedule (37 IBU)

1 oz - Magnum Hops (60 min)
1/2 oz - E.K. Goldings (10 min)
Yeast

White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) - 1800 ml starter

Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 153° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual
Cool and ferment at about 68° Add Vanilla Beans after primary - rack 7 to 14 days
Add Bourbon at bottling (1 to 1.75 cups - don't overdo this!)
Infuse Bourbon beforehand with Oak Chips/Cubes if you want.

My question is this:

Should I leave in primary for another week or so or transfer to secondary? Maybe it is all done. I know my starting OG was higher due to higher efficiency. Mash was right at 152F. I am thinking that there is enough yeast in suspension that secondary will be fine and if not... it does taste great the way it is. There was a lot of CO2 in the sample so maybe that is messing up the hydro... letting it settle out and will recheck.

Thanks for the help.

Paul

[carrisr]

Well you have many more brews under your belt than I do, but I'll share my opinion anyway since I've used the US-05. I'm finding it doesn't attenuate as well on big beers, especially at temps under 68F. I recently did a RIS that went from 1.092 to around 1.030. It still tastes good but a touch sweet. I think it will mellow over time and be pretty good, just not as good as the others who have brewed a similar recipe. Also, yes the CO2 could make the hydropmeter more boyant esspecialy if there are bubbles collecting on it.

If it's gone 2 weeks it's almost certainly done. I've never seen the US-05 take more than a week. Typically it's done in 3-4 days and that's not from a repitch which should take off faster.

If it tastes great then job done!


On Thursday 10 November 2011 12:39:36 pm you wrote:

I have about 200 batches under my belt. Most were extract/specialty grain.
I have done 3 all grain. Almost all were 1.060 and under.

I did an all grain Imp Porter 2 weeks ago and pitched onto US-05 yeast cake
from an American Rye. Starting refacto reading was 1.089 Also aerated with
O2 and use yeast nutrient. Fermented at 66F

Opened to transfer to secondary today and all looks normal. Fermentation
seemed to have stopped after about 5 day but I gave it 2 weeks. Took a
sample and tastes OUTSTANDING. Secondary will get vanilla beans and
bourbon oak chips. Hydro reading however appears to be 1.028??

here is the recipe:

Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter ::: 1.079/1.017 (6 Gal)
Grain Bill (70% Efficiency assumed)

13 lb.- 2-Row Pale Malt
2.5 lb. - Munich Malt (15 L)
1.5 lb. - Brown Malt
1 lb. - Crystal Malt (120L)
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (40L)
1.25 lb. - Chocolate Malt (edited - Thanks Denny)
Extras :
Kentucky Bourbon (Jim Beam, Knob Creek, etc.)
Real, Whole Vanilla Beans (Extract just won't do)
Oak Chips or Cubes

Hop Schedule (37 IBU)

1 oz - Magnum Hops (60 min)
1/2 oz - E.K. Goldings (10 min)
Yeast

White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) - 1800 ml starter

Mash/Sparge/Boil

Mash at 153° for 60 min.
Sparge as usual
Cool and ferment at about 68° Add Vanilla Beans after primary - rack 7 to
14 days Add Bourbon at bottling (1 to 1.75 cups - don't overdo this!)
Infuse Bourbon beforehand with Oak Chips/Cubes if you want.

My question is this:

Should I leave in primary for another week or so or transfer to secondary?
Maybe it is all done. I know my starting OG was higher due to higher
efficiency. Mash was right at 152F. I am thinking that there is enough
yeast in suspension that secondary will be fine and if not... it does
taste great the way it is. There was a lot of CO2 in the sample so maybe
that is messing up the hydro... letting it settle out and will recheck.

Thanks for the help.

Paul

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[tompb]

If you used a refractometer you need a correction on the FG. Beersmith will calculate it, or you might find something on the web.
1.028 isn't terrible. The sweetness might balance well with the bourbon. And Denny's BVIP is awesome.
I did one a couple years ago.

[prieff]

I used the refract for OG and hydro for FG.

I went ahead and put into the secondary. Vanilla beans will go in tomorrow and then hopefully a few days the oak chips and Knob Creek.

Any advice on how much or when or anything?

I came out with almost 6 gallons in the primary even though I was scaled to 5 gallons. I used fermcap to keep from exploding and worked well. I was worried my batch size was off until today when I transferred it, there was over 1/2 gallon of THICK yeast on the bottom. Apparently there was some yeasty hanky panky going on and a few yeast babies were made.

Advice on the oak and vanilla would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Oh, and the paypal link up yet for due? And news on the group buy on base?

Paul

[tompb]

For the beans, cut them in half and scrape out the insides. I don't have any notes on whether I put the goo in vodka first or added it directly to the carboy. If you use some vodka to sanitize the goo just barely cover them, let sit for an hour or so, and pour the whole mess in. I left it on the beans for 2 weeks.

I haven't used oak chips, so I'm not much help there.

For the bourbon, wait til the secondary is done. Pour a measured amount. A small measuring cup that does onces works great. Then I used a dosing syringe for baby medicine (about 2 bucks at HyVee) to add a few mills at a time until I liked the taste. From there you can scale up and add to your keg. I think mine came out to 1 1/2 bottles for 10 gallons.

I do need to talk with Millstream about grain. A few people are itching for more, as well as the pilsner we never got last time.