possible fermentation problem with my bock

[kristfin]

hi all,

10 days ago i brewed jamils bock. og was 1066, i chilled it down to 6° C and pitched a jar with half of the s23 yeast from a california common i brewed a month ago.

i've been worried because the fermentaiton is so slooooow, that i decided to put a bag around the bottle which i use as an airlock. i got around one liter of co2 in 4 days.

anyway, i measured it just now and it is 1044 after 10 days!

it tastes ok and smells ok.

what do you recon, should i pitch one package of s23 dry yeast? should i just wait for 3 more weeks? should i put the beer in a secondary and pitch more yeast?

[BDawg]

Yeah, I'd rehydrate and pitch the additional yeast.

[Travisty]

6 degrees C is pretty cold if that's where you're fermenting at. I'd warm it up to 9 or 10 degrees and maybe rouse the yeast and see what happens before pitching more yeast.

[ipaisay]

Yes, increase your fermentation temp to 10-12 C and rouse the yeast. If you are planning on adding another yeast dose, make sure you have a yeast starter at high krausen and transfer your sluggish bock onto the yeast starter. Besides an initial low fermentation temp, my guess is that you did not add enough O2. Also, what temp did you read your hydrometer at? You need to read or at least adjust your reading to the correct wort/beer temp that the hydrometer is calibrated for.

[kristfin]

thanks for the comments.

i pitched the yeast at 6°c and over 4 days i raised the temp to 10°. trying to do everyting according to jamil.

the sample i took yday, after 10 days of fermentation, i measured 1044 at 20°c. however, when i measured the sample i took yday again just now, after some 18 hours, it reads 1030, which makes me belive that there is enough yeast in it, but the poor bock lacks o2.

i had of course started rehydrading the yeast, with nutrient and booster, before i made this discovery, so i'm going to stir the bock up a bit to add oxigen (i still don't have bottled o2 ) and repitch

[mbird]

I'm going through a similar process here http://backyardbrewer.blogspot.com/2009 ... quits.html with an ale. When I think I'm doing everything right and this happens, I get a little sick.
mark
www.backyardbrewer.blogspot.com
www.thebackyardbrewer.com

[brewinhard]

Definitely DO NOT stir your bock to add oxygen. Once a beer begins primary fermentation, any splashing, or stirring to add oxygen will lead to oxidation in the final product. This will taste like wet cardboard as time goes on. If you have ever had a beer that has sat too long on the shelf you know about the flavors and aromas I'm talking about. STALE , OLD BEER! If you want to add the fresh starter to the beer, aerate the starter well, then follow IPAISAY's suggestion of racking onto the starter. If you are brewing in a bucket you can carefully pull off the lid and SLOWLY pour the starter into the fermenting wort w/0 splashing. Any oxygen introduced at this point will be quickly taken up the fresh yeast, but be sure it is only minimal introduction.

[ipaisay]

The other question needs to be asked. How did the cal common turn out? did it finish dry or sweet? did it have a lag starting as well? Was your cal common OG high for a cal common which would then provide too much alcohol for the yeast to really work well the second time around?

Rule of thumb, when making a lager always start with a healthy batch of yeast from a starter and do not repitch. After all, you are a homebrewer not a commercial brewer. Spend the extra few bucks and make an outstanding beer. When you pinch on corners for money and/or time reasons you'll get what you are asking for.

I think your answer is in the poor condition of your yeast from the finished fermentation of your cal common. If you are going to reuse yeast, top crop the yeast at high krausen not 3-4 weeks after your beer has finished fermenting.

It's only beer, take your pants off and make more bock.