While I have made wine for many years, my son and I just tried our first batch of beer. We are making a Dunkelweizen from a kit. The fermentation was non existent 48 hours after pitching the yeast (dry, non re-hydrated, what was in the kit) so on the advice of guys at the store kit came from , we added a yeast activator/nutrient product and fermentation started.
After 3-4 more days in the primary, fermentation stopped and I prepared to rack to secondary. SG was 1.049 at beginning, 1.026 when fermentation stopped. I also made a point of tasting and although sweet and flat, no off tastes. Since I would have expected the fermentation to have gone further, and since the yeast had difficulty starting, I added more yeast before racking (Muntons dry standard ale yeast, re-hydrated).
Since it has been in the secondary, the fermentation is very slow, but still active, maybe a bubble every half hour. Also have been keeping carboy in a water bath and trying to hold temperature at 70F.
Will this make it to completion (1.015 or so?)? Any thing else I can or should do? Leave in carboy how long?
TIA
Dana
), rehydrate that yeast in preboiled water at about 105 degrees. Leave it for about a half hour then pitch and aerate well. Also, use some of the yeast nutrient in the boil. These things will probably take care of the long lag time.
