Well, I just finished brewing this. I went with 12oz of sugar and 8 of special B. Pitched most of the yeast cake and started at about 66 F. OG ended up at 1.075. At a little over an hour after pitching, the airlock is already starting to bubble, so I’m thinking that some cooling measures might be in order, as I’m afraid that the temp might get out of hand if left in my 70F closet.
@erway: what is the objective of rousing the yeast after the second day? I haven’t heard of this technique before and am very curious.
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Added the D2 as well?
Might wrap a cool wet towel around it, if I were you.
Not quite sure, because this strain does not flocculate THAT easily.
Jeff . . . you’ve probably used this strain more than any of us. You know something we don’t?
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Please stop thinking that brewing beer is 50% out of our hands.
At most, the luck and voodoo part is about 5%.
At MOST.
The rest is know-how, experience, and research (i.e. relying on those who have done it before).
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I added the D2 as well. The fermentation is already pretty vigorous this morning and I am putting a wet towel around it before I leave for work.
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Agreed, voodoo and luck mostly come into play when you fail to keep tabs on important details like gravity, pitching rates, temperature, sanitation, aeration amount, ingredient quality, recipes etc…
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Wow! I just had a total carboy explosion and my airlock has been cleaned out and replaced twice. There is just was too much krausen for the head space. I’m not really sure what to do as I don’t have a blowoff system. I’ve got a paper towel over the top right now that I sanitized, but I’m afraid that that won’t work very well. I had a wet towel around the carboy so hopefully that slows things down.
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Take the airlock off and put something under the carboy.
You can put it back on once things calm down a bit.
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Thanks. That’s what I did and now that I gave it some thought I realize I shouldn’t be too worried. This is my first batch repitching yeast, so I’ve never seen it take off like that before.
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This is all true, but I think too many home brewers sweat the small details too much. As long as ingredients and yeast are quality, sanitation is good, and temperatures are kept in check the beer will be fine. I don’t even take gravity readings because I really don’t give a shit. That’s just how I roll.
Some may argue that the quality is bound to suffer by being somewhat careless, but I haven’t found that to be true at all. Common sense and a good dose of gut feeling goes a long ways. Not trying to start a pissing match here either, but I think that some homebrewers take things further than they need to. Micro-management, if you will.
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I like that philosophy. I’ve been left in charge while SamGamgee is gone for the night. All is well and I am rolling with it. Temp is stable and the airlock is working fine!
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