Lazy Yeast? Please Help!

Bryon · Pilsener Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 28 Location: CT

I brewed a batch of English Pale Ale (From a Brewer's Best Kit) last Sunday. My airlock stopped bubbling on Wed. Or so I thought. Yesterday, Sat, Upon closer look, I was getting 1 or 2 bubbles subtly in about a minute.

But here's the deal, there's very little foam on top of the beer in the glass carboy. Shouldn't there be a ton of foam?

The funnel I got from my brew supply store that I used to dump the wort into the carboy on brew day had a strainer, so most of the "clumpy stuff" did not make it into the carboy, was that my mistake? Did I short change the beer on some yeast or other important ingredient for the fermentation process?

Should I add more yeast or something? Desperately waiting for some help right here... Please let me know, THANKS!
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slothrob · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:40 pm

I'm guessing that the yeast is probably finished fermenting, but you should just leave it alone for another week, anyway.

Common causes of the yeast starting and stopping (or appearing to) are sudden drops in temperature that make the yeast slow down or even nearly stop (for some yeast this is as high as the low 60°'s F), or raises in temperature after the yeast has appeared to stop. This effect of raising the temperature can cause slow yeast to kick into high gear, but usually it is just the effect of decreasing the solubility of CO2 by raising the temperature, causing it to come out and bubble your airlock. This usually doesn't cause much foam or krausen to appear. Have you had some temperature swings?

You don't want to add all the solids from the kettle into the fermentor, if you can avoid it, but you should add your yeast to the fermentor directly, not to the kettle, so none of the yeast gets filterred out. Even if you did strain the yeast, there should be plenty of yeast to finish your beer, it's just less than ideal.
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Bryon · Pilsener Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 28 Location: CT

Thanks for the advice. WE had some unexpected high temps this week. This may have caused the yeast to slow down as you indicated below. And I think part of my problem is I added the yeast before straining the wort. I'll take your advice and add the yeast directly to the fermenter next time around.

Bottom line, you recommend letting is sit for an additional week???

Thanks again!!!
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slothrob · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 6:35 pm

Bryon · Pilsener Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 28 Location: CT

Thanks again!

So there's absolutely no danger in letting the beer sit in the carboy for an extra week? I'm only doing primary fermentation...
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slothrob · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 9:42 pm

Bryon · Pilsener Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 28 Location: CT

Hey slothrob, thanks for your advice... The beer came out great!

http://blog.homebrewbeer.net/2007/10/my-english-pale-ale-its-not-bad.html
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slothrob · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:35 am

Glad to hear the beer came out good!

I thought that kit and the BB Microbrewery Ale were both decent extract kits, when I made them early on. That one has Nottingham yeast, right?

As far as clarity, the beer is still pretty young, I wouldn't be surprised if there is still a little priming sugar being finished off in the bottles. A little more time and a week in the fridge could solve that. If it ends up being chill haze, meaning it gets clear when the beer warms up, try rehydrating your Irish Moss for a few hours next time and see if that helps.
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Bryon · Pilsener Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 28 Location: CT

The haze never went away, but it still taste pretty good. I'll give your pointer a try. My next brew will be a holiday ale...
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slothrob · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:16 pm

There are a number of factors that affect chill haze.
An alternative to Irish Moss are Whirlflock tablets. Same thing, basically, but you add 1/2 to 1 of them to the last 5 minutes of a boil, without the rehydration. I've had good luck with them.

Tannins are another factor, so avoid steeping or sparging above 170°F.

A lot of hops can add haze as well. That can be a good thing...
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