Recipe Advice Thread

[denimglen]

Thought it might be handy to have a thread for some of the more advanced brewers to give some advice on recipes.

Let's see how it goes eh...

[Martin Bridges]

Which yeast did you use? If it's the old Belgian Saison strain (3724) then it does have a tendency to do this. All I can suggest is rouse it up, warm it up and wait. And wait. And wait some more. It will get there in the end, it'll just take a loooong time. Some people have reported around 6 weeks.

Or chuck in some US05 (which is what I did). Drop the temp back down to the normal range (19-20) first.

[Nick T]

yes it is the 3724. 6 weeks! jeez! I guess it is still bubbling slowly, dropping a point a day. But I want it out of the way for the next brew, so I might just give it another few days, try and get it to 1020 then drop in some 05.( I have given it a bit of a stir up etc, don't seem to make much difference.)

[MrC]

According to Wyeast that behaviour is pretty much expected. Time and warm temp should do the trick.

http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=60

[Mike Neilson]

Happened to me to so I chucked in some slurry of WLP001, I dropped the temp to 20 deg, I also got it to dry right out as well, if anything I wish I had kept some of the yeast as it would of been a great combo.

[Nick T]

Interesting concept, mixing yeasts deliberately - do they coexist OK, or would one kill off the other?

[Mike Neilson]

They defintly coexist, but after a few gens, I imagine one to become more domanat than the other. Have you roused it yet? If not drop your sanatised and purged co2 line in your fermenter right to the bottom turn the co2 down low and let it bubble away for a while?

[Nick T]

Still going at a point a day, so, being impatient, this morning I opened a US_05 and put that into the fementer after dropping it back to 20deg. If that doesn't do it, I'll try the CO2 trick. (Do they like CO2? I was wondering if I needed to re-aerate for the new yeast..)

[JackoNZ]

I was planning on brewing an ordinary bitter next but remembered I've only got S-05 yeast in the fridge. Has anyone brewed English bitter styled beers with S-05 and if so how has it turned out?

[Reviled]

Yes but it wont turn out like an english bitter, it will just be a pale ale, IMO for a good bitter you need some esters from the yeast which US-05 wont give you, but thats not to say it wont be a good beer!

[jt]

Dried yeast ?
If you want those esters, use SO4. But if you also want some hop character, then hop it up substantially
If you just want malt & hops, use US05

[JackoNZ]

Yeah I'm really after the maltyness to come through and those esters too. I'll have to nip out the homebrew shop tomorrow and pick some 04 up :(

[jt]

Mate, there have been some fantastic beers brewed with '04
Barry's bitter in the first case swap got rave reviews .. ask 'im for some tips or hints .. or even search for a recipe .. for a winner I reckon