London Ale 3

[Chris P]

Hi all,

have an attempt at the infamous Donkey Oatie in the fermenter at the moment.

Had it finish at 1.051ish and after 5 days had it move to 1.024 which was awesome. a further 4 days and it still sits at that same reading. Have upped the temp on stc-1000 to 20deg from 18 and so hopefully between that and also a sterilized stir I can get it to drop down to close to the predicted 1.013 FG.

Mashed at 69 but still expect better than 1.024.

Anyone else had slow or stalled ferments with this yeast?

Cheers 

Chris

[Dai]

Hi Chris. Sounds grim, but good for the rest of us entering the oatmeal comp!  Did you make a starter for your yeast- I know those White Labs come ready to go, but sometimes they can be a little old.  Also, I assume you gave it a really good shake when you pitched the yeast to get heaps of air in there (like c. 5 min)?  If it was me, and all else had failed, I would pitch some dried yeast to finish it off- something like US-05 would be good as it is fairly neutral and wouldn't interfere with all the nice flavours of the London yeast too much.  p.s., love the name :)

[Chris P]

Hi Dai, 

Even if it was magic I cant tell for sure right now as Im doing Dry July haha. I think if I was to let it stay like this it would end up too sweet as now with temp control I was hoping ferments would go smoother.

Dry yeast will be on the cards if it stays the same at tonights reading.

Cant take any credit for recipe as that and the great name are Martins and Im glad to have a crack at it.

I just want to do it justice now and see what my few tweaks have done to the final product. Smells awesome just a tiny bit sweet at this point but hopefully should be great in the bottle =)

Cheers Dai I look forward to knocking back some cheeky darkies with you. This is my first time making one (hence the need to use a well known recipe rather than craft one).

[Grant R Baker]

I would move it to a secondary fermenter, leaving the yeast cake behind.

 

My last Saison was brewed with a new yeast (just a random pick out of the shops fridge since the one I wanted was out of stock)... Dennys Fav 50 ... after 5 days it went very quiet. Moved the brew to secondary glass carboy (just to finish and clear up for 3-4 weeks)... and the buggar got going again... since my carboy was very full it resulted in beer/yeast foam escaping out of the airlock.

 

Many brewers pointed out that fermentation may stall if there is too much dead yeast in the bottom of the brew... I have no idea why and would really like to hear a plausable explanation.. but they might be right from what I have seen.

 

BTW interested in your thoughtas on London 3 (taste etc).. I was considering it for a mid-dark ale which needs a little more yeast flavour and thickness.

[Chris P]

Hi Grant, 

Only have the one fermenter or would have given that a go. Have pitched some dry yeast to try and clear it up otherwise it may be an excuse for a re brew.

I mashed at 69 to give thickness to this brew but may have also counted against me.

I would say if you want a slightly sweeter flavour coming through then the London 3 could be worth a shot. It took off for the first few days so no doubt I will try it again in the future but maybe with that second barrel for this case.

Thanks for the tip =)