Yeast head that wont settle

1 year ago | beerlover1983 (Member)

Right following on from my crazy ferment last sat the head still wont seem to settle meaning i havent been able to top up.

Does it look ok and will it ever settle lol ?

Building : kegerator
Fermenting:Dandelion wine
Conditioning:Fullers pride extract Elderflower wine,Dandelion wine,Ribena wine,summer ale
Drinking: Turbo Cider/summer ale/way to amarillo/funked up wherry

beerlover1983brew@gmail.com

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Responses

saracen:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Hi there. It looks like the awful mess everyone was complaining about when using S-04 a while back. I had it once and ended up scooping the thing out, so I don't think it's going to settle. Wish I knew what it was. There are others on here with more experience of it than me. Greg would be a good person to ask.

If you're not living on the edge..... you're taking up too much space!!

Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!

E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Cheers for reply agreed it does look like the s-04

I used champagne yeast on this one.It does still seem to be fermenting though slower i guess maybe rack it to remove it.But hopefully greg has a suggestion.

Nath:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Which champagne yeast did you use?

Drinkin' - nowt, it's all gone

Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!

nathbrew@gmail.com

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Ec1118 lalvin champagne yeast.

Tony:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Hmm yes, remarkably similar!
How does it smell?

It looks like very highly floculating yeast that has just floated up and stayed there. I'd rack, taste and if all seems ok, top up and allow to drop. If it has reached it's projected gravity, rack onto a campden tab and a tea spoon of potassium sorbate. Good luck with it BL, I was expecting to see more of the colour drop out, I don't think I've ever seen anything hold onto its colour so well!

Beer will get you through the times of no money better than money will get you through the times of no beer
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Cheers tony i had a smell this morning smells ok can still smell the cocktail juice .Ill rack it off and give it a tast.

I have campden tablets but no potassium sorbate.Is that a needed or will campden be enough ?

Tony:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

I'd get some pot sorb if I were you as it stops the yeast reproducing - the campden tab will slow them down and prevent oxidation but the pot sorb more or less finishes them off... like I said, only if you've reached the right FG though. You can rack it now onto a campden tab, leave it and then rack it again after its cleared a little and use the pot sorb then if you wish.

Beer will get you through the times of no money better than money will get you through the times of no beer
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)

Greg:

Posted 1 year ago by Admin

Hi BL, I think Tony has just about covered it. If it tastes/smells okay then continue as per normal.

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

cheers chaps most helpful as allways

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Right i have racked off tasted .Tastes fine very dry but im guessing thats the champagne yeast.But gravity hasnt changed from the sg 1060 and im still getting some bubbles.So i didnt add anything will just leave another week see how it goes?

What would happen if i added another packet of yeast or should i wait ?

Tony:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Hi Bl, sorry, are you saying that the gravity is still around 1060? If that's the case, something must be wrong - both with the SG and the gravity now - especially if the wine is tasting dry - and considering the extremely healthy yeast action in the earlier pic.

I think waiting another week is a good idea, see what it's like then. Normally I'd suggest topping up with some more juice just to the shoulder... but not sure what effect that would have on the wine. Have you tested your hydrometer in water?

Beer will get you through the times of no money better than money will get you through the times of no beer
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Well i just checked the hydro in water thats acurate.i did do a semi silly thing when i took the sg i did it after i added yeast got 1.060.When i did today i got 1.064.If after a week its same would it be worth pitching new yeast?

saracen:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Hi BL. There's something wrong here. The SG cannot go up unless you add more sugar, or something else soluble. The brew was fermenting and it tastes very dry, so the yeast must have turned the sugar to alcohol, in which cast the SG must have come down. The other question is why is it so cloudy? I'd rack it and give it a week to clear, then test again. I'd love someone to provide an explanation for this.

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

I will leave another week and take another hydro reading.Im not sure it will clear though as it was not a clear juice to start with ?

Another weird thing before racking it i had sediment on the bottom bout inch high can sort of see in first pic.Now i racked this about 12pm today just had a look at it now i got more sediment at bottom bout 3 inch high rather odd...

saracen:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Yes. I noticed the sediment in the first pic. No, it won't clear, but it should get better. If you don't mind, I'll send the pic off to Wyeast, as there's a great guy there who will help with anything he can, even though it's not their product, and I'm fascinated with all this now.

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

By all means use the pic im as intrigued as you.

simonb_13:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

I'm far from an expert but, just using common sense I would venture that:

1. If it's dry tasting and has no real sweetness, the sugar has been converted to alcohol.
2. If the SG is 1060 then the liquid is still dense but maybe not with sugar.
3. The yeast hasn't sunk to the bottom which suggests the liquid is denser that the yeast. Which ties in with point 2.

Do you have the link to the post with the recipe for the psychedelic brew? Maybe there something in it that isn't sugar,not fermentable and quite dense. Sounds like me!

Planning: Something with Styrians, Discovery Clone
Fermenting:
Condtioning:
Drinking: Twibute Clone, PJ Clone

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Errm recipe is sun crown cocktail juice from tesco (concentrate) And 150g of brewers sugar with a packet of ec1118 lalvin champagne yeast.

I know the juice contained Ascorbic acid other than that it was mixed fruit.

Rodders:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Just to throw another suggestion into the ring, having zoomed in on the pic it looks as if the thermometer is reading 16 degs. Does anyone think this is too low? I have only used brew-kits so it may be irrelevent in this case, but they say to work at 20 degs.

Why have a 6-pack when you can have a keg?

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Right things just get weirder just had a look tonight only to discover this .Now bearing in mind i racked this on sunday and it was not clear but the sediment had dropped out so had a thick base at bottom now tonight it has risen lol ..........

saracen:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Hi Beerlover.
Got an answer of sorts from Jess at Wyeast.
This part of my mail to him:
The problem is the doughy deposit on the top. The yeast is Ec1118 lalvin champagne yeast, one I've never heard of, but the doughy stuff is something many of us have seen with with S-04, before I started using Wyeast, of course. Furthermore, his brew started out at 1.060, has been fermenting wildly for a week, tastes absolutely dry, and is showing SG 1.064 now! Is that possible? He has tested the hydrometer in water and taken his readings twice, so he is fairly sure his 1.064 is accurate. It's also worth noting that he says a sediment (visible in the picture) is starting to collect at the bottom of the Demi-john, which is what you would expect when fermentation is complete.
So, the questions are: What is the doughy stuff? What causes it? How can the SG possibly go up after fermenting for a week?

Here is his reply:
That is one of the strangest stories I have heard, and one of the strangest pictures I have seen. Is his cider really viscous? Was all of that crap that is in the top of the jug there before yeast was added... i.e. is it apple material?
Jess

I've written back so we'll see what appears.

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Many thanks for that saracen.

saracen:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Hi BL. Well, the upshot of all this is that Wyeast have never seen it, neither have some experts they consulted and they have no idea at all, but they are as intrigued as the rest of us. They have said they would like to analyse a sample of the stuff if you want to send some to them and then we'll know for certain. How do you feel about sending some off to them? This where they are and the guy who has been helping is Jess.

Wyeast Laboratories, Inc.
PO Box 146,
Odell,
OR 97044,
USA

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Hey saracen just did the hydro tonight down to 1.000.

But have a hell of alot of that gunk floating in it some has dropped out and so has the colour tastes ok very dry though.

Dont mind sending to them but in what? and how never sent anything to u.s before

scratch that it kinda got too broken up when racking

beerlover1983:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Going to rack it onto a crused campden tablet tonight get rid of some of the gunk.Should i still go with some potassium sorbate?

saracen:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Sounds as though it's a case of all's well that ends well. If you find a small plastic bottle, or something like a snap top tablet container, sterilise it and put some of the gunk in it, you can slip it into a padded envelope, address it and put in a note to Jess to say this is the gunk from the cider brew and take it into the Post Office, they'll put the right stamps on it and off it goes.

I think racking onto a Campden tablet and using some potassium sorbate would be sensible. It's obvious something odd happened with the yeast, so stopping it functioning sounds good to me.

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