The first of two winter vacation brews is complete. The harvest ale, which used homegrown hops, is currently fermenting away in the basement.
I made two 2 liter starters for the WLP002 and WLP008 vials.
I labeled the 002 so I would remember the difference. The 008 was used in the harvest ale.
My mash temp stayed pretty steady at about 154°F for the full hour. I had some boiling water ready to add to it at the 30 minute mark, but I didn’t need it.
The boil went fine – seeing all the hop cones swimming around was great. They do soak up some wort though. Starting with a 6.5 gallon pre-boil volume worked. I was able to get 5 gallons into the fermentor.
Knowing that the spigot on my kettle gets clogged pretty quickly with whole hops, I had my autosiphon cleaned, sanitized, and ready to go.
With the siphoning out of the kettle, a long aeration session with the aquarium pump seemed necessary. I let it aerate for a full hour before I pitch the yeast.
My final gravity was 1.055 which is where I wanted it to be. The fermentation began quickly – in about 6 hours after pitching.
I read a bunch of negative comments about this yeast strain on boards. It apparently can impart some tartness – If my hop choices work out – earthy, spicy rather than citrusy – then the tartness shouldn’t be a distraction.
Home Brewer
Hey nice post! I hope that brew turned out great.
David
Have you ever compared using the stone vs O2 from a tank?
John
Thanks Home Brewer.
David – I haven’t compared the aquarium pump versus an O2 tank. I think I would be more confident with my aeration with an O2 tank but I haven’t invested in getting a tank yet.
Now, I can tell you that I have noticed that my fermentations have started up a lot faster with the aeration step. I think with an O2 tank, I can cut the time of this step from 30 to 60 minutes to 60 seconds.