Milestone Black Pearl, fermentation issue.

Mortimer657

Hi all,

Just wanted to find out if there is a problem with my Milestone Black Pearl kit. I started it yesterday, sanitised everything that I used and  followed the instructions to the letter, including rehydrating the yeast (Gervin English Ale Yeast, Muntons) and then adding it to approx 250ml wort. Left the yeast to start fermenting the wort which took around half an hour, there was a nice frothy head present and bubbles were beggining to form around the side of the container, with plenty of these rising to the surface and then added it to the main FV.

Around about 6 hours later it had developed a real explosive head of foam, which i'm told happens with these stout kits...the air lock was bubbling away vigorously from around 7-8 pm last night to around 10 am this morning and now its stopped...the foamy head seems to have subsided a lot and the water in the air lock is sitting in the U bend but not bubbling round. I've checked to make sure the FV is airtight and that none of the gasses are escaping through a crack or such like...gave the barrel a very gentle press and the air lock bubbled...so I know its sealed well. I read the instructions and it indicates that fermentation takes around 4-6 days, and obviously it has only been in the FV around 24 hours...What can the issue be? i'm worried its ruined...the temperature is a comfortable and steady at  21 to 22 degrees, instructions state temp should be between 20 and 24. So i'm at a loss as to what the problem may be. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm hoping I haven't lost this one.

 

Cheers all,

Morti

MattP

Hi, not sure what's happening in this particular case, it does sound a little odd.

All I can say is stick with it for the time being. It sounds from your description that you've done everything correctly. Yeast can react very oddly at times for no obvious reason.

I had a brew recently where I did everything as normal, added the yeast and absolutely nothing happened for 24 hours. I was beginning to think that I'd added a duff batch of yeast, or maybe the wort temp had been slightly too high and I'd killed it. I was just thinking of adding a second batch of yeast in an attempt to save the brew, when all of a sudden 'Mount Etna', it reacted furiously squirting froth out of the airlock.

"Great", I thought, "at least it's working now". After another 24 hours it seemed to have settled down so I refilled the airlock. Next morning there was another pool on froth on the floor. After another 24 hours I again topped up the airlock, and ... nothing ! Much scratching of head followed.

I left it for another day, and in the morning it was bubbling away happily again. It susequently fermented steadily to completion, and the beer was fine.

I've absolutely no idea what caused the variations in fermentation rates. The ambient temp was pretty steady, as I always use a heater tray to try to ensure this.

As I say, stick with it. Maybe wait another 24 hours and if nothing's happening try adding another batch of yeast if you have one handy. This may remedy the problem and rescue your brew.

I can't believe that your batch is ready after only 24 hours of activity. There are specialist yeasts which, it is claimed, can achieve fermentation in this time frame, but I doubt if that's what you've used.

Good luck, I hope it all comes together.

HBO_Staff

This is quite common with primary fermentation, sometimes they produce loads of froth, then quiten right down to a much slower pace, sometimes they ferment steadily the whole time, etc. There is nothing to worry about going by what you describe, the temperature being brewed at is good, and the brew will continue to ferment gradually, and by the end of the ferment in around 6 days the head will have subsided. As always the way to be sure it has completed fermentation is to check with a hydrometer, this ensures you don't bottle or keg a brew too early, and in the case of the Milestone Black Pearl the reading will be around 1009. We recommend you wait until it has been fermenting for 6 days, and then take your reading, at which stage it will confirm that it is probably be ready to move on to secondary fermentation in bottles or a keg