Wyeast 4347 Eau di vie

[1965 wite]

I made my first all grain last night. Got a good conversion of my corn starch. Cooled to 75 degrees and pitched my packet of Wyeast 4347. I did only use 1 packet for a 15 gallon ferment. I broke the inner nutrient package and let it sit in my laundry room with dryer going(73degrees in there)for about 4 hours. The packet swelled up but didn't totally balloon up or become completely full. This was at midnight last night. Woke up this morning and there is nothing going on in my fermenters. lots of solids settled to the bottom and I have about 3" of of clear liquid on top. Does anybody have any exp with this yeast. Did I not use enough of it? Does it take a few days to get going? So frustrated right now. Should have stuck with the tried and true bakers yeast. I wanted to go with something nicer for my AG. I hope it wasn't a mistake.

[bellybuster]

for straight pitching into 15 gallons you should have used at the very least 3 packs. A large starter would have been good. Did you aerate the wash real good. The yeast will be in the growing phase for quite some time and need O2. I wouldn't expect to see any signs for at least 48 hours or even more.

Just for interest, the smack packs don't even have enough yeast for a 5 gallon batch, they are meant to use in a starter

[1965 wite]

I aerated with a drywall mixer on a cordless drill. I wish I would have known about the starter. The packet didn't say anything about doing that. I wonder if I should just start over.

[bellybuster]

if you can get more yeast I would. If you can't, make sure everything is clean and nasties can't get in. It will build up yeast but will take some time. Just hope something undesirable doesn't take over first. Probably be fine.

If you're worried, pitch some bread yeast now.

[Jimbo]

Your pitch rate is not ideal but not a show stopper. The ferment will just take longer to get started. Not a big deal unless you lose the race with the bacteria and they take hold. Not too likely if youre good about sanitizing everything.

For the record Eau de Vie is a fermented fruit brandy. This is a yeast strained for the fructose/glucose sugars found in fruit. AG's, grain starches converted by enzymes, are mostly maltose. Beer yeasts and distillers yeasts are strained for Maltose. Again, not a show stopper. But not ideal.

Dont beat yourself up, this whole venture is a never ending learning experience, even for those of us that have been at it for 20+ years.

[1965 wite]

Starting over. Learned my lesson about expensive yeasts and brew shop workers that might not know what they are selling. College is expensive so the 30$ I spent on this mash isn't too big a deal.

[Jimbo]

the mash is toast? really? why?

Im a huge fan of Safale US-05 dry packet beer yeast for AG's. Ferments very clean and dry.

[bellybuster]

dont dump it!!!

[Jimbo]

dont dump it!!!

+1. Just leave it alone. The stuff you pitched will take a few days to multiply and then get to the task at hand. Stop messing with it. Dont open it and prod it along. Dont add more stuff. Just sit on your hands for a couple weeks.

[1965 wite]

I dumped it. In addition to the yeast issue my neighbor ( who was helping me) decided to pull the wort chiller out of the mash and the water in line popped off. Rather than diverting the dirty garden hose water out the door he stuck it in the mash. Cheap help I guess. With the combo of those two things I think it's best to start fresh. So here I am heating up more water. Gonna use my bakers yeast this time. It never questions my authority. Haha

[bellybuster]

aw man... I'm speechless

[1965 wite]

We'll think of how much better this next one will be.

[1965 wite]

Well I recooked my AG mash and everything went well. I pitched my bakers yeast starters and they are bubbling away like I would expect. The aroma of the all gran mash and bakers yeast is heavenly. Can't wait to see how it turn out.