US-05 flocculation, what to expect.

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Strongarm

Brewing on a wing and a prayer
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Walthamstow, East London
I'm only two brews in so experience lacking.

My first used S-04 and the brew flew into a 5cm krausen within 12 hours, this collapsed on day two and by that point there was a good thick layer or trub (like 3cm for a 12 litre brew).

Second brew is using US-05, experience with this has been a krausen that remained at 7cm for 3-4 days and then collapsed to a very dense 1cm thick layer. 1 week in and with the hydrometer telling me fermentation is complete I have this 1cm thick dense krausen on top and only a thin, maybe 1cm trub. What can I expect over the next week? I was aiming to dry hop after 2 weeks (so in a weeks time) but currently I imagine they'd just sit on top of the thick top layer. The brew is also very cloudy, even though it's meant to be a light ale (just 1.7kg extra light LME and 500gr light DME)

Cheers
 
Hi strongarm,

I've used S05 quite a bit and it does behave as you mentioned.

It will take a while to floc which is why I crash cool for a week after around 14 days.

I had the same thin layer of krausen when I wanted to dry hop on day 10. Once, I just stirred the hops in with the krausen and after the crash cooling period it settled.

The other time I skimmed off as much of the krausen with a ladel which worked well. Ill be doing this in future :thumb:
 
Cheers. Alas not sure I have the facilities to cold crash. Will probably give the skimming a go to save on gunk when bottling.

Do US-05 beers clear up well in bottle too?
 
I find it clears fine, but takes a good few weeks until the sediment stops being loose and starts to pack down.

You've got the british weather at your disposal for crash cooling!
 
I use it most times and I transfer into a second fv then dry hop it takes about two weeks on the concrete floor of the garage to clear before bottling :cheers:
 
Looks like I may be having a cloudy beer this time.

Really need to knock up another batch of a Cascade IPA I made with S-04 but using US-05 to taste the two side by side.

With my love of American style IPAs I thought US-05 would be my favourite but then read that Punk IPA uses an English Ale yeast so I went with the S-04 instead for that first batch.
 
I've given up on US05 for this reason. It's a lovely clean yeast but it's a pain to pour a clean one. I'm using Rob's (The Malt Miller) own brand West Coast yeast now, it's just as clean and packs much better. :thumb:
 
Once my four finger jack is bottled I'm starting a coopers IPA with liquid malt extract and us-05 yeast for the first time so this thread has some great heads up info!

Sounds like its going to be more temperamental than my last kits and may need more care to clear.

In future I will definitely check out the malt miller supplies!
 
calumscott said:
I'm using Rob's (The Malt Miller) own brand West Coast yeast now, it's just as clean and packs much better. :thumb:

Any idea what it is Calum?
I've switched to Mangrove Jack's M44 for the same reason.
 

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