I have a quick question about a beer we have going using A38 Juice.
We were planning on running a split brew, 20 barrels yesterday and 20 barrels today. Our boiler went out just after knocking out the first 20 barrels yesterday.
We should have the boiler back up and running later today. Do you think it would be fine to brew the final 20 barrels tomorrow, knocking out roughly 36 hours after the last knockout?
Just for clarification. The first 20 barrels were brewed yesterday? Was this a single batch or two batches? How much yeast did you pitch yesterday?
Yes, we brewed two 10 barrels turns for a total of 20 barrels at 18.5ºP. The last batch went in around 6pm. The temperature was 67ºF. The pitch rate was 1.0 million cells/mL/ºP for the first 20 barrels only.
We wanted to add the final 20 barrels today, but we’re not able to. Do you think we should hold off and just brew the final 20 barrels after this batch is completed, or move forward with the last 20 barrels tomorrow? Also, we were wanting to add roughly 2-3ºP worth of sugar at high krausen.
What are your thoughts on this?
Got it. Thanks! The 36 hour window might actually be a good thing. With this high of an original gravity, you’re going to want the additional cell growth that occurs during this time.
Knocking out the final 20 barrels tomorrow, with oxygen as normal, should be just fine. A38 requires 25 ppm of oxygen. With the final 20 barrels, the DO will drop to ~12.5ppm and be taken up immediately. I really wouldn’t worry about oxidation here.
Regarding the extra sugar. It would be best to dissolve this on the hotside in the final two batches before knockout.
Thanks a lot for this information. We brew split batches quite often and usually see a drop in gravity within the first 24 hours. I’m sure this is similar, knocking out while the yeast is in an anaerobic state. I just wasn’t sure about the additional gap in time and associated risks.
It’s really good to keep this in mind, but in this case with such a high gravity, hitting peak cell growth before adding fresh wort is really going to help. I wouldn’t be too concerned. Cheers!