Hey guys,
Looking for a little info on your experiences with Ringwood yeast. My first experience so far has been less than favorable...but maybe I'm just not being patient.
Brewed a 12GAL batch of a picaroons best bitter clone on Sat Jan 14th, and pitched 2 packs of wyeast Ringwood at 8pm with wort at 23 degrees. The yeast was only 2 weeks old, yet the packs never did swell, even after being smacked and let to sit for 4 hours @ 25degrees. I read online this shouldn't matter....previous wyeast smack packs of other yeast swell so much you think they are going to blow.
Brix reading showed 12P.
No fermentation action whatsoever until tues Jan 17th when a frothy head began to form. Fermentation room has been a contstant 19 degrees, and the wort has remained at a constant 21 degrees which would lead me to believe that fermentation has been happening.
Every refractometer reading has shown a contstant 12P. I can smell that fermentation is happening, and each sample is very cloudy and smells like fermentation, but my brix readings haven't changed....I'm assuming this is because of the sedament in the captured liquid.
Today, I finally saw a change in the brix readin from 12 to 10.5, which is very small considering I pitched 6 days ago....
I do plan to leave this batch in the primary for 2 weeks, but I'm wondering at what point do I give up on the ringwood and repitch with another yeast....I'm also wondering if repitching after 7-10 days is even advisable...
I had high hopes for this ringwood, but its thoroughly disappointing me at this point.
Anyone have similar issues with ringwood? Anyone have success with it? I'm wondering if the packs I have might have froze in transit? I have two packs of wyeast 1056 that I got in the same order, and they are slowly swelling on their own in the fridge so I'm thinking the ringwood didn't freeze...