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OK what's with my yeast?

G

Gunruner

I'm new to brewing and I've always put my fermenter in the appropriate temp and dark place.  Well this yeast in this batch goes dormant and shows no activity in a shadowed place but put it in a well lit place and the airlock starts bubbling every 20 seconds?  If I put it back in shadow or turn the light off it stops all activity in the airlock.  What gives?  Have I been doing wrong by using a shadowed and dark area to ferment?  I was going to bottle since all activity stopped 2 days ago and I turned the light on and got my stuff together to bottle.  Well the airlock started to really work.  I've tested this out and yep all activity stops when the lights go out and start up right away once the light comes on strong.  Ive used Nottingham yeast for my ales before and this is a Amber Ale and I used Safale us-05 yeast for the first time.  Is this yeast light sensitive?  It's been 9 days and this yeast is working hard right now but if I turn the light off, and watch, it stops all activity in the airlock(this is not moving or agitating anything).  Has this happened to you or am I wrong and need to put my fermenter in bright light?.................Mike
 
Gunruner said:
I'm new to brewing and I've always put my fermenter in the appropriate temp and dark place.  Well this yeast in this batch goes dormant and shows no activity in a shadowed place but put it in a well lit place and the airlock starts bubbling every 20 seconds?  If I put it back in shadow or turn the light off it stops all activity in the airlock.  What gives?  Have I been doing wrong by using a shadowed and dark area to ferment?  I was going to bottle since all activity stopped 2 days ago and I turned the light on and got my stuff together to bottle.  Well the airlock started to really work.  I've tested this out and yep all activity stops when the lights go out and start up right away once the light comes on strong.  Ive used Nottingham yeast for my ales before and this is a Amber Ale and I used Safale us-05 yeast for the first time.  Is this yeast light sensitive?  It's been 9 days and this yeast is working hard right now but if I turn the light off, and watch, it stops all activity in the airlock(this is not moving or agitating anything).  Has this happened to you or am I wrong and need to put my fermenter in bright light?.................Mike
Click to expand...

Umm, this is a weird one.  At first I thought you put it in an area where more light gets to.  If that were the case then the fermenter simply being in a warmer place could be the cause of this.  But if I am understanding you correctly, you have your beer fermenting in a dark area (basement?) and as long as it is dark you detect no fermentation.  But as soon as you flip a switch, you get activity in the airlock like it started fermenting again?  I am kind of finding that one hard to believe.  What time frames are we talking here between acticity and inactivity?  1-2min? 5-10 min?  20-30 min?  Is there a krausen still in the container?  Have you checked the gravity of the brew yet....what is it?  What temp are you fermenting at?

As for the light sensitivity, well I think we all have had beers fermenting over night.  I know for a fact that my brews ferment very well over night....and I have used the yeast in question.  I would say that something else is going on here.
 
Lots of brewers ferment beer in chest freezers in total darkness.  (Ideal also to avoid any light-struck skunky.)

That is odd.  How are you changing the "shadow" and are you watching it in the dark with a flashlight?  Are you physically moving it?  If not movement, any chance it is subject to wider temp swings than usual as we move into spring?  And by chance it is warmer when you are inspecting it? 

I find Nottingham quicker and more consistent than S-05 from my personal experience, so perhaps by comparison you're finding S-05 to be similar. 
 
OK folks here's what I have.  I have the fermenter sitting on a bench where I do work.  It's at right around 70 degrees +- a few either way, no windows, but ambient light from adjacent doorways.  The bench has bright light when I need it and is rather dark when I don't during the day plus dark at night.  I can see activity if it's going on in the dim daylight and it isn't.  Yesterday I watched it working with the light on and turned the light off.  Within 5 minutes all activity stopped in the airlock and stayed that way as long as I cared to stare at it.  I turned all the lights on and within 2 minutes I had activity in the airlock at every 27-30 seconds.  This light couldn't change the temp as it's mounted on the ceiling and not a small confined area.  OG was 1.053.  This was the same location I always use and I've brewed EPA at low alcohol and a Robust Porter at 6.1% abv without a problem.  Just an observation from a rookie. 
 
Bizarre.  Sounds afraid of the dark, doesn't it?  I've never heard of anything like it.

Have you checked gravity and tasted that sample?  If it needs to continue fermenting, burn a soft, indirect light in the room?
 
I'd raise the temperature of the yeast a little bit.
The light dark pattern might reflect thermal warming form solar radiation.
Not light bulbs though they don't put much out.
Might also be warmer in the day time when you are up and about.

It might be that you crashed you yeast too.
I have never done it but read about  dropping the temperature of oxygen starves yeasts  from some  higher temp and causing them to go into a coma so to speak.

 
Like everyone above, we’ve never heard/read about anything like this light sensitivity. We wonder if it is some type of infection rather than a reaction from the yeast. It is spring and we hear that airborne mold and pollen are much higher this year than in the recent past.  Most infections we have read about case the batch to have an odd odor. Seems like a crude suggestion, but if you pull the airlock and smell it, does’t it smell normal?

Preston
 
Hi folks,  Everything seemed normal when I bottled.  The wort smelled fantastic of hops.  The final abv came out to 5.4%.  I'm in the process of brewing another Porter with the same recipe that I used befor.  It's in the same location I had for the Amber Ale and it doesn't show any reaction to light.  It's at the 8th day and perking right along as the Porter did the last time.  The Amber Ale should be ready for the fridge around the first week of May.  I sampled my Son-in-laws Amber Ale from this recipe and I wasn't impressed.  It seemed too sweet and little hop taste.  He bottled his at 7 days which would have been way too soon for my batch.  I'll check back in a coulple weeks and give you the heads-up on how this strange(yeast reaction) brew tastes.  Appreceiate all the comments!.....Mike
 
Still haven't any clue as to the reaction of light on that batch.  However the beer is excellent!  Lots of hop smell and taste.  Very dark copper and almost brown.  The malt and bitterness is a great balance.  Tastes like the India Pale Ale I had at a NC brewery.  Very, very nice and 5.4% abv.  I'll make this again with the same yeast but use a starter first.  Thanks for all the replies and comments..........Mike
 
Maybe nothing is wrong with the yeast.  But I have been noticing this this last week: my bubble measures a shorter and shorter cycle with the lights off, after about two weeks fermentation (maybe 5 or 10 second shorter every measure).  Today I turned the lights off and viola the bubbles cycled longer (I used a flashlight).  So yeast, some at least, are sensitive to light. I would cover these babies until they are done.
 
What kind of light?  How much ultraviolet light?  I recall reading about brewers yeast being somewhat sensitive to ultraviolet light.  I can imagine it initiating some activity but that is how my imagination works. 
 
I've spent a lot of years studying biology, and I can't understand this one.

On the other hand, I've noticed that if I've had a few home brews, a lot of things were simple become inexplicable and a lot of things that were inexplicable become quite simple.
 
I have a dog that's like that.  Every time I turn on the light he wakes up. 
 
CR said:
I'd raise the temperature of the yeast a little bit.
The light dark pattern might reflect thermal warming form solar radiation.
Not light bulbs though they don't put much out.
Might also be warmer in the day time when you are up and about.

It might be that you crashed you yeast too.
I have never done it but read about  dropping the temperature of oxygen starves yeasts  from some  higher temp and causing them to go into a coma so to speak.
Click to expand...

For me,..I don't even want my fermentation above 67 degrees.  It is a world of difference for the better (my opinion) when fermentation is at 65 degrees vice 70 plus degrees?  Keep in mind,..I too am here to learn!
 
I read a wonderful paper on the effects of light on yeast.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3876234/
 
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