Fermentation period

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jettaman

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I started fermenting a batch last Monday (11/28/05). Within an hour I was getting some bubbles in the airlock. From Tuesday through Thursday it was bubbling away enthusisatically. By Friday the bubbles had slowed to a crawl and now there are none. Is it possible that fermentation could be complete?
 
Unfortunately I haven't invested in one yet. I know it's supposed to be a good thing, but I'm still not clear on the advantages of doing a secondary. Can you please enlighten me?
 
Using a secondary gives your beer time to clear up (yeast / trub settles out), and bulk age a bit away from the trub. Aging your beer on a cake of trub like you see in your primary can lead to off flavors if it's left for a while.

If you grab a secondary, now is a good time transfer. If you stick with your current setup, let it sit for another week before bottling.
 
I'm currently using plastic brewing buckets. I have a bottling bucket with a spigot. Is that appropriate to use for a secondary? Any issues with that?
 
Yeah, you can't seal it can you? Even if you could there would probably be too much air space at the top. I'll say that every since I bought my secondary, my brews have gotten much better. It's a good investment that costs less than the material for one batch of beer.
 
jettaman said:
I'm currently using plastic brewing buckets. I have a bottling bucket with a spigot. Is that appropriate to use for a secondary? Any issues with that?
Just leave it in your primary bucket until it's ready to bottle. Your bottling bucket might work, but would probably just end up complicating your bottling day.
 
jettaman said:
Unfortunately I haven't invested in one yet. I know it's supposed to be a good thing, but I'm still not clear on the advantages of doing a secondary. Can you please enlighten me?
Here's an interesting read on secondary fermentation.

Since you don't have a secondary yet, I'd just leave it in the primary for another week, then bottle it.
 
How about rracking to the bottling bucket nice and gentle. cover it.
Go clean your primary and re rack into the primary.

If this is your first batch I'd just bottle it. (you don't need to secondary but it makes a big difference. IMHO)

Get your self set up for secondary next time and then you can compare the difference.
 
you could do that orfy, but why risk contamination and exposure to more O2? better off leaving it in the primary until it's ready to bottle. there are some who swear that leaving the fermented beer on the spent hops and trub will not affect the flavor. i personnaly see an improvement in beers beeing conditioned in a secondary vessel. could just be me though.......
invest in a secondary, glass i might add! your beer will love u for it :^)
 
billybrew said:
Yeah, you can't seal it can you? Even if you could there would probably be too much air space at the top. I'll say that every since I bought my secondary, my brews have gotten much better. It's a good investment that costs less than the material for one batch of beer.

I thought that space on the top was only an issue when bottling. Is CO2 buildup desired in secondary? Any guidlines to use when selecting a secondary container?
 
jettaman said:
I thought that space on the top was only an issue when bottling. Is CO2 buildup desired in secondary? Any guidlines to use when selecting a secondary container?
A 5 gallon glass carboy is what most use.
 
Well, I think I screwed this batch up. It fermented for only 4 days, so I let it sit for another 5. It had an OG of 1.045, but when I went to bottle it, it was at 1.020. :( It was really sweet and didn't taste too great. I'm hoping that if it sits in the bottle for a while it'll get better.
 
I wouldn't say that you screwed it up. What was your recipe? It may be sweet for other reasons. I brewed for years with a setup that you have and left my brew on the trup in the bucket for another week after no airlock activity. I enjoyed all of my brews. Then last year I bought a 5 gallon glass carboy for a secondary fermenter and I wish I would have bought one sooner. While I enjoyed all of my other beers before I bought it, there really is a differance and now I enjoy them even more.


loop
 
Well, I used 1 can of Sparkling Amber malt extract syrup and 3 pounds of amber extract powder. That was at the urging of my hbs. I wondered about it, but the guy I talked to said he always did this and it turned out well.

One of the things that bothers me is that the alcohol content is low. <= 3%. I was shooting for >= 5%. Also, I didn't notice much in the way of bitterness, which is not necessarily a bad thing. One thing that does give me hope (and I just thought of it) is that I tasted it after I threw in the priming sugar. I would imagine that after the brew is fully bottle conditioned it won't be quite as sweet.

Does alcohol content increase in the bottle?
 
jettaman said:
Well, I think I screwed this batch up. It fermented for only 4 days, so I let it sit for another 5. It had an OG of 1.045, but when I went to bottle it, it was at 1.020. :( It was really sweet and didn't taste too great. I'm hoping that if it sits in the bottle for a while it'll get better.

One thing that does give me hope (and I just thought of it) is that I tasted it after I threw in the priming sugar. I would imagine that after the brew is fully bottle conditioned it won't be quite as sweet

Was the gravity of 1.020 measured before or after you added the priming sugar.

If it was before, you may have had a stuck fermentation. Check the receipe to see what the expected F.G. should be. I'd assume it should be around 1.010 for your simple receipe. Now that you bottled, you may want to watch out for exploding bottles since there is much more sugar than needed in these bottles now. Just put them somewhere where they can't spill.

I just checked, 3/4cups corn sugar are about 0.4 lb and would only add 0.003 to your gravity reading.
 
I measured the FG before adding priming sugar. It's my own recipe, so I really don't know what the FG should have been. I was shooting for < 1.010.

I had figured maybe the fermentation was stuck. What can be done about that?

Thanks for the tip about bottles, I'll have to watch that.
 
jettaman said:
I had figured maybe the fermentation was stuck. What can be done about that?

If your fermentation is stuck, you will have to pitch yeats again. I'm currently trying to salvage my Winter Bock that is stuck at 1.030 and only sluggishly fermenting.

The problem is that you need to grow fresh and healthy yeast. Since this requires oxygen, it cannot be done in the fermenter. Once you have a partial ferment you must avoid adding oxygen. The only solution seems to make a big starter and add some of the yeast from the bottom of the primary (sanitize your tools). Once you grew the yeast, put the starter in the frige so the yeast can settle to the bottom and decant the stale ferment that was your starter. Add the yeast slurry to your stuck fermentation.

Since this is the first time I have to do this, I cannot say how well it will work. Maybe others can chime in on the validity of this approach.

There are some good threads around that talk about starters. Many of them have useful links for further reading.
 
Kai said:
I'm currently trying to salvage my Winter Bock that is stuck at 1.030 and only sluggishly fermenting.

sorry to hijack the thread, but I have the same exact problem.

Stuck at 1.03. Have tried lots of stuff, won't go into details.

It's my first batch. I think i'm going to bottle it on Friday regardless if the SG has dropped anymore.

The only think I can think of doing is putting the carboy in a warmish water bath (78F) to speed up the fermentation (assuming the yeast is still alive).

I know this can affect flavor, but I wonder which will be worse- excessive sweetness or slightly off flavors (or exploding bottles??)
 
Madrean,

Is your first batch top or bottom fermenting?

Do you see any signs of fermentation?
If yes, the yeast is still alive and warming it up a little may work.

I was able to make a large starter from the yeast that I used for the Bock. I placed it into the fridge yesterday to slow down the yeasts metabolism and have it settle at the bottom. But since it is lager yeast, they seem to be quite happy at these colder temperatures and not much has settled yet.
 
Kai said:
Madrean,

Is your first batch top or bottom fermenting?

Do you see any signs of fermentation?
If yes, the yeast is still alive and warming it up a little may work.

I was able to make a large starter from the yeast that I used for the Bock. I placed it into the fridge yesterday to slow down the yeasts metabolism and have it settle at the bottom. But since it is lager yeast, they seem to be quite happy at these colder temperatures and not much has settled yet.

i'm not sure if it's top or bottom. it was top at one point in time....

when i heated up the carboy in the sink, there was some action, but it went back to normal. after everything settled down, i tasted it and boy is it good!!!

my main concern now is: if i add priming sugar and bottle, will there be any carbonation???

how can i make sure the yeast is alive?
 
original pitch was WL British Pale ale. Yum!

Repitched w/ Nottingham.

Repitched again w/ Nottingham (this time woke it up w/ warm water).

Can you say newbie????


Well, I've been nursing it. I think my problem is that I didn't aerate at all when I first made the batch. Secondly, the temp may have been a little to cool for fermentation. From what I've read, you want upper 60s for WL British Pale Ale?

I tasted it yesterday, and it's yummy.

SG has gone down to 1.025.

It's my first batch, so I'm not too upset :D
 
upper 60's is probably ideal, but lower 70's will not hurt it at all. most homebrewer's ferment arounf 74 any way.

if you see no visible signs of activity for several minutes, then rack/bottle. let it carb at room temp for two weeks and enjoy! :~)
 
I'm very pleased to report that the batch I thought I'd screwed up actually turned out pretty good. Nice colour and boquet, tastes good! So it's low on alcohol... Just means I get to drink more! :cool:
 
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