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Peterock

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Hi all, First question post
I have my Cooper's aust. ale kit w/ 3# of Muton and WYEAST liquid yeast (london ale) in my primary.
Question is......After I pitched my yeast@73 degrees in a 68 degree enviroment, after 12 hours the CO2 pushed all of the water out of my airlock twice!
I have refilled the airlock, but now at day 4 the air lock is inactive. Now for the real Kicker......I forgot to take S.G. at pitching. How long should I leave it alone for? Should I rack? Leave it be? HELP
Thanks, Pete
 
Take a reading now. Then take another day after tomorrow. If it's the same, bottle. If not, repeat.

:mug:
 
I make wine. Our rule is.....if SG is same for 3 days.....its done. Does same rule apply for beer?
thanks,
Pete
 
Before you do anything, I'd leave it in the fermentor for at least 2-3 weeks from brew day. The yeast will have time to make the beer cleaner, and drop out leaving the beer clearer. Overall, it will end up being tastier.

After 2-3 weeks in the fermentor, rack to you bottling bucket with priming sugar, bottle it, and keep the bottles at 70˚ for 3 weeks. Sure you can try one before they've been in bottles that long, but 3 weeks is a Revvy's rule of thumb when it comes to fully carbing bottles.
 
Take a reading now. Then take another day after tomorrow. If it's the same, bottle. If not, repeat.

:mug:

Woah woah woah... don't bottle quite yet... may be ready as in done fermenting, sure... but 1 week isn't nearly long enough before bottling for the beer to age properly... 3 weeks in your primary fermenter AT LEAST. I've had a few beers finish out in a day or two, but just wait it out. 3 weeks, THEN bottle. Then another 3 weeks, then drink. I know it's tough, but wait it out, you'll be glad you did!
 
It should be noted that you'll probably want to wait for the yeast to start dropping out of solution before you consider bottling. They'll will clean up fermentation by-products even when it looks like there is no activity. But if the yeast is floccing out and dropping to the bottom of the fermenter, it's done.


*DISCLAIMER*
I've got flamed in the past for suggesting this. There seems to be a "don't bottle your beer before three weeks or your mother will explode!!!!" mentality here sometimes. FWIW, I've bottled beer after 8 days in the fermenter and won gold medals and comments from judges saying how "well fermented" it was. You've made wine, you're familiar with fermentation, I feel comfortable suggesting this to you. To a brand spanking new brewer, I might tell them just to leave it for three weeks.
 
Well.........like I said I forgot to take initial S.G.
So from there I have NO idea what my FG should be. Or how to come up with What it should be
 
i never do anything to a beer before it's been in the primary 2 weeks, preferably 3. the yeast will eat the sugar, then come back around and eat it's waste, then go dormant. that's the 2-3 week time span there. after 3 weeks, go for it. only beer i keg after 2 weeks is hefeweizen
 
I have to respectfully disagree guys. No commercial brewery anywhere leaves a standard beer in the primary fermenter for 3 weeks.
 
Coopers Australian Ale 3.75 lbs extract kit with 3# of Munton and 2oz of Cascade Hops, plus an additional 1 cup of Muntons(long story) with WYEAST liquid yeast(london Ale)
 
That would give you around a 1.058 SG. London Ale in my experience usually attenuates around 75%, maybe a little less with extract. Anywhere near 1.015 should be your ballpark FG, +/- a couple of points.

Edit: ~1.055 if you used Coopers LME and Muntons DME.
 
Cool Thanks,
So 3 weeks in the bottle? Far cry from the 3 weeks fermenting and 1 week bottled I was prep for. However Gotta do whatcha gotta do. All I do is wait....................I was speaking about making wine again :D
 
Cool Thanks,
So 3 weeks in the bottle? Far cry from the 3 weeks fermenting and 1 week bottled I was prep for. However Gotta do whatcha gotta do. All I do is wait....................I was speaking about making wine again :D

This thread inspired a custom title for myself.......


Not necessarily 3 weeks in the bottle either. I usually check one after a week because of nagging curiosity and lack of patience. It's usually carbed somewhat, but not quite there. Two weeks they're usually done. I'm a stickler for appearance as well, so I put them in the fridge and try not to touch them until the chill haze clears up. Sometimes another week before this happens, sometimes 3 more. This also gives the CO2 time to dissolve into the beer from the headspace. When I crack a warm beer, I'll get a huge "pssst", and then a flabby, big bubbled, gassy beer that gets flat in a couple of minutes. Most of the CO2 escaped from the head space and never got into the beer. After a couple of weeks in the fridge, I'll get nice clear beer with tiny beaded bubbles and nice layer of foam that rides the beer all the way down the glass as I drink. I know some people claim that the haze is just appearance, but I believe it makes a difference in carbonation and mouthfeel as well. To each his own though.
 
So one last quick question(for tonight) I have a bottle tree and vinator. question: what soultion are you using in the vinator for bottle sanatizing? star san is "resuable"? one step is not? I'm not even sure on Iodophor. I'm looking for no rinse bottle sanitizer that I'm able to use in vinator(I think this is why I need reusable) and if I can use it to sanatize my equpiment as well would be great.
 
So one last quick question(for tonight) I have a bottle tree and vinator. question: what soultion are you using in the vinator for bottle sanatizing? star san is "resuable"? one step is not? I'm not even sure on Iodophor. I'm looking for no rinse bottle sanitizer that I'm able to use in vinator(I think this is why I need reusable) and if I can use it to sanatize my equpiment as well would be great.

IMHO, Star-san is one of the greatest products to grace homebrewing. I use it in my vinator as well. No rinse, you can put it in a spray bottle and sanitize stuff that way as well. Don't fear the foam!!!!
 
I have to respectfully disagree guys. No commercial brewery anywhere leaves a standard beer in the primary fermenter for 3 weeks.

But homebrewing isn't the same as commercial brewing right? Commerical breweries pitch healthy yeast at much higher rates, often filter, and often force carb. So their turn around rates are much quicker. Not to mention better temperature control and all the other multi-thousand dollar technologies they employ.


Rev.
 
But homebrewing isn't the same as commercial brewing right? Commerical breweries pitch healthy yeast at much higher rates, often filter, and often force carb. So their turn around rates are much quicker. Not to mention better temperature control and all the other multi-thousand dollar technologies they employ.


Rev.

Homebrewers should also being doing some of those things as well, especially some sort of temperature control. There's no reason not to. I also wouldn't dare recommend something to anyone here without having tried and proven it effective myself. I just don't think anyone should blindly follow some sort of rule based on anecdotal claims.
 

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