Makita
Active Member
Every batch of beer I have ever made has a harsh overly-yeasty, overly-bitter (even astringent) flavor. I would guess wild yeast contamination, but I am ridiculously anal about making sure everything is sterilized well and kept covered at all times.
Because of the harsh yeastiness, it occured to me that I may be leaving too much yeast in contact with my beer. Would it be beneficial to use a blow-off fermenter to get rid of some of that crap during fermentation?
If so, I have another question. With my plastic Brew Pail, there is ample room to seal the lid and then shake the hell out of it when I pitch my yeast. Since a blow-off fermenter requires a small amount of headspace, how do I ensure proper aeration during pitching? Keep in mind that I have no oxygen tanks or anything hardcore like that.
Another idea I had was to clamp a muslin bag over my siphon when moving to the secondary, but Im afraid this might also block out some of the yeast still in suspension, and I wont get a decent carbonation later. Has anyone tried this?
Because of the harsh yeastiness, it occured to me that I may be leaving too much yeast in contact with my beer. Would it be beneficial to use a blow-off fermenter to get rid of some of that crap during fermentation?
If so, I have another question. With my plastic Brew Pail, there is ample room to seal the lid and then shake the hell out of it when I pitch my yeast. Since a blow-off fermenter requires a small amount of headspace, how do I ensure proper aeration during pitching? Keep in mind that I have no oxygen tanks or anything hardcore like that.
Another idea I had was to clamp a muslin bag over my siphon when moving to the secondary, but Im afraid this might also block out some of the yeast still in suspension, and I wont get a decent carbonation later. Has anyone tried this?