Carbonation during fermentation

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deuce40

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I've been brewing a mango wheat beer and I'm very excited about this one. This will be my most ambitious beer to date. It's my seventh beer so obviously I'm a newbie. Since I've started brewing I've been on this site 24/7 and have been soaking in all knowledge that you guys throw around this site. So with that said I have kind of a weird problem that I don't think many have dealt with before. I used 10 pounds of fresh mangos in the secondary after primary fermentation was completed. I'm now at day 5 in the secondary and decided to see where it was at gravity wise. I sanitized my turkey baster and pulled my sample for my hydrometer then realized my beer was already carbonating. I know that you will get a little bit of carbonation while fermenting but never seen a sample look like this before. It looked like Finished beer. I have chunks of mangos that have floated up to the top and looks like its the cause of the problem. I have attached a photo. I believe that the fruit is trapping the gasses in the solution. So my question is, is there a way to de-carb my beer before bottling. I would hate to have this beer turn out over carb-ed after all of the hard work I put into this one.

image-797190046.jpg
 
Rack it again? There might be a way to do what you're saying but I would just rack it off the fruit, let it sit a day or two, than bottle.
 
Wow just noticed the title. Lmao I hate auto correct. Sometimes I think it would make more sense if it just left it alone.
 
harrymanback92 said:
Rack it again? There might be a way to do what you're saying but I would just rack it off the fruit, let it sit a day or two, than bottle.

This will take care of the co2 that was absorbed into the solution.
 
I guess there's only one way to find out I'm going to re rack this today.
 
Don't touch it. Fruit can take an aditional week or two, sometimes more, to ferment out. The mango chunks will eventually sink. You do not need to degas the beer. Trying to degas it will offer oxygen and contamination a opportunity to damage your beer. Just wait and be patient.
 
Couldn't I just let it sit for a little while longer after I re-rack it so that it completely ferments out
 
What I was asking is if the yeast that's still I'm suspension will ferment out what ever sugars are left in suspension. Is this possible or is there not enough to finish?
 
The thing is, there are a lot of sugars that are not in solution, but are bound up in the mango pulp. It will take time for the yeast to get to them. Eventually, the yeast will ferment these sugars out and the pulp will become waterlogged (beerlogged, more precisely) and it will sink. But right now the yeast is still fermenting the sugars in there, generating CO2 and causing the pulp to float. This is normal.

Here's another thing to keep in mind: When you add fruit to your beer, you're really making a beer+wine combo. Nobody ever expects their wine to be ready after only 5-7 days fermenting. Wine just takes longer. The good news is, you're effectively pitching a large amount of healthy, active yeast, which likely still has plenty of non-sugar nutrients available. And while your beer is probably at about 5%ABV already, most ale yeast strains are good to 9%-10%ABV - strains intended specifically for high gravity/high ABV beers will go a good deal higher.

Really, just leave it alone for 2 more weeks. I know it's hard but your patience will be rewarded. (probably)
 
Well, after five days on the mango pulp, I'd get it out of there as well. I'm a winemaker and I never leave fruit in the fermenter more than about five days. The oxygen will get to be an issue, and the fruit on top dries out and will start to be at risk of molding/rotting. I'd rack if it was my beer.
 
I decided to go ahead and re-rack the beer. I noticed that the gravity was already lower then where it started (1.010 to 1.008). I'm going to give it a couple more day to see if there is any more movement then bottle. That's for the help and ideas.
 
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