n8huntsman
Active Member
I brewed my first extract batch, a nut brown, using Nottingham yeast. Fermented around 70°. I fermented the 5 gallon bactch in a 15 gallon conical. I LHBS said when the airlock bubbles slow to a bubble per minute, transfer to secondary for another week, keg, chill, carb, shake, settle for a day, then enjoy. I ended up not getting an airtight seal on the conical so I never saw bubbles, but I could see krausen foam forming on top and it was a few degrees warmer than the ambient temperature according to the stick on fermometer so I was fairly certain it was fermenting. The krausen subsided after about 5 days. After 7 days, instead of transfering to a secondary, since I'm using a conical, I dumped the trub from the bottom valve. I then let it sit for another week. SG seemed to be done moving so I transfered to the keg. I did taste it at this time and it tasted and smelled like green apples (acetaldehyde) but not knowing what to expect at that point, I continued on. Chilled the keg, force carbed it, let it settle for a day and of course the taste is still there. It's pretty bad to me, but my friends dont think it's too bad, the 5 gallons are almost gone!
So now I'm brewing a california common "steam beer" with saflager s-23. It fermented the first 3 days around 63° (ambient was 58°) and is now sitting around 68° which is also now the ambient temp. This time I'm going to give it at least 3 weeks and leave it on the trub the whole time since I now know not to worry about yeast autolysis over that short of a period. It's been two weeks now, and I popped the top on the fermenter to take a sneak peak and whiff. Again, I can smell the green apples. I'm going to let it sit for another week at least before I keg but I'm curious if there is anything else I can do to prevent the acetaldehyde? Can I gently stir the trub to rouse the yeast so they can turn it into ethanol?
Thanks and sorry for the long first post.
So now I'm brewing a california common "steam beer" with saflager s-23. It fermented the first 3 days around 63° (ambient was 58°) and is now sitting around 68° which is also now the ambient temp. This time I'm going to give it at least 3 weeks and leave it on the trub the whole time since I now know not to worry about yeast autolysis over that short of a period. It's been two weeks now, and I popped the top on the fermenter to take a sneak peak and whiff. Again, I can smell the green apples. I'm going to let it sit for another week at least before I keg but I'm curious if there is anything else I can do to prevent the acetaldehyde? Can I gently stir the trub to rouse the yeast so they can turn it into ethanol?
Thanks and sorry for the long first post.