tonyolympia
Well-Known Member
I'm fermenting a bitter right now, and need some advice about preserving the authentic English flavor, including esters and some diacetyl.
Initially, I planned to follow the odd Fullers fermentation schedule talked about on "Can You Brew It?" and discussed extensively on this forum: pitch at 63, hold at 68 until 1/2 OG drops, cool to 63, and when the wort reaches 1/5 of OG, crash cool to 43 for 2 days. However, I don't have good enough temperature control for that, and I'm skittish about bottling with any gravity points remaining. (It was suggested to me by someone on HBT that the Fullers fermentation profile involves a final step, warming the beer up to finish out after the rest at 43. However, I listened again to the relevant CYBI episodes, and heard no mention of that.)
So my plan changed: ferment high until FG, hoping that the Nottingham yeast i'm using will produce some interesting esters in my bitter. To retain some diacetyl flavor, instead of following the Fullers schedule, I was thinking that I would skip primary conditioning and just bottle after three consecutive days at 1010.
That would make a total fermentation time of about a week to ten days, at which point I will bottle with 1.5 volumes, going for the "real ale" flavor.
Any thoughts on this plan?
Initially, I planned to follow the odd Fullers fermentation schedule talked about on "Can You Brew It?" and discussed extensively on this forum: pitch at 63, hold at 68 until 1/2 OG drops, cool to 63, and when the wort reaches 1/5 of OG, crash cool to 43 for 2 days. However, I don't have good enough temperature control for that, and I'm skittish about bottling with any gravity points remaining. (It was suggested to me by someone on HBT that the Fullers fermentation profile involves a final step, warming the beer up to finish out after the rest at 43. However, I listened again to the relevant CYBI episodes, and heard no mention of that.)
So my plan changed: ferment high until FG, hoping that the Nottingham yeast i'm using will produce some interesting esters in my bitter. To retain some diacetyl flavor, instead of following the Fullers schedule, I was thinking that I would skip primary conditioning and just bottle after three consecutive days at 1010.
That would make a total fermentation time of about a week to ten days, at which point I will bottle with 1.5 volumes, going for the "real ale" flavor.
Any thoughts on this plan?