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Damien21

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Hello brewing Mutons PLC Canadian ale here. first time brewing
just a few quick questions.

Do I add the primer sugar(225 g Dextrose) at bottling or add it too the secondary fermenter after moving it from the first?

Also I forgot to get a reading from the hydrometer when I first mixed this batch up 7 days ago. What would be a ball park estimate of what it would of read after I first mixed it up?

The instructions I have are horribly vague so if anybody has experience with muntons id be greatfull to hear how you went about brewing it.

Cheers!
 
you add the priming sugar when bottling. Did your recipe have an estimated Original gravity? Its usually included with the recipe kits. otherwise i don't know, because it depends on the amount of malt added.
 
Priming sugar in the bottling bucket when you bottle it. Boil it in a cup of water first. Don't worry about the gravity. Even a guess will be wrong. let it go for 3 weeks & check the gravity the last 3 days. If it stays the same then bottle it. You really don't need to secondary it.
 
well he probably wants an estimate of his ABV. So, id look it up if you want to know. if its a little off that's not a big deal. you will be in the ball park still. as soon as you see your airlock slow waaaay down rack into a secondary, and cool. This will brighten your beer and prevent yeast bite, which i caused by leaving beer on yeast too long.
 
hamiltont said:
Priming sugar in the bottling bucket when you bottle it?
Click to expand...

By "bottling bucket" do you mean secondary fermenter? just started this and I'm not to familiar with all the lingo and terms haha.

and A little update here, I just moved it to my secondary fermenter after it was in my primary fermenter for a week.
I added the primer sugar after siphoning and by just adding a tea spoon it foamed up and over flowed a little.I'm assuming I should of added it before? Woo hoo for learning curves.

So is adding it to the secondary fermenter out of the picture now?

Now last question.

How long should it stay in the secondary fermenter before bottling and Now that I'm going to be adding the primer sugar to the bottles how long should I let the bottles set ?

Thanks for all your help guys. When ever I try to find this information on my own via Google there's such an overflow of information it's hard to make heads or tales of anything.


edit* Here some info Imeasured with the hydrometer

Potential alcohol 1 %
potential sugar 2.5
specific gravity 1.001
 
Okay -
it will still be beer, so don't worry about it - The priming sugar is for priming. That is, once the yeast has done all it can with the malt sugars, and you want your beer to be carbonated, you'll need to tease the yeast - wake it up - to eat a little more sugar while sitting in the bottles. The CO2 will have nowhere to go, so it'll carb the beer.

There really is no secondary fermentation (short answer for what most of us brew). So - you can leave it in the primary for a month and it won't hurt anything. (sitting on the yeast won't hurt, although many of us were originally taught that - turns out that's fiction).

Sometimes we put into a secondary chamber to dry hop, sometimes not.

now after a month (or more!) we usually siphon the beer into a bottling bucket (not a secondary) and mix a 1/2-3/4 cup priming sugar (boiled with water, first, to sanitize!) in with it. After some gentle stirring, you're ready to bottle.

Bottles sit at 70F for 3 weeks. then test one. if you like it, you may then store them colder.

welcome to the forum! You're in the right place.

Please read, there is a lot at your disposal here. At the top of this beginner section are "Stickys" - threads that cover many of the basics. You can learn a lot reading thru those threads !

good luck!
 
There really is no secondary fermentation (short answer for what most of us brew). So - you can leave it in the primary for a month and it won't hurt anything. (sitting on the yeast won't hurt said:
Why use a secondary fermentor?

First, because the beer will be clearer when you bottle it, so there will be less sediment in the bottles. This is because the beer has a chance to settle again in secondary. There will always be a little bit of sediment in the bottles when using the natural carbonation methods popular with home brewers.

Second, because fermentation will be faster and more complete when using two fermentors.

Fermentation starts out quite vigorously, and then gradually tapers to a stop for a few days. After the peak of fermentation, inactive “spent” yeast settles to the bottom of the fermentor. This inactive yeast actually inhibits the yeast that is still active and trying to finish the fermentation.

When you “rack” your beer (transfer to a secondary fermentor) you leave the inactive yeast behind, and the physical motion of the beer drives some of the dissolved CO2 out of solution. This re-invigorates the fermentation, so that it finishes faster, and the beer will have fewer off-flavors. This is more important with very strong beers, and with many lagers.

Third, because you can leave your beer in secondary much longer than you can in primary.

If you leave your beer in primary for more than 2 weeks, all of the settled yeast starts to “autolyse”, which means the stronger yeast cells start cannibalizing the weaker ones. This gives you harsh yeast “bite” in the finished beer. But when you rack to secondary, most of the yeast gets left behind, so it is safe to let the beer settle and age after fermentation is complete.

This is useful for stronger beers that need aging to mellow their flavor, and for making lagers, in fact, the word “lager” means “to lay down” (i.e.: to age). http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/REsecondary.asp

Yeast bite acts differently depending on the type of yeast. Most brewers yeast will not autolyse fast or even seem to at all. But if you don't know why take the chance?
Click to expand...
 
What Hang glider said...

There is a wealth of info here, and at times it can be overwhelming, but as has been said, this is a good place to be.

If you've been bitten by the bug though, and you want it all, "How to Brew" by John Palmer is a good place to start your education. The link will take you to a website where his entire 1st edition is free to read online, the most recent edition can be had online for about 12-14 bucks and is what I give as gifts to friends that are starting out and don't already have a copy.

Welcome to the hobby!
 
autolysis busted - just one of many. Do a search to find current thought about beer sitting on yeast.

I used to rack mine into the secondary within 2 weeks (for the first 5 years!) but since visiting here, have changed several things, relaxed more, waited longer, paid more attention to fermentation temps - - - and my beers are the best they've ever been...

just my .02

truly best wishes for all your batches!
 
thanks guys for the info. Confidence is restored in my batch.

Just curious though how long should I let it set now? any tell tale signs that it's done?

does 20 days in the secondary fermenter and 7 days in the bottles(with primer) sound about right? just guessing here.

Is it Ok to take the fermentation lock off and measure every now and then with the thief/ hydrometer until the alcohol level to gets to 5% ?

haha 2 questions is slowly turning into 21.
 
20 days in secondary is fine. 7 days in bottle won't get you carb'd enough. Try 20 days in the bottle (at 70F). While you can measure every day if you want, you risk infection. Many of us measure the original gravity, leave it be for a month, confident that it's done it's job, and bottle/keg. However, before actually bottling, check the final gravity - just in case you have a surprise stuck fermentation - in which case you would abandon your plans that day.
You won't measure 'until it gets to 5%' as you may never reach that or may surpass that - it's all about leaving the yeast to do it's job completely, and just measuring their end result.

enjoy!
 

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