Some basics

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Supergravi

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Hello all -
*
Sort of new at brewing and love it.* But, as with anything, I HAVE to know the inner-workings and the why/how*of what I am doing.* 'Just becuase'* doesn't cut it for me. So....
*
Fermentation - simplisticly speaking, yeast eats sugars.* By-products are CO2 which escapes and alcohol.** Good so far?** If one lets his brew go to full attenuation, are all the sugars eaten and all the yeast dies?* After attenuation, if I added more sugar or more yeast, would fermention begin again?* (adding one or the other, not both).
*
Carbonation - currently, I am adding priming sugar before bottling.* CO2 is obviously created and can't escape, so it carbonates my beer.* But that process is not fermetation, correct?* What happens to the priming sugar during this process/conditioning?* How much does the priming sugar affect taste?* (am I also backsweetening with a priming sugar?)
 
The bottling sugar is fermenting and creating c02 which has no where to go so it goes back into solution.
 
It is affecting your gravity and ABV but only a tiny bit. It is probably with in the margin of error of you hydrometer. If you really what to know the inner workings of brewing go buy "How to Brew" by John Palmer and read it cover to cover. Then you will want to read more books. And more books. And More.
 
One clarification: the yeast goes dormant after attentuation correct? - does not die or breakdown. Attenuation is when there are no longer sugars to consume?

Chemically speaking, what does stabilizing do? I know it stops the yeast, but what is chemically happening? Can fermentation be reactivated after stabilizing with something like sorbate?
 
One clarification: the yeast goes dormant after attentuation correct? - does not die or breakdown. Attenuation is when there are no longer sugars to consume?

The yeast does go dormant, but it does die eventually when it runs out of energy reserves. This can take weeks or months depending on how well it was treated.

Chemically speaking, what does stabilizing do? I know it stops the yeast, but what is chemically happening? Can fermentation be reactivated after stabilizing with something like sorbate?


I have never seen any reason for one to use any kind of stabilizer in a beer. When the yeast is done consuming what it can, what you are left with is the flavor, body, and sweetness of the beer. You can adjust all of those things by recipe formulation, mash temp, yeast selection, etc...

No need to ever use a stabilizer.
 
I don't use a stabilizer in beer. But I do wine some and I am doing a hard raspberry lemonade now and someone mentioned stabilizing that.
 
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