woollybugger2
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- Joined
- Feb 14, 2009
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Okay, I thought that I was getting a handle on this brewing stuff, all my batches have come out better than expected and generally liked by my friends. I recently brewed up my second batch of a Belgian Wit, the first time I brewed this in a small partial boil I racked it to a secondary and ended up with a very clear amber ale. Sure the swirl of the bottle added just a touch of cloudiness, but I was a little disappointed in its clarity.
Second time I decided not to use the secondary and to use a starter (1 liter Wyeast 3463) and used a bigger boil with late extract addition.
Fermentation took off very quickly and dropped off after 4 or 5 vigorous days. The OG was slightly higher than the recipes 1.048 and after 12 days I took an SG reading of 1.012, one point away from the estimated FG of 1.011. Five days later I took another reading and it was the same 1.012.
So I bottled with 5 oz of corn sugar. While racking to the bottling bucket I noticed that the beer was still real cloudy and I thought that there were a lot of yeast in suspension but the color was much lighter than my earlier attempt.
I bottled most of the beer in 22 ouncers and 3 Grolsch flit tops this past Sunday. I couldnt resist and tried one of the Grolsch bottles on Wednesday. When I flipped the top of the warm 68* beer there was a pleasant pfffst and a cloud of co2 gas. It poured a decent head considering that it had only been in the bottle 3 days. I didnt pour the entire bottle in the glass, perhaps 3 or 4 ounces shy. When I set the bottle back down on the counter I noticed that the yeast on the bottom started doing their little eruptions coming off the bottom and mixing with the remaining beer. I didnt drink all of the dregs, I poured out the last ounce or two. I thought that the beer, while still young, wasnt half bad!
Last night I tried the last of the Grolsch bottles and noticed the same yeast show, however this time I swirled and poured the entire bottle. It did add a lot of yeast flavor, but still had a good overall color, flavor and aroma of a Belgian Wit.
However all of that active yeast did a number on my digestive track and woke me up at 4 in the morning.
I was thinking that I should take a movie of the yeast dance in the bottom of the bottle but dont know if it will be as visible in the remaining brown bottles.
I am somewhat concerned that somehow, even with stable FG readings, that the beer was bottled too soon. And Im hesitant to share these beers with friends who may also consume too much yeast and end up with similar distress. Will that problem diminish as the beer ages?
Second time I decided not to use the secondary and to use a starter (1 liter Wyeast 3463) and used a bigger boil with late extract addition.
Fermentation took off very quickly and dropped off after 4 or 5 vigorous days. The OG was slightly higher than the recipes 1.048 and after 12 days I took an SG reading of 1.012, one point away from the estimated FG of 1.011. Five days later I took another reading and it was the same 1.012.
So I bottled with 5 oz of corn sugar. While racking to the bottling bucket I noticed that the beer was still real cloudy and I thought that there were a lot of yeast in suspension but the color was much lighter than my earlier attempt.
I bottled most of the beer in 22 ouncers and 3 Grolsch flit tops this past Sunday. I couldnt resist and tried one of the Grolsch bottles on Wednesday. When I flipped the top of the warm 68* beer there was a pleasant pfffst and a cloud of co2 gas. It poured a decent head considering that it had only been in the bottle 3 days. I didnt pour the entire bottle in the glass, perhaps 3 or 4 ounces shy. When I set the bottle back down on the counter I noticed that the yeast on the bottom started doing their little eruptions coming off the bottom and mixing with the remaining beer. I didnt drink all of the dregs, I poured out the last ounce or two. I thought that the beer, while still young, wasnt half bad!
Last night I tried the last of the Grolsch bottles and noticed the same yeast show, however this time I swirled and poured the entire bottle. It did add a lot of yeast flavor, but still had a good overall color, flavor and aroma of a Belgian Wit.
However all of that active yeast did a number on my digestive track and woke me up at 4 in the morning.
I was thinking that I should take a movie of the yeast dance in the bottom of the bottle but dont know if it will be as visible in the remaining brown bottles.
I am somewhat concerned that somehow, even with stable FG readings, that the beer was bottled too soon. And Im hesitant to share these beers with friends who may also consume too much yeast and end up with similar distress. Will that problem diminish as the beer ages?