Approaching 7 days of fermentation..a few questions for the vets...

I thought I would update you guys on my Mr Beer bew. As you may remember, after sitting for a few days doing nothing it finally kicked in last Friday. It had a nice foam layer and was very active for a few days. The last few days the foam has gone down but there are still a few bubbles breaking the surface and while the yeast seems to be mostly laying on the bottom there are still little clumps that jump off the bottom and swim around.

I'm thinking of bottling on Saturday morning and starting a new batch. Should I wait until the yeast stops moving around or is that just normal and I should go ahead and bottle.

Also I'm thinking of using some hops in a future batch. Do I strain the hops out when I pour the wort into the fermenter or do they go in to?

Happy brewing and I'll keep you posted on how this batch turns out!

UdderJuice said:

I thought I would update you guys on my Mr Beer bew. As you may remember, after sitting for a few days doing nothing it finally kicked in last Friday. It had a nice foam layer and was very active for a few days. The last few days the foam has gone down but there are still a few bubbles breaking the surface and while the yeast seems to be mostly laying on the bottom there are still little clumps that jump off the bottom and swim around.

I'm thinking of bottling on Saturday morning and starting a new batch. Should I wait until the yeast stops moving around or is that just normal and I should go ahead and bottle.

Also I'm thinking of using some hops in a future batch. Do I strain the hops out when I pour the wort into the fermenter or do they go in to?

Happy brewing and I'll keep you posted on how this batch turns out!

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not real sure on the yeast part there, but acorrding to the mr beer book of brewing, you pour the hops right on in with all else, they settle to the bottom with the yeast and stuff. good luck there. just bottled my first batch of pale ale. waiting now for carbonation.

As it turns out I bottled tonight. I had pitched the wort a week ago last night. It took 2 days to foam up and the foam lasted till Sunday night. Monday there was no foam and a little activity. Yesterday and today nothing was happening and all the yeast had just been sitting on the bottom.

So I poured a little from the tap into a paper cup and it sure enough smelt like beer and tasted like beer. I figured its done fermenting and if I bottle now I can chill a bottle a week from tonight and qualify next weekend. Im confident from the look, smell and taste that it will be good and I figure its a learning experience. I want to be able to recognize when the time is right. I must say it was quite a rush to smell the beer and realize everything had been working properly. This is great fun.

This is the East Coast Pale Ale as well.

I'll keep you posted.

Hi Udderjuice,

I think, by your description of things, that you are on the right way. Good luck!

so if the beer taste yeasty does it need to stay in the fermenter a lil longer i poured me a glas lastnight of pale ale from mr beer there was no head and thebeer tasted yeasty it was int he fermenterfor 7 days before i bottles there were no bubles it has beed in the bottle for 2 weeks? i just bottles the weizenbierit was in the fermenter for dAYS but now its isn 4 clear coke bottles in the mrbeer box.

trekv2 said:

so if the beer taste yeasty does it need to stay in the fermenter a lil longer i poured me a glas lastnight of pale ale from mr beer there was no head and thebeer tasted yeasty it was int he fermenterfor 7 days before i bottles there were no bubles it has beed in the bottle for 2 weeks? i just bottles the weizenbierit was in the fermenter for dAYS but now its isn 4 clear coke bottles in the mrbeer box.

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Woah there your post is a little hard to understand but I'll attempt to answer your questions. Your Mr Beer brew is always going to have a little yeasty flavor but if you want to keep it from having a strong yeast flavor then you need to leave it in the fermenter for 10 or 11 days. A good rule of thumb is that once the foam on the top of the brew goes down then wait 5 or 6 more days to bottle. This lets all the yeast settle to the bottom. Also when you move the fermenter to bottle the beer try not to disturb the yeast on the bottom.

As for your beer not having bubbles in it...did it taste flat? If it actually tasted flat then it hadn't carbonated yet. You should leave in the bottle for 10 days after bottling. Also, the colder you make the beer before serving the less it will foam when you pour it.

I am currently working on a website that explains how to get the best results from Mr. Beer but I don't know when I'll be finished as I'm still learning myself and writting it as I go.

How come everyone is overlooking taking S.G. readings?

Take a S.G. reading just after you lay the brew down, then 7 or 10 days later, take two readings on two consecutive days, and if they're the same then it's time to bottle.

snookmz said:

How come everyone is overlooking taking S.G. readings?

Take a S.G. reading just after you lay the brew down, then 7 or 10 days later, take two readings on two consecutive days, and if they're the same then it's time to bottle.

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Well, I don't have the gizmo required to do that. I just sort of tell by looking at the wort.

snookmz said:

How come everyone is overlooking taking S.G. readings?

Take a S.G. reading just after you lay the brew down, then 7 or 10 days later, take two readings on two consecutive days, and if they're the same then it's time to bottle.

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I agree, a hydrometer is a very valuable tool. Definitely one worth investing in if you don't already have one. Using this and knowing the original gravity of your wort and the attenuation of your yeast strain can let you know roughly where your beer will finish. This is especially valuable for recipes you have never made before or ones that don't tell you what the final gravity will be. You can also continually check your specific gravity every few days to see if it is changing and how drastically it is changing. Very valuable information for the brewer. A hydrometer can be had for around 5 bucks at the brewshop or even online.

UdderJuice said:

I am currently working on a website that explains how to get the best results from Mr. Beer but I don't know when I'll be finished as I'm still learning myself and writting it as I go.

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Could you let us know when you finish that? I think we'd like to link to that. Shoot me an email to [email protected] -- also let us know if you have any questions or need any help. That would be a handy thing to be able to refer Mr. Beer folks to.

I have no idea what this Mr Beer setup tells you to do, but 7 days is *really* young. Even commercial breweries only turn beer out in 11 days or so, and that's with perfect conditions, huge yeast pitches, filtering, etc.

FWIW, I rack to a secondary after a week, let it go in that for a minimum of one more week, but usually two, then I keg it and it sits there for a while often. And my beer is awesome, commercial quality beer.

I think expecting good, clean beer with no secondary and only seven days is just a bit much.

Good luck!

Janx