Have I set myself up for explosions?

[Psychlopath]

BLUF: I'm not sure if I bottled too early, and I don't know how to tell or if there is a way to tell.

Long version:

After a few years of nothing but mead brewing, I decided to get back into proper drinks with a generic Hefe. The recipe is from the local brew shop; I can transcribe it here if it's needed for this thread.

I followed the instructions exactly and fermented in a commercial fridge at 64*F for the 10 days called out for, bottled with the sugar the brew shop guy sold me and was happy 'till I got back into reading the forums. I think it was 4.5oz of priming sugar, but I didn't think to record that in my brew journal.

Anyhow, I read about something here that I don't remember worrying about with brews from a few years ago before the meads: krausen.

When I opened the fermentation bucket, there was a goodly amount of what turned out to be krausen on top, which I simply scooted aside to take my FG and to siphon. There was maybe 1/16" of bubbly raft/scum all the way over the top of the liquid.

Over the past few days, I've been seeing that that indicates (or...could?) incomplete fermentation.

I'm now 3 days into conditioning at 73*F and I'm worrying about 5 gallons worth of exploding bottles.

When I tasted at bottling, all I noticed was deliciousness that I couldn't wait to get carbonated and nothing that I would say is an off flavor that would indicate incomplete fermentation, but I'm not a critic.

The recipe instructions say to give the beer the customary 14 days of conditioning; I'll be checking these at a week to see what's going on with them, but in the mean time should I be just relaxing, as I'm inclined to do, or should I be taking immediate action?

If it matters, OG = 1.052, FG = 1.026 per my hydrometer.

 

[chickypad]

Unfortunately the way to tell would have been to take another reading after a few days, and before packaging. A healthy fermentation should be done in 10 days but that FG sounds high so I'd be worried. I have seen stubborn krausen that doesn't fall despite the beer being finished, but IME it usually looks more like dense yeast rafts rather than actively bubbling krausen. Had the beer cleared up otherwise? I'd be careful handling those and get them in a covered tub or cooler.

 

[doug293cz]

Yeah, I think you should worry. There's enough potential sugar (as much as 8 - 9 volumes worth) left to cause bottle bombs if it ferments out during conditioning. Get those bottles in a heavy duty covered plastic tub, or something similar. After a few days of conditioning, I wouldn't handle without wearing a full face mask, several layers of heavy clothing that completely covers all skin (especially in the neck area) and leather gloves.

If they do start popping in the bin, either wait until they all pop to open the container, or fill the container with ice to cool the bottles down, reduce the pressure, and stop additional fermentation. Once the bottles are cold, carefully open each one (with protective gear as above) and dump. Try to keep something solid between you and the bottles when you are handling them. Welcome to the bomb disposal team.

Brew on

 

[RPh_Guy]

Welcome to the bomb disposal team.

Do people really go fishing with dynamite? If so, can he now go fishing with his hefeweizen?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. But seriously, I agree with the others; it's better to err on the side of caution and be careful handling them. That said, I think it'll probably be ok just based on the fact that it should be done after 10 days. I'm no expert but I do see extract beers have unexpectedly high FGs here on the forum sometimes.

 

[doug293cz]

Do people really go fishing with dynamite? If so, can he now go fishing with his hefeweizen?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. But seriously, it's better to err on the side of caution and be careful handling them. That said, I think it'll probably be ok just based on the fact that it should be done after 10 days. I'm no expert but I do see extract beers have unexpectedly high FGs here on the forum sometimes.

It's possible that it is really at FG, but I wouldn't take a chance. Most of the stalled extract fermentations I've read about have stalled at about 1.020. The 0.006 extra would be enough for about 3 volumes of CO2 if fermented out, which would be in addition to what is created by the priming sugar.

I also don't trust time as a determinant of when fermentation is done. Most of my moderate gravity ales are done in 4 - 5 days. My last batch (which was a super high gravity brew) took 20 days to reach FG. It went fast initially, and then slowed to a crawl.

Brew on

 

[Sadu]

1.026 is super high.

Was this an all-grain brew or an extract kit? If it's all-grain and you mashed at a high temperature then that might allow a bit of fluctuation in the FG and it could reasonably get as high as 1.020 without it being a problem. If it's extract then the FG should be a lot lower than it is. It should end up more-or-less what it says on the kit.

I'd say you either fermented it too cool (bad thermometer?) or the yeast in the kit weren't very healthy to begin with and have struggled to ferment out the brew, with cool temperatures not helping.

Either way those bottles are a concern. Take the advice on wearing glasses / gloves / jacket when handling them. I got fireballed while smoking some salamis on the weekend and after losing skin and hair on my face/arms have a new found respect for safety in these hobbies.

 

[doug293cz]

... I got fireballed while smoking some salamis on the weekend and after losing skin and hair on my face/arms have a new found respect for safety in these hobbies.

Holy cow. Hope you're ok and have a speedy recovery, with no long term affects.

Brew on

 

[Psychlopath]

Thank you all for the responses.

...IME it usually looks more like dense yeast rafts rather than actively bubbling krausen. Had the beer cleared up otherwise?

This makes me second guess that what I was seeing was krausen. It very clearly was not actively bubbling and had started to sort of desiccate on the top of the floating mass. The brew was more clear than on boil day, but still cloudy, as I'd hoped to expect from a hef.

The recipe didn't have any gravity to shoot for, and was all extract.

The good news is that the bottles are all contained in a large refrigeration unit with a drain at the bottom, so if they rupture in there it won't be a a huge headache. They are also outside, so leaking glass slurry can be dried out and vacuumed up. Lesson learned about blindly following the recipe with so little though.

I can turn the fridge all the way to freezing, so would it be worth dropping the temp to mid 30's and dumping back into a fermenter for a while longer?

Or maybe I should start out by pulling a sample from a bottle and getting a gravity, would probably be best, but having added sugar at the bottling, is there a gravity I should be expecting? It seems like a reading now may be too much of a crap shoot to be a reliable indication of anything.

As another source of input, I'm going to go for a growler fill and see what the beer shop guy has to say about all of this.

EDIT: I just went out and, with PPE, gingerly cracked the flip top one of the 750ml bottles and got a very slight hiss of pressure out, no where near what you'd get from a commercial beer, so I feel like I still have a window of time to work with here.

 

[bucketnative]

At what temperature are the bottles currently conditioning? You said they are in a fridge.

 

[Psychlopath]

At what temperature are the bottles currently conditioning?

They were conditioning too cold. I had set my temp control to 74...but then went ahead and plugged the fridge into the "Warmer," receptacle. SO, when I went to pull a bottle, they were at 35*.

Don't know where my head was for that one, but it is done.

I went by the brew shop and took a bottle to the owner there.

We drank it.

We came to the conclusion that I should condition at the warmer, 74*F temp or so and test one every day 'till it gets to the bubblyness that I like, then drop the temp way down and drink it quickly and be aware of gushers, proceeding with caution if I find any.

I thought the beer was awesome as is, so I'm going to start going through it and having friends over to help.

 

[Psychlopath]

I figured it'd be decent to update on this.

Over the past week or so, I've been going through this like crazy, to prevent any issues. Guests, dinners and grilling every day, which is a complete bonus.

I've also kept the fridge temp as low as possible, around 34*.

This is the best brew I've ever done. With all of the learning, miscalculating and other mishaps, the beer has been absolutely incredible. The flavor and the unctuous feel, the smell and the color and even the carbonation are all 100% incredible.

Besides having gone through a bit of an uncertain time with it, the ONLY thing I'd change would be a higher ABV. Hovering around 3% is practically water in that aspect, but has the benefit of allowing me and mine to drink absolutly obscene amounts of it in record time.

I'm now down to 2 750ml bottles left and it looks like my next brew will be another of this recipe, but with more experience involved.

Life is good.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Yay! Beer!
Glad it all worked out