importance of separating hot/coldbreak

[yeoldebrewer]

I read varying opinions regarding the importance of leaving some or most of the cold and hot break behind when transferring from brew pot to fermenter. I'm wondering if problems I'm having with inconsistency from bottle to bottle and irregular carbonation might be caused by racking too much trub to the primary.

Opinions would be much appreciated.

 

[Revvy]

Nope...that has little to do with it, since many folks often dump everything into their fermenters.

The only thing that "causes" inconsistant carbonation is a lack of patience, usually. There's a couple other factors if you are priming each individual bottle with priming sugar or carb tabs....Like adding to little or too much table sugar to a bottle, or miss putting carb tabs into a couple bottles....

but with batch priming, MOST of the folks who think they are having inconsistant carbing issues, simply aren't waiting long enough for ALL the bottles to carb.....each bottle becomes it's own individual microcosm, so they all end up having their own timeframe, but it usually is all around the same time...

If you are checking them at three weeks and one is carbed and one isn't really usually only means that you haven't gotten to the point where they all would be carbed...meaning had you lets same not opened them til 6 weeks (if you went out of town) and they all were perfectly carbed, then you wouldn't think or know they weren't carbed at 4 weeks.

If you haven't already, read my blog Of Patience and Bottle Conditioning. I go into extensive detaul about the carbing/ conditioning process.



How long are you waiting to check on your beers, and at what

 

[thelorax121]

I had problems with this in the past as well, and I found that when I was making the sugar solution to batch prime in the bottling bucket, I was either not using enough water, so the solution was very dens and sank to the bottom rater than becoming evenly distributed throughout the bucket.

Another recommendation I have is that when you add the priming solution to the bottling bucket, take a well sanitized spoon and stir the beer in a whirlpool motion. This ensures that the sugar is well distributed through the beer and allows you to rack from the side of the bottling bucket while any hop particles or resuspended yeast will gather in the center and stay out of the bottles. Hope this helps!

 

[Catt22]

I had problems with this in the past as well, and I found that when I was making the sugar solution to batch prime in the bottling bucket, I was either not using enough water, so the solution was very dens and sank to the bottom rater than becoming evenly distributed throughout the bucket.

Another recommendation I have is that when you add the priming solution to the bottling bucket, take a well sanitized spoon and stir the beer in a whirlpool motion. This ensures that the sugar is well distributed through the beer and allows you to rack from the side of the bottling bucket while any hop particles or resuspended yeast will gather in the center and stay out of the bottles. Hope this helps!

+1 It's typically a problem due to not mixing the priming sugar well. I like to dissolve the corn sugar in water just off the boil then add that mixture to the bottling bucket and rack the beer on top of it. Even then, I mix it some more with a spoon. I've never tried using the priming tabs or adding sugar individually to each bottle. Allow three weeks or longer to carbonate at room temperature. The reality is that no one ever waits that long before sampling a bottle, but wait it out if you can.

 

[Revvy]

+1 It's typically a problem due to not mixing the priming sugar well. I like to dissolve the corn sugar in water just off the boil then add that mixture to the bottling bucket and rack the beer on top of it. Even then, I mix it some more with a spoon. I've never tried using the priming tabs or adding sugar individually to each bottle. Allow three weeks or longer to carbonate at room temperature. The reality is that no one ever waits that long before sampling a bottle, but wait it out if you can.

That is a myth guys, It's not typically a problem due to not mixing the priming solution and the beer, MOST FOLKS JUST PUT IT IN THE BOTTOM AND RACK the beer on it and have no problems. If you boil your priming sugar, and put it in the bottom and let the natural flow of the beer from the bottom to the top it mixes just fine on it's own......

Most of the people who "think" that is the issue, are just like the op, coming up with a reason, when in reality, when you find out what temp the beer was conditioning at or at what point they were sampling the beer and what the grav was, you find out that impatience is the only problem...they usually come back, either to the thread or PM me that after "x more weeks" or moving the beer to a warmer place, the beer carbed up just fine.

I have had ports and stouts NEED 4-8 weeks and I had a 10.5% abv Belgian strong need three months to carb and another 4 months to not taste like rocket fuel.

You can do a stir if it makes you "feel better" but you also then run the risk if you are too agressive in oxydizing your beer.

When you get ready to rack to your bottling bucket, lay your auto siphon hose in the bottom so it follows the curve of the bucket (I stick mine under my bottling bucket dip tube.) As the beer rises in the bucket it will naturraly "swirl" around whatever direction the hose is facing, and it will naturally and gently mix the sugar solution and the beer. If you think it helps you can pour half the solution in the bottom, and pout the other have when the level reaches 2.5 gallons...but honestly I haven't noticed a difference.

 

[yeoldebrewer]

Revvy et al, thanks for great info. I'm still trying to sort out the relationship between carbonation and flavor maturation in my beer. There's a lot of chemistry going on in those little bottles.

It would be great if I had a BJCP analysis machine to tell me what my beer is really doing.

 

[Catt22]

I continue to maintain that inconsistent bottle carbonation level is usually the result of insufficient mixing of the priming sugar. I've only had this happen once, but that was enough to convince me to thoroughly mix the priming sugar into the beer. Slow to carbonate, inconsistent carbonation and total failure to carbonate are usually the result of three different issues. I have not experienced any of these problems for years. No problems with oxidation either. I can't help it if I'm lucky.