Noob question about "no-sugar" Brewferm Christmas Ale

[viking_brew]

Anyone have experience with the Brewferm Christmas Ale Kit? The instructions say to let ferment for 10 days in primary and then bottle for 6-8 weeks without adding any priming sugar. Does this make sense to bottle without any primer? I would hate to bottle and wait several months only to have flat beer but I don't want to have exploding bottles either.

FYI the kit makes a small batch 7L (1.8 US Gallons)

Thank you!

 

[BendBrewer]

Yeah. Fermenting for only 10 days is bound to leave some fermentable sugars in the beer and 6-8 weeks is plenty of time for that to turn into carbonation. Seems like a risky way to go given the fickleness of the fermentation process. You could end up fermenting too hot and eat all the fermentables or too cool for too short of a time and end up with too much leading to over carbonation.

If you have experience fermenting to completion and then priming to bottle, I would just stick with that.

 

[viking_brew]

Thanks BendBrewer - that makes more sense. I guess I should have mentioned it would be my first batch. After reading a few books (Papazian, Palmer) and lurking on the forum for a month I thought I had a good idea of how the process should work and the instructions threw me off a bit. I'll just have to go for it and see what happens!

 

[Homercidal]

Is Brewferm the name of the kit maker, or a homebrew supply shop? If it's a kit maker, then I'd toss the instructions right out the window!

Bottling prior to the yeast finishing the fermentation is risky. If you are very experienced, and and understand the ways of yeast and ingredients, then it could be a fun way to bottle beer. But I don't see the point otherwise. It's just asking for trouble for no good reason.

 

[viking_brew]

Brewferm is the name of the kit maker. The instructions are generic for all their kits but there is a table included which references the water and sugar used at different stages of the whole process for each kit; and in this kits case it does not list any sugars to be used at all. Primary fermentation is 10 days at 25*C (77*F) and bottled and stored at 10*C (50*F) for 6 to 8 weeks. The kit came with its own yeast but it is an unmarked package.

Original gravity:1.065
ABV: 7,5 %

The kit manufactured in Belgium http://www.brewferm.be/en/index.htm

My LHBS gave the kit as a gift "welcome to the hobby" sort of thing.

 

[Homercidal]

Nice to score a free kit, but FWIW - I'd pass on adding sugar to most beers and add more extract instead of. Generally, 77F is too hot for a clean fermentation too. More like 67 or even a few degrees cooler. (Unless that yeast is special. Certain yeasts should be fermented hot.)

Too bad the kit makers are mostly interested in getting people to brew fast and buy more kits sooner. Using malt instead of sugar, and fermenting slower and cooler will make a MUCH better beer.

 

[Homercidal]

That christmas beer look pretty tasty though!

 

[viking_brew]

Thanks Homercidal! It indeed does look tasty. I'll give it a go and see what happens. Only my first brew after all so my expectations are low; lol. Either way I'm sure it'll be fun.

Thanks for your help guys.

Cheers,
Kyle

 

[Homercidal]

No problem! Now you've got me thinking about brewing a Christmas ale!

There is lots to learn. Read up, and if you haven't got one yet, pick up a hydrometer and a tube to put it in and this will help with understanding what going to happen with your beer, and help you know when to bottle too. And nothing wrong with kits, but with a little basic understanding, you can make better beer without their instructions.

 

[PCharles]

I just purchased one of these kits. This is my first stab at beer making. I am an experienced wine maker though.

I've read throught the instructions, and it appears that the time to bottle is when the SG reaches 1.020. All the other kits that call for sugar to be added are finished at a lower SG, 1.010.

So, it looks like the thing to do is track the SG closely.

I'm starting my kit this morning.

By the way, I'm a new member to the forum. This setup looks identical to the wine making forum I belong to (winemakingtalk.com).

Cheers,
Paul

 

[helibrewer]

Welcome Paul, wine was my entry back into home brewing. Monitoring gravity is great but trying to hit a SG for bottling purposes can be tricky. It might hit 1020 in the middle of the night and be down to 1015 or 1010 before you know it.

IMHO it is safer to let it go to dryness then prime for bottling. I think if you can control a variable, you should, it lends to repeatability.

 

[PCharles]

Welcome Paul, wine was my entry back into home brewing. Monitoring gravity is great but trying to hit a SG for bottling purposes can be tricky. It might hit 1020 in the middle of the night and be down to 1015 or 1010 before you know it.

IMHO it is safer to let it go to dryness then prime for bottling. I think if you can control a variable, you should, it lends to repeatability.

Helibrewer,

Your point is well taken. What I figure I will do is track the SG closely. If I fall below the 1.020 mark, I'll add additional sugar to bring the SG back to 1.020, the bottle.

By the way, I did purchase sugar at my beer/wine shop. Do most of you use this, or do you ever use regular granulated sugar.

Thanks,
Paul

 

[McGarnigle]

By the way, I did purchase sugar at my beer/wine shop. Do most of you use this, or do you ever use regular granulated sugar.

Thanks,
Paul

I know a lot of us use ordinary table sugar. I'm not sure if what you bought was corn sugar or (more expensive) candi sugar.

As these are Belgian-style kits, adding sugar to the mix isn't unusual.

 

[PCharles]

It is corn sugar that I purchase. It looks like powdered sugar. So you're using plain granulated table sugar. Good to hear.

Thanks for the feedback.

Paul

 

[bovineblitz]

The problem is that your beer could finish at 1.020, especially since it's extract... so you'd get no carbonation. What if your higher ferm temps help push it to something like 1.007? Then you'll probably have bottle bombs.

edit: I use table sugar too, just boil it up in a bit of water.

 

[BamaRooster]

I also prefer to control as many variables as I can, so I would keep it in the ferementer until it reached a stable gravity and then add the bottling sugar. You haven't had fun until you've cleaned up a few gallons of detonated beer bombs. Kit instructions, IMHO, are geared towards faster turn around times and often contradict best practices. Being patient makes better beer.

 

[PCharles]

Anyone have experience with the Brewferm Christmas Ale Kit? The instructions say to let ferment for 10 days in primary and then bottle for 6-8 weeks without adding any priming sugar. Does this make sense to bottle without any primer? I would hate to bottle and wait several months only to have flat beer but I don't want to have exploding bottles either.

FYI the kit makes a small batch 7L (1.8 US Gallons)

Thank you!

Vicking, I note that it was mid Nov that you started your batch. How did the recipe work out for you? Did you bottle straight from the fermenter or add sugar? I believe I will stick to the procedure and monitor the SG as closely as I can. I figure I'll contact Brewferm if I have problems. My fermenter temp is within recommended range and my starting SG was 1.070, a shade upove expected.

Best regards,
Paul

 

[PCharles]

I'm day 3 into my Brewferm Christmas Beer ferment. The starting SG has gone from 1.070 to 1.034. Several of you suggested fermenting until SG stabilizes. Brewferm indicates fermentation would be complete in 7-10 days. If I were to let fermentation go to completion, what sort of time frame should I expect?

If I did let fermentation go to completion, am I correct that I would be adding 1/4 tsp per 12 oz bottle? Also, do you add the sugar to the actual bottle? I thought it would be ok to rack the beer off any sediment into a clean carboy, add total sugar, then siphon into bottles.

Thanks for your feedback. As this is my first beer making, I have typical newbe questions.

Thanks for the feedback,
Paul

 

[McGarnigle]

Even if the gravity flatlines, you're better off letting it go a while before bottling. 3 weeks maybe, some would go more due to the high gravity.

I'd recommend bulk priming. Around 4 ounces of sugar for a 5g batch. Boil it in little water first, then gently pour into the bottling bucket at the same to you rack the beer into it. The swirling of the beer mixes the sugar.

 

[DMartin]

My LHBS gave the kit as a gift "welcome to the hobby" sort of thing.

Sound like you got what you paid for.

 

[viking_brew]

Wow I was surprised to see this post revivied!

I put this in primary a couple months ago and forgot about it for about 3-4 weeks. I lost my notes for it but I beleive it finished somewhere a little above 1.10. I had calculated out the amount of corn surgar needed primed the batch before bottling. It has been in bottles for about 4 weeks now. I cracked one open and it was well carbonated, thick dense head. Flavour still a little rough but hopefully it will be good for Christmas.

 

[PCharles]

Hi Vicking,

I guess I'm the other newbee that chose this Christmas brew this year.

I emailed Brewferm and recieved this email in response.

Dear Sir,

The SG should come to 1020. If it goes lower, no problem.

But do NOT add sugar to go to 1020 again if this is the case, because all sugars will be fermented again.

Do not bottle until it reached 1020 or 1021, otherwise there will be too much pressure in the bottles , resulting in excessive foaming.

Kind Regards,

Jef Goetelen

BROUWLAND

technical sales

My starting SG was 1.070 and it was 1.034 yesterday. I'll check it again every few days. I'm not seeing any aggresive fermentation for the past 2 days. If I can hit the mark of 1.020 or close to it, I expect I will go ahead and bottle.

At least we will have both approaches for other trail blazers to benifit from.

Unlike you, I'll not be tasting my beer until February. What the heck, weather is still chilly here until March. I hope to hang onto some of these bottles until next Christmas.

Seasons greatings and Merry Christmas,
Paul

 

[PCharles]

Greetings fellew fermenters,

I'm not 10 days post starting my Brewferm Christmas beer.

Here are records of my Specific Gravity Testing.

Dec 2, 1.070
Dec 4, 1.034
Dec 7 1.030
Dec 10 1.033
Dec 12 1.031

Vicking Brew, who started this thread indicates he kept his brew in the fermenter for a good bit longer then the companies instruction sheet which states it should be ready in 10 days.

I guess in need to follow the 3 P's, patience, patience, and patience.

I'll test the SG in another week.

Paul

 

[Maegnar]

I see I'm not the only newbie that had chosen Brewferm Christmas as his/her first try at homebrewing. Interesting trend here
I've done all the work solely on intuition, without hydrometer. I've brewed it on 11.15th and left in the fermenter until 11.23rd, when I bottled it.
The beer hasn't 'sploded on me yet and I suppose everything will go well in the end. I'm going to crack the first bottle on 12.24th, on Christmas Eve to have a taste. Will share my experience with all of you then.

 

[DMartin]

I've done all the work solely on intuition, without hydrometer.

 

[PCharles]

After two weeks I gave up on the hydrometer and bottled the beer. I made sure all the bottles are in a plastic toat so as to contain any beer blast. I figured if I ketp testing with my hydromter, there would not be any beer left to bottle. The lowest my hydrometer got was around 1.030.

I've gone ahead and started my second kit. This is a Muntons Premium Bitter. Everything went well and there are 6 gallons of beer in the fermentor. Odd, it is sitting just to my left here and the first bubbles have just disturbed the air lock. I made what you might call a yeast starter. I heated the water nearly to a boil, then cooled it to about 105 F. I sprinkled the yeast un and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I took about half a cup of must and added it to the yeast starter. The yeast jumped for joy and were foaming up in my starter cup shortly after. Within 30 minutes the top of the starter was thick with bubbling yeast, which I then blended into the must.

My starting SG for this batch was 1.043. I had to add a tad more sugar than recommended to reach that mark. I figure this will assure a slightly higher alcohol content.

Now I need to track down some more bottles.

Merry Christmas fellow fermenters.

 

[Maegnar]

@DMartin
You, sir, made my morning

PS
I'll take that as a compliment, thank you

 

[Maegnar]

As promised - reporting after cracking my first bottle :rockin:
The beer is superb, full of body, fruity flavors and whole lot of ABV
It's got a bit too bitter aftertaste for my taste, could be a little more sweet. Thou I have to say I've opened the "last" bottle, that had the most yeast from the bottom of the fermenter, so I suppose the other bottles will be better
UPD
This beer's been in the bottle for only 1 month (in the instructions it's said that it should be bottled for 6-8 weeks)

Merry Christmas, fellas!!!

 

[DMartin]

Prost!