2nd brew - Wilko Mexican Cerveza

[CurtTheCop]

So my second brew is now at a stable FG.

Only question I have is this... I have some finings to add to the fermenter but I haven't yet got a vessel/bottles to use as a secondary. Does it matter if I add the finings now and don't put it to secondary for another week or two? Or am I best just adding it a couple of days before bottling/kegging?

Anyway, OG was 1.037 on the 16th

FG is 1.008 on the 27th

Hoping to end up at approx 4.4 ABV

View attachment 1440675672260.jpg

 

[flars]

Are you adding finings to clear the beer? If so, the beer will clear by itself giving it some more time. In a week, and most definitely in two more weeks, the beer will have cleared. A secondary, for clearing, isn't needed if you give the beer more time in the primary. I typically have my beers in the primary for three weeks.

 

[CurtTheCop]

Yes I was just adding it to help it clear up a bit quicker really. I'm not sure when I'll have funds to get a container for secondary fermentation. So it could be in primary for another 3 days or another 2 week lol

 

[kombat]

#1 - I wouldn't bother with secondary at all.
#2 - Finings in the primary vessel will work just fine. There's no benefit to transferring to another vessel.
#3 - Finings won't do much unless you chill the beer. Do you have enough refrigerator space to move the fermenter into the fridge?
#4 - How long has your fermenter been where it is shown in the photo? Sunlight is very bad for beer and will skunk it within minutes. Keep your fermenter away from sunlight.

 

[CurtTheCop]

It's been in that position for about 5 minutes whilst taking a gravity reading. It's normally kept in a cool dark cupboard.
What about when I keg or bottle it, wouldn't you add additional sugar?

 

[Psylocide]

#4 - How long has your fermenter been where it is shown in the photo? Sunlight is very bad for beer and will skunk it within minutes. Keep your fermenter away from sunlight.

Which would be perfect for a Mexican cerveza.

 

[kombat]

What about when I keg or bottle it, wouldn't you add additional sugar?

Keg no, bottle yes.

When you're ready to bottle (after it's been fermenting for 10 - 21 days), calculate how much priming sugar you'll need to obtain the desired level of carbonation. Heat up a cup or two of water to boiling and mix in the priming sugar. Let it cool a little bit, then pour it into your (sanitized) bottling bucket. Then GENTLY (no splashing or bubbles) rack the beer from the fermenter into the bottling bucket, allowing it to swirl a little bit and mix evenly with the priming sugar solution. Then bottle from there.

If kegging, you don't need to add additional sugar, as the carbon dioxide will be forced into solution from the CO₂ tank.

 

[CurtTheCop]

If kegging, you don't need to add additional sugar, as the carbon dioxide will be forced into solution from the CO₂ tank.

Ahh ok - sorry for all the questions - I'm only a newbie!
So, if you're using CO2 with your keg, you don't need additional sugar. What about if you use a keg without a pressure injector, is this the same as bottling and in this case you would add the sugar?

 

[kombat]

What about if you use a keg without a pressure injector, is this the same as bottling and in this case you would add the sugar?

I would not recommend this.

By "pressure injector," I'm assuming you mean a CO₂ tank and regulator.

You can naturally carbonate your beer in the keg, using the same method as bottling (i.e., mix up a priming sugar solution, mix it into the beer, seal it up in the keg). However, there are two problems with this.

1.) Most kegs are not air-tight under normal pressures. Normally, if you apply a low pressure to a keg (i.e., 1 or 2 psi), you'll hear it leaking. Often (most?) times, you must apply a fair amount of pressure (10-15 psi) to "seat" the lid and form a tight seal to prevent CO₂ from leaking out. If you don't have a CO₂ tank and cannot apply this initial pressure, then the pressure inside the keg will be 0 psi. As the yeast consumes the priming sugar and produces CO₂, it will leak out of the keg (since the pressure is too low to form a tight seal around the lid). 2 weeks later, you'll have totally flat, slightly more alcoholic beer. If you're going to naturally carb the beer in the keg, it's highly recommended that you still apply 10-15 psi to the keg initially, to "seat" the lid and prevent the CO₂ that is produced from escaping.

2.) As you serve the beer, the pressure in the keg drops, drawing more CO₂ out of solution, reducing the carbonation level of the beer. That last little bit of beer to come out of the keg would be totally flat, if there was even enough pressure left to force it out of the keg.

 

[CurtTheCop]

Brilliant - that has answered a lot of questions, I appreciate it

So would you keep topping up the CO2 levels as you serve the beer?

 

[kombat]

Yes, but if you have that capability anyway, why not just use it to carbonate the beer that way?

 

[CurtTheCop]

That's true, I've considered different methods.
Not sure which route I'm going to take for this batch at the moment. It's either save up a bit more spare money for a keg etc or just do another bottle batch. Thinking of using 1l bottles for this batch then kegging the next one, gives me a bit more time to research and make sure I get it right.

 

[Bellybuster]

Did you use a blow off tube and bottle on this? That clear layer at the top of your car boy looks like blowoff bottle suck back. May just be the picture.

 

[CurtTheCop]

I think that's just the light. It's a coopers FV, the new style with a krausen collar and no airlock. The reason I had it out of the cupboard was for collar removal and measuring FG

 

[CurtTheCop]

Just tasted a bottle today - smelt a bit 'raw', will probably try another bottle in another week or so.