Bottled Early - What should I Expect?

[boiseburb]

Years ago I did home brew, gathered a chunk of supplies, and would every once in awhile brew a five gallon batch. For me I had moderate to minimal success and it was just too much hassle for me.

I was over at a buddies house and saw his Mr. Beer setup, tasted his mr. beer brew and was pleasantly surprised. It was compact, easy to store, and seemed like the right amount of beer for me. I had a 2 gallon food grade bucket, so I made it into a fermenter and away I went.

I brewed 2 gallons of 3lbs amber LME with 1/2 oz. bitter, 1 oz. flavoring, 1/2 oz. aroma of Saaz. I used muttons gold as the yeast.

I put about 1/2 a 11g packet in, which I think was a little much. Fermentation was hot and heavy for about 3 days. Day 5, when it was slowly fermenting (about bubbles releasing from the airlock every 45 sec.) I chose to bottle without priming sugar.

3 weeks later I checked a bottle and the percentage of alcohol I'm getting is around 3%. It was a little harsh. 4 weeks I tried another and the brew was well conditioned and around 3.5%. I didn't finish the first bottle, left it in the fridge and checked it's alcohol content at four weeks as well and it registered at 3.5% as well. The first one was still a little harsh tasting.

Both bottles had excellent carbonation.

So, anyone know what I should expect if I continue to condition the bottles?

 

[homebrewdad]

Hrm, where to begin.

First off - bubbles while fermenting mean jack. The only way to know if fermentation is done is to take gravity readings on different days. If they are stable, fermentaion is done. You can now bottle, though you may wait a bit to allow the yeast to clean up and to allow the beer to mellow.

Once bottled, three weeks @ 70 degrees is the baseline for most typical beers to carb up and do well. If you are keeping the beer colder, the yeast will be less active, and will take longer. In the fridge, the yeast are likely to go dormant, and perhaps never properly finsih up.

If you did bottle before fermentation was done, you do run the risk of bottle bombs - getting too much CO2 pressure, which can cause the caps to fly off and/or the bottles to literally explode. Beware.

If you bottled before fermentation is done and you avoid the above problem, you may end up with drinkable - but probably not great - beer.

The #1 skill a homebrewer needs is patience.

 

[chickypad]

If it's been 4 wks it sounds like you were lucky and got away with it this time. I would definitely NOT recommend this as a technique to continue. You are eventually going to get bottle bombs, and also probably have some undercarbed batches on your hands. Why risk it?

 

[JLem]

Curious how you are measuring ABV from your bottled beer. Are you taking gravity readings and comparing them to you OG? ABV seems low, which is why I ask.

 

[boiseburb]

I took a gravity reading, 1.044. It's now around 1.020. The bottles are stored in temps around 67 degrees. I guess my question is can I possibly get more alcohol out of the beer or would the risk of bottle bombs be too great? Again, no priming sugar. Another concern is I'm guessing it is still fermenting so at some point I will want to put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation to keep it drinkable.

It's pretty tasty, just want to make sure I keep it that way as long as possible.

 

[Calder]

If the beer is at 1.020, there is a good chance it is not finished and you risk exploding bottles if you leave them too long.

When you open the next bottle, if it has decent carbonation, I would recommend placing all the remaining bottles in the fridge to stop the yeast from working further. It only takes .002 to .003 gravity points to fully carbonate a beer; more than that and you will be stressing the bottles.

Keeping the bottles in the fridge, not only slows the yeast down, but also slows the aging process preserving the flavor of the beer longer. But .... if you make a decent beer and handle it correctly, it can stay decent for a long time, in some cases years.

 

[JLem]

I took a gravity reading, 1.044. It's now around 1.020. The bottles are stored in temps around 67 degrees. I guess my question is can I possibly get more alcohol out of the beer or would the risk of bottle bombs be too great? Again, no priming sugar. Another concern is I'm guessing it is still fermenting so at some point I will want to put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation to keep it drinkable.

It's pretty tasty, just want to make sure I keep it that way as long as possible.

Starting at just 1.044, I would expect this to drop lower than 1.020, so I agree that you need to be careful. What was the gravity when you bottled?

 

[TyTanium]

Any idea on the age of the LME? Many extract brews with old LME don't drop below 1.020. After 7 weeks, I'd say they're done - extra conditioning shouldn't do much. Only way to drop to lower gravity now would be to infect with a souring bug or more aggressive yeast.

Stick 'em in the fridge, chalk it up to experience, use it for cooking (sweet beer makes for tasty beer bread), and brew again!

 

[boiseburb]

Starting at just 1.044, I would expect this to drop lower than 1.020, so I agree that you need to be careful. What was the gravity when you bottled?

I don't have exact numbers on that, I just know after I bottled I checked the gravity with what was left and it was high. Yes, I know now, mistake.

 

[boiseburb]

Any idea on the age of the LME? Many extract brews with old LME don't drop below 1.020. After 7 weeks, I'd say they're done - extra conditioning shouldn't do much. Only way to drop to lower gravity now would be to infect with a souring bug or more aggressive yeast.

Stick 'em in the fridge, chalk it up to experience, use it for cooking (sweet beer makes for tasty beer bread), and brew again!

The LME came from a bulk container at a pretty busy homebrew store so I believe it was pretty fresh. We make a pretty mean beer pancake, so the cooking angle is a good idea. I does taste pretty good so I'll end up drinking some.

Hey, if 3.5% is good enough for Utah, its good enough for me, right?

 

[JLem]

The LME came from a bulk container at a pretty busy homebrew store so I believe it was pretty fresh. We make a pretty mean beer pancake, so the cooking angle is a good idea. I does taste pretty good so I'll end up drinking some.

Hey, if 3.5% is good enough for Utah, its good enough for me, right?

Nothing wrong with 3.5% (though I'm not sure I'd want to use Utah as my go-to standard for...well, anything). I'd be concerned with the potential for over-carbonation/gushers/bombs.