Bottling Day Mishap - Cause for Concern?

[dmboiler]

Hi All,

I managed to make it all the way to bottling day on my first attempt at homebrew (Midwest Irish Red Ale) before my first misstep:

I lost siphon when the fermenter still had about a gallon in it (half trub/half beer). The trub layer was soft so it easily mixed with the beer when i tried to re-start my siphon, so I just let it be. Because of this, my yield ended up being only slightly over 4 gallons in the bottle.

My question is...since I used nearly all of the priming sugar (5 oz) that came with my kit, have I over-primed the bottles? There's nothing I can do about it now, I'm just curious.

Thanks for your help,

dmboiler

 

[xfevv]

You'll be fine. RDWHAHB

 

[cooldood]

No concerns. Just let it condtion for a couple of months and it will clear right up

 

[bleme]

5oz by itself is usually over carb'ed so it is safe to say you are over carb'ed. Next time use one of the priming calculators.

How long did you ferment for? If you primary longer, the yeast cake will compact better and you will get significantly more bottles out of it.

 

[Thomas007]

It might be over-carbonated for the style (I don't know much about Irish reds), but I don't think it's anywhere near enough to have to worry about exploding bottles.

 

[drhookmec]

You'll be fine but next time use this..

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

 

[dmboiler]

Thanks for the replys. It was in primary for 22 days plus 4 days in the fridge. I expected a more solid trub layer but maybe it was the yeast (muntons dry included in the kit). I'll be sure to consult a priming calculator the next time around.

-dmboiler

 

[CTR08]

I do 4 oz for 5 gallons. I would think 5 oz for 4 gallons could cause some bombs. You might want to put them in a contained area- I would.

 

[Thomas007]

I do 4 oz for 5 gallons. I would think 5 oz for 4 gallons could cause some bombs. You might want to put them in a contained area- I would.

It's going to be high, 3.165 volumes according to my calculator. But people regularly carbonate Belgians to 3.5-4 volumes, from what I've read (I haven't done one myself, although I want to try a Duvel clone someday...), and I don't think those usually explode. It might be good to put them somewhere secure just as a precaution, though...

 

[unionrdr]

At a hair over 3 weeks,the yeast/trub should've compacted down to 1/2" or less. Mine do. But I also pour chilled wort & top off water through a fine mesh strainer in a circular motion to both aerate it & get more gunk out so the primary stays cleaner.

 

[dmboiler]

At a hair over 3 weeks,the yeast/trub should've compacted down to 1/2" or less. Mine do. But I also pour chilled wort & top off water through a fine mesh strainer in a circular motion to both aerate it & get more gunk out so the primary stays cleaner.

I poured the wort through a fine mesh strainer and got a lot of the gunk out. The trub was far from compacted. After 22 days in primary and 5 in the fridge to cold crash, I was expecting a more solid layer. Instead, i would describe it as just "settled" which easily mixed when disturbed.

The beer that I did get into the bottling bucket was very clear, so I don't think much of the trub got in there. I just left some beer behind.

Does the yeast I used share some of the blame (muntons dry packet), or did it just need more time in primary?

Thanks again,
dmboiler

 

[unionrdr]

The only way it'd be the yeast is if it was low to medium flocculation. They can take a while to settle out,let alone compact. It might've needed another week. But it just seems strange that 3 weeks wasn't enough. It is for mine to get a compact yeast cake. Leaving one gallon behind is too much.