Bottling or Waiting

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NunoTex

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Hi all,
I am a begginer in homebrewing, and I started with a batch of Muntons Gold IPA (kit). I've followed the instructions and now I have 7 days of fermentation. Last night I was checking the gravity but I broke the densimeter. The instructions say that I should bottle after 7-8 days or when the gravity remains constant at 1014º. Right now I am not able to check the gravity and I read somewhere that I can put the fermenter in a warmer place for another week. Which advices can you give to me? Go for bottling or wait?

Thanks in advance
 
Go with wait, and having the fermentor in a warmer area. During that time pick up a new hydrometer to be sure FG has been achieved. Bottling before FG is reached would create bottle bombs.
 
Definitely wait another week, or even two. It'll make for a better beer!
 
Thanks for the advice. I will buy another hydrometer.
I was thinking in bottle one single bottle in order to see the effect.
5-7 grams of sugar for each litre of beer right?
 
I will use 94 grams of corn sugar, for light carbonation, in 5 gallons. 128 grams per 5 gallons for moderate carbonation.
 
It is far easier to make a priming sugar solution and add it to a bottling bucket while transferring the beer.

This also makes each bottle more consistent in carbonation.
 
Thanks guys. Very usefull.
I think that it will be interesting in doing some kind of design of experiments, bottling with different levels of fermentation and different quantity of sugar, in order to see wich one fits better to the desired taste.
 
I moved the fermenter to my warmer side of my house (about 20ºc, and constant). I have a fermentation temperature of 20ºc. I will let it for one week as you said, and then I will start with the experiments. Thank you guys for the tips.
 
ArcaneXor said:
Definitely wait another week, or even two. It'll make for a better beer!
Click to expand...

Or even more. 3 weeks is about where I bottle but the longer it sits, the more yeast settles out so you get less sediment in the bottles. It doesn't seem to hurt the flavor of the beer to sit longer either. I finally ran out of patience and bottled a batch after 9 weeks in the fermenter and it turned out really good with hardly any sediment in the bottles.
 
Wait a couple of weeks. Taste will improve, and the beer will be clearer with less sediment in the bottle.



flars said:
I will use 94 grams of corn sugar, for light carbonation, in 5 gallons. 128 grams per 5 gallons for moderate carbonation.
Click to expand...

Flars is talking about US gallons, not Imperial gallons.
 
Anyone knows what kind of yeast has the Muntons Gold IPA kit? I am looking in internet but I can't find, and I throw away the package.
I have fermentation temperatures varying from 18 (in the begining) and 20ºc. Is it acceptable?
 
NunoTex said:
Anyone knows what kind of yeast has the Muntons Gold IPA kit? I am looking in internet but I can't find, and I throw away the package.
I have fermentation temperatures varying from 18 (in the begining) and 20ºc. Is it acceptable?
Click to expand...

You may get the most neutral yeast contribution if you hold the wort temperature to 17°C to 18°C.
The yeast has a fermentation range of 14°C to 25°C.
 
Hi again,

before bottling...is it better to move the wort to another fermenter, in other to have less sediment on the bottles?
 
No, not necessary. Just keep the siphon above the trub layer when racking to the bottling bucket. Lower the siphon as you go. I tilt my carboy. When I can see part of the yeast/trub layer exposed, I know there is only a few ounces left. This will work for a bucket also. An auto siphon makes the racking a lot easier.
 
Hi guys,
I´ve checked the gravity and it was 1012-1013, so what was expected. I will check again tomorrow and then if it remains the same I will bottle.
Question: When I dilute the sugar in water, before puting in the botles, is it importante the temperature of the solution? Should I boil the water?
 
I just bring it to a boil, let it boil for a couple seconds, and then turn the heat off and let it sit and cool down as it goes. I have had no issues with my beers doing this method.
 
NunoTex said:
Hi guys,
I´ve checked the gravity and it was 1012-1013, so what was expected. I will check again tomorrow and then if it remains the same I will bottle.
Question: When I dilute the sugar in water, before puting in the botles, is it importante the temperature of the solution? Should I boil the water?
Click to expand...

Do you have a bottling bucket, with a spigot, to rack the beer to, and then fill the bottles from this bucket? Using a bottling bucket, with a spring tip bottling wand attached, makes bottling an easy job.

The priming sugar solution can be added to the bottling bucket, the beer being siphoned into the bucket will mix the priming solution into the beer. This is easier than trying to measure the amount of priming solution to add to each bottle one at a time.
 
Boil the water, add the sugar. I like to boil for at least 5 minutes to drive off entrained O2 in the water. I don't know if the 5 minutes really does much, but it makes me feel better.

You can add the sugar water to the wort when it is hot. There is so much beer in comparison, that it will not have much affect on the yeast. I let it cool while I prep for bottling. I then add it to my bottling bucket before I rack my beer into the bucket, which helps with mixing the sugar into the beer.
 
flars,

I have the equipment with the picture attached. Sorry for my english, but some terms I don't get it!
I was wondering in putting the sugar in each bottle and not directly in the bucket (because I wanted to let some wort another week fermenting), but maybe it makes no sense. Maybe it makes more sense in bottling all of the wort and then make many stages of bottle fermentation. Because the fermentation stage in the bucket its over. Am I wrong?

sifao.jpg
 
NunoTex said:
flars,

I have the equipment with the picture attached. Sorry for my english, but some terms I don't get it!
I was wondering in putting the sugar in each bottle and not directly in the bucket You would not want to put the priming sugar solution in the fermentation bucket, (Is this what you were meaning to do?) Mixing the priming sugar solution in the fermentation bucket would stir up all the trub.
(because I wanted to let some wort another week fermenting), but maybe it makes no sense. It makes sense to keep the beer in the fermentor a little longer, to allow the beer to clear. This will keep the sediment out of the bottles.

The flavors of low to average gravity beer will not benefit from bulk aging. The fermentation of your beer has been over long enough that the off flavor by-products of the fermentation have been cleaned up by the yeast. This clean up is almost always completed by the end of week two. By the end of week three the excess yeast and suspended sediments will have dropped down into the trub/yeast cake layer. Three weeks in the fermentor will give you a clear beer to bottle.

Maybe it makes more sense in bottling all of the wort and then make many stages of bottle fermentation. Because the fermentation stage in the bucket its over. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

I would bottle all the beer at the same time. You can age some of the bottles, for different periods of time, to check for differences of flavor/body development.

Another reason to bottle all the beer at the same time is to prevent oxidation of the beer. The large surface area of the beer, inside the bucket, has greater exposure to the air as the CO2 layer is becoming smaller. Oxidation will cause off flavors in the bottled beer, which get stronger as time in the bottle increases.


I hope this helps. Let me know if I did not write clearly.
 
You were clear...
maybe I wasn't clear! If I put the sugar directly in the bucket it will be in another clean and sterilized bucket, and then from the last one to the bottles.
So, I have 2 weeks of fermentation and you are saying that its better to wait another week in order to clear the beer. Thanks for the advice...it makes sense to bottle all the wort at the same time, because of the oxidation.

Thanks
 
Boil 2C of water for a couple minutes, then add the weighed amount of sugar to it & stir till the water goes clear again. Cover & cool this priming solution while getting things ready to bottle. Add the priming solution to the bottlingh bucket as the beer racks into it through some tubing around the bottom of the bottling bucket. This is called bulk priming. This way, the sugar dissolved in water will mix more easily with the fermented beer. It also then won't matter how big or small the bottles are. & use a bottling wand to fill the bottles from the bottom up. This helps prevent oxidation. And when the beer gets to the lip of the bottle, pull up a couple inches to close the pin valve on the bottling wand. Removing the wand leaves the correct headspace by way of Volume displacement.
 
Waiting just makes for better beer. I never bottle before 3 weeks. Four is even better. Patience is the hardest part of brewing. That said, I still periodically lose the patience battle :) It never pays off.
 
Hi guys...
I had to bottle in sunday, because for the coming days, including weekends, I will not have so much time to do it. So, nothing as I expected. My syphon was not working properly, I was not able to use it. I've bottled directly from the bucket tap with a safety valve (to bottle from the bottom do the top). And I've put the priming solution directly into the bottles (with the correct calculations, at least I hope).
I will pray for this mine first batch and prepare the next one.
 
A bottling bucket would've been better, but if you got the right amount of priming solution in the bottles, it should be OK.
 
Hi guys,

last monday I opened a bottle to taste the beer (one week bottled) and it tasted like ****. Very fruity and the flavors didn't mix in one together (at least my feeling). It seems that the beer doesn't have a solid "body" or "structure"...I don't know if I am being clear. Beyond that it doesn't have the gas I like...but for that I know the reason.
Any comment?

ps: I've brewed IPA Muntons Gold from a kit.
 
NunoTex said:
Hi guys,

last monday I opened a bottle to taste the beer (one week bottled) and it tasted like ****. Very fruity and the flavors didn't mix in one together (at least my feeling). It seems that the beer doesn't have a solid "body" or "structure"...I don't know if I am being clear. Beyond that it doesn't have the gas I like...but for that I know the reason.
Any comment?

ps: I've brewed IPA Muntons Gold from a kit.
Click to expand...

By last Monday, do you mean, 12/1 or 12/8?

Either way, at 12/8 it's only a week since you bottled. What temp are you letting them carb at? How did the FG sample taste? Was it sweet?

It's too soon to pop the top in my humble noob opinion. At least 2 weeks carbing at room temp before you try one.

How much priming sugar did you add?
 
I meant 12/8. My FG was 1012/1013 and it was not sweet.
The temperature that I've put the bottles was between 12-15ºc.
Relating to the priming sugar I didn't have a weighing meter so I had to use the sugar packages that say "5-7 grams", and then the maths for 20 litres.
This kind of beer has a strong foam?
 
Temp seems a tad low, but is probably fine.

What kind of sugar packets? What did your math tell you to add?

Someone else will have to chime in though, I just think it's too early at a week and the yeast haven't broken down the priming sugar enough yet. Seems pretty early to try one, especially at that temp.

Either way, not much to do now but wait.
 
NunoTex said:
Hi guys,

last monday I opened a bottle to taste the beer (one week bottled) and it tasted like ****. Very fruity and the flavors didn't mix in one together (at least my feeling). It seems that the beer doesn't have a solid "body" or "structure"...I don't know if I am being clear. Beyond that it doesn't have the gas I like...but for that I know the reason.
Any comment?

ps: I've brewed IPA Muntons Gold from a kit.
Click to expand...

I would say time is the answer to all of those questions. I know exactly what you mean with the flavors not mixing and the lack of structure. If you have the patience to age the beer for a cpl of months, you'll be amazed about how good it will taste. Bad yeast flavors also vanish with time.
 
Have the bottles in a warmer area. 21°C to 22°C would be ideal. After the bottles have warmed, wait three weeks before you chill one a couple of days for a taste test.
The last IPA I brewed took four weeks. At three weeks I was thinking it was a mistake to brew that recipe.
 
Thank you guys...
maybe I will not achieve 21ºc but I will try. I was thinking that I screwed up all the batch... Lets wake up the yeast!!

:)
 
Hi guys,

After almost onde month of bottle fermentation I tasted The beer and it was a fantastic surprise! Much better in consistency and flavor, with a nice foam and gas. Nevertheless I will wait a couple of weeks more to let The beer maturate!
Thank you all for The help and we will keep in touch with my second batch.

Best regards
 
flars said:
Have the bottles in a warmer area. 21°C to 22°C would be ideal. After the bottles have warmed, wait three weeks before you chill one a couple of days for a taste test.
The last IPA I brewed took four weeks. At three weeks I was thinking it was a mistake to brew that recipe.
Click to expand...

You're right, my mind was off a degree remembering. Basically C x 1.8 + 32 = F...
 

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