Bottling Saturday... Few Questions

[adhomebrew10]

I am set to bottle my APA on Saturday, which will be 4 weeks in the fermentor. Last Thursday I took a gravity reading, which was 1.012 (OG 1.050) which is right at my target, so I dry hopped (pellets).

Questions:
1) I will try and not rack the hop sludge into the bottling bucket, but if some gets in, and subsequently in the bottles, is it that big of deal?

2) For calculating priming sugar, what temperature do I use? Is it the fermentation temperature, or the expected temperature when bottling, which will be something warmer.

3) Also on calculating priming sugar, do I use the volume in the fermentor, or something less accounting for racking losses? I have approx 4.75g in the fermentor now. Do I need to use 4.5?

4) My beer still seems to be off gassing.. Do the hop pellets cause Co2 to come out of suspension as they drop? I have noticed an increase since I dry hopped, and have a pretty good layer of bubbles on the top of the beer. I have also moved the fermentor since I dry hopped (ALL in the PRIMARY). I swirled it a couple of times to make the pellets drop and had to shift it to the other side of the fermentation cooler to make room for the new batch.

Thanks!

 

[lumpher]

I am set to bottle my APA on Saturday, which will be 4 weeks in the fermentor. Last Thursday I took a gravity reading, which was 1.012 (OG 1.050) which is right at my target, so I dry hopped (pellets).

Questions:
1) I will try and not rack the hop sludge into the bottling bucket, but if some gets in, and subsequently in the bottles, is it that big of deal? no, it's fine.

2) For calculating priming sugar, what temperature do I use? Is it the fermentation temperature, or the expected temperature when bottling, which will be something warmer. use room temp. even easier, use 5 oz sugar for 5 gallons

3) Also on calculating priming sugar, do I use the volume in the fermentor, or something less accounting for racking losses? I have approx 4.75g in the fermentor now. Do I need to use 4.5? plan on 5 oz.

4) My beer still seems to be off gassing.. Do the hop pellets cause Co2 to come out of suspension as they drop? I have noticed an increase since I dry hopped, and have a pretty good layer of bubbles on the top of the beer. I have also moved the fermentor since I dry hopped (ALL in the PRIMARY). I swirled it a couple of times to make the pellets drop and had to shift it to the other side of the fermentation cooler to make room for the new batch. if you swirled it, it'll reactivate the yeast. take a reading. in 3 days, take another reading. if it's still the same 3 days later, bottle with 5 oz sugar. if not, let it sit until it does read the same, then the same 3 days later. try not to swirl it when racking it, though. oxygen is not a friend at the secondary stage

 

[adhomebrew10]

if you swirled it, it'll reactivate the yeast. take a reading. in 3 days, take another reading. if it's still the same 3 days later, bottle with 5 oz sugar. if not, let it sit until it does read the same, then the same 3 days later

- I didn't realize that would happen. Hopefully it will settle down by saturday. If I don't get to bottle this weekend, it will be 3 weeks before I can get to it. The plan was 4 weeks in primary then bottle to fit the schedule.

 

[lumpher]

take a reading every day and write it down with the day, like a journal. as soon as it's the same 3 days later, bottle it. it will be ok by saturday, as the the sugar should be eaten by then, and the swirling should only reactivate a couple days worth of fermenting after 4 weeks. plan on bottling it then.

 

[Grinder12000]

My brews are always off gassing even after 5 weeks. Not a worry at all. if it's been 3 weeks you are in the no problem zone - temp change can cause that - I bring mine up from the basement a week ahead of time and that is the cause. I will get an air lock bubble from time to time but it's not a big deal at all.

I've made many many batches wit ha 3 week schedule and not one has been a problem (except for the infamous infection problem the summer of 2009)

 

[jerryalan]

1) I will try and not rack the hop sludge into the bottling bucket, but if some gets in, and subsequently in the bottles, is it that big of deal?

No problem. If you do get some it'll be a very small amount. Just pour the beer into a glass leaving the sludge behind.

2) For calculating priming sugar, what temperature do I use? Is it the fermentation temperature, or the expected temperature when bottling, which will be something warmer.

I usually use the temperature that the bottles will be during carbonation.

3) Also on calculating priming sugar, do I use the volume in the fermentor, or something less accounting for racking losses? I have approx 4.75g in the fermentor now. Do I need to use 4.5?

I go by the amount of beer I expect to bottle (or keg) so use 4.5. Using 4.75 probably won't make much difference though.

4) My beer still seems to be off gassing.. Do the hop pellets cause Co2 to come out of suspension as they drop? I have noticed an increase since I dry hopped, and have a pretty good layer of bubbles on the top of the beer. I have also moved the fermentor since I dry hopped (ALL in the PRIMARY). I swirled it a couple of times to make the pellets drop and had to shift it to the other side of the fermentation cooler to make room for the new batch.

Like the others said, you've reactivated the yeast when you swirled it. Leave it be for a couple of days and check again. To make dry hopping easier, use a muslin bag.