Did I bottle too early?

[DrumForHire]

I'm brewed my second batch three weeks ago. Since I started on a very small kit, I bought one of Northern Brewers essential kits, with the Caribou Slobber Brown Ale kit. The morning after (about 18 hours after I sealed the bucket) I woke up hearing the airlock bubble like crazy. It was continuously bubbling for 48 hours, then it gradually slowed down. The kit called for a two-to-three week fermentation. Bubbling had slowed down after two weeks, so I thought I'd be bottling last week, when all of a sudden it started bubbling like crazy again. I waited another week (so, it's been fermenting for three weeks total) until this morning. A few bubbles still came out of the airlock while I was sanitizing, but I figured I should follow the instructions and bottle today. When I opened the fermentor I was surprised to find a bunch of solid along the walls at the top and on the lid. I'm guessing that the early part of the fermentation must have been a little violent. Still figuring it was safe, I siphoned to the bottling bucket. When I got to the bottom, there was only a small amount of solids on the bottom of the fermentor, probably only about half of what was on the top. Now this has me worried. Did I bottle too early?

The beer is pretty opaque, even for a brown ale (I'd say a bit more so then Newcastle). The color was like dark mahogany. I tasted some of what was left at the bottom of the bottling bucket. It was medium-full bodied, and a little yeasty (but there's supposed to be some yeast in the bottles, right?) Emptying the last of the bucket there was a bit of sediment I could see as I poured, but it was pretty minimal.

I'm just a little worried. I've heard that bottling too early can result in exploding bottles. Should I put down a tarp while they condition?

 

[aiptasia]

Yep, you probably rushed it. You sound like a newbie so that's totally understandable. I'm sure you're very eager to try your first beer. The more you brew, the more patient you'll become and the more you'll learn from your mistakes.

First, airlock activity is not the best method of judging when the fermentation is complete. For that, you need a hydrometer which will tell you how much sugar is still dissolved in solution (called a gravity reading). When yeasts eat the malt sugar, the hydrometer gravity readings will slowly fall. Fermentation will be complete when your gravity numbers are the same for 2-3 days in a row. Even then, the yeast is still working in the beer to convert some alcohols and residuals so it's best to let the beer sit for an additional week after the gravity readings stabilize (called a diacetyl rest).

I'm assuming you primed the bottles with some priming sugar of some sort and capped them off (or used a keg). Let them sit in a warm dark environment for about three weeks for them to completely carbonate up. I do realize that this is another test of your patience and you're an eager beaver, but trust me it's going to take at least two weeks if not three for them to fully carbonate up. Then place your beers in the fridge for a full 24 hours for them to cool down and absorb as much CO2 as possible.

If you're lucky, you won't get bottle bombs. If you bottled with good sturdy brown longneck bottles (non-threaded) and didn't over-prime with a ton of sugar, you should be ok. All you need is about 3/4 cups worth of table sugar dissolved in a cup of boiling water added to your bottling bucket right before you rack the beer to it.

Be patient. Relax. If you get worried, stick your cases of beer in the bathtub and pray for the best!

 

[bstacy1974]

There's no way to know for sure without gravity readings. There's lots of threads on basic info every starting brewer should know. An original gravity (OG) and final gravity (FG) are going to assist you in determining when fermentation is complete and your ABV %. You should be okay, as long as you followed the kit instructions and used the appropriate amount of priming sugar for your bottles. If you're that concerned, put the bottles in a cooler while you're waiting for them to carb up. The cooler will contain the mess and possible shrapnel.

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[SDouglas82]

From experience, buy a large Rubbermaid container with a lid. Saves you having to clean up. Win win.


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[derek704]

Good luck!

 

[DrumForHire]

Thanks for the advice. A hydrometer is already at the top of my list for equipment to pick up, I'm sure it will help in the future. And I have a plastic bin with lid that I was storing empty bottles in, so that should do the trick to make sure I don't get a huge mess, which was my biggest worry. I primed in the bottling bucket, 5 oz. priming sugar boiled in 2 cups water. That's according to instructions, and consistent with Papazian, so I'm hoping for the best. Thanks again!

 

[brewbama]

I recommend getting 2 hydrometers. One primary and one backup. They can and do break at the worst possible time.


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