So, after 3 weeks in primary I bottled my summer shandy. I racked it on to a solution of priming sugar using a siphon. Then I added 1 dram of lemon flavor. In a moment of forgetfulness, I then POURED the entire five gallons into the bottling bucket! After bottling, I thought about what I just did and looked it up on this forum. From what I read, by pouring it instead of using a siphon, I have ruined the entire batch right? It did taste pretty good, just not sure it’s going to taste good in 2-3 weeks. I guess I’ll have to wait and find out.
Did pouring my beer into the bottling bucket ruin this batch?
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It's definitely not a good thing. How much damage was done remains to be seen. It will likely show some significant oxidation pretty quickly. But may still be plenty drinkable, especially if you enjoy the character that oxidation creates. "Ruined" is a subjective term. It will definitely diminish the shelf-life either way.
If it was mine, I'd start checking for carbonation after maybe four days. Whenever it's carb'd up enough (don't wait for it to be perfect), start drinking it - and drink it up fast.
What they said!^
No, it's not good, but much bigger mistakes have been made (speaking from experience) yielding very drinkable beer.
Maybe the lemon flavoring hides some of the resulting oxidation.
Not all oxidation is bad, either, Sherry (I think Port too) are oxidized wines.
What puzzles me is why you didn't rack/siphon directly into your bottling bucket.
No, it's not good, but much bigger mistakes have been made (speaking from experience) yielding very drinkable beer.
Maybe the lemon flavoring hides some of the resulting oxidation.
Not all oxidation is bad, either, Sherry (I think Port too) are oxidized wines.
What puzzles me is why you didn't rack/siphon directly into your bottling bucket.
I agree, I should have. But I thought I was being smart by racking out of the primary fermenting bucket, and leaving behind most of the sediment. My thought was that doing it a second time would result in an even clearer beer. Live and learn! I will test for carbonation after 5 days and update.
devilssoninlaw
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I agree that you shouldn't have poured the beer but don't give up on it by any means!
Don't fret. Everyone makes mistakes, I know I've made my share. They can be very valuable if you learn from them and move on. It's all part of the journey towards making better beer.
Yes, it is smart to rack from your primary, leaving the trub on the bottom behind. One racking should suffice.
I've seen so many videos where the brewer sticks the siphon way down into the trub. Aarghh!
- To start, suspend the siphon/racking cane between the trub and the beer surface, then lower it as the level drops, but keeping it well above the trub. Use a bucket clamp, or on carboys a carboy cap/hood.
- Tilt slowly toward the end to keep the well deep.
- There won't be much more than 1-2 quarts left behind that way.
- With some foresight and dexterity, all of that beer should be fairly clear, there's no need to transfer any trub.
- Putting one of those inverter tippies on the bottom of the siphon helps with that too.
That's one of the reasons to skip secondaries.
Quarts?!? Surely you jest!
I waited 4 days and the beer was a little carbonated but tasted good. I had another one today, almost 2 weeks later, and it actually tasted great! Now I’m sorry I gave so many away thinking I needed to get rid of them before they go bad! Thanks for all the input! I was ready to toss the whole batch.
Will take a bit for the "wet cardboard" from oxygenation to appear. Drink it quickly.
Please realize oxygenation problems don't immediately appear. In other words, splashing wort/beer will not immediately cause the wet cardboard problem. Over time the problem will appear.
Similar to having a beer bottle in the sun. The contents don't immediately become skunked. Given enough time, it will happen.
Similar to having a beer bottle in the sun. The contents don't immediately become skunked. Given enough time, it will happen.
Depends on the glass color. Drink a pint glass of something noble hopped in the sunshine, it may well start skunking before you finish your pint (which I would call more or less "immediate").
Oxidation is a cumulative and progressive process. Wet cardboard might take a while. Other changes can happen quite quickly.
mashpaddled
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Chances are the fermentation that consumed the priming sugar took up most of the oxygen you introduced by pouring rather than siphoning into the bottling bucket so you're probably going to enjoy all that shandy without noticing a change. Obviously not a best practice and seems you've learned the error of your ways but as somebody said above mistakes will be made while brewing but most are not fatal to you or your beverage.
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Just FYI, from here,
Some larger breweries have taken up partial bottle conditioning of a belief that the active yeast will remove oxygen from the beer and extend shelf-life, but this is only partially true. Yeast can remove small amounts of dissolved oxygen from beer, but very little from the bottle headspace air, which means these benefits will only attain to breweries using sophisticated brewing methods and very good packaging equipment.
Some larger breweries have taken up partial bottle conditioning of a belief that the active yeast will remove oxygen from the beer and extend shelf-life, but this is only partially true. Yeast can remove small amounts of dissolved oxygen from beer, but very little from the bottle headspace air, which means these benefits will only attain to breweries using sophisticated brewing methods and very good packaging equipment.
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