doubts about clearing beer after bottling and priming

[aeromarco]

Hi guys.

I bottled my first beer this last Saturday and i have a few questions, i hope someone can help me. it's my first, i made some big mistakes, hope none of them turn lethal for my beer.

I made a recipe of wheat beer, like erdinger. I had a few problems in the making.

First, i was only able to get 3.6 Gal (14L) of beer when i was supposed to get 5.28 (20L). I didn't wash the mash and filtered badly, and so i think i will end with a strong flavored beer. The rest stood in the bottom of the bucket.

When bottling the beer was cloudy, I though it was normal but then I read about fining the beer, too late I think.
Is there a way of clearing the beer after bottling? I know it may not influence the taste but it does influence the look.

Another thing that is worrying me is priming, I used 0.211oz (6g) of sugar for each Liter of beer. I used the yeast as it was written in the recipe. I am worried that the bottles might burst. I let the beer fermenting for 3 weeks before bottling.

I believe I made the conversion of the units correctly, I am Portuguese and not used to American metrics.

Maybe I’m not supposed to be worried, but its my first time and so I will worry anyway.

Thanks for your time.

 

[joyceman]

Being 1.4 gals under volume isnt a complete tragedy, but you're probably not going to get the exact beer you were hoping for. Did you happen to get an original gravity reading just to see what you have?

As to cloudy in the bottle. Let the bottles carbonate for about 3 weeks and then put them in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. That should drop alot of the cloudiness out of the bottles.

By my count you used about 3 ounces of priming sugar on a 3.6 gallon batch. Those numbers are good. You fermented it for three weeks, so you should be good there. I dont think you need to worry about bursting bottles.

Next time check your gravity at the end of fermentation a couple of times to see if youve reached final gravity, then you know its safe to bottle.

 

[aeromarco]

Being 1.4 gals under volume isnt a complete tragedy, but you're probably not going to get the exact beer you were hoping for. Did you happen to get an original gravity reading just to see what you have?

As to cloudy in the bottle. Let the bottles carbonate for about 3 weeks and then put them in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. That should drop alot of the cloudiness out of the bottles.

By my count you used about 3 ounces of priming sugar on a 3.6 gallon batch. Those numbers are good. You fermented it for three weeks, so you should be good there. I dont think you need to worry about bursting bottles.

Next time check your gravity at the end of fermentation a couple of times to see if youve reached final gravity, then you know its safe to bottle.

That's another thing i can't understand, i got different values for gravity
I don't know by memory the exact numbers of Original and Final gravity, but i think they are 1.054 for OG and 1.012 for FG. The recipe said 1.065 for OG and 1.016 for FG.
I cant understand why i have different values for the OG, since i followed exactly the recipe as it was told.

You said to check the gravity at the end of the fermentation to see if it is safe to bottle. How do i know by reading the gravity that it's safe to bottle?

 

[jro238]

First, don't worry too much. You are going to get beer that will be pretty darn good at the end of bottling and carbonating. Congrats on your first brew

For your questions:
Was your brew all grain or extract with a partial mash (i.e. some extract and some grains that you mashed)? It will help a lot if you can post your recipe and process (mash temperature and time, volumes, boil time, all of that stuff).

A sure way to know if your gravity is steady is to take 2 hydrometer readings about 3 days apart. If these are the same, then your fermentation is probably done. Unless it's a big beer, 2 weeks or so in primary with a steady gravity at the end will probably be ready to bottle (again, this is just a guideline and not a rule ) It is also important to consider your expected final gravity here so you can tell whether your fermentation is truly done or if your fermentation is stuck (i.e. if you have an expected final gravity of 1.01 and your steady gravity reading is 1.03 then your fermentation is probably stuck and not actually finished). In your case here, it sounds like your fermentation is done.

 

[aeromarco]

First, don't worry too much. You are going to get beer that will be pretty darn good at the end of bottling and carbonating. Congrats on your first brew

For your questions:
Was your brew all grain or extract with a partial mash (i.e. some extract and some grains that you mashed)? It will help a lot if you can post your recipe and process (mash temperature and time, volumes, boil time, all of that stuff).

A sure way to know if your gravity is steady is to take 2 hydrometer readings about 3 days apart. If these are the same, then your fermentation is probably done. Unless it's a big beer, 2 weeks or so in primary with a steady gravity at the end will probably be ready to bottle (again, this is just a guideline and not a rule ) It is also important to consider your expected final gravity here so you can tell whether your fermentation is truly done or if your fermentation is stuck (i.e. if you have an expected final gravity of 1.01 and your steady gravity reading is 1.03 then your fermentation is probably stuck and not actually finished). In your case here, it sounds like your fermentation is done.

The brew is all grain, here’s the recipe:

Expected OG: 1.065
Expected FG: 1.016
Final Volume: 20L
Malts
- 2kg Pilsner malt
- 2,5kg Wheat malt
Hops:
- 15g Perle, Boiled for 60m
- 14g Perle, Boiled for 30m
- 4g Perle, boiled for 5m
Instructions:
Add the malt to 17L of water at 55ºC
Wait for 20m at 50ºC
Heat to 65ºC and keep for 60m
Filter and wash the malt with 7L at 65ºC
Boil with the hops.

These were the instructions that came with the recipe I bought, it was my first brew and i think there is a lot of information missing for someone that is brewing for the first time. I am sure to have filtered wrong and i might have done other procedures the wrong way.

Ok, I should take two measurements to know if the fermentation is good or not. If the fermentation stopped before getting to the expected FG, is there a way to “restart” or give it “a push”?

 

[duboman]

Good advice so far, the only thing I'll add is its a wheat beer, it's not supposed to be clear

Cheers on your first batch! Take good notes, watch your volumes better and your process will improve greatly!