Following recipe, says to add syrup at 72 hours, but the blow off is still going.

[kinghenrik30]

Following this recipe: http://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/showrecipe.php?recipeid=50

It says to add the candi syrup at 72 hours, but the blow off tube is still popping a bubble out every second.

Does it make sense to add the candi syrup at this stage? Or should I wait until the bubbling subsides?

 

[sumbrewindude]

Usually the idea behind a late addition sugar is to keep the yeast occupied with complex sugars first, then once things have started to relax a bit give then the simple sugars so they can mow through it with little effort.

US05 (for me) usually has a little bit of a lag time, but not much more than 12hrs. I can't see any real benefit for waiting 72hrs from the initial onset of active fermentation, and within the first 72hrs the yeast will have chewed through the bulk of the complex sugar anyway.

I vote add it now per the recipe, and be ready for another day of active fermentation.

 

[kinghenrik30]

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. Experience definitely is key here, so thanks. I guess, since you (may have) read the recipe, what do you think about the idea of racking to a secondary? Should rack to a secondary and then add the candi sugar, as I think the recipe suggests?

 

[sumbrewindude]

I don't rack to the secondary. Some folks do, and I can see a reason for it if you're open fermenting or racking onto/off of something like fruit/etc. Most of the time though you'll be better served just leaving it alone in the primary and reducing any chance of contamination by moving the wort to a new vessel.

I'd leave it alone in the primary, and per that recipe I'd leave it longer than the two weeks they suggest. My rule of thumb is usually close to 3 weeks, and I leave that last week in there for dry hopping etc.

You could pull the beer off at two weeks, but I will say that it will be much clearer if you wait it out a little bit. US05 is very fine, so the more that you let it settle out the more clear your beer will be. Cold crashing just before you get ready to transfer to the bottling bucket will also help clear it up nicely also.

 

[kinghenrik30]

Amazing. Thank you again for the feedback. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out! Now, time to pour in some candi sugar, coffee and chocolates! Yum!

 

[sumbrewindude]

The coffee and cocoa should be added later -

According to the recipe, they should be added 7 days before racking out. I'd treat both of them like a dry hop, and add them 5-7 days before you're ready to rack off to the bottling bucket. Remember you're counting backward from your racking date, you want to have those last flavors be the most current before you bottle them. If you add them too early, they'll just get kind of muddled up in the rest of the flavors, instead of standing on their own.

Add the sugar now, wait about 10 days, then add in the cocoa/coffee and let them hang out for another 5-7 days, then rack out for bottling.

Good luck!

 

[kinghenrik30]

Thanks again. I realized that was the case and just added the sugar. The recipe is clearly written for the more experienced so you're helping a lot!

 

[mrboz]

Different opinions on this, but I would boil the sugar in a couple cups of water to sanitize ... cover it up, let it cool, then dump it in.

 

[kinghenrik30]

Different opinions on this, but I would boil the sugar in a couple cups of water to sanitize ... let it cool, then dump it in.

I hear you, I didn't think of that since it was direct from the packet (D-180 Candi Syrup to be exact). I figured from package nozzle straight into the carboy is going to avoid contamination.

 

[dsjohns]

Just another thought on the why of adding the syrup after primary has started:

A rule of thumb is to not have more than 15% of the fermentables be simple sugars like dextrose (I'm guessing a large percent of the syrup is dextrose), because the yeast will eat that first and then be used to such simple sugars, and will be unable to ferment the rest of the malt sugars. Basically they get spoiled and will refuse to eat their vegetables as it were. So if you get them started on the good malt sugars, adding the simple sugars later will be better served.