How can I stop the conditioning process?

[Whippy]

Hi people,

My first batch (extract brown ale) has been in the fermenter for a week. After checking gravity, it came in a bit high according to the recipe. I gave the bucket a gentle stir and will be leaving it alone to do its thing for another week and am hopeful that things settle down ok, but as a safeguard I wanted to ask this question.

If I end up going on to bottle this weekend and the FG is still higher than comfortable, I plan to do as suggested here on the forum and check a bottle per week for carbonation. When the beer seems ok, I want to chill the beers to stop the yeast from working just in case primary fermentation had not completed.

What I want to know is this...once I do this chill, can I then remove the bottles from the refrigerator for storage in my beer room, or must I leave them in the fridge to keep them from re-starting the fermentation?

I could always go on a binge, but I'd rather not embarrass myself

Sorry to be so long winded, I just wanted to explain my situation fully to avoid questions.

 

[the_mox]

i wouldnt do anything till primary fermentation is complete, and i know for sure its complete.

 

[daugenet]

you have to leave them in the fridge or else you would risk the yeast waking back up to create you a nice collection of bottle bombs....

 

[frazier]

i wouldnt do anything till primary fermentation is complete, and i know for sure its complete.

+1. There are parts of the process you can manage, and other parts you cannot. You cannot turn the yeast on and off at will - you must give it the time it needs to fulfill its task.

Do not bottle until fermentation is complete. There is really no good way around this requirement.

 

[broadbill]

Hi people,

My first batch (extract brown ale) has been in the fermenter for a week. After checking gravity, it came in a bit high according to the recipe. I gave the bucket a gentle stir and will be leaving it alone to do its thing for another week and am hopeful that things settle down ok, but as a safeguard I wanted to ask this question.

If I end up going on to bottle this weekend and the FG is still higher than comfortable, I plan to do as suggested here on the forum and check a bottle per week for carbonation. When the beer seems ok, I want to chill the beers to stop the yeast from working just in case primary fermentation had not completed.

What I want to know is this...once I do this chill, can I then remove the bottles from the refrigerator for storage in my beer room, or must I leave them in the fridge to keep them from re-starting the fermentation?

I could always go on a binge, but I'd rather not embarrass myself

Sorry to be so long winded, I just wanted to explain my situation fully to avoid questions.

First off, why worry about a problem you don't know you are going to have yet?

Second, why are you bottling so soon?....and why are you even considering bottling if you think you aren't at your FG yet???? The solution to your problem (the one that you don't know you have yet) is to wait longer.

The rule of thumb is to give your beer at least 2weeks in the primary (3 weeks is even better) before you even begin to think of bottling it. That way you know your fermention is complete, that the FG is where is supposed to be (or as low as its going to get) and its ready.

Bottle bombs are easily avoided by a little patience.

Good luck!

 

[Tall_Yotie]

Chilling puts the yeast in hibernation, so they will wake up eventually. As for checking the FG being too high, make sure your temperature is good for fermentation. My father in law's brew takes 2-3 weeks to get where it needs to be for FG, as the temperature at night will swing down a lot and make fermentation slower.

I know it is hard to do, especially with a first batch, but give it an extra week. Test the gravity in a few days, and see where it is. As the rule you see around here, if the gravity is the same 3 days in a row, then fermentation is complete.

So jsut give it a little longer, be patient, and you will have less to worry about.

 

[Whippy]

Thank you all for the advice; it is all carefully considered.

As I said, I am certainly going to wait longer to see what happens. I ask this question in order to learn (which I have) so that if this problem does happen to me either this time or in the future, I will be better prepared and know what I need to do. I searched the forums and did not find an answer to this question so I felt I would present it. I felt this was one of the main purposes of the forum.

I have been reading a lot about homebrewing and have heard that you should not let your beer sit on the yeast for too long. For this reason, I am starting to consider what I will be doing in the coming weeks with my beer. I would rather have found an answer to my question now rather than on my (loosely) scheduled bottling day. Does that make sense?

I am ok waiting another week for my beer if that is what it needs and if it is not going to adversely affect the batch. Impatience is not the issue.

Now that I understand that you cannot fully stop the yeast without risk of them re-starting when taken off the cold, this helps me make better decisions if and when this may be relevent.

Thanks again for all the help, people.

 

[Revvy]

e forum.

I have been reading a lot about homebrewing and have heard that you should not let your beer sit on the yeast for too long.

You're reading outdated information....that idea has been dying over the last 4 years or so, driven by our experiences here. It's an outdated opinion, based on old fears about yeast contact.

You'll find that more and more recipes these days do not advocate moving to a secondary at all, but mention primary for a month, which is starting to reflect the shift in brewing culture that has occurred in the last 4 years, MOSTLY because of many of us on here, skipping secondary, opting for longer primaries, and writing about it. Recipes in BYO have begun stating that in their magazine. I remember the "scandal" it caused i the letters to the editor's section a month later, it was just like how it was here when we began discussing it, except a lot more civil than it was here. But after the Byo/Basic brewing experiment, they started reflecting it in their recipes.

Actually taking it off the yeast too soon prevents some much needed cleanup (and the true secondary fermentation period) from happenning. That's why many of us have opted for LONG primary/No secondary. Instead of rushing the beer off the yeast cake before the job is done. The yeast are very tenacious creatures, and if we actually leave them the heck alone, and not move them too soon, they will actually clean up after themselves, and remove their own waste/by products of fermentation, and actually will lead to cleaner, clearer and fresher tasting beers.

Moving it during fermentation more often than not has led to stuck fermentations.....And off flavors.

That old way of thinking that the yeast is the enemy has gone the way of the dinosaurs. Back when yeast was crappy, and may have come in hot cargo holds of ships, and sat on store shelves for an indeterminant length of time. Now with modern, healthy yeast we put it to work for us..."vomit" or "Autolysis" yeast is pretty much a myth for todays homebrewer.

Even in subsequent editions of How to Brew, John Palmer has changed his tune.

You can read about that here, and have all your questions answered about that as well. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/

Bottom line, we leave our beers alone, some of us for a month, it let's the beer ferment and the yeast clean up after itself. Many of us have found a remarkable improvement on our beers since we "entered the 21st century."

You don't want to stop the conditioning process, you want to embrace it.

 

[akthor]

I have several friends who used to brew and one who currently still does and actually does all grain.

When I got back into the hobby I started reading on here and started reading about the 4 weeks in primary. The theory and results of all the info seemed to make sense to me so I told all my friends I was doing 4 weeks in primary. Needless to say they all scoffed at the notion.

Well we all drank my beer yesterday and it was so good 4 of us drank 3/4 of the keg during one football game.

Also the biggest benefit I see is that my beer was crystal clear (as a nut brown ale can be) Even after moving the keg from the basement to upstairs the day we drank it, between the four weeks in primary and forced carbing the beer still poured crystal clear, no sludge, no sediment, no cloudiness.

All my friends are believers now as well. All my beers will sit at least four weeks in primary from now on.

 

[Whippy]

Excellent additional information, I feel much more comfortable leaving the tub alone for longer now!! Yes, I do admit that most of what I have been reading is old. What a pleasure it will be to not have pressure to rack & bottle during a specific time window! I hate deadlines