I think I bottled too early

[RyanT]

Well, it seems i made a wee error in my first beer (brown ale).

I fermented for 7 days, then went straight to bottling. I didn't realize a secondary fermentor was a key part to the beer equation.

I've been reading on these forums little bits and pieces about the potential for exploding bottles and green beer, due to my quick bottling. After reading some other threads, I am now expecting a lot of sediment in the bottles and some cloudy beer.

So what is your advice for me? just let those bottles sit for a month before opening one up? 2 months? More than that? I realize that my beer isn't going to be great, but I'm just hoping to make the best of the situation. If I let them sit in bottles for a long time, do you think I get at least get my flavor to improve?

 

[Joker]

Did you check FG when bottling? What was the OG?

 

[RyanT]

oops. forgot to mention that! OG was 1.06, my FG on day 7 was 1.022.

 

[Evan!]

It's not a flavor issue per se, but a question of sugar and sediment. Did you, by chance, take a hydrometer gravity reading when you bottled? I'm guessing not, but whatever. Me, I used to use a secondary, but these days, for most beers, I just leave them in primary until it's time for the keg. Secondary is NOT a requirement for most beers, IOW.

That having been said, if fermentation was not done when you bottled, you have a good chance of overcarbonated beer, or *gasp* bottle bombs. You see, if there's any residual fermentable sugar in there, on top of the priming sugar, you will get excess CO2 from the excess fermentation which will overcarbonate the beer, or even create dangerous bottle bombs.

But after 7 days, there's a good chance everything was done. Did the krausen (foam on top of the beer during fermentation) drop into the beer? Did the airlock stop bubbling? Did the beer clear up at all? If so, then you're probably alright. The only thing you can do is wait and see. After a couple weeks you should have the final carbonation level. If at that time you've got a normal carbonation level, there's a good chance your beer is fine. If it's overcarbed, then be careful. Overcarbed beer can get dangerous over time and the bottles can turn into dangerous exploding bombs. So watch out for that.

As for the clarity, it's probably not going to be as clear as it should be, but if you let the bottles sit for a couple months upright, and be careful when pouring to leave the sediment in the bottom of the bottle (even if it means leaving some beer behind).

So, in the end, there's a good chance your beer is fine, but either way, all you can do is wait and see anyway.

 

[Evan!]

oops. forgot to mention that! OG was 1.06, my FG on day 7 was 1.022.

Hm, yeah, 1.022 is pretty high. You probably won't get bottle bombs, but you might get gushers.

 

[mkling]

RDWHAHB!

I've gone from brewing to drinking in 10 days in the past (6 days in primary, 4 days in bottle). This was with a very fast fermenting beer, but it worked.

You'll probably end up with more sediment in the bottom of your bottle than usual, but otherwise, as long as your fermentation is reasonably complete you'll be fine. A couple of extra weeks either staying in primary or moved to secondary (big debate on this) and it would be better, but this will still be fine.

 

[mkling]

Yep 1.022 seems high. Evan! is right -- bottle bombs or gushers may be in your future.

 

[starrfish]

brown ales especially mild brown ales ferment quickly, mature quickly, and are meant to be consumed quickly as the flavor peaks at around 30 days.

my first home brew was a brown ale (og 1.038), fermented for less than a week, straight to bottle and was drinking it in another 2 weeks. got slightly better with a bit of age in the bottle but over all it was nice at every stage. even clear with no secondary.

However, my american brown is still fermenting after 5 days and has a projected alcohol of over 6% (og 1.064)

I use a secondary primarily to dry hop, add fruit, or herbs, or to age a beer that I want extra clear, otherwise I don't bother...

fg of 1.022 might be ok, depends on the level of unfermentables, my milk stout was stopped at 1.022 and no gushers.

 

[RyanT]

My krausen had dropped. the airlock was not bubbling. The beer was very cloudy, however.


Any ideas when i should try to crack open my first beer for the first taste? 2 weeks? 4 weeks?

 

[dontman]

There is a chance that your beer was not quite done fermenting. But at .022 the .006 or 7 points do not pose that much threat of bottle bombs like a lot of people will be fast to warn you.

There is sediment in all bottle conditioned beer so even though you might have a relative quantity more you won't really notice it.

I have bottled beers in as little time as you and they turned out delicious so don't worry. Just wait at least 3 weeks until you try it otherwise I guarantee you will be on here starting a thread "Help, my beer has [insert off flavor here], what to do"

In the future, I would wait at least 2 preferably 3 or 4 weeks before bottling. Your beer will thank you for it. With a full pipeline of beer I usually wait 3 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary for ales and add 4 more weeks for lagers.

 

[Panzermann]

You will be fine, it is more of the brewers opinion and personal preference to wait 2-3+ wks to drink the beer after bottling. Using a secondary is also personal preference.

Alot of people keep it simple and basic, ferment for 1 wk, bottle for 1 wk and then drink. They are not as anal about sedement etc... Lots of good responses here but I think you will be ok.

I think the 1-2-3 rule is a good rule of thumb if you want to use a secondary. I have not really decided what I want to do yet.

 

[fishnfever]

RyanT,

Was this an eaxtract kit? I have gone from my fermenting bucket into bottles in 7 days with no issues. I did this two or three times as the muntons kits directions said it would be ready in that time period. I no longer do that (after reading about issues and was a newbie) but, if you used a muntons kit it just might be okay.


Either way good luck!!

 

[jdauria]

I have somewhat the same issue, bottled last night after 3 weeks fermenting, 1 in primary, 2 in secondary. Then realized today that it should have been 3 weeks in secondary, not total! I will say gravity has been constant, after week 1 it was 1.023 and was 1.021 yesterday two weeks later. FG per recipe was 1.016. My guess biggest issue for me will be beer will not be as clear as it would have been?

 

[mojotele]

I have somewhat the same issue, bottled last night after 3 weeks fermenting, 1 in primary, 2 in secondary. Then realized today that it should have been 3 weeks in secondary, not total! I will say gravity has been constant, after week 1 it was 1.023 and was 1.021 yesterday two weeks later. FG per recipe was 1.016. My guess biggest issue for me will be beer will not be as clear as it would have been?

Holy old thread, Batman!

Can you give more specifics on your recipe? 1.021 could be a perfectly fine FG or it could not. It depends.

 

[jdauria]

Can you give more specifics on your recipe? 1.021 could be a perfectly fine FG or it could not. It depends.

Below is my Dead Guy Ale recipe...the only changes from below that I have was that I used BOTH yeasts in error and my hops had a slightly higher AA rating... my OG was 1.073 and FG was 1.021...ABV I come up with around 6.94% using the easy method (OG-FG)*131. My OG was probably off some because I added water to the carboy to get up to 5 gallons and did not stir to mix, so when I took OG reading, was probably more watery mix of wort.

Page 160 in Beer Captured.
Dead Guy Ale
Page 160 in Beer Captured.
Dead Guy Ale

OG: 1.063-1.064
FG: 1.015-1.016
SRM: 18
IBU: 31
ABV: 6.0%

Directions
Heat 1 gallon of water to 155°F. Add:
13 oz. Belgian Cara-Munich Malt
13 oz. German Munich Malt
7 oz. 40°L Crystal Malt
Remove pot from heat and steep at 150°F for 30 minutes. Strain the grain water into the brew pot. Sparge the grains with 1 gallon of 150°F water. Bring water to a boil, remove from heat and add:
4 lbs. Pale LME
4 lbs. Light DME
1 oz. Pearl @ 7.5% AA (7.5 HBU) Bittering Hop
Add water until the total volume in the pot is 3½ gallons. Boil for 45 minutes then add:
¼ oz. Pearl Flavor Hop
¼ oz. Czech Saaz Flavor Hop
1 tsp. Irish Moss
Boil for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and chill the wort for 20 minutes. Strain the wort into the primary fermenter and add cold water to obtain 5⅛ gallons. When the wort temperature is below 80°F, pitch the yeast.
1 pkg. Wyeast 1338 European Ale – Ferment at 68-72°F
or
1 pkg. Wyeast 1056 American Ale – Ferment at 68-72°F
Ferment in primary fermenter for 7 days or until fermentation slows, then siphon into the secondary fermenter. Bottle when fermentation is complete, target gravity is reached and beer has cleared (approximately 3 weeks) with:
1¼ cup Extra Light DME (Priming)
That has been boiled for 10 minutes in 2 cups of water. Let prime at 70°F for approximately 3 weeks until carbonated, then store at cellar temperature.

 

[Yooper]

1.021 on that beer is fine. Don't worry!

 

[mojotele]

Yeap, you got a bit over 71% attenuation. That's a healthy fermentation. Don't worry about it.