Slight problem, need advice on sediment

[thrall]

Hello,

I started a kit of barley wine (I'm posting here as it is actually beer) from Youngs 12 days ago, in the first day the fermentation went a little crazy with a massive froth.

After about 6 days the froth started dissipating and now its gone. The problem is I have little bits of sediment floating on top of the liquid that doesn't seem to be dropping at all.

Does anyone have any idea what I should do as the kit said bottle after 7 days.

 

[Revvy]

Hello,



Does anyone have any idea what I should do as the kit said bottle after 7 days.

Yeah, throw away the instructions, and let it sit for a month, then rack to secondary and leave it for at least another 6 months. Maybe before you get ready to bottle soak some oak chips in bourbon for a month, then add it in for a week before you bottle. Then sprinkle some fresh yeast with the priming sugar on bottling day.

Yours has floaties in it, because it's still not done clearing, which means it's not time to bottle yet.

It's a barleywine, it needs time, not just to condition, but there's a lot of complex sugar in there for the yeast to have to chew through.

Barleywines are not short term beers, and especially bottling them after 1 week is unrealistic.

It's a big beer, and big beers take time. Lazy LLama came up with a great chart that explains how long things take. And you Barleywine is a big beer....so it takes time.

I have a barleywine that I'm aging for 5 years to serve on my 50th birthday.

 

[AnthonyC]

7 Days is awfully soon to bottle any beer in my opinion, but especially a barleywine. Take a gravity reading, wait a few days and take another. If they are the same, then you can consider bottling. I like to keep my beers in primary for at least a couple weeks. Usually closer to 3 weeks if I'm dry hopping and fining.

The sediment will likely fall with some more time.

 

[thrall]

Thanks guys for the quick replies.

I will keep it in the fermentation bucket for another few weeks at least as this seems to be the one bit of advice everyone gives.

About the fresh yeast before bottling, I have never done this or ever heard of it. I normally just add about half a teaspoon of sugar in with the beer and that's enough for a carbonation. is this a barley wine specific thing?

Also another quick question, I have read about barley wines and people say they should be fermented with one yeast then a few weeks later add a champagne or wine yeast for a secondary fermentation. What does this actually add to the brew and would it even work because the first fermentation has used up all the sugar.

 

[tchuklobrau]

thats is why gravity readings are important. knowing what it started at and what it is at now will determine if fermentation is complete and if there is anything to be gained from adding the other yeast.

 

[Germelli1]

You should ever need fresh yeast unless you are really pushing the limits one way or another with the recipe. Without knowing the OG of this guy I would recommend letting is sit for a good while in the fermenter!

 

[thrall]

I have the OG and will test the gravity tomorrow and post the findings, maybe the more experienced could make sense of it

 

[Calder]

I will keep it in the fermentation bucket for another few weeks at least as this seems to be the one bit of advice everyone gives.

Good call, there is no need to rush most beers, and they will generally do better being left for a while. I'm sure if I worked it right, relatively low gravity, right temps and pitching rates, I could have a beer in the bottle in 2 weeks, but I never even think about doing one in less than 4.

As Revvy noted, the bigger the beer, the longer it takes to come into it's own.

About the fresh yeast before bottling, I have never done this or ever heard of it. I normally just add about half a teaspoon of sugar in with the beer and that's enough for a carbonation. is this a barley wine specific thing?

A lot of it depends on the OG and the time bulk conditioning. Something about 1.060 OG, I would have no problems saying you still have plenty of good yeast to carbonate after 6 months. If you are over 1.085, it starts to get very dubious, and anything with a abv of 11%+ after any period will need a wine yeast to help with priming. The wine yeast will do nothing until you add the priming sugar, as it only ferments simple sugars.

Adding half a teaspoon of sugar to the bottle is old, inaccurate, and a possible source of contamination. General method these days is to take all the priming sugar and dissolve it in a little boiling water and mix it with the beer in a bottling bucket (move it off the trub to a separate container and add the priming solution), and then bottle.

Also another quick question, I have read about barley wines and people say they should be fermented with one yeast then a few weeks later add a champagne or wine yeast for a secondary fermentation. What does this actually add to the brew and would it even work because the first fermentation has used up all the sugar.

The wine yeast will probably do nothing to continue the main fermentation. Wine yeast ferments only the simple sugars, while ale yeasts will ferment some of the more complex sugars, leaving nothing for the wine yeast to work on.

It will help if the primary yeast has died due to high alcohol, and you are adding more simple sugars to boost the alcohol, and it will help to prime if the main yeast has died due to high alcohol. If your OG was not over 1.100, you probably don't need it for bottling (that should give you about 10% abv).

 

[Revvy]

Hey Calder, read what I posted in a similar thread here, about how they recommend to yeast big beers in Clone Brews. I'd like to know what you think about why the say to do it the way they do.

 

[thrall]

http://i.imgur.com/XAxo5.jpg

This is what it looks like, I have yet to take a reading but would like to know if this seems normal. My previous homebrew didn't look like this at all.

 

[Revvy]

Looks normal to me.

 

[thrall]

Looks normal to me.

Good to know. does it settle eventually? Would maybe using some beer finning be good?

 

[Revvy]

Good to know. does it settle eventually? Would maybe using some beer finning be good?

I've never needed to add finings or consider filtering my beer. All that can be done with time and gravity. My beer is crystal clear (my clarity's even been commented on by judges in contest) due simply to using long primaries.

This is my yeastcake for my Sri Lankin Stout that sat in primary for 5 weeks. Notice how tight the yeast cake is? None of that got racked over to my bottling bucket. And the beer is extremely clear.

That little bit of beer to the right is all of the 5 gallons that DIDN'T get vaccumed off the surface of the tight trub. Note how clear it is, there's little if any floaties in there.

When I put 5 gallons in my fermenter, I tend to get 5 gallons into bottles. The cake itself is like cement, it's about an inch thick and very, very dense, you can't just tilt your bucket and have it fall out. I had to use water pressure to get it to come out.

This is the last little bit of the same beer in the bottling bucket, this is the only sediment that made it though and that was done on purpose, when I rack I always make sure to rub the autosiphon across the bottom of the primary to make sure there's plenty of yeast in suspension to carb the beer, but my bottles are all crystal clear and have little sediment in them.

Half the time I forget to use moss, and you can't tell the difference in clarity.

I get the barest hint of sediment in my bottles....just enough for the yeast to have done the job of carbonating the beer.

 

[thrall]

I've never needed to add finings or consider filtering my beer. All that can be done with time and gravity. My beer is crystal clear (my clarity's even been commented on by judges in contest) due simply to using long primaries.

This is my yeastcake for my Sri Lankin Stout that sat in primary for 5 weeks. Notice how tight the yeast cake is? None of that got racked over to my bottling bucket. And the beer is extremely clear.

That little bit of beer to the right is all of the 5 gallons that DIDN'T get vaccumed off the surface of the tight trub. Note how clear it is, there's little if any floaties in there.

When I put 5 gallons in my fermenter, I tend to get 5 gallons into bottles. The cake itself is like cement, it's about an inch thick and very, very dense, you can't just tilt your bucket and have it fall out. I had to use water pressure to get it to come out.

This is the last little bit of the same beer in the bottling bucket, this is the only sediment that made it though and that was done on purpose, when I rack I always make sure to rub the autosiphon across the bottom of the primary to make sure there's plenty of yeast in suspension to carb the beer, but my bottles are all crystal clear and have little sediment in them.

Half the time I forget to use moss, and you can't tell the difference in clarity.

I get the barest hint of sediment in my bottles....just enough for the yeast to have done the job of carbonating the beer.

Thanks a lot. When you say forgot to use moss, what does that mean, im very new to homebrew and have never heard of moss before.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks a lot. When you say forgot to use moss, what does that mean, im very new to homebrew and have never heard of moss before.

You DID ask about using finnings, irish moss is a finning. It is usually used in thelast 15 minutes of the boil.