worlddivides
Well-Known Member
Short story:
Making my version of a kriek (pretty much the same as a normal kriek except with White Labs' "Abbey Ale" yeast instead of wild yeast and ZERO bacteria)
Spent 8 days in primary
Currently 14 days in secondary
Non-stop carbonation the whole time with zero gravity change.
Long story:
Before adding the cherries, the gravity was 1.010. I added the cherries to secondary and the entire time in secondary carbonation bubbles have been going up the side of the carboy. I checked the gravity 1 week into secondary and it was 1.010. I checked the gravity again 3 days later and it was 1.010. I checked the gravity 3-4 days later and it was 1.010.
But there are still carbonation bubbles running up the side of the carboy. There are still bubbles in the airlock every 15-17 seconds (even after 2 weeks in secondary). I shook up the carboy earlier and it changed to bubbles in the airlock every 7-9 seconds (meaning the CO2 is not coming out of solution?).
Judging from the gravity, the beer has been ready to be bottled for over a week, but the carbonation bubbles do not stop. Where are they coming from? With the gravity staying steady for 7 days, I can't imagine what the yeast could be eating.
P.S. I've tasted all three gravity samples and while color-wise, they are all a very beautiful reddish-golden color, the cherry flavor is extremely subdued. I used 7 pounds of cherries in a 5 gallon batch, which is a lot more than any place I looked said I should use, but there is far less cherry flavor than any commercial kriek I have ever tasted before. I didn't expect the beer to be sweet, as I knew all the sugar would be converted to alcohol and CO2, but I did expect a much more pronounced cherry flavor. Does anyone have any information on this? Would adding lactose with the priming sugar at bottling help or is there some other way? Or do you really need to add some psychotic level of cherries (like 30 pounds of cherries per 5 gallons) to actually get a pronounced cherry flavor?
I'm confused at both A: when to bottle and B: what I can do to intensify the cherry flavor (7 pounds of cherries in 5 gallons should be more than enough. It's CERTAINLY enough to change the color from a very light yellowish-gold to a very dark reddish-gold).
Making my version of a kriek (pretty much the same as a normal kriek except with White Labs' "Abbey Ale" yeast instead of wild yeast and ZERO bacteria)
Spent 8 days in primary
Currently 14 days in secondary
Non-stop carbonation the whole time with zero gravity change.
Long story:
Before adding the cherries, the gravity was 1.010. I added the cherries to secondary and the entire time in secondary carbonation bubbles have been going up the side of the carboy. I checked the gravity 1 week into secondary and it was 1.010. I checked the gravity again 3 days later and it was 1.010. I checked the gravity 3-4 days later and it was 1.010.
But there are still carbonation bubbles running up the side of the carboy. There are still bubbles in the airlock every 15-17 seconds (even after 2 weeks in secondary). I shook up the carboy earlier and it changed to bubbles in the airlock every 7-9 seconds (meaning the CO2 is not coming out of solution?).
Judging from the gravity, the beer has been ready to be bottled for over a week, but the carbonation bubbles do not stop. Where are they coming from? With the gravity staying steady for 7 days, I can't imagine what the yeast could be eating.
P.S. I've tasted all three gravity samples and while color-wise, they are all a very beautiful reddish-golden color, the cherry flavor is extremely subdued. I used 7 pounds of cherries in a 5 gallon batch, which is a lot more than any place I looked said I should use, but there is far less cherry flavor than any commercial kriek I have ever tasted before. I didn't expect the beer to be sweet, as I knew all the sugar would be converted to alcohol and CO2, but I did expect a much more pronounced cherry flavor. Does anyone have any information on this? Would adding lactose with the priming sugar at bottling help or is there some other way? Or do you really need to add some psychotic level of cherries (like 30 pounds of cherries per 5 gallons) to actually get a pronounced cherry flavor?
I'm confused at both A: when to bottle and B: what I can do to intensify the cherry flavor (7 pounds of cherries in 5 gallons should be more than enough. It's CERTAINLY enough to change the color from a very light yellowish-gold to a very dark reddish-gold).