gonewrong Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 OK so i am new and the answers i have got from my questions, have been very helpful. Now i am going to ask what may seem to some, a very stupid question. When the brewer, like Coopers, fills it bottles for sale, it seems to me that they go out for sale right away. Now to my way of thinking, they havent been stored and people just grab it and drink it. Why do we, as home brewers, have to wait for weeks to be able to drink our product. I have talked to a couple of people i know who brew their own and one says keep it bottled for a couple of months, the other says a week is long enough, you see why i am confused, must be the fumes from my brew. Why do we have to wait for ages, and what is the difference when the major brewers bottle. Think il goo have a Kransky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I think you'll find with Coopers naturally conditioned bottles that they probably don't go out for sale immediately after being bottled - they would have to wait for the yeast to carbonate the bottles first, just like we do. After that, they could sit around for any length of time before someone actually buys them, and you'll notice they have a best after date, rather than a best before date. Other beers that are filtered and force carbonated don't really need the ageing I suppose. They're brewed specifically to be out in the shops as soon as possible. As for ageing our own beers, it's a lot of personal preference, but there are some guidelines that might be useful. I don't think a week is long enough, but depending on the style, anywhere from 2-3 weeks to 6+ months is ideal. The light, hoppy pale ales are usually at their best at around 2-4 weeks, before the hop influence starts to diminish. Amber ales, ESBs etc. probably benefit from a couple of months, whereas dark ales, porters and stouts etc. are at their best after 6+ months of ageing. Lagers usually benefit from a couple of months stored cold, if possible. As you can see, there's no standard for all beer styles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gag Halfrunt Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I think we need a thread about Kransky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadndave Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 The Russian spy or the sausage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImaginativeName Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I'm hungry, for espionage, I mean, kransky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gag Halfrunt Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 The Russian spy or the sausage? There's a sausage?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Robdog Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I am curious about this as well. I recently did a tour of tennents brewery in the UK and they said that their beer in glass bottles goes off after 3 months. They kill the yeast by cooling and filter before force carbonating and bottling. I am curious why it would go off so quickly? Could it have something to do with the beer having no active yeast opening it up to infection? Cheers, Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beefy1525229962 Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I am curious about this as well. I recently did a tour of tennents brewery in the UK and they said that their beer in glass bottles goes off after 3 months. They kill the yeast by cooling and filter before force carbonating and bottling. I am curious why it would go off so quickly? Could it have something to do with the beer having no active yeast opening it up to infection? Cheers' date=' Robin[/quote'] Maybe. But when they say it 'goes off' it is highly unlikely they mean that the beer is infected - their process would be much more stringent/clean than that. It is much more likely that the beer just goes a bit stale. Reason being, the most effective way to preserve most things is to remove oxygen. Yes, this does prevent the growth of most nasties, but more importantly it reduces oxidation that can degrade flavours. When you bottle condition with active yeast, the yeast is very effective at removing the oxygen (far more effective than the forced carbonation process), so the beer stays fresher longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oor Wullie Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I am curious about this as well. I recently did a tour of tennents brewery in the UK and they said that their beer in glass bottles goes off after 3 months. They kill the yeast by cooling and filter before force carbonating and bottling. I am curious why it would go off so quickly? Could it have something to do with the beer having no active yeast opening it up to infection? Cheers' date=' Robin[/quote'] Could have something to do with being off before it is even bottled. I guess you tasted the Lager? It's minging. If I somehow managed to brew a decomposing sheep with a dead spider, I think I would get close to brewing a clone Tennent's. And as for their Tennents Super, well, in the event of a zombie apocalypse it could be used as 2 stroke for my chainsaw. But none the less, still an interesting post. Oor Wullie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir_Robdog Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Cheers for that beefy that makes sense I hadn't thought of that. Orr Wullie I agree it is not my favorite brew plus they have some pretty terrible presentation with their cans in cheap plastic wrapping. I think they definitely prioritise quantity over quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonewrong Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 Ok forget the Kransky and any Russian spies. I still didnt get the answer i was looking for. I used Coopers name as an example of a brewer, thats all. Why cant i just put my freshly bottled ale in the fridge now, and drink it tomorrow. This is the one thing i am not sure of. I have been round breweries and i have seen them bottle beer and the next thing is the sell it on, why cant we do this. Anyway, i am going to experiment and try a couple, will let you know the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImaginativeName Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Kelsey gave the answer. Other than that, you just have to try and see. I'm learning not to bother with beer that has only been in the bottle one week, it's much better after two, that extra week makes all the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Because if you bottle the beer and put it straight in the fridge you'll send the yeast to sleep and won't get any carbonation. It can be done with kegs because these can be carbonated via a CO2 cylinder. I kegged a beer earlier this week and carbonated it overnight, and was drinking it the next day. It can be done in a matter of hours as well, but I'm not a huge fan of that method. Unless you have some way of force carbonating bottles, you'll just have to wait the 2-3 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonewrong Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 Because if you bottle the beer and put it straight in the fridge you'll send the yeast to sleep and won't get any carbonation. It can be done with kegs because these can be carbonated via a CO2 cylinder. I kegged a beer earlier this week and carbonated it overnight' date=' and was drinking it the next day. It can be done in a matter of hours as well, but I'm not a huge fan of that method. Unless you have some way of force carbonating bottles, you'll just have to wait the 2-3 weeks. [/quote'] Let me get this straight, who is Kelsey. On the other hand, what you are saying, and again im new to this, those little pellet things you add to each bottle, is what gives the beer its gas. These pellets will take time to carbonate the beer, have i got it right so far. The ingredients for those are glucose and sugar, why not just add sugar and glucose naturally, I am not trying to be a smart buttocks, i am trying to learn all about the brewing of beer. I am at a loss as to the long wait before i can have my own beer, its costing a fortune at the bottlo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaydub Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Otto Von Blotto is Kelsey. When you say pellets i assume you mean carbonation drops. When most people say pellets they are referring to hop pellet. I'll assume that is not the case here. So yeast eats sugar in the FV, when all the sugar is eaten you will be left with alcohol and some CO2 as a byproduct of the fermentation process. If you taste the sample you will see it is essentially flat beer and rather cloudy. One of the reasons for the cloudiness is suspended yeast. As thr FV is not 100% sealed it will not hold the CO2 enough to carbonate the beer. When you bottle the beer you add sugar, being those sugar pellets/drops you are referring to. What that does is allows the yeast to eat the sugar in the bottle and as the bottle is sealed it will retain the CO2 which will make it fizzy. This process takes between 7-14 days which is why we wait 2 weeks before drinking our bottled home brew. If you drink it 1 day after bottling there will be very little in regards to carbonation and your brew will be rather flat, not hold a head and be cloudy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I've tried my beers soon after bottling, and trust me - waiting 2-3 weeks is the way to go. That time carbonates the beer, plus it gives yeast in suspension time to settle on the bottom of the bottle. When you get close to bottling your beer, dump the sample you use for your hydrometer test into a glass and stick it in the fridge. You will be surprised at the sediment that forms on the bottom of the glass. Waiting just a bit longer, like the 'best after' date that Kelsey mentioned, is well worth it to enjoy a much better beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImaginativeName Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 The easiest way to understand things, is from experience. Open a bottle after 3 days, listen to it, pour it, look at it, drink it. Open a bottle after a week, repeat. Open a bottle after 10 days. Open a bottle after two weeks. Then you'll understand why we wait. Yeast converts sugar into alcohol and C02, it's an organic process, it takes time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Glucose is a sugar. Cane sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide comprised of one unit of glucose and one unit of fructose. Just because it's in a hard boiled candy type thing doesn't make it any less natural. There is no such thing as synthetic sugars. Anyway, the two posts above this one have well covered why we have to wait ~2 weeks to drink the bottled beer. Whether you use the carbonation drops, measure the sugar or dextrose individually into each bottle, or mix up the entire priming sugar for the batch with water and mix it into the beer, the process remains the same, which is that the yeast must ferment this added sugar in the bottle to produce the carbon dioxide to make it fizzy. This takes time. If you want to drink the beer sooner then that's up to you but just bear in mind that it won't be carbonated properly until that 2 week or so mark. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSands Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 ...why not just add sugar and glucose naturally. You can. If you're bottling with 750ml bottles then a teaspoon or ordinary table sugar (sucrose) funneled into each bottle will do the job. I am at a loss as to the long wait before i can have my own beer' date=' its costing a fortune at the bottlo.[/quote']The bulk of the carbonation typically occurs in the first week and the beer has usually cleared by this time too. That's maybe why some say you can drink it after only one week. And sure, you can... but if you want to experience a better beer... then patience is the key. If you get busy brewing, get a pipeline going and steadily build up some decent stock then there will be no hurry. The only time this fails, as I am currently experiencing, is when you have a visitor staying with you who enthusiastically consumes the fruits of your efforts, depleting stocks in record time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonewrong Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 Otto Von Blotto is Kelsey. When you say pellets i assume you mean carbonation drops. When most people say pellets they are referring to hop pellet. I'll assume that is not the case here. So yeast eats sugar in the FV' date=' when all the sugar is eaten you will be left with alcohol and some CO2 as a byproduct of the fermentation process. If you taste the sample you will see it is essentially flat beer and rather cloudy. One of the reasons for the cloudiness is suspended yeast. As thr FV is not 100% sealed it will not hold the CO2 enough to carbonate the beer. When you bottle the beer you add sugar, being those sugar pellets/drops you are referring to. What that does is allows the yeast to eat the sugar in the bottle and as the bottle is sealed it will retain the CO2 which will make it fizzy. This process takes between 7-14 days which is why we wait 2 weeks before drinking our bottled home brew. If you drink it 1 day after bottling there will be very little in regards to carbonation and your brew will be rather flat, not hold a head and be cloudy.[/quote'] OK experiment failed. I tried the beer after 4 days. The colour was really nice but there was no carbonation, it was flat. Thanks for the help guys, i may just be understanding this brewing lark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImaginativeName Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 That's not a failure. You opened a beer after 4 days in the bottle, and you've seen that it's not enough time. Now you know, from your own experience, that it's better to wait, and what's more, you understand why. That's a successful outcome as far as I'm concerned. Happy brewing Cheers JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Pirate Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Home brew in bottles is a naturally conditioned beer , REAL beer Most of the stuff you get at the bottlo is forced carbonated , filtered and most of it is also rubbish ! a certain very large brewer markets beers as " brewery fresh " with a best before date Coopers are the only large scale brewer i know of in Aus that bottle / keg / can condition every drop of ale the old fashioned way ,much the same way we do but on a much larger scale they have a warehouse full of beer all stamped with a best after date . As far as your home brew goes , leave it carbonate properly then stand upright in fridge for a few days to ensure all yeast settle into a nice solid layer on bottom of bottle then pour into a glass with 750 ml bottles i tend to pour 2 glasses one after other to save disturbing the yeast( by standing bottle back up and sloshing ) , drink 1 and place other in front of a friend or in the fridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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