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Long fermentation


stquinto

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G'day fellow brewers,

Next weekend I'm off for a couple of weeks and was keen on starting a brew or two so when I get back I can bottle them directly. Is a 2 week fermentation a bit much ? I would have thought it would be ok, but was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. Obviously they would be brews that don't need dry-hopping after a few days, so I'll have to choose my recipes carefully.

They would be fermenting at around 21°- 22°C

Any thoughts ?

 

Cheers, and happy brewing !

 

Edited by stquinto
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10 days will be fine alot of my ferments i have left upto 10days , however as i dont have temp control fridge  and this cold weather they do take a bit longer anyway to get started and to ferment out

you will be fine

 

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Got another problem now: my Belgian Dubbel is still on 1.022 after two full weeks and having added the original brew can yeast after it was stuck at 1.026.

Also got the Saison recipe on the go, and after two weeks it is still bubbling occasionally, at 1.008 or so.

I'm away tomorrow for two weeks - I can add more yeast to the Dubbel and give it a good stil (it's at 21°),  and check again when I get back, and either take a risk and bottle the Saison tonight, or leave that for the two weeks too.

Any of you brewmeister/mistresses have an opinion on it ? As I bottle I wouldn't want to create too much ordinance in my cellar, and come home to glass grenades having gone off...

Cheers

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Hey @jamiek86, the Dubbel is supposed to finish around 1010, having started around 1070. Last time I made it I can't remeber what it finished at, but although I followed the instructions and primed at 7g/l, I got quite a few gushers as I kept them 6 - 12 months. This time I intended halving the priming sugar as these high-alcohol ones need to mature quite a bit (cuppla months I'd say), even if they're not lager-style and they're using Belgian ale yeast.

I've never done the Saison. According to the Coopers recipe, it should finish at 1004 - 1008. Currently it's at almost 1010. So it's bottle now or wait 17 days. I suppose I could get SWMBO to bottle it for me, since she isn't going away 🤪

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

18 days since I last posted on this thread. I'm back now and checked the Saison - it's at 1.006.

I will bottle that one tonight or tomorrow (depends how early I start with my before-dinner drinks...)

Can't believe it but the Belgian Dubbel is still bubbling away (it went in the FV on 13th June) 🤔

I don't want to keep taking hydrometer readings as each time I lose a load of beer and it's only a 9 litre batch.

I'll give it a cuppla more days.

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6 hours ago, stquinto said:

I don't want to keep taking hydrometer readings as each time I lose a load of beer and it's only a 9 litre batch.

Try taking a sample and leaving it in the hydrometer tube beside the fermenter for at least a few days.  You can test it instead.  It will be very close to what is going on in the main fermenter.  If it is a two part Coopers one, put it in a glass or something similar so if it leaks, it does not go everywhere.

With my most recent beer, the yeast was pitched on 10 July OG 1.045.  First sample on 14 July.  

  • 14/07 SG 1.022
  • 15/07 SG 1.020
  • 16/07 SG 1.019
  • 17/07 SG 1.018
  • 18/07 SG 1.017
  • 19/07 SG 1.016  Then I took a fresh sample and its SG was 1.015
  • 20/07 SG 1.013

So far 7 readings but only 200-300 ml of beer used up.

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2 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Try taking a sample and leaving it in the hydrometer tube beside the fermenter for at least a few days.  You can test it instead.  It will be very close to what is going on in the main fermenter.  If it is a two part Coopers one, put it in a glass or something similar so if it leaks, it does not go everywhere.

With my most recent beer, the yeast was pitched on 10 July OG 1.045.  First sample on 14 July.  

  • 14/07 SG 1.022
  • 15/07 SG 1.020
  • 16/07 SG 1.019
  • 17/07 SG 1.018
  • 18/07 SG 1.017
  • 19/07 SG 1.016  Then I took a fresh sample and its SG was 1.015
  • 20/07 SG 1.013

So far 7 readings but only 200-300 ml of beer used up.

I've not done the readings this way before Shamus @Shamus O'Sean. When do you take the first sample - the one you end up leaving beside the FV in the fridge? Obviously after the yaest is pitched but when is a good time to take that sample? TIA mate.

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10 minutes ago, Mickep said:

I've not done the readings this way before Shamus @Shamus O'Sean. When do you take the first sample - the one you end up leaving beside the FV in the fridge? Obviously after the yaest is pitched but when is a good time to take that sample? TIA mate.

I take a sample on brew day for my OG. I leave that sample in the tube next to the FV and don’t take another one until it looks done (same reading for 2 days - you know the drill there). Then I take a new one. 

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2 minutes ago, Tone boy said:

I take a sample on brew day for my OG. I leave that sample in the tube next to the FV and don’t take another one until it looks done (same reading for 2 days - you know the drill there). Then I take a new one. 

Thanks TB, just curious about when to take the sample after pitching the yeast.

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24 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Thanks TB, just curious about when to take the sample after pitching the yeast.

ASAP, or even before the pitch. The idea is to get a representative sample of the brew.

But if you're doing what I and some others do and keeping the sample in beside the FV, pitch the yeast then give a good aerating stir then scoop a sanitised cup into the moving wort then put the lid on.

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Just now, Journeyman said:
27 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Thanks TB, just curious about when to take the sample after pitching the yeast.

ASAP, or even before the pitch. The idea is to get a representative sample of the brew.

But if you're doing what I and some others do and keeping the sample in beside the FV, pitch the yeast then give a good aerating stir then scoop a sanitised cup into the moving wort then put the lid on.

Thanks JM, much appreciated mate.

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4 hours ago, Mickep said:

Thanks JM, much appreciated mate.

Unlike the other brewers who have replied, I take my first sample after 4 days.  So if brewing on Saturday, I'll usually take my first sample after work on Wednesday.  It is equally valid to take it after pitching and stirring on brewday. The choice is yours. I do not need to know what is going on for the first few days, that is why I do not take my first sample on brewday.

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46 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Unlike the other brewers who have replied, I take my first sample after 4 days.  So if brewing on Saturday, I'll usually take my first sample after work on Wednesday.  It is equally valid to take it after pitching and stirring on brewday. The choice is yours. I do not need to know what is going on for the first few days, that is why I do not take my first sample on brewday.

I like that idea of waiting for a few days. I stopped taking the OG as I didn't think it was an accurate reading at the time due to the LDM etc turning to stone in the boxes I had and not fully mixing.

 

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17 minutes ago, Pickles Jones said:

I like that idea of waiting for a few days. I stopped taking the OG as I didn't think it was an accurate reading at the time due to the LDM etc turning to stone in the boxes I had and not fully mixing.

 

I am pretty much the same, an ex home brewer who now owns a Craft Brewery told me once that if you take a reading before pitching it will be more accurate than after.

I don't know how accurate this is but I have followed this practice.

I do take a sample but I feel around day 5 then maybe day 10-12 will give you an idea how fermentation is going, if my brews sit 14 days in the fermenter before bottling, I am pretty sure that it is not going down any further, so far no problems. I do record everything & repeat brews only seem to vary slightly if there are more additions than the previous.

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1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Unlike the other brewers who have replied, I take my first sample after 4 days.  So if brewing on Saturday, I'll usually take my first sample after work on Wednesday.  It is equally valid to take it after pitching and stirring on brewday. The choice is yours. I do not need to know what is going on for the first few days, that is why I do not take my first sample on brewday.

Thanks Shamus - I like this process. Cheers.

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I have over time stretched the time in the FV before bottling due to being away or others things that crop up.

Currently I have three FV's in the fridge at 12C and they will have been in the fridge for over three weeks to four weeks at the time of bottling. I haven't had a problem with this length of time. 

I reason that generally the only thing that changes is putting the brew in bottles from the FV and and adding the carb drops then putting them back in the fridge to condition at 12C.

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