Long fermentation

[jamiek86]

@Pickles Jones so you brew lager and then carb them at same brew temp over how many weeks? are they properly carbed? do you then bring down and lager at all?

[Pickles Jones]

28 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

@Pickles Jones so you brew lager and then carb them at same brew temp over how many weeks? are they properly carbed? do you then bring down and lager at all?

Yes I carb them at the same temperature as the brew.  After the carb drops I leave them in the fridge at the same temperature 12C for about nine to ten weeks. I used to drop them down to around 5-6C but I honestly couldn't see much difference.  And it allowed me to put another FV in the same fridge at 12C.

I use the Grolsch swing tops with two carb drops per bottle. I find this OK for me as I like a bit of fizz in a lager and it gives a nice crisp finish.

So far no bottle bombs.

 

[jamiek86]

sounds like you have a good thing going I also noticed a lager I bottled at change from spring to summer that was probably carbed longer on the cool side was nice. I don't however have fridge capacity to do this all the time but a nice trick for the in-between seasons.

[Otto Von Blotto]

15 hours 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 do this as well, I already have the OG from the post boil sample on brew day itself. The only difference to others is that I leave the sample on the bar rather than inside the fridge. Apart from now, it's warmer so it finishes off quicker, then I just take another fresh sample a couple of days after it stops dropping to confirm the reading. 

[Tricky Micky]

12 hours ago, Pickles Jones said:

13 hours ago, jamiek86 said:

@Pickles Jones so you brew lager and then carb them at same brew temp over how many weeks? are they properly carbed? do you then bring down and lager at all?

Yes I carb them at the same temperature as the brew.  After the carb drops I leave them in the fridge at the same temperature 12C for about nine to ten weeks. I used to drop them down to around 5-6C but I honestly couldn't see much difference.  And it allowed me to put another FV in the same fridge at 12C.

I use the Grolsch swing tops with two carb drops per bottle. I find this OK for me as I like a bit of fizz in a lager and it gives a nice crisp finish.

So far no bottle bombs.

Jamiek86, @jamiek86 mate, I recently had placed two boxes of lager 740ml Pets in side the house at about 18-20 Deg c, and the other remaining two boxes of lager from the same batch were left in the Garage (In Melbourne) where the temps didn't get much  over 12 Degrees C. The inside boxes carbed slightly quicker than the ones outside but the Garage boxes were fully carbed at the same level as the others a day or so later.

Edited July 22, 2021 by Mickep

[stquinto]

On 7/21/2021 at 12:01 AM, 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.

@Shamus O'Sean mate, thanks for the tip 

It had occured to me after I'd taken the initial reading, and not having chucked it out, that it starts to develop a bit of a krausen in the tube as it is obviously fermenting like the beer is.

I imagine it would make more sense to take the first reading straight after pitching, so there is already some yeast in for it to ferment, but I had read somewhere about taking the reading before pitching like Phil @CLASSIC mentioned. 

As I take a reading at the beginning to determine the final strength I'll save it next to the FV to see how it develops.

I have a refractometer but I can't seem to get the bugger to give me a consistant reading: I could take 5 in a row and get 5 different results. Must be doing something wrong.

I just bottled the Saison last night, and the Dubbel is still bubbling from time to time: I'll take a reading and leave the tube full.

Thanks for all of your input fellas 

Edited July 22, 2021 by stquinto

[PKD]

Hi All, 
First timer here using the Lager that came with my kit.  I pitched it on Saturday and it seems to have had only a light bubbly surface since then with no real frothing going on.  The temp has been sitting around the 19-21 mark for the whole time due to the coldness of the time of year. I am worried that there is no Fermentation going on.
Am I doing it right? Do I need to heat it up some more?
Any advice welcome.

[Classic Brewing Co]

40 minutes ago, PKD said:

Hi All, 
First timer here using the Lager that came with my kit.  I pitched it on Saturday and it seems to have had only a light bubbly surface since then with no real frothing going on.  The temp has been sitting around the 19-21 mark for the whole time due to the coldness of the time of year. I am worried that there is no Fermentation going on.
Am I doing it right? Do I need to heat it up some more?
Any advice welcome.

A lot could depend on the other fermentables added, for example Brew Enhancer 2 (BE2) LDME (Light Dried Malt ) or Dextrose etc. 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Sounds normal enough. Check the SG of it in a couple of days time. By then it should be finished or nearly done. 

[PKD]

47 minutes ago, CLASSIC said:

A lot could depend on the other fermentables added, for example Brew Enhancer 2 (BE2) LDME (Light Dried Malt ) or Dextrose etc. 

I only put in the items that came with the beginner kit.  I think it was Brew Enhancer 1.  Nothing else

 

[PKD]

37 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Sounds normal enough. Check the SG of it in a couple of days time. By then it should be finished or nearly done. 

Thanks, hopefully it is ok.  i did a quick test of the SG and it was about 1044 and it smelt ok.  It was very foamy when it went into the tube.

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

It should be lower than that... what volume did you mix it to? A kit and kilo of whatever in 23 litres generally starts around 1.038, and only goes down from there as the fermentation progresses.

[PKD]

2 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

It should be lower than that... what volume did you mix it to? A kit and kilo of whatever in 23 litres generally starts around 1.038, and only goes down from there as the fermentation progresses.

hmm maybe I stuffed the reading up.  i just did it again (after re-reading instructions) and it was about 1.020.  

[Otto Von Blotto]

Ok cool, it's working and I'd expect it would be finished in the next few days

[ben 10]

On 7/21/2021 at 3:46 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

Unlike the other brewers who have replied

I usually don't bother taking them at all

[PKD]

1 minute ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Ok cool, it's working and I'd expect it would be finished in the next few days

Thanks mate, it smells like i expect it to and hopefully it should be ok.  
Last question... for now.... does the Krausen Kollar have to come off on a specific day?  

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, PKD said:

Last question... for now.... does the Krausen Kollar have to come off on a specific day?  

I doubt you would even need it but when all the action has finished the level will drop & you can remove it at anytime. Some guys don't even use them apart from some of the specialist brewers, if you look at some of the photos you will see very large Krausens indeed.

[Pickles Jones]

1 hour ago, PKD said:

Thanks mate, it smells like i expect it to and hopefully it should be ok.  
Last question... for now.... does the Krausen Kollar have to come off on a specific day?  

I have used the Coopers Lager and yeast that comes with the beginners kit.

For what it, worth you may be underwhelmed with the final result.  In my opinion Coopers directions say seven days in the FV and two weeks in the bottle is to short.

I found it best to leave the brew in the FV for two weeks. This allows the yeast to do what it has to do and clean up.

I don't drink anything that hasn't been conditioned in the bottle for at least four weeks.

I know this is subjective but it might be useful if you think that your first brew is terrible or not a good as you expected.

The thing is to not give up.

Like many others I don't use the Krausen collar for the type of beers I make.

[PKD]

2 minutes ago, Pickles Jones said:

I have used the Coopers Lager and yeast that comes with the beginners kit.

For what it, worth you may be underwhelmed with the final result.  In my opinion Coopers directions say seven days in the FV and two weeks in the bottle is to short.

I found it best to leave the brew in the FV for two weeks. This allows the yeast to do what it has to do and clean up.

I don't drink anything that hasn't been conditioned in the bottle for at least four weeks.

I know this is subjective but it might be useful if you think that your first brew is terrible or not a good as you expected.

The thing is to not give up.

Like many others I don't use the Krausen collar for the type of beers I make.

Thanks for that info, I don't have huge expectations for this first attempt.  I am happy to leave it in there for a while and see what happens.  Certainly in no hurry for it.  

My main hope is that it is drinkable.  That is all I am asking for with this batch.  I am already learning plenty!

Once this batch is done and in the bottle and ready to drink things should be warmer in general and then i will try again and it should be easier to get the temperature and everything a bit better.

[Otto Von Blotto]

The temperature you brewed this one at is actually where you want to be. Try and keep doing that if you can, the 21-27 range isn't really ideal. 

[BlackSands]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:01 AM, 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.

I've been using this method however in a couple of recent batches (one was a wine) I now have cause to question it's usefulness.   The last batch of wine I made showed a stark difference in attenuation betyween the wine in FV and the wine in the trial jar.  The wine in the tube had fermented dry... but when I checked the wine in the FV it tasted very sweet.  I took a sample from the FV and sure enough - it hadn't attenuated nearly as much.  And just confuse things further, in an earlier brew I had the complete opposite occur  - the beer in the hdyrometer tube seemed to have stopped at around 1.012, but when I checked the FV it was actually down at 1.008.     

Edited July 28, 2021 by BlackSands

[Shamus O'Sean]

Like you did @BlackSands, I always take a FG reading from the FV.  I often wait a day and check the same sample again.  If it stays the same, I call it the official FG.

[jamiek86]

for the small amount readings use I don't bother with the seperate jar or tube thing as it's minimal and un important to me but each to their own.

Edited July 29, 2021 by jamiek86