9
votes
Accepted
Does homebrewed beer have a "Golden Age"?
Beers do tend to age and have a sweet spot, per se, of when their flavor peaks. Every beer and beer style is different without a doubt.
But what you are describing is more related to your experience ...
- 36.2k
7
votes
Reduce sediment in bottle for IPA
You'll never remove the sediment at the bottom when bottle conditioning. 5-6mm is not a terribly large amount of sediment either.
Here are a few methods that can reduce the sediment:
Use a ...
- 411
6
votes
Accepted
Same priming sugar when using larger bottles?
I use the same amount of priming sugar, in the batch, and I use a mix of bottles. 12oz and 32oz. and they carbonate the same.
if you are adding sugar to individual bottles, then the amount would be ...
- 1,769
6
votes
Accepted
Bottle Bombs or Paranoia
According to this calculator, adding 1.4oz of sugar to 2gal at 35°F is equivalent to adding 5.4oz at 68°F.
At 35°F the disolved CO2 is around 1.61vol whereas at 68°F it is 0.86vol.
In your case the ...
- 799
5
votes
Accepted
Force-carbonation of unfiltered beer?
Force carbonation is very common for homebrewers. I'd imagine any homebrewer with a kegging setup does force carbonation by default. I would guess, too, that it's much more often than not done without ...
- 10.1k
5
votes
Bottling Bucket - really necessary?
Most of the equipment is not really necessary. It may just make it much easier.
When you use a bottling bucket, you rack from fermenter to bottling bucket, leaving a layer of dead yeast cells and ...
- 1,266
5
votes
Accepted
PET Bottle shelf life
IMHO PET bottles will keep beer very well for up to 6 months. Beer can be kept longer than that but I have noticed that "fizzy drinks" PET bottles can lose pressure after a year or so. Apparently the ...
- 5,631
5
votes
Conditioning and storing beer at temperatures around -5°C
It's fairly safe to say that bottle conditioning at -5°c will not yield good results.
Even high ABV beers stored below freezing will form ice crystals and force a separation of the water and ethanol. ...
- 18.5k
5
votes
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Unexpected flavours after bottle conditioning
Bottle conditioning, not to be confused with bottle aging, is only for natural carbonation.
You want to use a monosaccharide sugar like powdered corn sugar so it's easily and completely consumed by ...
- 18.5k
5
votes
First time brewing with Mr. Beer
"Rafts" or anything floating at this stage sounds infected.
If you had good fermentation it's unlikely it will be harmful to sample.
Open one, see if you can recover the floaty.
If its white / ...
- 18.5k
5
votes
Accepted
Cidery or wine flavor after bottle conditioning ale
I saw that "cidery due to too much simple sugar" issue mentioned in a few places, but for some weird reason I haven't experienced it, even though my bottling procedure always includes table (cane) ...
- 1,498
4
votes
Accepted
Bottle Conditioning Lager with Priming Sugar and/or Yeast
Yes, priming sugar is usually added to the carboy or bottling bucket just prior to bottling for ease. However there are "carbonation drops" you can alternately add to each bottle. These are just sugar....
- 18.5k
4
votes
Experimenting with primary-only and primary-secondary fermentation
Here is a good test of what you are looking to do.
http://brulosophy.com/2014/08/12/primary-only-vs-transfer-to-secondary-exbeeriment-results/
Here is the conclusion of the test:
Once all the ...
4
votes
Accepted
Bottling Bucket - really necessary?
If you have a bucket w/ a tap in it, it sounds to me like you already have a bottling bucket. I'd probably buy another bucket w/o a tap to ferment in and bottle using your current bucket.
You can ...
- 167
4
votes
should i re-rack my beer?
Most people these days do not use secondary. It is not necessary and usually not recommended....Here's what John Palmer had to say....
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=...
- 33.4k
4
votes
Accepted
How much yeast to add for bottle conditioning
There actually are a number of references in the literature to this issue. In general it seems that a standard target would be pitching (or to be more accurate, ensuring there are) 1 million healthy ...
- 6,417
4
votes
30° Celsius bottle conditioning. How bad is it?
Not bad at all. The only time temperature control is crucial is during fermentation, not conditioning. I live in Queensland Australia where the temps exceed 30 Celsius regularly in the Summer and my ...
4
votes
Accepted
Temperature fluctuations during carbonation/conditioning
IMHO the minor fluctuations in temperature don't really affect the overall flavour because the beer has a thermal capacity to resist rapid temp changes. Gradual changes over half a day will affect it ...
- 5,631
4
votes
Accepted
Bottled a Belgian ale not carbonating
This is a high gravity beer right? Just wait, it will get there.
Ensure they are stored somewhere good for ale temperatures (> 15C / 60F).
If you're really worried, give them a gentle shake every ...
- 2,060
3
votes
Off flavours from unsanitized priming sugar
I usually dissolve my sugar in boiling water, before adding it to the bottle or kegs for priming.
I have in the past just added half a spoonful of granulated sugar directly to the bottles with no ...
- 7,018
3
votes
Accepted
Not quite at FG with an extract batch after two and a half weeks... Safe to bottle?
0.004 difference is also 1 Blg difference, to say it in units I know. That's pretty big here. At the same time, it's also pretty possible your fermentation has finished.
If in doubt, I would try fast ...
- 3,718
3
votes
Is this cider recipe I made ok?
Looks Fine.. almost.
You do need some yeast nutrients though. And.... 2 cups sugar to 1 gal puts you in Apple wine territory, and will be hard for a bakers yeast to attenuate fully. Also adding a ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Why are some of my batches too sweet in the bottle, and can I rescue them?
Temperature is your most likely culprit.
Other possible cause could be not enough yeast in suspension. Typical if fining agents are used in secondary.
You're probably past the window for only temp ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
How can I contain unexpected bottle bombs
No matter how careful you are, you can pick up a wild yeast infection and wind up w/ gushers and bottle bombs. They do explode w/ some force--enough to cause minor injuries for sure--but a regular ...
- 167
3
votes
30° Celsius bottle conditioning. How bad is it?
Temperature will affect the flavor in the long run, but you won't notice anything if it is only a short period of time. Once bottle conditioning is complete, you better store your beer in a cool ...
- 4,806
3
votes
First time brewing with Mr. Beer
Floating things in the bottle after that period of time doesn't sound good... Did you add some sort of solids like dry hops or spices to the fermentation? Could be yeast of course, but this usually ...
- 671
3
votes
Accepted
Best yeast for bottle conditioning
In theory all strains could be used. One thing to watch out for is the attenuation level of the yeast, you don't want the new yeast to ferment more sugars than its primary predecessor. On top of the ...
- 671
3
votes
Can I increase the carbonation of already-bottled beer?
Yes, maybe. You can add a measured amount of sugar and that can increase your carbonation but you're inviting other problems.
1. The yeast may have temporarily stalled out, and if it takes off again ...
- 368
3
votes
Accepted
Can I increase the carbonation of already-bottled beer?
I have such experience, and it's possible: there is, almost always, enough yeast in the bottle to process the extra priming sugar.
A few things to check before you try and do it:
- are you sure all ...
- 1,498
3
votes
Storage Temperature
Beer should be stored cool. Around 7°C (45°F), never colder than 3°C (37°F) [#1].
Charles Bamforth says that every extra 10°C (50°F) of temperature doubles the rate of beer aging. So when your beer ...
- 2,060
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