7
votes
Accepted
7
votes
Accepted
Carbonation process - Using the carboy
You do not want to do this. Carboys are not meant to hold pressure and will break. If you want clearer beer, aging it longer in a carboy and/or using something like gelatin or whirlfloc will greatly ...
- 3,012
6
votes
Accepted
Contamination concerns when removing stopper?
As jsled says you have no worries. You are doing the right things, not touching it or putting it down. If just for a few seconds to check on the brew you'll be fine, also you will gain experience ...
- 6,993
6
votes
Best temperature to store carboy after fermentation is complete?
Warmer temperatures will allow the yeast to continue its work, cleaning up the beer. Colder temperatures will promote yeast flocculation which helps to clear the beer. It'd suggest leaving the beer in ...
- 9,018
5
votes
Can I leave my hydrometer in the carboy to tell when fermentation is complete?
The biggest issue in doing that is that krausen will get stuck to both your hydrometer and your carboy walls.
Even if you wait for the krausen to die off before dumping your hydrometer in, you will ...
- 1,460
5
votes
Can I leave my hydrometer in the carboy to tell when fermentation is complete?
For the benefit you'd gain from leaving your hydro in there (maybe saving some volume as you won't take samples) I think it wouldn't really be worth your time as I imagine it would be pretty difficult ...
- 91
5
votes
Should I worry about this smell?
At the 1 week stage: do not worry.
If it's still there in a few weeks, sure, worry then.
All sorts of weird flavours come off yeast when it's actively fermenting. For example lager yeasts can just ...
- 2,060
5
votes
Accepted
Special considerations for primary fermentation in a carboy?
This is a completely normal blow-off fermentation in a carboy. The krausen (in any ferment) will eventually subside and fall into the beer. As the krausen was pushed into the neck and walls of the ...
- 10.1k
5
votes
Has your airlock ever shot out of your carboy?
It usually happens with strong fermentation when the krausen clogs the airlock, it is then ejected with the pressure.
If the fermentation was still active when you returned, the beer might not be ...
- 4,796
4
votes
Contamination concerns when removing stopper?
No, you don't need to worry about contamination based on what you describe.
- 10.1k
4
votes
Will dry hopping without a hop bag give me "hop floaties"?
Yeah, it may. If you can chill the before racking to a keg it should drop the hops. If you can' do that, you can just wait til they drop on their own.
- 33.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Will dry hopping without a hop bag give me "hop floaties"?
I'm not a fan of using bags in fermentation
The bags usually float giving a perfect media for bacteria on the exposed area to grow on. Expecially in secondary when c02 levels are the lowest. Also in ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Carboy keep overflowing
Few tricks for temporary fix.
Swirling every so often can get kausen to drop back in.
Nitrile glove with a pin hole in a finger will work for a DYI air relief cover, should limit the mess. Latex ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
Rubber bung keeps getting out
I have these bungs:
Soft-ish rubber bung on the left, stiff plasticky rubber in the middle and soft silicone on the right. Silicone seems to be the least slippery when wet, but the soft rubber works ...
- 3,020
3
votes
What's the point of secondary fermentation?
I think Secondary fermentation is a term that came over from wine making. Secondary fermentation in the wine world is where you have the malolactic fermentation happen. This is a bacteria not yeast ...
- 3,012
3
votes
Carboy size 3 or 5 gallon? please
For the primary go with 5 gallons so you have plenty of headspace for any foaming.
For the secondary, i'l split between the 3 gallon carboy and get a 1 gallon jug for the remainder. This way you can ...
- 975
3
votes
Carboy keep overflowing
You could do either of your suggestions, or if your carboy fits in a bucket, just let it overflow through the airlock until the blowoff tube arrives.
- 6,993
2
votes
Rubber bung keeps getting out
Good 'ol fashioned weight works for me ;-) My bung for my blowoff hose kept popping out, so I just stuck this book on it. I know you're talking about an airlock, but just thought I'd share what my ...
- 268
2
votes
Can I leave my hydrometer in the carboy to tell when fermentation is complete?
I dropped mine into the glass carboy and left it in (wasn't an easy way to get it out). It was a bit difficult to read but I managed. Removed it carefully after bottling. No disasters.
- 21
2
votes
Should I worry about this smell?
What kind of water do you brew with? Chlorinated tap water can cause a rubber-like (Chlorophenol) taste or smell. If you pass tap water through a chlorine-removing filter, it might be time for a ...
- 233
2
votes
Should I worry about this smell?
I would worry about that smell. Several of my local home brewers have made plastic flavored beer, it doesn't go away, just gets stronger. When it happened to me, the beer went away, and the fermenter ...
- 3,020
2
votes
Accepted
Carboy size 3 or 5 gallon? please
1) Go with a 5 gallon primary, this is the one you want ample head space in, secondary filling to the neck minimizes O2 exposure. O2 exposure is only an issue once you have alcohol in the cider, there ...
- 18.5k
2
votes
Accepted
[CIDER]: Can I rack in day 4 if there are 20mm of sediments and fermentation is over?
Short answer? Yes. In fact, I would move your cider to secondary. This is also a good time to dry hop it if that's a thing you want to do.
- 1,152
2
votes
Carboy keep overflowing
Have you considered using FermCap? It will reduce the Krausen without hurting the beer.
- 982
2
votes
Carbonation process - Using the carboy
Aside from the pressure in glass issue, you will lose too much carbonation transferring it to the bottles after.
- 36.2k
2
votes
Accepted
Didn’t completely add a stopper CraftABrew
I would take a gravity reading and taste it!
it looks like it fermented well, did it come out of the top?
if you had the white cap on it then that is definitely OK. CO2 is heavier than air, so would ...
- 306
1
vote
Contamination concerns when removing stopper?
I have seen a lot of times that there is a layer of protection, when the ferment is going strong, the pressure of the bubbles actually push any contaminants out of the stopper hole. The layer of foam ...
- 106
1
vote
Contamination concerns when removing stopper?
You shouldn't be concerned. When you removed the stopper, you didn't allow it to come into contact with a non-sterile (potentially bacteria-ridden) surface, so there was no potential for transfer of ...
- 266
1
vote
Better Bottle carboy vs. generic PET carboy
This is anecdotal, but I have used PET/PETE water cooler bottles as fermentors side-by-side with Better Bottles, and have noticed no difference in oxidation rates between the two over four to six ...
- 2,957
1
vote
Better Bottle carboy vs. generic PET carboy
Better Bottles use a superior manufacturing method to create practically impermeable PET plastic carboys
For more details, look under the "Permability" section of the technical page of their website.
- 320
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