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
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
4
votes
Making a shandy.
Shandies (and Radlers for that matter) are beer cocktails from their respective home countries. A true shandy is a mix of light wheat or lager beer with lemonade and done in the glass. Companies ...
- 36.2k
4
votes
Post-fermentation Belgian Pale Ale
Don't rely on Beersmith/software for the timing of any stage of the process. Brewing is predictable to some extent, but it's not that clear cut.
Ferment your beer until it's done. You already see to ...
- 36.2k
4
votes
Accepted
The holidays are messing up the bottling schedule
I would just wait until you get back. Just because you aren't racking to secondary doesn't mean the extra couple weeks in the fermenter won't do any good. It might be quasi-marginal, but erring on ...
- 1,890
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
Co2 bulbs and holders
IMHO the answer is a both. The CO2 from the bulb contributes to carbonation in that it keeps a atmosphere of CO2 over the beer and keeps it under slight pressure. It also a prevents a partial vacuum ...
- 5,631
2
votes
Accepted
Heating after fermentation?
If fermentation has finished and you're certain of that, the beer will benefit from getting it as cold as possible rather than leaving it warm. Cold crashing, as it's called, will help drop the yeast ...
- 33.4k
2
votes
How long should I condition an IPA?
If you're kegging the beer, age it until it passes a diacetyl test. This might not actually mean waiting at all, but if it is chilled before that cleanup is done, you might have an unpleasant surprise ...
- 3,020
2
votes
Accepted
Beer tasted bitter at kegging time, best leave at room temp?
Dry airlock - You may be ok, it's not an ideal scenerio, but the dry air lock alone may have been enough to protect the beer for a couple days. Cross fingers.
Super bitter - check your recipe, double ...
- 18.5k
2
votes
Accepted
Fermenting/Conditioning Longer When Kegging
The time for when a beer is ready to drink is process and recipe dependent. The beauty of kegging is that you'll see how the beer changes with a short pour everyday.
Most of my beers go from ...
- 36.2k
2
votes
Bringing Cold Crashed Beer to Room Temperature
Regarding your question about yeast viability - it probably depends a little bit on how long you had the beer stored in the fridge, and how cold you stored it. Assuming you only had it stored for a ...
- 196
2
votes
Accepted
Does cold crashing have a negative impact?
I send an email to John Palmer, he has been kind enough to answer. I guess it is ok to post it here, so here it is:
Hi,
It's best practice. Lots of breweries cold crash, and they lose head retention ...
- 203
1
vote
Does cold crashing have a negative impact?
I have never noticed a problem with cold crashing. In reality, it takes a while for the temperature to drop anyway (albeit not 1*C per day). If you are hoping to harvest the yeast, shocking them ...
- 998
1
vote
How long does clarification take given a refrigerator temperature level cold crash?
Since this question involves estimation and I haven't actually run the proposed experiment myself or recorded specific data, I'll take my guess based on what I think I might know based on 20 years ...
- 3,417
1
vote
How long does clarification take given a refrigerator temperature level cold crash?
For cold crashing we go from tank temp to 4C in about a day, that is due to the limitations of our cooling plates and chillers. If we could drop a tank from 18-20C to 1C in 12H I would take that. ~1....
- 6,993
1
vote
First time brewing with Mr. Beer
This sounds like a likely infection. Be on watch for rope-like shapes, this is commonly caused by acetobacter. In the meantime 36 days is more than enough for most styles. Depending on style it might ...
- 711
1
vote
Kolsch on a low floc yeast
You are correct that cold will help. When you think it is done fermenting, drop it down to around 0C (32F) and hold it there and that should drop out your yeast, plus most people feel that this kind ...
- 608
1
vote
Making a shandy.
If you plan on creating any of these beer cocktails and have access to a kegging system, this is your best approach:
allow primary fermentation to complete
add potassium sorbate and potassium ...
- 141
1
vote
Making a shandy.
By "late in the process" miller means they mix finished beer with the lemonaid then carbonate.
Pretty easy to do. Use a Yeast inhibitor if it won't be refridgerated after mixing. campden / Posassium ...
- 18.5k
1
vote
Beer tasted bitter at kegging time, best leave at room temp?
Did you use pellets instead of leaves? If so, you need to adjust the amount downwards.
My experience is that there is not a one to one relation between pellets and leaves.
Erlo
- 11
1
vote
Where tanins are good in beers?
You're absolutely right that tannins (a kind of polyphenol) are anti-oxidative and that increased levels in finished have been linked to a lower degree of beer staling (in this paper, for example). I'...
- 6,417
1
vote
Accepted
Slight green apple taste: barrel vs bottle
Acetaldehyde after bottling is a classic sign of oxygen exposure, and is the main reason we wait a week or more before drinking bottled homebrew. Noticeable CO2 shows up in just a few days, but the ...
- 3,020
1
vote
Is it possible to bottle condition without sediment?
For a quick answer for a homebrew definition of "Bottle Conditioning".
No Not without a lot of extra work and or using gimmick devices.
Bottle Conditioning in homebrew generally means to allow ...
- 18.5k
1
vote
How long to mature and clear with Top Tap Barrel?
I'd usually wait at least a week for conditioning and clearing. The top tap may reduce the time taken to clear the top layer, but you likely want to leave at least a week to allow the flavours to ...
- 6,993
1
vote
After a beer reaches its final gravity, how long does the conditioning step take?
2 Stages for Fermentation
Puting times on the stages differ with each batch and shouldn't be held to a strict schedule.
Primary This is your first fermenting vessle, and where the most active yeast ...
- 18.5k
1
vote
Bottle conditioning
The best way is indeed to wait until the fermentation is completely over. When you measure the same (low) gravity for 2-3 days in a row this is the case. The also allows for the yeast to clean up the ...
- 11
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