10
votes
Accepted
Fermenting in Sealed Keg
The effects of pressure on fermentation have been pretty well studied. As stated in your question, these studies all seem to use a spunding valve that releases CO2 when the pressure goes above a ...
- 362
9
votes
Accepted
Do I need the dregs from primary fermentation for carbonation?
No. The settled yeast (trub/dregs) from primary shouldn't be included in bottling. There's plenty of yeast in suspension to bottle condition, unless your cold weather was enough to completely crash ...
- 18.5k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the max time it would take yeast to "clean up"?
According to info I got from John Palmer for an upcoming article I wrote for BYO magazine, the cleanup happens concurrently with fermentation. Here's the quote..."Yeast have 3 phases in their life ...
- 33.4k
6
votes
Accepted
Hop material in primary
You've made your bed of hops, now lay in it.
Now is not the time to be messing about in your fermenter. Or, frankly, opening it up to take pictures of it. The beer is very susceptible to infection ...
- 3,020
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
Beer sat for too long in the carboy
If you brewed your beer in October, then most probably the fermentation process is over (most of the time the turbulent aka primary fermentation only takes a week).
The best way to ensure is to ...
- 799
5
votes
when does the alcoholic fermentation end?
CO2 in suspension will cause bubbles to come out of the airlock long after the fermentation is done. It is an indicator, but not a precise one.
Experience will tell you that for a particular yeast/...
- 4,806
5
votes
Is my beer infected? from an amateur. Posted a picture
This looks like Pediococcus contamination: see here Is this lactobacillus?
More information about spoilage here: https://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/news/four-bacteria-that-will-ruin-your-beer/
...
- 4,806
4
votes
Sulfur Smell from Fermentor
I got a little carried away here, so here's a quick summary.
TL;DR: Your yeast was probably either A) nutrient starved, B) Fermenting at too high of a temperature, or C) a combination of both. ...
- 629
4
votes
Yeast in 1.080 beer
That yeast is 6x10^9 cells per gram at packaging. 69 billion cells in the whole pack. Your beer needs about 279 billion cells (5 gallon batch)
While 1 pack is an under pitch you should be ok. Some ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Accepted
My beer is at the fermenting stage but it is not vigorously bubbling
Gratz on your 1st brew!
Everything sounds normal.
You won't see fizzy beer or champaign bubble trails. Slow bubbles and churning "chunks" is normal. The airlock can be quite active then eventually ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Is delayed yeast activity normal?
Yes this is a normal behavior, but not one we like in brewing. We like to see good activity in less than 12 hours.
Forget the recomended times in your instructions, they are lost in lag now. Let ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Is this a stuck fermentation?
The only way to "know" if fermentation is happening is to take a gravity reading and compare it to the OG value. If it's going down, then everything is working according to plan. If it's stable, ...
- 366
4
votes
Used buckets as primary fermentation container?
I have used similar buckets for fermenting everything from KimChi to wine. Although not in the same bucket. I used very hot water and PBW to clean/sanitise. Seems to work OK for home brewing.
I ...
- 5,631
4
votes
What did I make and how long to ferment?
Sounds like you made a Fruit/Spice Braggot. Malt / honey / fruit.
The OG is low and should finish out nice in a couple weeks if the temp is kept below 70°F
Should ferment much like a beer and be ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Is air at the top of a demijohn harmful?
I have never had a problem with fermenting wine, beer or soda in a part filled demijohn in several years of brewing. To be fair, I have never fermented anything in a demijohn less than 1/3 full, but I ...
- 381
3
votes
Can I add yeast energizer and sugar to my secondary fermentation?
When adding fermentables and nutrients this is basically a feeding and will raise the ABV. Usually done while on the primary yeast.
Personally because the pumkin may have some fermentables I would do ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
Hop material in primary
the Basic Brewing Radio podcast did an experiment to test the difference between the fermentation of a batch with all the trub removed (or as much as possible) and all the trub left in primary.
The ...
- 196
3
votes
First brew - What is a good SG for end of first fermentation?
Being a red ale extract kit, it will have a reasonable amount of unfermentables in it. Given that, I'd say you're in god shape.
- 33.4k
3
votes
Used buckets as primary fermentation container?
If you clean it and does not have any smells, then I would say it is possibly good.
Personally, I just go to the closest plastic shop and buy a bucket from them. I know this is not always an option.
- 2,466
3
votes
Is air at the top of a demijohn harmful?
Oxygen can always be a problem, and indeed, the less headspace you have on your demijohn the better.
For beer, I know that I can add 4 g of sugar per liter of headspace to get the fermentation going a ...
- 3,655
3
votes
Imperial stout fermentation
Airlock activity is not a reliable way to gauge fermentation. Unless you have a perfect seal, you may not see activity during active fermentation. The only reliable measure of fermentation is a ...
- 2,178
3
votes
Accepted
Stuck fermentation vs arrested fermentation
There are a few ways to sweeten wine: Filtering, Mutage, too much sugar and adding something sweet after the wine has finished. Commercial wineries do not use sorbates to kill the yeast and preserve ...
- 3,012
3
votes
Brewing a 25l batch in a smaller fermenter
No.
When I calculate a solution of 10l at a gravity of 1.100 (which is already big), then I get an amount of 8.4 l water with 2.6 kg sugar.
But that is already stretching things, because without ...
- 3,655
3
votes
Beer attenuates too much too fast
I have never found S-04 to be slow. Even on 500L batches, I've had beers with S-04 ferment dry in under 5 days. It also flocs out like a ton of bricks. Are you confident you don't have a contamination ...
- 998
3
votes
Is SG 1.005 OK for cider before first racking
It is not uncommon to have SG fall that far after about 9 days.
Adding extra sugar at any point, at beginning, end, or at this point in between, is a matter of preference. Be aware that the added ...
- 3,417
3
votes
Is SG 1.005 OK for cider before first racking
You can rack at any point, just be careful not to over expose your cider to air, to avoid oxidation. There are tips (mostly for wine, but still) for that here: Oxidation of red wine during racking ...
- 4,806
3
votes
Should I Replace Blown Out Wort
Best advice is to probably just leave it alone.
However, if you really want to get your volume back and have the materials on hand, you could potentially make a mini batch of the beer (thats enough ...
- 1,773
2
votes
Accepted
Lager still smelling like apples after 2 weeks fermenting
The smell of apples is totally normal in beer fermentation. The chemical compound acetaldehyde gives the characteristic green-apple flavor and aroma. It's an intermediate in the synthesis of ethanol ...
- 6,417
2
votes
Campden and Pectic enzyme
Are you starting a brew or finishing one off?
Rule of thumb to keep handy when using any kind of enzyme in brewing; enzymes are proteins and proteins don’t mix well with bentonite or with sulfur ...
- 511
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