Am I Bottling Correctly?

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Yeastie Beastie

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My new beers resolution this year was to produce better beer, refine my methods and to learn a lot more.

I want to keg but dont yet so I want to refine my bottling (tallies) methods and on research I am unsure if I am doing it correctly.

Current method on beer "X" which ferments at say 20 degrees for arguments sake.
1. Brew beer x
2. Transfer to fermentor
3. Ferment at 20 degrees untill I get 2-3 days consecutive gravity readings.
4. Transfer to secondary/bottling bucket.
5. Straight away add desired fermentable to bulk prime.
5. Bottle.
6. Store bottles at room temp of around 18 degrees.
7. Wait approx 2 weeks and enjoy contents.

Firstly, this method has been working for years but with a few sour brew produced. Maybe infection but I am a fanatical cleaner/sterilizer.
Secondly, I have read a bit about tranfering to secondary, CC for a week to stall the yeast, then bottle.

My problem & confusion is this.
I learnt to store at room temp to keep the yeast alive in the bottle yet read that you can CC to stall (if that's the right word) the yeast.
In what condition do I want the yeast to be in the bottle? Alive or dead? Dead doesn't sound right to me.
If I do go down the path of CC'ing do you still store the bottles at room temp after this?

Cheers,
YB.

I know there is a LOT of info here and elsewhere and it is the search that has confused me so please refrain lol.
 
Cold conditioning doesn't kill the yeast, it just puts them to sleep, where they floculate out/settle on the bottom of the fermenter. Don't worry however, as there will still be more than enough yeast cells in suspension to carbonate your bottles... unless you accidentally freeze it.

After bottling you will want to keep it at room temp so the yeast are awake and doing their jobs.
 
Since cold conditioning etc to keg I have found
the few bottles you do a bit slower to carb up.
A bit subjective I know, anyways...

The beers in the bottle are definitately clearer and cleaner tasting after
cold conditioning(imo).

As said above there's still billions of yeast cells in there to do the job.
You will love it when ya start kegging it can be as quick as overnight crash chilling,
plus about an hour force carbing to drinking.
:beerbang:
 
Secondly, I have read a bit about tranfering to secondary, CC for a week to stall the yeast, then bottle.

My problem & confusion is this.
I learnt to store at room temp to keep the yeast alive in the bottle yet read that you can CC to stall (if that's the right word) the yeast.
In what condition do I want the yeast to be in the bottle? Alive or dead? Dead doesn't sound right to me.
If I do go down the path of CC'ing do you still store the bottles at room temp after this?

The CC isn't so much to stall the yeast, but to drop a lot of it out of suspension, the reason for this is that you get a clearer beer and not so much sediment in your bottle.

You want the yeast to be alive in the bottle. CCing won't kill it (unless you accidently freeze it, and even then you might be ok...)

Once bottled you still store the bottles at room temp. This reactivates the yeasties so you get your gassed bottles.
 
After bottling you will want to keep it at room temp so the yeast are awake and doing their jobs.

Just what I was wanting to know. Cheers,

You will love it when ya start kegging it can be as quick as overnight crash chilling,
plus about an hour force carbing to drinking.
:beerbang:

Yeah, thats the bit I am looking forward to. Nothing worse that knowing youv'e made a ripper but have to wait 2 weeks to enjoy it. I have found myself pacing around my conditioning cupboard on many occassions.
 
My new beers resolution this year was to produce better beer, refine my methods and to learn a lot more.

I want to keg but dont yet so I want to refine my bottling (tallies) methods and on research I am unsure if I am doing it correctly.

Current method on beer "X" which ferments at say 20 degrees for arguments sake.
1. Brew beer x
2. Transfer to fermentor
3. Ferment at 20 degrees untill I get 2-3 days consecutive gravity readings.
4. Transfer to secondary/bottling bucket.
5. Straight away add desired fermentable to bulk prime.
5. Bottle.
6. Store bottles at room temp of around 18 degrees.
7. Wait approx 2 weeks and enjoy contents.


Yeah, as per above posts, my only suggestion would be cold conditioning before bottling.

Raking to a secondary fermenter once the fermentation has slowed down a little is recommended by some people. The principle I beleive is to get the beer off the yeasty/sediment bed that may/may not be producing undesirable flavours. Others recommend against this practice due to the risk of infection during transfer.
I've never bothered with it myself therefore can't really comment either way.

But as far as your quest to making a better beer, I'm recommend you look into what you do in step 1, what ingredients, method, etc. But thats another thread in itself.
 
Wouldn't you be better off adding the fermentables to your bottling bucket, then transferring the beer? That way the swirling action of the beer transfer will mix the fermentables in, meaning one less time you need to stick something into the beer.
 

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