Bulk Priming And Racking

[chappo1970]

Gelatine is by far the easiest and IMO the best bang for buck as a fining agent. Search "gelatine" on the search engine and have a read.

Cheers

Chappo

 

[Bizier]

What finings are typically used?

Gelatine

FWIW I will add that I didn't fine my last lot of English pales because I want to drink the buggers in some timely fashion. If I cold condition, fine, and siphon from the top it has next to no sediment & takes a lot longer to carb up, especially at the current temperatures.

 

[WeaselEstateBrewery]

Gelatine is by far the easiest and IMO the best bang for buck as a fining agent. Search "gelatine" on the search engine and have a read.

Cheers

Chappo

Thanks guys for that....I have used St Johns wort in the boil, but not isinglass of gelatine in the fermentation stage. To be honest cloudy beer doesn't bother me (at the moment) but as I become even more obsessed i may want clearer beer.

 

[Renegade]

St Johns wort ?!?! Wont that, mised with alcohol, give you a headache ?

 

[manticle]

that was my take on it too chappo. I cant see that wasting a heap of time allowing the brew to come to ambient is worth it when it will work just as well straight out of the fridge but curiosity gets the better of me sometimes




that's what my thinking is, why warm the beer and allow CO2 to come out of solution when you only have to up your priming sugar to replace it

Good to know all that. I think it's just my misunderstanding in regards to bulk priming temperature. I once primed too low because I entered 2 degrees in my priming calculator owing to lagering.


Just to straighten it out - it's main primary ferment temp right?


Sorry for dumbth.

 

[muckey]

Good to know all that. I think it's just my misunderstanding in regards to bulk priming temperature. I once primed too low because I entered 2 degrees in my priming calculator owing to lagering.


Just to straighten it out - it's main primary ferment temp right?


Sorry for dumbth.

it's based on the highest temp that the brew reached during fermentation, unless you warm the brew for bulk priming and that ambient temp is higher that the brew reached during ferment.

as I understand it (and as I said I keg these days so the brain is a little rusty ( stop it chappo) ) the highest temp = min carbonation

 

[chappo1970]

...the brain is a little rusty...

You mean from all the VB you and Butters have been drinking as of late don't you? h34r:

 

[Bribie G]

Why are people boiling their dextrose ? I just throw it straight into the racking barrel. Dont even mix with water first. Although I do add it in four stages, as the barrel is filling.

WHile on the topic, and to save a new thread. Im out of dex and need to bottle very soon. I have only ever used dextrose, but is plain old white sugar OK (I assume the rules of NO SUGAR IN BEER dont apply with such small quantities). Its either going to be that or those carb drops, as i cant get to a home brew shop before I need to bottle.

I regularly use up to 800g of cane sugar in beers where I am emulating commercial styles, such as Tooheys Old or Carlton Draught, or UK Bitters (Mini lecture: UK bitters have only been around since the beginning of the twentieth century and very quickly started to be brewed using sugar as a result of grain shortages during the First World War and have continued thus ever since. End of mini lecture) that contain 10 to 15 percent sugar and don't notice a fruity twang. However I invert the sugar first using some citric acid and this splits the sucrose molecule so the yeast doesn't have to produce invertase to do that job.

IMHO the sugaz demonization in Australia comes from the obviously ridiculous amounts of sugar recommended for beer kits and the general lousy temperature control that has given K and K brews a bad rap. Obviously if you are going to add up to 50% of your fermentables as sucrose you are going to get weird beer. But the twang and 'cidery' taste ascribed to sugar in K and K brews is only half the story. However a couple of hundred grams or so in the right recipe and using a sensible fermentation and temp control regime turns out just fine.

 

[manticle]

People suggest boiling dextrose to make sure everything you add is sterile but I just think it makes sense to dissolve it first as in solution it should mix through your beer nice and evenly.

It only takes about 10 mins more (boil 100mL, put covered pot in fridge or freezer till cooled.)

 

[muckey]

You mean from all the VB you and Butters have been drinking as of late don't you? h34r:

shame on you chappo we dont drink Visitors Beer or Watered Extract

 

[SirPsycho]

I've got a porter a couple of days into the primary ferment at the moment, and was thinking of racking it before leaving it in the bottles until winter- but I've never racked before.

I've read you can chuck a bit of dextrose in to kick start a fermentation in the secondary vessel which adds a protective layer of CO2- essentially like bulk priming.

My ignorant question is: once it's had a couple of weeks in the second fermenter with a bit of extra sugar, do I then bulk prime once again before bottling? Seems excessive changing the brew through 3 tubs (primary, secondary, bulk primer, then bottle).

 

[manticle]

Why do you want to rack it a couple of days into ferment?

It's a long time since I made this topic but I now rack to bulk prime but don't rack for any other reason prior (unless I have a stuck ferment - different story, or intend to age for multiple months)

 

[SirPsycho]

sorry- considering racking once the primary is almost out... not at the moment!

i've only done a handful of brews, hence the confusion, but i've been reading that racking can help with porters etc to mellow the flavour a bit. i'm going to be keeping it in the bottle 3+months anyway- is racking an unnecessary step?

 

[manticle]

In my experience, as a one time serial racker, I would say racking to secondary is unnecessary unless aging in bulk for a long time.

Racking does help with clarity/sediment reduction but if you are bulk priming, that's the easiest and best time to do it.

Removing from the yeast too early has more problems than benefits associated. I used to swear by it but experience has changed my perspective.

 

[SirPsycho]

cool- thanks.

guess i have to find another way to get the coffee i was going to sit in secondary into the brew

 

[manticle]

Well you could let it ferment right out, give it some conditioning time THEN rack onto the coffee or just dry hop with some coffee shots.

For me, roast barley gives all the coffee I desire.

 

[SirPsycho]

yeah will give that a crack- thanks for your help! :icon_cheers:

 

[bruce86]

Hey guys after some help with my first bulk priming attempt. I have a leffe brune clone almost ready to go and making sure im organised. however i have conflicting amounts of sugar to use . Using how to brew Jpalmer and converting into our measurments it tells me to use 90grams and using the calc here is says 111g. (oh my desired vol co2 is 2.2 accding to the book. belg ale 1.9-2.4) i have also entered the temp as 22deg not sure if that needs altering but i figured that is close to what they will sit at in the bottle. also this is using cane sugar. you guys mention dex above but will cane be ok?
thanks in advance

 

[manticle]

What's the volume of beer you are bottling?

I use the carbonation calculator here: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html which I have compared to other calcs and it seems to match.

If you get a different value again using the same data, try a mean average from all three.

 

[bruce86]

ok cool the 2 calculators got me the same amount 111g cheers manticle.

oh yeash sorry 21ltr batch im also planning to rack it to another fermenter is there a certin amount of water you are supposed to use or is it dependant on your amount of sugar? i have been looking up info but i think im trying to take too much in lol may have missed it