Fermentation Process

[BKBrews]

That looks like a good toy, but sounds like it won't fit in my current carboy.

I'm not worried about this batch having an infection, I was more just making sure I hadn't dry hopped too early. I'll see how this one goes and might let the next primary ferment for 14 days prior to 3 days dry hopping (with Galaxy) prior to bottling.

For some reason I thought the hop pellet matter would fall to the bottom, but it's just sitting on the top. Bottling on Saturday will be very interesting.

 

[GalBrew]

You are going to find brewing a mystifying process of you can't/won't take gravity samples before/during/after fermentation.

 

[BKBrews]

You are going to find brewing a mystifying process of you can't/won't take gravity samples before/during/after fermentation.

I have been taking my FG reading only when bottling. I know this will need to change, but I've only done a few brews so far and I haven't had any yeast getting stuck (using solely US-05 yeast).

I plan on getting a grainfather and a brewtech bucket or conical, so that will make it easier to take readings. Hopefully do that early 2017, but like I said, I'm really just making sure I stick with this hobby before I spend too much cash (I am indeed already hooked though).

Just checked on my brew and it's still bubbling away. There's lots of hop matter floating around and on top, but hopefully this all settles. Problem is, the siphon I use stirs this stuff up a bit when bottling, as you need to pump it a few times to get the vacuum. Smells really good though so I'm excited to see the difference compared to the last batch with the same ingredients, minus the dry hop.

I also just bought one of the 5L kegs from the group buy, so will be good to transfer my brews straight from the fermenter to the keg.

 

[BKBrews]

I'm doing everything that they tell you not to do at the moment. Can't help but keep checking it, thinking every little bubble is an infection!! Hurry up Saturday morning so I can bottle!!

 

[BKBrews]

OK I just took a gravity reading. It appears to be at 1.015 - 1.016 and is tasting quite foul. No infection, but very bitter and acidic. I want to still bottle it obviously and see what happens, but do you think I should wait for it to ferment out further? WILL it ferment out further? I was going to cold crash it overnight and bottle around 11am tomorrow. Should I skip the cold crash and see if it comes down overnight at all? After pulling the bung out, siphoning a sample and replacing the bung, the airlock is bubbling again (once every 20 seconds), so maybe it's still going?

Could the acidic taste come from me using sanitised water to pitch my yeast?

View attachment 90611View attachment 90612

 

[BKBrews]

PS I'm wanting to bottle tomorrow because I've planned a brew day and only have one carboy!

 

[gilligan_87]

The only way to know for sure is to take reading over a couple of days. If it hasn't moved, it's safe to bottle.

 

[BKBrews]

Going to hold off until tomorrow for my brewday then. If it hasn't changed from 1.015, I will bottle and see where we end up. Thanks.

 

[BKBrews]

Checked the gravity again last night and it hadn't moved, so I decided to bottle it. Tasted the gravity sample again and it was better than I thought, so I think it will be fine. I primed each bottle separately, which was a PITA again, but hopefully it's the last time I have to do that as I have gone in on the 5L Mini Keg Bulk Buy.

Going to try a Stone and Wood Pacific Ale/Balter XPA Clone next.

 

[BKBrews]

Pretty bummed tonight. Just finished a very long brew day and it's turned out terrible.

1. Missed SG (1.042 instead of 1.046)
2. The fermenter is about 1/3 cold break!!!
3. Wort is uber cloudy
4. Couldn't get a rolling boil, so boiled for 90 min instead of 60. Temp was consistent at 100 degrees though.
I can't figure out where I'm going wrong. I chilled the wort down to 25 degrees and then whirlpooled with my paddle. It didn't actually appear to do that much and I could see a lot of the cold break still mixed in to the wort. Once I'd transferred, I realised just how much was in there.

What am I doing wrong? This was a 5L batch. Mashed with 8.4L of water @ 66 degrees. Probably got about 3.5 - 4L wort into the fermenter (including cold break).

Recipe made with brew smith. 630g pale malt and 430g terrified wheat for a total grain bill of 1.05kg.

 

[BKBrews]

Pics of the cloudiness, SG and cold break in fermenter

 

[BKBrews]

This is going from bad to worse. What have I done?

 

[OliverWM]

Hi BKBrews, I would suggest whirlpooling before chilling. Whirlpooling is done to collect all the kettle break, hops etc. together, and chilling beforehand would counteract this process.

At this stage your best bet would be to let your main fermentation occur, then, if you can, move to a secondary. Personally I prefer not to use a secondary, but in this case it will help shift the clearer wort off the trub.

Edit: nice work on taking an OG reading tho. I wouldn't worry too much about 4 points.

 

[BKBrews]

Hi BKBrews, I would suggest whirlpooling before chilling. Whirlpooling is done to collect all the kettle break, hops etc. together, and chilling beforehand would counteract this process.

At this stage your best bet would be to let your main fermentation occur, then, if you can, move to a secondary. Personally I prefer not to use a secondary, but in this case it will help shift the clearer wort off the trub.

Edit: nice work on taking an OG reading tho. I wouldn't worry too much about 4 points.

Thanks mate. I figured I had done it the wrong way around, but I couldn't really get a straight answer by searching. A lot of the info I found seemed to talk about no chill and whirlpooling.

I should also mention that I used a whirfloc tablet, which I had never done before as well.

This also brings up another question for me - what is the difference between a flameout hop addition and a whirlpool hop addition? Wouldn't I start whirlpooling as soon as I turn off the boil? I thought best practice was to chill ASAP, so shouldn't I turn off the boil, whirlpool, then get the kettle straight into an ice bucket?

 

[BKBrews]

It's now incredibly clear in the middle with a crap load of trub and cold break at the top and bottom. Can a moderator change the title of this to 'BIAB Rolling Journal with Questions"?

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

That's fascinating, looks like the early fermentation gas has performed a floatation clarification for you. If you have a second vessel and a siphon available, you could take advantage of that to give you a nice clean wort to ferment.

 

[wessmith]

Looks to me like a "blue mash" result. Was an iodine test done to prove conversion?

Wes

 

[BKBrews]

That's fascinating, looks like the early fermentation gas has performed a floatation clarification for you. If you have a second vessel and a siphon available, you could take advantage of that to give you a nice clean wort to ferment.

Hoping to pick up another fermenter to do secondarys in the next week or so, but unfortunately don't have one at the moment.

 

[BKBrews]

Looks to me like a "blue mash" result. Was an iodine test done to prove conversion?

Wes

What's a blue mash? Too cold? Checked my temps every 5 - 10 min right through different spots of the mash and stayed pretty consistent. It was a brand new thermometer too, so should be ok. I also had heaps of hot break from the wheat, so I thought the mash was fine.

What is the iodine test?

 

[manticle]

Mash where unconverted starch remains