How Quick Is Too Quick?

[Nicko80]

I am making a Coopers Real Ale with their Brew Enhancer No. 1. I started it on Saturday.

I live in Canberra and it got a little cold over night so in the morning I put it in front of the heater for about 25-30 mins as my heat pad was already in use with a draught.

Anyway I wrapped the fermenter in a blanket and put it back in it's place in the kitchen. After a while I could hear the airlock bubbling away. So much so all the water had been blown out. So I filled it and the water just kept getting blown out, this happened at least a dozen times.

I check the SG of the brew this arvo and it's in the green on the hydo, meaning ready to bottle.

That means it went from 1.040 to 1.010 in under 72 hours.

What's the go? I still need to rack it and add the finings, do you more experienced brewers seen any problem with that?

 

[pint of lager]

Hi Nicko, welcome to AHB.

Have a read of the airlocked articles in the different forums, especially the kit section and also the articles accessed via the word article on the navbar.

72 hours is quick. If the brew has been hot, it will finish fast. A hot ferment will produce fruity harsh flavours in your brews. Try and keep it at 18-22 degrees, preferably under 20 degrees. With the brew blowing all the water out of the airlock, sounds like the ferment was very fast.

Rather than trusting the colour coding on your hydrometer, you need to take readings over 3 days. If the reading is stable (and your brew has been at the right fermenting temperature) you can bottle. When you start adding different booster ingredients to your brew, it can end up finishing well above the green section.

If you want to rack, then rack away.

The brew will be fine left in primary for another week, add the gelatine finings 24 hours prior to bottling.

 

[matt white]

As above, give it 3 days at least. Be patient! It wont hurt it.

A quick lesson in amateur brewing if I may - Give your primary ferment 7-10 days at 18-22 degrees. Rack if you want though I have gone away from it after 10+ years. Use a good yeast from you LHBS.

Lesson 2 - be patient! Once you get a system going there will always be something to do.

 

[0M39A]

What temperature was it at during fermentation?

sounds like it was far to hot if it was fermenting that vigerously.

So long as your temperature is ok, i reccomend leaving your brew in primary for at least 12 days before bottling. if you are racking, at least a week, then rack for at least the same again.

I'm lazy and dont rack (dont get any benefit for all the hassle IMO), just leave in primary for around 2 weeks. dont use finings either, crash cooling at the end of primary drops everything out well enough for me.

long story short, what was your temperature for the bulk of your fermentation.

 

[Nicko80]

All my brews sit on a heat pad untill they are ready to be racked. The thermo on the outside says 26 all the time this way.

As for the fast brew, it got to 28. This is too high I know.

Why don't you fellas rack? I can't stand all that floaty sh!t at the bottom.

Do you reackon this batch is going to taste like crap?

 

[pint of lager]

26 is too high. 28 is way too high.

Try and keep your ales at 18-20. They take a few days longer to ferment out at the correct temperature.

No need for a heat pad if it is sitting at 26-28. Try just wrapping a blanket around the fermenter to trap the small amount of heat generated during fermentation. As the temperature drops in Canberra over winter, you may need to turn the heat pad on for a few hours at night.

Better still, brew lagers over winter. Ask your homebrew shop for a specialist lager yeast, or buy kits from the hbs that have a proper lager yeast. Don't buy lagers from the supermarket, as they only have an ale yeast under the lid, even though the kit is marked as a lager. A lager yeast works best at 10-12 degrees. It takes longer to ferment out, but the taste is much better.

You may like the taste, so you be the judge, but please don't offer any to me.

Some people rack, some don't. I don't rack and I have no floaty stuff in my bottles. Just leave the brew in the fermenter for an extra week in primary. Do not do this if your brew is sitting at 26 on a heat pad. Other people love to rack. Do what works for you.

 

[0M39A]

I never get any "floaty sh!t at the bottom" except for the regular amount of yeast from priming.

i ferment my ales at around 18C for 2 weeks or so, then crash cool and that works fine for me. thinking of trying some gelatine for my current batch though inspired by the pictures wardhog posted on ocau.

as for your beer, i would say its going to taste like crap. 28C is far far too hot for a regular ale yeast.

never liked heatpads at all, as all the heat is going straight into your trub on the bottom of the carboy, which will mean that this is the hottest part of your wort. this is the last thing you want, as it will lead to bad things like yeast autolysis and fusel alcohols.

turn off your heatpads, and just see what temperature it sits at. even a standard kit yeast will ferment down to 18C. better ale yeasts (like us-05 for instance) works perfectly fine down to 16C. if it gets (and stays) below this, then perhaps even look into lagers for winter. if it stays at 12C, then thats fine for a lager.

 

[boingk]

Ditto what 0M39A said - use ale yeasts in weather 20 to 16 degrees, and lager yeasts for 15 and below. I'm a bit of a fan of lagers, so I'm thinking of getting one of those cylindrical 100 can coolers and sitting the fermenter in that with a few ice bricks to keep it at lager temps.

You'll find the method that suits you - as long as your making beer you like thats all you need. Of course, if you stumble apon a way to make it better than that...go for it!

Cheers - boingk