How Sweet Is Too Sweet?

[Simpdogg]

Hi All,

I've been fermenting a knappstein larger kit now for around 1.5 weeks, I used the Saflarger S23 yeast and have kept the fermenter constantly between the 8-12c range.

I took a reading this morning and got a gravity reading of 1025 i also noticed a thick sludge (3-4cm) at the bottom of the fermenter, haven't had this before so am concerned something has gone wrong.

when i turned the tap i got this dark brown liquid that came out obviously due to the sludge at the bottom, the brew smelt alright it also tasted pretty good too except that it was on the sweet side, proberly a 5/6 on a scale of 10 for sweetness.

So a couple of questions:

1) How sweet is too sweet during fermenting
2) If the beer is ok and i havent stuffed up, what do i do with this sludge down the bottom? do i sacrifice the first 1-2 ltrs? (i was planning at attempting my first racking on this brew)
3) From what ive read and understand, i have good frothing at the top of the brew does this indicate the beer is going along nicely?
4) I have brewed this beer in my garage once again from what i understand the larger yeast prefer a really low temp, does this affect airlock activity as i have not had much, having said that was getting good beading from what i could see i the test tube.


Once again thanks for the help and advice.

 

[Adamt]

Sounds like it is going very well but not yet finished - lagers can take 2-3 weeks to ferment out, be patient, slow is good and 8-12C is perfect!

Frothing and sediment are good signs for fermentation, and the dropping gravity reading confirms it, airlock activity implies diddly squat.

Fermentation turns sugars to alcohol... your wort at the start is very, very sweet and the sweetness drops as it ferments. Your beer is still sweet as there are more sugars left to ferment - it's not finished.

I think that covers it all.

 

[manticle]

1. During fermenting it is good to taste to see how the brew is taking shape and ensure nothing is massively wrong. Sweeteness and bitterness etc all develop and change over time. The sugars in the malt etc are being eaten by yeast which forms alcohol and carbon dioxide so the flavour profile will continually change.
Some of the sludge might be as yet undissolved/unfermented malt which would add sweetness. 1025 means there are some unfermented sugars in the brew so all in all - no cause for concern.

You will also get yeast cake forming on the bottom which will be sludgy.

2. The yeast cake should be left behind and either re-used for another brew or discarded. By the end of ferment it will basically be yeast that has fallen out of suspension, along with a few other bits and pieces that make up sediment. There are many threads on re-using slurry, making cultures and pitching directly onto yeast cake.
3. Yes.
4. lagers ferment slower and may not give a lot of airlock activity. Airlocks sound nice but that's about their only use. The aforementioned foam and gravity dropping are more reliable signs of good fermentation.



Wot he said ^

 

[Bribie G]

My current lager, sitting at 11 degrees and after a week it's starting to build up a nice yeast cake on the bottom, in a couple of weeks from now when the primary fermentation is done that should thicken up nicely as the yeast drops. Lager yeasts are called 'bottom fermenting' because that's where most of the activity is.

 

[Thunderlips]

I've been fermenting a knappstein larger kit now for around 1.5 weeks

Where did you get this kit from?

I've not tried Knappstein but I've heard and read the rave reviews.
Even so, it's probably hard for a kit to replicate it.

 

[Simpdogg]

Where did you get this kit from?

I've not tried Knappstein but I've heard and read the rave reviews.
Even so, it's probably hard for a kit to replicate it.

I got the kit from the AHB Brewcraft Centre

50 Burgundy Street
Heidelberg
Phone: 03 9455 1311

From memory the kit was around the $55 mark give or take

 

[Simpdogg]

My current lager, sitting at 11 degrees and after a week it's starting to build up a nice yeast cake on the bottom, in a couple of weeks from now when the primary fermentation is done that should thicken up nicely as the yeast drops. Lager yeasts are called 'bottom fermenting' because that's where most of the activity is.

View attachment 28422

So when you have a thick yeast cake build up down the bottom what is the best way to rack or bottle the beer?

Wouldn't the yeast cake sediment end up just transferring from the fermenter and your left with a cloudy beer?
as your picture shows my yeast cake build up is above the level of the tap.

Does the yeast cake dissolve more?

Hope what im asking makes sense never had a yeast cake this thick.

 

[manticle]

Generally most of the cake will be left behind even if you use the tap to rack. It's not amazingly fluid - just leave behind a litre or so. The other method is to siphon the liquid from the top. You may need to pick up some extra equipment for that.

 

[Simpdogg]

yeh i thought about siphoning from the top, what would you recommend to use?

would you siphon directly into the bottle or to another fermenter?

Would siphoning from the top would be kind of the same as racking the beer it? or am i way off the mark

 

[manticle]

yeh i thought about siphoning from the top, what would you recommend to use?

would you siphon directly into the bottle or to another fermenter?

Would siphoning from the top would be kind of the same as racking the beer it? or am i way off the mark

If you transfer the beer to another fermenter it is known as racking. If you transfer it to bottles it's bottling. There are bottling wands and so on for siphoning from the top. I just use food grade silicon hose (home brew shop) and do it straight from the tap so I can't recommend anything except making sure it's food grade and sanitised before use.

I think what you're looking for is a bottling wand but as I said I don't use them.

Racking is done for a variety of reasons:

1. To avoid off flavours from dead yeast - usually not a proble unless you're leaving the brew for a long, long time on the yeast.
2. To avoid lots of sediment in the finished product. This is the main reason I do it.
3. To allow the beer to undergo secondary fermentation and mature (done before primary is completely finished)
4. For clarity - less yeast means clearer beer. There are other methods for achieving clear beer and it really depends on how much you want clarity as opposed to stuffing around with transferring
5. To bulk/batch prime - it aids in mixing the sugar solution through the brew.

Only rack if you need to and if you feel it works for you. I rack part way through primary for secondary ferment and to leave sediment behind but I don't rack when I bulk prime. Many people don't rack at all although I think it's more common with lagers.

You need a second fermenter and you need to watch your sanitation procedures as there's a risk of infection and aeration.

Good information here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2-3.html