Is My Beer Broken?

[Stixor]

Hi, I made a coopers english bitter with 10g of goldings i think he said it was, 04 yeast, 500g ldme and 200g of dextrose.

today 4 days later I took a sample to check the gravity and there are quite a lot of solids in it that look kinda like bread crumbs i guess, they mostly sink to the bottom of the sample but there is quite a bit through the whole thing.

The ldme was pretty well dissolved. Does anyone know what this could be?

Thanks.

 

[Fermented]

Sounds like it's the yeast and other stuff flocculating out of solution.

If you put all your goodies properly into solution (i.e. fully dissolved) then you're on the right track.


Cheers - Fermented.

 

[manticle]

Could be yeast, malt or hops floaties - hard to tell without seeing. Does it taste ok? Were the hops in a bag or free floating? If free floating I'd guess it's hop bits.

I wouldn't worry too much at this point.

 

[discoloop]

Sounds like me to be yeast bits that are just floccing out to the bottom.... They'll settle. ^_^

 

[Scruffy]

If you've got a fairly bog standard fermenter and you're 4 days into a brew with S-04 and a can and extras, you'll see a whitish band about 1 or 2 inches high accumulating on the bottom, maybe cloudy/murky liquid and glops of foam on the surface, you're maybe a third of the way into your ferment (maybe half), let it finish, get to its final gravity, then leave it a few more days, the blobs should settle given the right temperatures. Enjoy the process! I'm guessing the goldings @ 10g was a 'tea bag' thing... if not, when you put hops into your brew they separate out... and little unusual bits float around for ages...
You still have the option to rack to secondary, gelatine/fine your brew, even polyclar, so don't worry about clouds just yet...


What does it taste like...?

---snip---

Inches... inches... - i meant cm... bloody Europeans!!!

So 1 or 2 cm whitish ring at the bottom (innuendo alert)

 

[RagingBull]

+1 Scruffy

Taste your product. It's the best indicator whether to stress or not.

 

[Stixor]

Tasted it and it tastes pretty good actually!

I'm going to use, used bottles whats the best way to clen and sanitise so that i dont get any taste from previous brews?

I don't know if that will happen, but just in case.

 

[drtomc]

Lots of threads about cleaning and sanitizing bottles.

Soaking in either Napisan or Dishwasher Detergent are popular options for cleaning. Starsan, Iodophor, bleach, are popular for sanitizing to name a few.

T.

 

[Stixor]

How much napisan should I use and for how long?

Can't seem to find the post.

 

[drtomc]

How much napisan should I use and for how long?

Can't seem to find the post.

I use a big tub and put in a tip of napisan that I'd guess to be about half a cup, and mix that with about fifteen litres of hot water.

Sometimes I'll use this to do a production line of bottles - filling and soaking for a few minutes then rinsing, other times I just bung in as many bottles as I can fit and still cover with water and leave them overnight.

My method is, well, not that methodical, and I have not had any problems for a long time. If in doubt, do the overnight thing, which is also good for getting labels off, if that's something you care about.

T.

 

[manticle]

How much napisan should I use and for how long?

Can't seem to find the post.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=18

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=29

 

[Fermented]

Napisan is more or less bleach (sodium hypochlorite???). Pure and simple. Sanitisation is 5% by WHO standards.

5% solution, 5 minutes soak MAX (2 mins is OK), rinse and scrub 2 or three times.

Gloves on at all stages. Read the MSDS if there is one. [insert safety disclaimer here, insert all other relevant disclaimers here].

Have fun!

Result.

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[Zalman87]

Heres a semi-related question. What about a beer with a reading of 1010 on the hydrometer.Tastes a little weak.But very,very, murky. No head visable, although there clearly is some head visable ontop of the wurt. Hasn't been any bubbling. Are we in trouble?

 

[lespaul]

If you have a fridge there is the option of crash chilling it at the end of the ferment to bring out extra floaties

with the bottles, ive been washing them and covering the tops with tin foil, then just before i use them a quick spray with no rinse sanitiser.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=18

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=29

Ive been using napi san, but ive been adding about 3 liters of boiling water, stirring it, then the rest cold water. Will this work, or do i need the whole thing to be hot water?

 

[RetsamHsam]

Napisan is more or less bleach (sodium hypochlorite???). Pure and simple. Sanitisation is 5% by WHO standards.

5% solution, 5 minutes soak MAX (2 mins is OK), rinse and scrub 2 or three times.

Sodium Percarbonate..

It is an Oxygen bleach which is not nearly as harsh as Cholrine based bleaches, but you will still want to inse it off well as 'Fermented' stated.

 

[RetsamHsam]

If you have a fridge there is the option of crash chilling it at the end of the ferment to bring out extra floaties

with the bottles, ive been washing them and covering the tops with tin foil, then just before i use them a quick spray with no rinse sanitiser.



Ive been using napi san, but ive been adding about 3 liters of boiling water, stirring it, then the rest cold water. Will this work, or do i need the whole thing to be hot water?

Sodium Percarbonate is soluble in cold water so there is no need for it to be hot..

 

[bum]

Heres a semi-related question. What about a beer with a reading of 1010 on the hydrometer.Tastes a little weak.But very,very, murky. No head visable, although there clearly is some head visable ontop of the wurt. Hasn't been any bubbling. Are we in trouble?

Nah, sounds pretty normal - with the exception of the weak taste. Just leave it in the fermenter another week for the gunk to drop out some more if you're unable to cold condition as lespaul describes.Your beer will form a head after it is carbonated.

Good luck with it.

 

[brenjak]

Rack to secondary and before bottling use some gelatine finings! Works a treat for me.

 

[Fermented]

Heres a semi-related question. What about a beer with a reading of 1010 on the hydrometer.Tastes a little weak.But very,very, murky. No head visable, although there clearly is some head visable ontop of the wurt. Hasn't been any bubbling. Are we in trouble?

Sounds as if it's done.

Some yeasts take a little while to drop out (flocculate out) of the beer, so it could be beneficial to give it a few more days ahead of bottling.

A few earlier kits and bits ones I did using the Coopers yeast were very much a case of this. They looked like third-world tapwater on bottling, but after a few weeks in the bottle they settled out to a reasonable clarity.

More recently one made with >20% rice malt and Coopers yeast (bob-optimal, I know, but I was out of stock of the usual suspects) was quite similar but is clearing up nicely.

Best of luck!

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[Pennywise]

Sodium Percarbonate is soluble in cold water so there is no need for it to be hot..

It'll work just fine in cold water but in my experiences it'll work a hell of alot faster in really hot water, like less than a minute to get my flask clean as a whistle :beerbang: