Stirring Brew

[ah_glenno]

I am midway through mixing my first brew and i noticed that there is a lot of brewing sugar down the bottom of the container. I know that there will usually be sediment when making a beer, but i was wondering if the process would be improved by constantly stirring the brew so that the sugar would not settle to the bottom and therefore be available to participate in the reacton much more easily, i say this because i have access to a magnetic stirrer
cheers

 

[peas_and_corn]

How much shugar are you adding? It should dissolve quite easily

 

[ah_glenno]

1Kg in 23L

 

[muckey]

stirring early on wont be an issue but you dont want to introduce oxygen late in the ferment
If you haven't pitched yet keep stirring
1 kg should dissolve OK in 23 litres

edit: fat fingers

 

[buttersd70]

if the sugar isn't fully disolved, it doesn't really matter. The yeast will certainly find it. The only issue it will cause is one of minor annoyance, which has no bearing on how well it will ferment; the OG reading won't be accurate due to some of the sugar not being properly disolved. But as the OG can be calculated from the ingredients and volume,anyway, its neither here nor there.

My thought would be (if you haven't already pitched the yeast) would be to get a long, sanatised spoon and spend 5 minutes beating the absolute crap out of it. This will aerate the wort in readiness to pitch the yeast (which should be done anyway), and will most likely mix it all through. If it still doesn't disolve after this....just let the yeast do their thing.

 

[ah_glenno]

i assume pitching the yeast means adding it to the wort? i have already done that, the way i would mix it would be to add a magnetic rod to the bottom, then put a magnetic stirrer underneath, this way it can be stirred without me having to open the lid and introduce more oxygen, it was just a thought but if the settled sugar isnt going to be a problem i wont bother

 

[Jase71]

You have a magnetic stirrer that can handle 23litres? :huh:

All the best with your first brew, mate.

 

[ah_glenno]

You have a magnetic stirrer that can handle 23litres? :huh:

i dont imagine it would be a very energetic stirring, but it should at least keep the sugar from settling down

 

[buttersd70]

gen, if the yeast is already in, just leave it to do its thing.

 

[thunderchild]

+1 leave the yeast alone now.

before yeast - much stirring and splashing = very good for beer

Post yeast = Bad wet cadboard flavoured beer.

Good luck and happy brewing

 

[rich_lamb]

I'd just stir it up anyway, the yeast won't mind if you bang them on the head a bit with the spoon

You will help your beer if you stir vigorously anytime within the first 8 hours or so (assuming you are careful with sanitation). Oxygen during the first part of fermentaion is good. Thereafter it s bad.

I had often thought if there would be a benefit to continuously stirring a brew during fermentation, provided you have an airlock on so you can't absorb more oxygen. It works well with a stirplate in terms of assisting the yeast, as the yeast can't settle out and CO2 is constantly removed.
Have no idea what it would do for beer flavour though.

Wanna try an experiment? You are well positioned to go boldly where no man has gone before (AFAIK)...

 

[ah_glenno]

yeh gona leave this batch alone now, ill try it out once i am sure that i have the whole brewing process under control so i cant make an acurate judgement as to whether it has actually helped or not

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I'd just stir it up anyway, the yeast won't mind if you bang them on the head a bit with the spoon

You will help your beer if you stir vigorously anytime within the first 8 hours or so (assuming you are careful with sanitation). Oxygen during the first part of fermentaion is good. Thereafter it s bad.

I had often thought if there would be a benefit to continuously stirring a brew during fermentation, provided you have an airlock on so you can't absorb more oxygen. It works well with a stirplate in terms of assisting the yeast, as the yeast can't settle out and CO2 is constantly removed.
Have no idea what it would do for beer flavour though.

Wanna try an experiment? You are well positioned to go boldly where no man has gone before (AFAIK)...

Commercially, some breweries agitate their fermentors (closed so no oxygen) it decreases the FG of a given brew and makes things go faster. I also seem to recall that it decreases sulphur production.... but that might be intermittent rousing rather than continuous agitation.

Quite a few things happen that you wouldn't expect just from stirring. Including I think the introduction of some undesirable flavours. Thats why not so many breweries do it, even though it would increase their potential throughput.

Mind you, that's on a commercial scale where even the shape of he fermentors can effect the flavour profile.

Disclaimer - I am recalling hazy memories from reading a trade magazine... I might have it all arse about.

If you had a stirrer cabable of handling 23L ... that would make life easier for yeasts like S04 that like to drop out early... you could just set the stirrer on a timer to give things a bit of a swirl every few hours. Eeek out a few extra points of attenuation.

TB