To Bottle Or Not To Bottle?

[Marshman]

Hi guys and girls,

I'm 7 days in to my second brews (first were disastrous) and I've just checked my gravity readings on both batches.

Batch 1 - 23 litres
1 tin Coopers Pale
1 tin Coopers Real
1 pkt Coopers Brew Enhancer #2
1 pkt Saaz Hops
1 pkt Muntons Gold Yeast

SG 1.072
Current gravity 1.021
Current alc/vol ~7.1%

Batch 2 - 23 litres
1 tin Brewcraft Belgian Wheat
1kg Beer Essentials Wheat Malt Improver
1.2kg Woolworths Pitted Cherries in Syrup
1.8kg Pitted Morello Cherries in water
(Cherries were warmed in a pot of water, then blended, then strained into fermentation vessel)
1pkt Safale Y-Yeast #6
1pkt Tettanang Hops

SG 1.051
Current gravity 1.011
Current alc/vol ~5.7%

What I'm worried about is the alcohol volumes - It doesn't look or taste like these two have finished fermenting, and I've read everywhere that you should let it stop, then rest for a week or so in the vat for the yeast to clean up before bottling.

Personally speaking, I'm not afraid at all of a Brewdog Tokyo or a nice Barleywine, but we were sort of planning a party around these two brews and I have visions of my backyard being filled with peas and carrots after people having a few stubbies. It's also the first time that my girlfriend - who can't really hack much - a bottle of Moscato is more than enough - has said hey let's make a beer. The cherry wheat is hers. I kinda don't want her to think that all homebrew is rocket fuel.

Based on your experiences, how much further will these things go?

Does the sugar used to prime bottles boost alc/vol further?

I'm kinda worried that I'm not making beer, more general anaesthetic...

I was thinking that I might bottle some now - but have concerns about oxidation in the remaining beer. Thoughts?

What would you do?

Let it finish, go and buy a teaspoon of cement?
Bottle some now?
Bottle all now?
Add distilled water at bottling?
Defer the party, make a knock off batch of something commercial and less... robust?
Trade my friends in for some that are a little less wimpy?

 

[Kevman]

I'd leave it go and let it ferment for another week at least. Give the yeast some time to clean up after itself. I find the "bigger" beers like stouts, barleywines, etc seem to need 3 weeks in the fermenter.

The sugar/dextrose used for bottling will add about another 0.5% to the alcohol. Once you've bottled, you would probably want to leave them for at least a month to gas up and condition.

 

[vykuza]

The process is what it is, and bottling now won't stop the yeast fermenting the beer to it's natural conclusion. All you would end up with is bottle bombs if you bottled early.

If the alcohol level is too high, then you could certainly try watering down a little at bottling time. I wouldn't call it ideal, but it would probably work. Don't use distilled water, I would use (properly) filtered water or store bought drinking water to cut the risk of infection.

You will need to add more sugar to carbonate, and as kevman says, it will add about 0.5%.

If it tastes good, then have your party. Just let people know it is stronger than they are used to, and have an alternative available for those with weak constitutions. Or depending on when your party is, finish the current beers, bottle them and age them a bit for a good result and whack through some more standard strength beers. Both the ones you've made have a lot of fermentables, and will both be very alcoholic.

 

[EK]

The typical wisdom for bottling time is "take three hydrometer readings on three successive days, if they are all the same then it is ready for bottling". Using this method, I have not had one bottle-bomb in 8 years of brewing.

Also, as far as I am aware, big beers are going to need longer conditioning times otherwise it might be a bit 'green'. This may well affect your party date. However, if the party is centred around these beers then I would make sure they are conditioned and are the flavours that you want, then organise the party.

:icon_cheers:
EK

 

[Marshman]

Cool - thanks heaps guys.

I appreciate it.