Unusual fermentation advice

[Beer Ninja]

I found a recipe online for a Hoegaarden clone, bu t didn't understand the instruction to add the orange zest and coriander seeds on 'top up day' so I emailed them to ask. The reply is copied and pasted below as a quote.

Has anyone heard of this way of fermenting? Why would anyone ferment using this procedure?

Thank you for your email.
Top up means you top your fermenter to the very rim after 2 days of your starting process.
For example. If you had a 25 litre fermenter, start off with filling it up to the 22 litre mark and after two days, top up to the very rim leaving NO airspace.
We wouldnt want your beer tasting and smelling like beer.
Hope this answers your question.

 

[Camo6]

Yeesh. Got a link to the website?

 

[hathro]

Where will the kräusen go?

 

[O-beer-wan-kenobi]

What! "We wouldnt want your beer tasting and smelling like beer."????

 

[Beer Ninja]

Yeesh. Got a link to the website?

It's a homebrew shop. I've emailed them again to clear this up, hopefully it's some weird misunderstanding. If not I'll post a link, I don't want to give someone a bad rep without giving them further chance to explain.

 

[Beer Ninja]

Where will the kräusen go?

Exactly!

 

[Beer Ninja]

What! "We wouldnt want your beer tasting and smelling like beer."????

I'm taking it that he means this method will produce even better tasting beer?

 

[verysupple]

I've seen a few similar quotes around here recently. It seems like some sort of attempt at minimising oxidation. I could be wrong though. Anyhow, it's very strange advice indeed.

 

[Camo6]

Where will the kräusen go?

Thanks for your question. After 2 days at 36*c your krausen will have evaporated into the ether. If there is any remaining scoop it off with a spoon or your hands as it is poisonous and will make your beer very 'beery.' Hope this clears things up.

 

[doon]

Dafuq?

 

[mxd]

no it's a 22ltr starter then a 2 ltr brew

 

[Camo6]

Bwahaha!

 

[Greg.L]

Keeping your fermenter topped up after vigorous fermentation has died down is actually normal procedure for a lot of people. It is more for infection control as well as stopping oxidation. You don't get infections if there is no space for oxygen. Think of it as the exact opposite of the gladwrap method, which has a high risk of infection..

 

[manticle]

Glad wrap does not carry a high risk of infection. If you leave finished beer under glad wrap for an extended period (which would be silly) then yes you will expose the beer to oxygen and all its wonderful associated things but drop the bugbear against a method you have never used.

However I would agree with the rest of what you said for aging finished beer - times when I have made sour/funk beers or long term aging beers like dark strongs, I have racked the finished beer to a glass demijohn, topped up the headspace with boiled water and sealed to reduce the possiblity of oxidation. Two days into ferment seems a little odd though.

 

[GuyQLD]

I've brought my airlock back into active service after leaving a bear at 2'C for an extended period under gladwrap.

It's not that Gladwrap is the devil... it's rather I'm a lazy ******* at times and that batch ended up undrinkable.

 

[Greg.L]

It shows how twisted this forum is, when normal practice like keeping fermenters topped up is labelled "unusual fermentation advice". Gladwrap does encourage infection, anything that lets oxygen in encourages infection. I guess it's no mystery that so many people drop off this forum, and so many infection photos feature gladwrap. Most forums don't have an infection photo thread.

 

[manticle]

Twisted? Being a little dramatic mate. Infections happen for a variety of reasons - a lot of the photos in that thread are of normal krausen.

I know nothing will convince you that glad wrap could ever be useful. I personally prefer to ferment in either cubes (still plastic, still have some permeability) or kegs (no permeability) and very ocasionally fermenters. When I use fermenters, I regularly use plastic wrap and guess what I don't regularly get? Infections. I once had one in a glad wrapped fermenter that was similar to Guy - left way too long post fermentation. Lesson learnt.

If I want to age beer for anything more than a month, I'll use glass. However plastic wrap is simply not the devil you make it out to be if used for active fermentation. Loads of people use it, no issue. This forum has more people joining than dropping off and more people post about why their airlock isn't bubbling than post infection photos.

You really think the photo thread exists here because someone once recommended using plastic wrap?

 

[hathro]

Please tell me this is a massive troll thread?

 

[Beer Ninja]

It shows how twisted this forum is, when normal practice like keeping fermenters topped up is labelled "unusual fermentation advice". Gladwrap does encourage infection, anything that lets oxygen in encourages infection. I guess it's no mystery that so many people drop off this forum, and so many infection photos feature gladwrap. Most forums don't have an infection photo thread.

Dunno about 'twisted'

I'm just a relative newbie kit brewer but I've been reading this and other forums for months and it's the first time I've seen this technique.

Makes it sort of unusual to me

 

[Beer Ninja]

Please tell me this is a massive troll thread?

Mate, I can promise you I'm no troll - all genuine