What Should It Look Like?

[rhino171]

Hi Guys,

What will, or what should my brew look like when fermentation is finished?

I've done a lot of reading on this forum, and there is alot of great advice on how to get things done, but there is not much about how things should look and what to look for. It would really help if I knew what I was looking at.

Will it be clear? Will it be cloudy? Will it have floaties on top etc?

Thanks
Rhino

 

[InCider]

Hey Rhino,

It should look like you've missed the party. :beerbang: If there are some hangers on, they will be the detrius floating in the loungeroom of your fementer. And that sucks. :angry:

InCider. :beer:

Hi Guys,

What will, or what should my brew look like when fermentation is finished?

I've done a lot of reading on this forum, and there is alot of great advice on how to get things done, but there is not much about how things should look and what to look for. It would really help if I knew what I was looking at.

Will it be clear? Will it be cloudy? Will it have floaties on top etc?

Thanks
Rhino

 

[brendanos]

If you're brewing ales, there will be a foamy head (kraeusen) on top of the wort while the majority of the fermentation takes place. The kraeusen will drop out and settle on the bottom on the fermenter with the rest of the trub, and a slower fermentation of the remaining sugars may continue for any length of time, it's best to use a hydrometer to check the gravity, and if it is the same for a few days in a row it has probably finished (unless you have a stuck ferment).

You probably want to wait til the beer is "bright" (clear), or at least until the majority of the yeast has settled out until you bottle/keg. You can encourage suspended yeast to drop out by "cold conditioning" the beer (at 0-10 degrees) for a few days to a few weeks, so long as you know that the beer has finished fermenting.

I'm sure you'll get a few different answers to this, theres a lot of variables involved.

I hope some of this made sense.

Brendan

 

[rhino171]

Hey Rhino,

It should look like you've missed the party. :beerbang: If there are some hangers on, they will be the detrius floating in the loungeroom of your fementer. And that sucks. :angry:

InCider. :beer:

Ummmm ..........Ok.

 

[rhino171]

Thanks Brendan

 

[applecracle]

If you're brewing ales, there will be a foamy head (kraeusen) on top of the wort while the majority of the fermentation takes place. The kraeusen will drop out and settle on the bottom on the fermenter with the rest of the trub, and a slower fermentation of the remaining sugars may continue for any length of time, it's best to use a hydrometer to check the gravity, and if it is the same for a few days in a row it has probably finished (unless you have a stuck ferment).

You probably want to wait til the beer is "bright" (clear), or at least until the majority of the yeast has settled out until you bottle/keg. You can encourage suspended yeast to drop out by "cold conditioning" the beer (at 0-10 degrees) for a few days to a few weeks, so long as you know that the beer has finished fermenting.

I'm sure you'll get a few different answers to this, theres a lot of variables involved.

I hope some of this made sense.

Brendan

Just a quick question, does cold conditioning with ale yeast kill the yeast or is it just susoended ? If bottling rather will the priming sugar still ferment if all the yeast has dropped out or will there still be enough in there to complete the carbonation process.

Applecracle

 

[brendanos]

Cold conditioning won't kill the yeast, only put it to sleep so it falls out of suspension.
Whether or not there's yeast left after CC'ing depends on the yeast strain, temperature and duration of CC, and probably numerous other factors. It's near impossible to drop all of the yeast out, but to be safe you can always rouse a little of the yeast from the cake as you rack the last of the beer to a bottling bucket (presuming you use one), or repitch fresh yeast, you won't need much to get carbonation.

 

[Hogan]

Hi Guys,

What will, or what should my brew look like when fermentation is finished?

I've done a lot of reading on this forum, and there is alot of great advice on how to get things done, but there is not much about how things should look and what to look for. It would really help if I knew what I was looking at.

Will it be clear? Will it be cloudy? Will it have floaties on top etc?

Thanks
Rhino

Hi Rhino

Don't get too tied down with thinking that every brew you make will look the same. It won't. There will be differences in the way some yeast react to others (ie top fermenting, bottom fermenting, high/low floculation etc) and this will result in variations on the finished product.

As you are most likely bottling I would look at the info on bulk priming in the info section. Don't go adding yeast to the priming bucket just yet. Do your first brew, make sure your hydrometer stays at the same reading for a couple of days, bulk prime and bottle. You will find that there are more than sufficient yeasties left to condition your beer without stirring the bottom or adding more new yeast.

Good luck with your first brew. Don't expect a perfect result the first time. It will take some misses before you get constant hits. Be patient.

Cheers, Hoges.

 

[rhino171]

So would this be a normal look?

Post fermentation

 

[Steve Lacey]

That looks perfectly normal. But you should also do the hydrometer boogie thing with it as well, because even when it looks finished, like this, it might still have a few gravity points to drop, i.e, some as yet unfermented sugars. If it is an ale and has been in the fermenter two weeks and you don't have a hydrometer, then you should be safe to bottle. And try not to keep opening the fermenter and letting oxygen get at your young beer!

This photo shows exactly what InCider was talking about. See the krausen ring an inch or two above the liquid? That was from when the party was really going off. Those brown floaty bits are just the leftovers, empties, flaked out revellers, spilled red wine, spots of chuck on the carpet. It was a perfect analogy.

 

[rhino171]

That looks perfectly normal. But you should also do the hydrometer boogie thing with it as well, because even when it looks finished, like this, it might still have a few gravity points to drop, i.e, some as yet unfermented sugars. If it is an ale and has been in the fermenter two weeks and you don't have a hydrometer, then you should be safe to bottle. And try not to keep opening the fermenter and letting oxygen get at your young beer!

This photo shows exactly what InCider was talking about. See the krausen ring an inch or two above the liquid? That was from when the party was really going off. Those brown floaty bits are just the leftovers, empties, flaked out revellers, spilled red wine, spots of chuck on the carpet. It was a perfect analogy.

Thanks Steve,

Gravity has been @ 1012 for two days. It is an ale and I have now put it into the fridge for a day or two before kegging. I only took the lid off briefly once before taking the photo. Will certainly not make a habit of it.

PMSL now, after your description I understand what InCider was talking about.

Thanks for your advice
Rhino