Brewing Master

Question:

Thanks, guys.  It’s me again.  I’m also experimenting with different newsreaders.  I use glass bottles, non twist off and a red 2 handled capper that came with my kit.  Tomorrow I bottle again and I’ll put the sugar in first.  I read that somewhere else recently.  Time is also a good idea.  I gave up on this beer a few weeks ago and now more and more of it is lightly carbonated and doing ok.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You covereda lot of topics, so let me give you some general tips and see what applies to your situation.  From what you described, these are the things that I would reccomend that you check to see if you are doing them: after boiling the wort, cool it down to below 80 degrees F, either with a chiller of some sort, or with an ice bath in the sink.  This will help the yeast start up without killing any as well as making th ework mare capable of absorbing oxygen when you aerate. shake the bejezzus out of your fermenter after you have pitched.  I usually do so for no less than 2 minutes to make sure that the wort is well aerated for the yeast to do it’s job. If you are using dry yeast, use no less than 10 grams in a 5 gallon batch.  Underpitching will increase the lag in starting.  If using liquid yeast, make a starter of a pint of wort a few days in advance and pitch while you see activity in the airlock.  I save 1 liter mountain dew bottles (Big Slam sized bottles) to do this and attatch a stopper and airlock on the top. If you are fermenting in the basement or on the ground floor of your house, put the fermenter on a phone book or a milk crate.  I have had a few slow starts in teh past because the cold ground is sucking the heat out of my fermenter, even though the air temp was in eh upper 60’s/low 70’s. When bottleing, prime the beer by boiling and cooling 5oz. of corn sugar in a pint of water then pouring this into your bucket and racking on top of it.  this will evenly carbonate each bottle, which can be a problem with priming each bottle individually. just like with the fermenter, if your floor is cold, it will slow down the conditioning in the bottles, if at all possibel keep them off the floor for a couple of weeks or in an upstairs room. some of the most dissapointing beers have tasted excellent after maturing a month or two.  I (try0 to give each batch 3 weeks or more in the bottles before opening them…well, I TRY.  if ti is undercarbonated or the taste isn’t what you expected, wait a while longer then open a bottle again. if you are truly dissapointed even then, drink one next to a Budweiser, then you’ll realise how good it truly is  :) Chris

Response:

well as I can.  I’m very meticulous in my technique.  Do some batches ferment so slow that it won’t bubble visibly?  I use pitchable yeast- should I put it into a starter so I have larger counts to start with?

Using a starter isn’t a bad idea, but it’s not necessary.  I don’t bother unless I’m making a REALLy high-gravity beer.  It’s possible your bucket isn’t sealing properly either around the rim or at the airlock hole.  I prefer carboys to buckets except when dealing with meads containing whole fruit.  They’re easier to seal, have caps available for blowoff and airlocks, and are easier to keep clean. [ snip problems with bottle-conditioning ] One of two things could be happening: 1) You’re having problems with the cap seals.  Are you bottling into glass or plastic?  If plastic – are your caps of good quality with intact seals? If glass – is your capper of good quality?  Are you trying to re-cap twist-off bottles?  If so, you’ll want to stop trying and buy yourself a couple of cases of crowned bottles. 2.) You’re not getting a proper mix of priming sugar when bottling.  In this case DO NOT STIR/MIX YOUR BEER.  You could contaminate it and/or introduce too much oxygen.  Boil your priming sugar, cool it, and add it to the bottling vessel FIRST.  Then syphon your beer on top of it (without splashing, of course) and it should mix perfectly. Happy Brewing, Rob — "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." – B. Franklin (Historical Review of PA)

Response:

You covereda lot of topics, so let me give you some general tips and see what applies to your situation.  From what you described, these are the things that I would reccomend that you check to see if you are doing them: after boiling the wort, cool it down to below 80 degrees F, either with a chiller of some sort, or with an ice bath in the sink.  This will help the yeast start up without killing any as well as making th ework mare capable of absorbing oxygen when you aerate. shake the bejezzus out of your fermenter after you have pitched.  I usually do so for no less than 2 minutes to make sure that the wort is well aerated for the yeast to do it’s job. If you are using dry yeast, use no less than 10 grams in a 5 gallon batch.  Underpitching will increase the lag in starting.  If using liquid yeast, make a starter of a pint of wort a few days in advance and pitch while you see activity in the airlock.  I save 1 liter mountain dew bottles (Big Slam sized bottles) to do this and attatch a stopper and airlock on the top. If you are fermenting in the basement or on the ground floor of your house, put the fermenter on a phone book or a milk crate.  I have had a few slow starts in teh past because the cold ground is sucking the heat out of my fermenter, even though the air temp was in eh upper 60’s/low 70’s. When bottleing, prime the beer by boiling and cooling 5oz. of corn sugar in a pint of water then pouring this into your bucket and racking on top of it.  this will evenly carbonate each bottle, which can be a problem with priming each bottle individually. just like with the fermenter, if your floor is cold, it will slow down the conditioning in the bottles, if at all possibel keep them off the floor for a couple of weeks or in an upstairs room. some of the most dissapointing beers have tasted excellent after maturing a month or two.  I (try0 to give each batch 3 weeks or more in the bottles before opening them…well, I TRY.  if ti is undercarbonated or the taste isn’t what you expected, wait a while longer then open a bottle again. if you are truly dissapointed even then, drink one next to a Budweiser, then you’ll realise how good it truly is  :) Chris

Response:

I’ve brewed about 6  kit batches with variable results.  Twice I’ve had the experience of not seeing any primary fermentation activity, but detecting a drop in SG.  The first time it turned out OK, I’ll bottle the second one tomorrow.  I use the kit pickle bucket and seal it as well as I can.  I’m very meticulous in my technique.  Do some batches ferment so slow that it won’t bubble visibly?  I use pitchable yeast- should I put it into a starter so I have larger counts to start with? I had another batch where the lock blew off for a couple of days without me knowing it.  I went ahead to bottle.  Oddly, some bottles are OK and some are completely flat.  Similarly, I tried my Pale Ale last week and it was pretty good-a little carbonation and almaost ready to go.  A week later at 70 degree house temp and I tried a bottle last night and it was completely flat and sort of green tasting, if you know what I mean.  I’m wondering if I’m not mixing the bottling sugar enough- getting some bottles with it and some without.  Should I stir it up or will that add too much oxygen? Before you buy.

Response: