Yeast suspension.

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CycloneLogan

CycloneLogan

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Hi guys,

Bottling my first batch of home brew tomorrow. It's an American IPA. Has been fermenting for 2 weeks and has hit FG for the last 4 days.

There is still some yeast floating about. I assume bottle conditioning will allow this to drop? Should I worry about bottle bombs?

Thanks.
 
When you say that there is "some yeast floating about" I presume that this is because the brew is cloudy and that there is no activity from the air-lock. If there is ANY activity from the air-lock then the brew is still fermenting and you shouldn't bottle it.

If your FG is at or below 1.010 and you don't over-carbonate the bottles then "bottle bombs" shouldn't happen.

I use the Calculator at the top of this page (click on "Calculators" then scroll down and click on "Priming Calculator") to work out my carbonation rate.

For an American IPA they suggest a CO2 volume of 2.2 to 2.7. I suggest that as this is your first attempt you stay at the lowest point of 2.2 and then you can increase the amount if this brew isn't lively enough for you.

I also suggest that: you
  • Read the section on Temperature.
  • Realise that ordinary Table Sugar requires less than DME or Glucose.
  • Batch carbonate the brew. (As opposed to putting a small amount into each individual bottle.)
  • Carbonate for two weeks at the same temperature at which you fermented the brew.
Oh, and "Yes." the suspended yeast will drop out during the conditioning stage: which is another two weeks minimum.

Hope this helps. :thumb:
 
Thanks for your reply.

Having gone back and looked at my notes, it has been at 1.010 for almost a week. No signs of fermentation at all now. The beer is cloudy yes. It actually tastes not too bad at the moment.

The kit recipe advises on 1tsp of granulated sugar per 500ml bottle so I will do that. Maybe 3/4 of a teaspoon as I prefer it slightly less gassy.

Thanks again
 
Batch priming is soooo much easier, and ensures a consistent result. That way you can also weigh how much priming sugar you add (even if you do measure it out with teaspoons), so you a have a record and can adjust accordingly next time. Not all teaspoons are equal ;-)
 
Ben2083 said:
Batch priming is soooo much easier, and ensures a consistent result. That way you can also weigh how much priming sugar you add (even if you do measure it out with teaspoons), so you a have a record and can adjust accordingly next time. Not all teaspoons are equal ;-)
Click to expand...

Lucky I have bakers teaspoons for the exact measure
I'd look at batch priming once I'm moving from fermenter to bottling bucket but just going straight into bottles on this occasion.
 
In the beginning I weighed out a measuring spoon on a very precise electrical scales (1/100th of a gram), found out that a level teaspoon of sugar would do, and used a funnel to put enough sugar into empty bottles, which I filled afterwards with brew. It worked.
 
The accurate measurement of a single spoonful of sugar is meaningless ... :no:

... when you put two spoonsful of sugar into one bottle and then nothing into the next! :laugh8:

This is why I batch prime when using bottles! :thumb:
 
Not to mention that batch priming means you boil-sterilise the sugar solution. No way would I add sugar straight from the bag. Sugar is food for all kinds of bugs.
 
foxbat said:
Not to mention that batch priming means you boil-sterilise the sugar solution. No way would I add sugar straight from the bag. Sugar is food for all kinds of bugs.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that pure sugar will support much life. Sugar is used as a preservative after all (to quote the Wikipedia article on sugar "They are also used as a preservative to prevent micro-organisms from growing and perishable food from spoiling"), and it's only when it's diluted that things start to go mouldy, for example jam will go mouldy but a bag of sugar won't.

On the cons of using carbonation drops or sugar, I'm always dubious about how fully sugar or carbonation drops really dissolve in a bottle. Unless the bottle is given a stir or shake the sugar initially sits at the bottom of the bottle, eventually dissolving to some extent, but surely not distributed evenly throughout the whole bottle. The last time I used carbonation drops was with the St Peters IPA kit beer, which I tried a bottle of after less than two weeks because it was already completely clear. Not much fizz in it at that point, but the last 1-2cm of beer at the bottom of the bottle (which I drank since that was also clear) was slightly sweet! Two weeks later there was more fizz, and no sweetness, so I assume it took a few weeks for the carbonation drops to fully dissolve and ferment away.

That said, carbonation drops or measured sugar has an advantage that you don't need a second sterilised bucket to do the batch priming in - you can siphon straight from the primary FV into the bottles then add the sugar.
 
Get one or two (or three) small clear plastic bottles - I use 330ml coke bottles. Use these as well as your other bottles. Then you'll be able to watch the progress of the clearing, and you'll be able to feel the hardness of the bottle as carbonation progresses.

You'll learn a lot from this.

I've found when the bottle goes hard, it isn't actually fully carbonated yet, it'll still be flat. From this I infer that the bottle is hard when the dead air space has filled with co2 but there's still several days to go before the co2 is absorbed into the liquid. Or something.

It's fascinating watching the clearing process. It all depends on the yeast, but if often astonishes me how dirty it can start out and then within days crystal clear.

Also, you can satiate your impatience by cracking open these bottles early as testers!

Note that some yeasts don't clear or at least not easily. It depends on how "flocculent" the yeast is. Trouble with kits is the supplied yeasts are often unlabelled so you've no clue in advance what will happen. Any chance you know what yeast you're working with.

Note that yeast left in the bottle doesn't cause bombs, it's residual sugar which shouldn't be there. Same gravity reading for 4 days suggests you'll be fine.
 
I took some advice from myqul on here that you can add dextrose straight from the pack (batch priming) as it doesn't require boiling as its already refined

Saying this I wouldn't do this again with the opened pack only because I didn't properly transfer it to a sanitized container (going with the old clothes peg method)
 

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