Show Me a Stein
Active Member
Hi all,
I'm pretty sure the answer is to 'just wait', but I was wondering about the peculiar path this fermentation has taken.
I brewed a wheat beer more than 3 weeks ago. The post about the recipe can be found here - the only differences from that are that I used Tettnang for hops, and added small amounts of orange/tangerine zest and a small amount of crushed coriander seeds near the end of the boil. Original gravity at this point was measured to be 1.061. This is adjusted this from the actual reading as plain water, both tap and bottled, gave a reading of 1.004 on my hydrometer.
Fermentation kicked off about 13 hours after, where I noticed krausen forming, and then rapidly so. The krausen seeped out and assaulted my airlock in the hours after, leading me to fit a narrow hose as a blow off, but it never entered the blow-off, and so I returned an airlock a few hours later. It bubbled furiously for the next few days
(the dates written above are correct, and the dates in the graph are just evenly spread out and don't relate to the readings were taken).
I theorized that temperature fluctuations had played a part, and that perhaps fermentation stopped at one point, only to restart. Looking at past weather where I am though, it doesn't really seem like that's obvious conclusion. The highest temperatures were recorded between the first 2 readings which only changed in a minor way. I should also note that today is the highest I've noticed it's been in the closet where I have the fermentation bucket - 24C on the thermometer. On the bucket, I have one of the LCD thermometer strips, which read 23 (this has usually been in agreement with the room thermometers, though less variable, which makes sense). It has generally been 20C-23C on thermometer, and 21-24, on the bucket thermometer (usually at 22 or 23). The yeast (Mangrove Jack M21) says the acceptable range is 18C-25C.
What I think is a more likely contender is that on the 2nd reading on the 9th, I (not very violently) tilted the fermentation bucket to get more beer into the wine thief, which could have kicked the yeast back into action. I could have also disturbed the bottom with the wine thief itself for the same effect. Some drips from the thief also landed back in the beer. No visible splashing or sloshing though. I also had issues to attend to which meant the beer was exposed to the air for maybe ten minutes (which made me fear I had oxygenated the beer which had previously been airtight except for maybe a minute for the first reading). I took the measurement today in almost exactly the same fashion, for what it's worth.
Last theory I have is that I somehow infected it on the 2nd reading, but apparently that should be obvious from the taste, and it tastes good.
What are the thoughts on this situation? BeerSmith suggested an OG of 1.052, and a Final Gravity of 1.014 - and it has exceeded both. Estimated ABV was 4.5% to 5.5%, and I'm sitting at 6.8% (I guess I am getting my wish for a stronger drink!). I understand that I probably lost a bit of water to evaporation - there is 17.75l in the fermentation vessel as opposed to the 19l I boiled.
How should I approach this to make sure I'm not going to decorate the closet with beer because fermentation is not complete? Just keep taking readings every other day? Wait till the airlock stops bubbling?
Sorry for the tome - I know everyone's beer is more interesting to themselves - but thanks in advance for any advice!
I'm pretty sure the answer is to 'just wait', but I was wondering about the peculiar path this fermentation has taken.
I brewed a wheat beer more than 3 weeks ago. The post about the recipe can be found here - the only differences from that are that I used Tettnang for hops, and added small amounts of orange/tangerine zest and a small amount of crushed coriander seeds near the end of the boil. Original gravity at this point was measured to be 1.061. This is adjusted this from the actual reading as plain water, both tap and bottled, gave a reading of 1.004 on my hydrometer.
Fermentation kicked off about 13 hours after, where I noticed krausen forming, and then rapidly so. The krausen seeped out and assaulted my airlock in the hours after, leading me to fit a narrow hose as a blow off, but it never entered the blow-off, and so I returned an airlock a few hours later. It bubbled furiously for the next few days
- On day 3, 28 May, I took a gravity reading using a wine thief, which gave a result of 1.020. I drank the sample, and it was on the yeasty side but not offensive to be honest.
- Some time after day 3, bubbling seemed to stop. I tried to stop watching it, like a kettle as I had been the first few days, so I'm not sure exactly when, but it was obvious that after day 2 that airlock activity was no longer very vigorous. i would guess day 4 was the last time I saw any airlock activity.
- On day 15, 9th June, I took a gravity reading. The result was 1.018 - only a minor change from day 3, leading me to believe that fermentation was likely to be complete. And great news - the sample was absolutely delicious and smooth. Clarity was good -- I could see through the wine thief pretty clearly. Even my girlfriend, not the biggest fan of the taste of beer, really enjoyed it. Though flat, I already preferred to it to Hoegaarden, Edinger and Blue Moon, which I didn't think was a realistic goal. My plan at this point was to bottle in a few days, after taking a final reading to confirmation fermentation was complete, but life got in the way as it does. However, from what I read, there was likely no harm in allowing it to sit for 3 weeks.
- On day 20, 14th June, I notice bubbling, maybe every 3 minutes, while checking some equipment to make sure I'm ready to bottle in the next few days. Odd. Bit of googling suggests it's not always wise to read into airlock readings, that gas can release even if fermentation has stopped, and only the hydrometer can confirm if fermentation has completed
- Day 22, I enter the closet to get my jacket, and notice airlock activity.
- Day 23, today, I am planning to bottle. I enter to take a reading, and while preparing, the airlock bubbles. I take a gravity reading and.... it has dropped considerably. It is now 1.008 (adjusted)! The taste is still good, though perhaps more alcoholic (ABV has changed from 5.5% to 6.83%). It seems cloudier now, but I may have disturbed the trub taking this reading which I may not have perviously? Additionally, there was yeast in last sample at the bottom of my glass from the previous sample, but nothing was left over this time.
I theorized that temperature fluctuations had played a part, and that perhaps fermentation stopped at one point, only to restart. Looking at past weather where I am though, it doesn't really seem like that's obvious conclusion. The highest temperatures were recorded between the first 2 readings which only changed in a minor way. I should also note that today is the highest I've noticed it's been in the closet where I have the fermentation bucket - 24C on the thermometer. On the bucket, I have one of the LCD thermometer strips, which read 23 (this has usually been in agreement with the room thermometers, though less variable, which makes sense). It has generally been 20C-23C on thermometer, and 21-24, on the bucket thermometer (usually at 22 or 23). The yeast (Mangrove Jack M21) says the acceptable range is 18C-25C.
What I think is a more likely contender is that on the 2nd reading on the 9th, I (not very violently) tilted the fermentation bucket to get more beer into the wine thief, which could have kicked the yeast back into action. I could have also disturbed the bottom with the wine thief itself for the same effect. Some drips from the thief also landed back in the beer. No visible splashing or sloshing though. I also had issues to attend to which meant the beer was exposed to the air for maybe ten minutes (which made me fear I had oxygenated the beer which had previously been airtight except for maybe a minute for the first reading). I took the measurement today in almost exactly the same fashion, for what it's worth.
Last theory I have is that I somehow infected it on the 2nd reading, but apparently that should be obvious from the taste, and it tastes good.
What are the thoughts on this situation? BeerSmith suggested an OG of 1.052, and a Final Gravity of 1.014 - and it has exceeded both. Estimated ABV was 4.5% to 5.5%, and I'm sitting at 6.8% (I guess I am getting my wish for a stronger drink!). I understand that I probably lost a bit of water to evaporation - there is 17.75l in the fermentation vessel as opposed to the 19l I boiled.
How should I approach this to make sure I'm not going to decorate the closet with beer because fermentation is not complete? Just keep taking readings every other day? Wait till the airlock stops bubbling?
Sorry for the tome - I know everyone's beer is more interesting to themselves - but thanks in advance for any advice!
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