Stuff that's bothering me about my third brew so far

[Buzzing]

OK so I went ahead with my 3rd brew without getting a secondary fermenter, I know I need a secondary, but for now I need to make the right decision ...

I brewed an Australian Pale Ale, Coopers kit, but went through the process of boiling until the hot-break, and rapidly chilling to produce the cold-break and fermented the brew with the kit Ale yeast, in the form of a yeast starter. Coopers brew Enhancer II was used with the kit. Gave an OG of 1.042

The starting temp was about 23`C. This went doen to about 20`C within the first 2 days and stabilised. The brew stopped bubbling after about a week. It was left another week in the primary and sampled.

The brew is currently sitting at about 1.012 and has been on the trub for 14 days.

The sample I pulled from the fermenter tap at the bottom was COMPLETELY clouded with yeast. My previous lagers were much clearer at this stage.

I don't want to leave the brew on the trub for too long due to the potential problems with off-flavours etc, but I also don't know if it's a good idea to bottle the brew if it still has so much suspended yeast in it still.

I have left a lager brew for 28 days on the trub without any problems. Can I do the same with the Ale yeasts ?

Would it be advisable to leave the Aus Pale Ale on the trub for another week and then re-sample ?

I'm hoping that it would have cleared a bit and that the gravity reading would have dropped below 1.010.

Or would it be advisable to bottle as quickly as possible ?

 

[graysalchemy]

I would get it off the trub and put it somewhere cool, even putting it on a cold kitchen floor will help to drop the yeast. If it still hasn't cleared then you will probably need to fine it. I use a piece of gelatine disolved in water at 80c then gently mixed into the beer. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Buzzing]

The APA eventually fermented out at 1.010 and only cleared after day 24.

I tried priming it differently this time, as last time I had some gushers when chucking my pulverised brown sugar into the bottles. This time I took the 1.125 litre for 45 X 25ml shotglass doses per 450ml Grolsch bottle, put it in a pot on the stove and diluted the correct amount of sugar into it to give the desired 2.6% CO2.

I primed the 450ml flip-tops with a shot glass of sugar-ale each and bottled as normal, went smoothly and efficiently.

The first 1.125 litre that I used for priming was a bit cloudy, but still acceptable, after this was drawn off, and the actual bottling started, the brew was super clear and pleased me plenty. The sample of the ale we tested was very good, with a full floral note and a slight fruity taste, but still dominated by a healthy, earthy malt flavour with just the correct amount of hops imparted bitterness and aroma. Bliss I tell ya.

This then also inspired us, my assistant brewer friend and I, to dig into our previous lager brew and we struggled to get the corners of our mouths not to be pulled towards our ears. mmmmmmothers mmmmmmmilk.

I fully understand the value of the most important and crucial brewer's tool now. Patience.


I also have a bit of a theory in my lil' head . . . The brews I leave on the trub for much longer than normal tends to have better tastes from the get-go. Could this be that this trub is not just sitting there dead and in-ert, but actively and slowly still "cleans" up the brew by consuming the nastys that causes the overly green and sometime chemical-like tastes and odours ?

I also duely note the risk in doing this and that I'll loose the whole batch if they pop on me and spill their insides into my much loved golden throat elixir.

Comments welcome.

 

[Buzzing]

Carbonation of this Ale went well and the first bottle opened went down very well indeed.

A question pops up however :

Will this brew also benefit from "Lagering" it at low temps for a few weeks, or is it best to leave it outside and cool a limited time before consumption ?

 

[Buzzing]

This brew did indeed benefit from a bit of a lagering process.