Too much yeast in my ginger beer? And other questions

[trcccp]

Hi there. Seven days ago I prepared a gingery mix based on standard recipes and set it fermenting. This is my first attempt at home brewing.

I have been fermenting it in a 5L glass demijohn. I used a sachet of champagne yeast which was apparently suitable for up to 22L. There was so little in there and for some reason I didn't want to go to the trouble of separating it into quarters, so I dumped the whole lot in.

Do I risk ending up with a very yeasty-tasting drink? It's certainly active, and a bubble passes through the airlock every 2-3 seconds.

I don't really mind what abv this turns out as - I did take an OG reading at the start, so I'll be able to work it out somehow. Should I leave it until it stops fermenting, or maybe test a sample of it soon or just after a certain time?

 

[battwave]

Within reason, you can't add too much yeast. So long as it settles-out at the end of fermentation you should be fine.

 

[trcccp]

Within reason, you can't add too much yeast. So long as it settles-out at the end of fermentation you should be fine.

Does the yeast settle only once fermentation stops and it dies or becomes dormant?

 

[luckyeddie]

Within reason, you can't add too much yeast. So long as it settles-out at the end of fermentation you should be fine.

Does the yeast settle only once fermentation stops and it dies or becomes dormant?

Yep.

It's a bit like me - when there's no more food, I stop farting and go to sleep.

 

[battwave]

Within reason, you can't add too much yeast. So long as it settles-out at the end of fermentation you should be fine.

Does the yeast settle only once fermentation stops and it dies or becomes dormant?

Yep.

It's a bit like me - when there's no more food, I stop farting and go to sleep.

There's not may web postings that make me laugh out loud! :lol:

 

[Kev888]

Should I leave it until it stops fermenting, or maybe test a sample of it soon or just after a certain time?

Unless theres any reason to think theres a problem then I'd suggest leaving it until it seems to have stopped, and just testing the gravity then to make sure that its reasonable for a final gravity, and perhaps also a day or two afterwards to make sure its stable.

Everything that contacts the beer has to be very well sanitised, and interfering with it always carries some risk of infection so I generally feel that its safer/easier not to play with it more than there's reason to.

Cheers
kev

 

[trcccp]

Should I leave it until it stops fermenting, or maybe test a sample of it soon or just after a certain time?

Unless theres any reason to think theres a problem then I'd suggest leaving it until it seems to have stopped, and just testing the gravity then to make sure that its reasonable for a final gravity, and perhaps also a day or two afterwards to make sure its stable.

Everything that contacts the beer has to be very well sanitised, and interfering with it always carries some risk of infection so I generally feel that its safer/easier not to play with it more than there's reason to.

Cheers
kev

Good point, I'll leave it alone until the bubbling stops. I'm seeing 24 bubbles per minute through the airlock depicted above, it seems pretty active still, after a week.

 

[Moley]

I'm seeing 24 bubbles per minute through the airlock depicted above, it seems pretty active still, after a week.

I don't use that sort of bubbler because they are just too noisy but for comparison I just put one on a 15 litre WOW which is going full tilt and I counted 66/min.

24 from a gallon is pretty impressive :thumb:

What was your OG or how much sugar went into that?

 

[trcccp]

What was your OG or how much sugar went into that?

1kg of white sugar in the total 5L, OG of 1.076

 

[trcccp]

Almost three weeks on and it's still passing a bubble every 2-3 seconds!

I also tried some cider but that died, I think - some weak bubbling for 2-3 days and then it just stopped, or is proceeding very slowly with a bubble every few minutes. I'll crack it open and see what it's doing, if anything. Or I could chuck a bit of sugar in to see if it comes alive? That would at least tell me that the yeast is alright, would it?