Homebrewers - Whats in the fermenter?

[BlackDog]

Well, 8 days with a half tsp of amylase enzyme seems to have helped a good deal. Or perhaps it was just 8 more days of settling. In any case, my beer seems to look like "beer" now rather than wallpaper paste. Picture comparison below.

I just racked it over to a clean carboy, added a Tbsp of Biofine Clear, and will give it another week before bottling. It's down to one small bubble every 2 minutes in the airlock.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by BlackDog

Well, 8 days with a half tsp of amylase enzyme seems to have helped a good deal. Or perhaps it was just 8 more days of settling. In any case, my beer seems to look like "beer" now rather than wallpaper paste. Picture comparison below.

I just racked it over to a clean carboy, added a Tbsp of Biofine Clear, and will give it another week before bottling. It's down to one small bubble every 2 minutes in the airlock.

Much better! I was worried for you...!

[landhoney]

Hopefully brewing my first lager in a loooong time this weekend, Oktoberfest. Got the kegerator set-up to just under 50F (which is the low end for the yeast), so I figure cracking the door every so often and the heat from fermentation (maybe a degree or two) this one will be OK.
Any lager experts? Will 48F be OK to ferment at?

[kenstogie]

I am not a lager expert but after last night I am a lot better at cleaning up after a spillover. ARRRRGH!
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[BlackDog]

I racked my Ferocious (Surly Furious clone) over to secondary last night, it gets dry-hopped with 3 oz. of hops. I harvested the yeast for a batch of ESB I plan to make in the next week or two. Tastes good now, should taste great once it's dry hopped and carbonated.

[BlackDog]

Did my first bottling tonight. Here is my first bottle (22 oz) and a glass of uncarbonated beer. It's a cream ale, so I think it came out a little cloudier than it should have. This picture makes it look a little pink, but it's really a nice orange/yellow color. I dry hopped it with an ounce of Cascade hops, and it tastes really nice. Now I'll let it sit for a couple weeks to carbonate.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by BlackDog

Did my first bottling tonight. Here is my first bottle (22 oz) and a glass of uncarbonated beer. It's a cream ale, so I think it came out a little cloudier than it should have.

Lookin' good It should clarify even more in the bottle, so you may be happier with the results after a few weeks

[kenstogie]

Originally Posted by kaisersozei

Lookin' good It should clarify even more in the bottle, so you may be happier with the results after a few weeks

So true, plus (in the future I mean) you can let it clarify in the primary or secondary for a while plus theres things to add for clarification too if need be.

[BlackDog]

Originally Posted by kenstogie

So true, plus (in the future I mean) you can let it clarify in the primary or secondary for a while plus theres things to add for clarification too if need be.

I got the beer to clear up in secondary, but then I dry-hopped it, and just put the hop pellets directly into the beer. The cloudiness is a little "debris" from the hops. When I moved the secondary carboy to the kitchen I stirred up the hops, and some of them siphoned over to the bottling bucket. Next time I need to let the beer settle a while after moving the carboy before bottling. I figure once I chill the bottles before drinking the residue will "cold crash" to the bottom, and I can leave it in the bottle when pouring into a glass.

[BeerAdvocate]

Originally Posted by BlackDog

I got the beer to clear up in secondary, but then I dry-hopped it, and just put the hop pellets directly into the beer. The cloudiness is a little "debris" from the hops. When I moved the secondary carboy to the kitchen I stirred up the hops, and some of them siphoned over to the bottling bucket. Next time I need to let the beer settle a while after moving the carboy before bottling. I figure once I chill the bottles before drinking the residue will "cold crash" to the bottom, and I can leave it in the bottle when pouring into a glass.

I kegged my dry hopped Pale Ale last night. I too use pellet hops. Here is what I do in order to keep the pellet hop debris out:

1. Take a grain bag and cut it in half. Keep the closed end and sanitize it and a rubber band.
2. Use the rubber band and attach the bag to the tube end of your siphon
3. The grain bag will catch all of the hop debris and the beer will filter through the bag = clear beer!!!

Works like a charm!!!!!
If you dont have an extra grain bag to cut, you can go to Lowes or Homedepot and purchase 1 gallon paint strainer bags.

[kenstogie]

Gotch Warren, I should've paid closer attention. I have heard using a muslin (sp)?) bag works great.

Originally Posted by kenstogie

Gotch Warren, I should've paid closer attention. I have heard using a muslin (sp)?) bag works great.

I prefer nylon to muslin in this case. You want them to spread out as much as they can, and the muslin being stretchy will tend to hold them together more. The nylon is also reusable.

[BlackDog]

Mesh bag = brilliant. Thanks for the tip guys!

[kaisersozei]

An alternative to dry hopping is to make a hop tea which you then add to the bottling bucket. It works okay, but I get much more satisfaction out of seeing those hops floating in the carboy.

[kenstogie]

Stuck fermentation what to do? So I am brewing a wheat stout and been in the primary for a week. OG 1.060. Current Grav is 1.030 but shouldn't have dropped more? It didn't seem to bubble much like usual brews. I used liq Ale yeast. I took a quik taste, it wasn't bad and had what I would describe as a fizz to it. Does this mean it's still fermenting?
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[landhoney]

Originally Posted by kenstogie

Stuck fermentation what to do? So I am brewing a wheat stout and been in the primary for a week. OG 1.060. Current Grav is 1.030 but shouldn't have dropped more? It didn't seem to bubble much like usual brews. I used liq Ale yeast. I took a quik taste, it wasn't bad and had what I would describe as a fizz to it. Does this mean it's still fermenting?
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You're going to have to give some details of the recipe to make a better determination, but I would say just give it some more time, one week is not that long. The fizz is dissolved CO2 which is and indication that it has been fermenting recently or currently, even after the beer is done fermenting though there will still be some dissolved CO2 in the beer. I think you just need to wait a while longer, it's hard to make hard and fast rules about homebrewing, like "primary fermentation will be done in a week, two weeks in secondary and three weeks to bottle carb. " Doesn't always work exactly like that. Let's see the recipe and keep us updated, but don't check the gravity every day, wait at least a few before trying again, then if it is still at 1.030 we can look for a fix.

[kaisersozei]

Originally Posted by landhoney

You're going to have to give some details of the recipe to make a better determination, but I would say just give it some more time, one week is not that long. The fizz is dissolved CO2 which is and indication that it has been fermenting recently or currently, even after the beer is done fermenting though there will still be some dissolved CO2 in the beer. I think you just need to wait a while longer, it's hard to make hard and fast rules about homebrewing, like "primary fermentation will be done in a week, two weeks in secondary and three weeks to bottle carb. " Doesn't always work exactly like that. Let's see the recipe and keep us updated, but don't check the gravity every day, wait at least a few before trying again, then if it is still at 1.030 we can look for a fix.

I'd leave it alone for awhile. It may sneak CO2 bubbles out of the airlock when you're not looking

[kenstogie]

You are probably right. It always seems to work out.
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Liquid yeast, did you make a starter? How fresh was it? How well did you aerate? It's possible it ran out of steam. What yeast are we talking about, anyway?

[ODLS1]

Yep. Definitely leave it for a couple more weeks. If it's still stuck, dump it on to a yeast cake of a bigger beer. Let that sit for a couple weeks. If it's still stuck use some Amalyse Enzyme.