IPA Extract

[Reaper]

Hi Pat
im on with it now its still at 1.009 but still bubbling slowly so i should get the co2 blanket ok

cheers
Paul

[P cuthbert]

Hi Pat
im on with it now its still at 1.009 but still bubbling slowly so i should get the co2 blanket ok

cheers
Paul

I think the bubbling you see is simply excess CO2 escaping. The transfer should release some more. Once the beer is clear, you can rack and prime, then bottle and leave it to condition.

If you used a good yeast, it should be falling out very quickly now.

Pat

[Reaper]

Hi all

Dose anyone use the 123 method of brewing beer, 1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, 3 week in the bottle, then drink. This works well for me, anyone got any other ways.

regards Paul

[P cuthbert]

I go by the gravity to determiine the time to rack from primary. 0.010 above the finishing gravity is that point.

Then I go by clarity. Once it is clear, I rack off the sediment, add the priming sugar and bottle.

I use plastic bottles, so I know when the conditioning is finished. The bottles get hard.

Pat

[Daft as a Brush]

Based on my research and imho

The ideal time to rack to your secondary is when your SG remains steady for 24 hrs (I find thats usualy 4-5 days). This can be your keg or another fermentor. If you protect your beer under airlock you can keep it in the fermenter like this for 3 weeks or more allowing it to mature in the FV and significantly reduce the sediment in the keg.

Idealy bottled beers should be matured in this way before bottling.

Some people prefer to rack after a day or two before the dirty primary yeast head collapses into the beer which can cause off flavours and potentialy infection (small infection risk if you use an enclosed vessel).

Again the ideal time then is to rack to your keg once the SG remains steady for 24hrs.

If you can't be bothered to keep taking SG readings the rule of thumb is that the final gravity will be 1/4 of your original gravity ie OG=1050. FG will =1012

How long your beer takes to mature depends on it's strength, I allow at least a month for 4-5%abv beers, Barley wines can take up to a year.

[Reaper]

hi

How long can you keep the brew in secondary, if you leave it for a month or two then bottle it, will there be enough yeast in it for carbonation.

paul

[Daft as a Brush]

To keep your beer for a long time in the secondary it needs to be kept under airlock. You need to have used a good yeast (not kit yeast) and there needs to be enough slow fermenting sugars available (more likely with 3 and 3.6kg kits and all grain brews), also the stronger the beer the longer it can be kept.

A month is fine, all my kegs are full at the moment so I am maturing my one batch for christmas in the secondary FV, it will have been there for 2 months by then. The good thing is you can rack it to the keg almost clear, wait a few days for it to carbonate and it's ready to go.

[Reaper]

Hi
I bottled my cider after 2 weeks in secondary fermentation, it was crystal clear, bottled on the 1st November with 1 teaspoon if sugar, kept at room temp for a week then transfered to a cold shed, I opened one today and the carbonation is very poor, is the carbonation going to get any better. Could it be that the yeast was poor as it was a cider kit.

regards Paul

[P cuthbert]

Paul;

Was that 1 tsp for the batch? or per bottle? Also, I feel that 1 week to condition is a bit short. I go for 3 weeks before cooling down.

Pat

[Reaper]

Hi pat

That was a level teaspoon per bottle, should i bring it back in for a few more weeks or leave it in the cool shed till xmas.

cheers Paul

[P cuthbert]

Paul;

It depends upon the yeast. If you used a Lager yeast, it will ferment slowly and could be conditioned by X-mas. If an ale yeast, it will likely stall out and die off, resulting in a poor carbonation.

Pat

[Reaper]

Hi pat

Not sure what yeast it was, it was a John Bull cider kit, think i might bring it back in the warmth for a few more weeks.

cheers for that mate, Paul