Seems a Long Time Fermenting Wherry Bitter

[Former Canuk]

I put a Wherry Bitter on Nov 10th. Instructions say about 5-6 days. On day 8 it's still bubbling away, about a burp a minute through the airlock. Gravity supposed to be 1014 when it's done, reading 1020 today. Smells great.

Obvious it's not done but I'm wondering if others making this kit have found the same thing, that it took longer. I didn't add anything to it.

I have an adhesive temperature strip on the outside of the fermenter and am keeping it at 20 degrees. I can only guess this thing may be a bit off.

Whats the general concensous on these strips?, do you find them ok or should I upgrade to something like a digital thermometer.

[koomber]

Kit instructions can be very variable in their quality, but any kit that says it will be done in one week is talking rubbish.

But Koomber, why?
Well, yeast do more that just eat sugar. Yeast can digest a wide variety of differnt things found in beer. However, like people yeast are lazy lazy little beggers. Given the choice they will eat the easiest thing to digest. In most cases this is the sugar. In 5 to 8 days the yeast will probably digest most of the sugar in the beer. And for some reason, alot of kits use this as the 'beer is ready point'.

To get the most out of your kit I would leave it a minimum of 3 weeks before bottling. Given this amount of time the yeast will have entered and be well on the secondry fermentation. Here the yeast take other things in the beer, such as less digestable sugars and there own waste.

Brewers can use this to correct mistakes during fermentation. Sometimes yeast can produce diacetyl which usually isn't a problem, but if your making a lager is a serious problem. However, by raising the temperature to 13-16°C (remember that lagers are fermented at lower temperatures than ales) the yeast can be coaxed into eating the diacetyl correcting the flaw.

Anyway, by leaving the yeast longer you allow the yeasties time to improve the flavour. 3 weeks is normal for most beers although some of the bigger styles can be bulk aged for months. Ageing works the sames as with wine, ie. larger volumes are generally considered to produce a better favour.

I'm not sure you've answered any questions yet...
Fair Point. I'll just say that:

1. It is totally normal for the beer to take longer than 6 days to pass the primary fermentation phase. Leave it for another 2 or 3 days and check again.
2. Leave your beer for about 3 weeks before bottling. It'll help give a better flavour and a clearer beer which is less likely to go off.
3. Temperature is not as improtant for ales as other things, such as cakes. If the temperature drops it'll take a bit longer to ferment, but it'll get there in the end.
4. Your test strip is perfectly adequate for measuring the temperature of the fermentation.

Top marks for monitoring the temperature during fermentation though!

[Bill Berry]

Hi Guys,

While I wouldn't take issue with anything Koomber has said I would just make a couple of points regarding the Wherry Kit. Although I have very little beer kit experience I have made a couple of batches of Woodforde's Norfolk Nog in the last couple of months. With my first batch I followed the instructions to the letter and after two weeks the sg was still at 1016. I decided to bottle but ended up with a beer that was only 3.5% abv. Initially we were a little disappointed with the beer (we could compare it with the Nog sold at the brewery pub as we live nearby and occasionally drink in there). It seemed a little weak, watery and generally under par. However, after a few weeks the beer really started to improve and although the abv figure was a bit low it ended up tasting quite good. The second batch was only made up to around 19.5 liters in order to achieve the advertised 4.5% abv.

It seems that a frequent criticism leveled at many of the Munton's kits (they produce the Woodforde's Kits) is that they only include a 6g sachet of yeast and that this may be insufficient if the yeast isn't in absolutely perfect condition.

It would be good to get your final SG and abv figures and your general opinion on the kit.

We brew our beers in a bucket with a loose lid and a bit of muslin over the air hole rather than under an airlock. I guess that's why I'm always a little weary of leaving the beer more than 10-14 days before conditioning in the bottle.

It is a little annoying that the instructions with some kits (even the relatively expensive two can types) seem to depart so much from many brewers kit experiences.

Good Luck with the brew. Thanks for the brewing advice Koomber, your posts are always informative, entertaining and appreciated.

Cheers!

[koomber]

Thanks for the compliment Bill! I must say as helpful as I can try to be in a general sort of sense, I've not used any of the Woodforde kits and it is much better to hear from someone who has used them and taken notes (my note taking is rubbish).
With what Bill has said, you might want to consider using a different yeast than the one supplied. They cost about £1 from your local homebrew shop. I use the spare yeast to make some Ginger Beer

[Cellar_Rat]

I have done woodfords kits int he past. They do take ages. Bill you are right about the yeast - I did one with Gervin english ale yeast - wow - what a difference - quicker and a better taste.

For the record I don't think it is the quantity of the yeast more the quality. This year I make 500litre of red grape fermented dry in 10 days on 1 (yes one) 5g sachet of lalavin.


Rumor has is that Gervin English Ale is the same strain as danstar nottingham - thoughts anyone?

[koomber]

This year I make 500litre of red grape fermented dry in 10 days on 1 (yes one) 5g sachet of lalavin.

The Scotsman in me shed's a happy little tear at this every time I read it

[Bill Berry]

Your yeast comments are interesting Cellar Rat.

I recently brewed a couple Munton's Imperial Stout kits and added an extra Munton's Gold yeast to each batch. While I was looking at yeasts for a proper Imperial Stout (9-10% abv) kit conversion I sent Munton's a query via there website. I asked L***a what the Munton's Gold Yeast variety was and what it's alcohol tolerance was. No response.

Curiously I also bought a Milestone Black Pearl Stout (again produced for Milestone by Munton's). Included in this kit was a 11g sachet of Gervin G12 yeast. I emailed Milestone asking what the alcohol tolerance of this yeast was and within an hour I had a response from Munton's;

"Your enquiry has been passed to me by Milestone Brewery as we manufacture the Milestone Beer Kits. The alcohol tolerance with this particular yeast is 8%."

Great! a direct line. So I replied...

"Thanks for the prompt response. I wonder if you would mind answering another, related, question for me? ...Is it possible to tell me what the alcohol tolerance of the Muntons Gold Yeast is?"

Again no response!?! Incredible!

The astonishing thing is I got the email from Munton's from the very person the website sends you to with customer questions. I get the distinct impression (though I may be wrong) that my question(s) regarding Munton's yeast are being dodged by the company.

Looking at the description for Munton's Gold Yeast one can't help but be struck by the similarities with another yeast strain... Gervin GV12. Supplied by... Munton's... at about half the price of their Gold Yeast.

So maybe, just maybe, Gervin English Ale yeast is the same strain as Danstar Nottingham AND Munton's Gold Yeast. Just a thought / conspiracy theory.

Cheers!

[Former Canuk]

Thanks gents for the input. Koomber, great info there, I never knew you could leave beer for that length of time. Good (great) to know. I worried it would go off (for lack of a technical name) if left too much longer than the time specified by the maker.
Wondering if these kit makers give the quick time frame to try and satisfy the anticipated need for instant gratification/satisfaction, "Drink beer or wine in one week" type of thing.

[Cellar_Rat]

Did some interesting maths this morning.

Woodeforde kits are circa 40-55p per pint (depending on which one and the RRP)
Make up time (get to ferment) 1.5 hours

All grain can be less than 20ppp & IMO a superior beer. Make up time 5 hours. Well worth the extra effort.

[Bill Berry]

Do Munton's monitor this forum?!?

Having basically criticised Munton's customer support I received a reply from them regarding the alcohol tolerance of their Gold yeast this morning. 8.5%abv.

Just for the record our latest Nog dropped from 1047 to 1016 in three and a half days. We used a single batch of Munton's Gold Yeast added to 19.5l of wort.

Cheers!