Question on "Ready" to bottle and Specific Gravity

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Basil Fawlty 20 years ago

I just checked my fermenter by tapping off a small bit into my holder that came with the specific gravity hydrometer. I placed the hydrometer into the beer and it went straight to the bottom, not really giving me any real reading.

My fermenter has never bubbled once yet out the air lock. The temp of the brw in th fermentor has been consistently around 20^C, and a black plastic bag over it to block out light.

This brew is Munsons Bock, and has been fermenting for 6 days now. The build up foam that was on top of the vat has pretty much left. I tasted the brew that I tapped off for the hydrometer cehck and it smelled and tasted like very weak and flat beer.

Also, when I tapped off the brew to check, it was super foamy and took a short bit to settle, but still had a small amount of remaining head. The way this first time novice with his 1st use of the new Coopers Home Micro-brew kit, was pretty much by their book/video:

Boil 2 liters of water, add the can of malt, add brewers sugar, stir till disolved, toss in fermenter, fill up with water to 23L mark, stir, add yeast (once at a certai temp range, I forget what, but I did wait for cooling), seal the top of fermenter, add air lock, check in 4 - 6 days. I did steralize everything, and I used Ozarka spring Water.

Ok, what all am I or have I done wrong? Please advise. I sure hope I can salvage this batch.

Thanks, Basil

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Les Armstrong 20 years ago

Try adding more beer to your test flask. The hydrometer should float in the beer filled tube. This page has the basics:

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What was the starting gravity? It is going to taste flat until it is bottled/kegged.

There will be some CO2 in solution during fermentation, it's normal.

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Just wait it out until you get three hydro reading that are the same over a few days. Then go ahead and bottle it and see what happens. It sounds like everything is fine. There is definitely a learning/experience curve for brewing. Just be patient and keep trying. You will learn from every batch you make and before long, you will be a pro.

Les

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hevimees 20 years ago

I don't think you've done anything wrong, but there are a couple of things you could have done better:

1.) Yeast need oxygen to grow in the beginning of the fermentation, so you should aerate the wort before adding the yeast.

If you have two plastic buckets and a friend to help you out, then a good way to aerate the wort is to pour it from bucket to bucket a couple of times.

If you only have one bucket then just close the lid, put your thumb on the airlock hole and shake the poop out of it.

2.) Dry yeast should be re-hydrated and proofed before adding to the wort.

To re-hydrate the yeast, boil a small amount (2 dl) of water, cover it (with for example plastic wrap) and leave to cool. When the water is at a temperature of 35-40°C (95-105°F), mix in the yeast. Cover and leave it

alone for 15 min.

While waiting, boil an even smaller amount (0,5dl) of water with a teaspoonful of sugar, cover and leave to cool.

After the yeast has been in water for at least 15 min and the sugar water has cooled, proof the yeast by mixing the sugar water with the yeast, cover and again leave it alone. In 30 minutes time there should be some activity (foaming) in the yeast water (if there isn't any, the yeast is probably dead and you'll need to get another pack and start again fromt he beginning). Now you can add this yeast to the wort.

The important bit above is the re-hydration, and you can add the yeast to the wort after you've let it be in the water for the 15 minutes. The proofing part is optional, but if you do it you will know for sure that your yeast is alive.

3.) Let the beer ferment for two weeks in its bucket instead of just one. This way you can usually be sure that it has fermented completely and you won't end up with overcarbonated beer. The beer will also partially clear and you'll have less sediment in bottles.

After two weeks siphon the beer to another bucket (leave the sediment behind), prime and bottle.

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