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Author Topic: fermentation  (Read 2764 times)

Offline trebor

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fermentation
« on: April 04, 2010, 04:51:23 pm »
My results have been mediocre to outstanding.  The problem has been the number of days of fermentation. I get great fermentation results for the first few days (3+) , then it subsides. I believe this is pretty good and then I want to bottle the beer. I have tried secondary fermentation and re-filled the second carboy with mediocre results. The finished product has been flat. I ask myself, why the hell did I try to secondary ferment when I believe the first ferment gave me the results I needed. I read where the fermentation can go on for a few weeks, but, I don't see that happening.  Am I crazy? Do I need to add an addtional amount of yeast? And if so...why don't I see that in any reference material? My last couple of batches of Pumpkin ale have been nothing less than outstanding. One batch produced the carbonation I required, the next was poor. I have read where some folks add a small amount of yeast to "kick-up" the carbonation. Yea or Ney? If I can solve this issue, I'm home free! By the way, I am an all grain brewer.
I typically bring the pre-carboy product up to room temp over a few days and then drop the temp to the mid 60's range to get  fermentation results without any yeast off-tastes.
Further more...I see a lot of recipes with both grain and malt extract ingredients. So...what's the conversion answer as I don't want to use extract ingredients?
I'm sure there is no right or wrong annswer as it's all organic...any help would be appreciated....thanx.

Offline dhacker

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Re: fermentation
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2010, 05:05:44 pm »
So  . . is the main issue you have concerning the carbonation in the bottles?
Just brew it...

Offline trebor

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Re: fermentation
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2010, 05:10:38 pm »
yes...low to zero carbonation........thanx

Offline dhacker

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Re: fermentation
« Reply #3 on: April 04, 2010, 05:19:06 pm »
If your recipes are not real high gravity, there is no need for additional bottle yeast. Are you using the appropriate amount of priming sugar in your bottling bucket and mixing it well? Have you double checked your caps and bottler?
Just brew it...

Offline trebor

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Re: fermentation
« Reply #4 on: April 04, 2010, 05:43:11 pm »
well I certainly thought so...I'll double check....thanx

Offline zacbwb

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Re: fermentation
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2010, 09:01:27 am »
I used to have alot of problems with carbonation, low to zero carbonation in quite a few beers with reasonable gravity (i.e. 1.040 to 1.060).  Our problem turned out to be poor aeration.  Once I started injecting pure O2 into the cooled wort, I haven't had a carbonation issue since.

Offline majorvices

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Re: fermentation
« Reply #6 on: April 05, 2010, 10:29:05 am »
I am having a hard time understanding what exactly you are talking about, carbonation or fermentation. Injecting o2 into the wort before fermentation starts is great for yeast health but probably won't affect the beer carbonation all that well. If you are aerating before bottling that is obviously very, very bad.

As far as you 2 or 3 days fermentation it sounds like you may be fermenting too warm. When you say you start it out at room temp and then lower it down a few days, what temp are you starting out at? For a proper fermentation you want to start off cool, for most ales. You don't want to pitch your yeast much warmer than 68 degrees, and preferably cooler than this.

Bottle conditioning can be done fairly warm. Be sure to mix your priming solution well by racking on top of your priming sugar. and use sugar, not malt extract, for more consistent results.

Of course, if you really want to dial in carbonation the best way to do this is by simply kegging the beer. 1000 times easier.

Offline tubercle

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Re: fermentation
« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2010, 10:41:07 am »
My results have been mediocre to outstanding.  The problem has been the number of days of fermentation. I get great fermentation results for the first few days (3+) , then it subsides. I believe this is pretty good and then I want to bottle the beer. I have tried secondary fermentation and re-filled the second carboy with mediocre results. The finished product has been flat. I ask myself, why the hell did I try to secondary ferment when I believe the first ferment gave me the results I needed. I read where the fermentation can go on for a few weeks, but, I don't see that happening.  Am I crazy? Do I need to add an addtional amount of yeast? And if so...why don't I see that in any reference material? My last couple of batches of Pumpkin ale have been nothing less than outstanding. One batch produced the carbonation I required, the next was poor. I have read where some folks add a small amount of yeast to "kick-up" the carbonation. Yea or Ney? If I can solve this issue, I'm home free! By the way, I am an all grain brewer.
I typically bring the pre-carboy product up to room temp over a few days and then drop the temp to the mid 60's range to get  fermentation results without any yeast off-tastes.
Further more...I see a lot of recipes with both grain and malt extract ingredients. So...what's the conversion answer as I don't want to use extract ingredients?
I'm sure there is no right or wrong annswer as it's all organic...any help would be appreciated....thanx.

I believe we can help but some clarification may be in order.

"I get great fermentation results for the first few days (3+) , then it subsides. I believe this is pretty good and then I want to bottle the beer."


 Have you been bottling with an active ferment and relying on this for carbonation?

"I have tried secondary fermentation and re-filled the second carboy with mediocre results. The finished product has been flat."

 Refilled with what/how? Did you bottle after a secondary by just bottling without a priming sugar added?


"I read where the fermentation can go on for a few weeks, but, I don't see that happening."

This is normal depending on the amount of consumable sugars, yeast health, temps, etc.

"Am I crazy?"

Probably no more than the Tubercle ;D

"I have read where some folks add a small amount of yeast to "kick-up" the carbonation. Yea or Ney?"

Yea if the gravity and conditioning time and temp meet certain conditions - Nay if "normal" gravity and conditioning times. Are you confusing having to add yeast to adding more sugars?


Just a note: bottling with an active fermentation can be very dangerous because a bottle may explode in you face. Bottling after fermentation has completely finished and using a pre-determined amount of priming sugar to get an expected result is safe as long as your bottles are not defective.

I'm not being too picky or trying to insult your intelligence. I just don't know your level of brewing knowledge or procedures to be able to help like I want to.
Sweet Caroline where the Sun rises over the deep blue sea and sets somewhere beyond Tennessee