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Author Topic: Zero Headspace in Carboy  (Read 10186 times)

Offline davidgzach

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #15 on: April 24, 2012, 05:38:38 am »
I'll burp it every hour or so until it gets to 34F and the yeast fall out.  I'll then decant that and use in my next starter.

Personally, I wouldn't. No matter what you do (short of filtration), you'll never get all the yeast out. Then your next starter will no longer be a pure culture.

I suppose you could bring it back up to a boil to pasteurize it, though.

Question now is what to do with the wort I pulled out.  I guess boil it would make the most sense.  I need to water it down a bit anyway as it's at 1.051. 

Dave
Dave Zach

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #16 on: April 24, 2012, 10:34:52 am »
I'll burp it every hour or so until it gets to 34F and the yeast fall out.  I'll then decant that and use in my next starter.

Personally, I wouldn't. No matter what you do (short of filtration), you'll never get all the yeast out. Then your next starter will no longer be a pure culture.

I suppose you could bring it back up to a boil to pasteurize it, though.

Question now is what to do with the wort I pulled out.  I guess boil it would make the most sense.  I need to water it down a bit anyway as it's at 1.051. 

Dave
Why not just let it ferment and then drink it?  Have I missed something?
Tom Schmidlin

Offline davidgzach

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2012, 10:41:36 am »
There is only about 12-16 oz so I think I'll just use it for a starter in the near future.
Dave Zach

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #18 on: April 24, 2012, 10:43:37 am »
There is only about 12-16 oz so I think I'll just use it for a starter in the near future.
12-16 oz?  I'd just toss it.  It's barely enough for a starter anyway, and it's partially fermented.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline davidgzach

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #19 on: April 24, 2012, 10:45:41 am »
It's hard to toss good wort...... :'(

May end up that way though......
Dave Zach

Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #20 on: April 24, 2012, 10:47:57 am »
It's not wort anymore.  It's beer.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline davidgzach

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #21 on: April 24, 2012, 10:51:06 am »
It's not wort anymore.  It's beer.

It was only 'fermenting' for 12 hours at 52F.  I'll take a gravity reading.  Do you think it's not usable at this point?  Just toss it like Tom said?
Dave Zach

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #22 on: April 24, 2012, 10:55:56 am »
It's not wort anymore.  It's beer.

It was only 'fermenting' for 12 hours at 52F.  I'll take a gravity reading.  Do you think it's not usable at this point?  Just toss it like Tom said?

I don't think it's a question of if it's usable. If your sanitation was good, and/or you boil it it will be fine. You could let it ferment out, decant, add more wort and you would have a start ready to go for you next batch.

I think Joe Sr. was refering to the idea that as soon as yeast hits the wort it becomes beer. Hence the saying that brewers make wort, yeast makes beer.
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Offline davidgzach

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #23 on: April 24, 2012, 11:02:10 am »
Ah, yes.  The definition of beer is as such.

I have the pulled portion in my lagering fridge at 34F.  Was thinking about using it to wake up some 1056 slurry for my next Pale Ale.  I'm now really curious to see if it keeps fermenting and what the current gravity is after 12 hours.     

Dave Zach

Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #24 on: April 24, 2012, 11:39:13 am »
I'm sure it will keep fermenting since it has yeast in it.  Unless you boil it and kill the yeast.

But if you're going to boil it, why not just boil some water and add a scoop of DME.  Then you have fresh wort to add to your slurry.

It seems like a lot of trouble to try to salvage 16oz of already fermenting wort.  As Mort noted, you could let that ferment out, decant and add more wort to build another starter.

I just don't see the point in trying to stop it from fermenting.
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Offline davidgzach

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #25 on: April 25, 2012, 06:21:57 am »
I'm sure it will keep fermenting since it has yeast in it.  Unless you boil it and kill the yeast.

But if you're going to boil it, why not just boil some water and add a scoop of DME.  Then you have fresh wort to add to your slurry.

It seems like a lot of trouble to try to salvage 16oz of already fermenting wort.  As Mort noted, you could let that ferment out, decant and add more wort to build another starter.

I just don't see the point in trying to stop it from fermenting.

Took your advice and boiled it.  More as an experiment.  I froze it and will defrost and attempt to use as a starter for my next ale. 
Dave Zach

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #26 on: April 25, 2012, 11:16:06 am »
I'm sure it will keep fermenting since it has yeast in it.  Unless you boil it and kill the yeast.

But if you're going to boil it, why not just boil some water and add a scoop of DME.  Then you have fresh wort to add to your slurry.

It seems like a lot of trouble to try to salvage 16oz of already fermenting wort.  As Mort noted, you could let that ferment out, decant and add more wort to build another starter.

I just don't see the point in trying to stop it from fermenting.

Took your advice and boiled it.  More as an experiment.  I froze it and will defrost and attempt to use as a starter for my next ale. 
As an experiment, cool.  As a practice, it seems like a lot of effort to go through to save 50 cents.  You've got ~2 oz of DME equivalent in there, and since you'll have to add more DME to make a decent sized starter I don't think you've saved yourself any time at all.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #27 on: April 25, 2012, 12:28:07 pm »
I agree with Tom.

If you want to save time, collect some wort from your next batch before you pitch yeast.

Freeze it and use that for starters.

I set my grain bags aside after rinsing them and collect what remainder drains from them over the course of the brew day.

Typically, I get around 20 oz. to freeze for starters.
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Offline davidgzach

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Re: Zero Headspace in Carboy
« Reply #28 on: April 25, 2012, 01:11:41 pm »
I'm typically a DME guy for my starters.  I probably should have just left it alone to begin with, but after I pulled out what is actually about 25oz now that I've measured it, I wanted to put it to use instead of just tossing it.  The second mistake was not letting it ferment out in the original gallon jug and transferring to the container thinking it would settle out at 34F. 

Basically just a comedy of errors!   :-\

But, it's boiled and has some use in the future and I like the idea of collecting the drainings from my grain bags.  So, another technique learned in a roundabout way.....

Dave
Dave Zach