| Ingredients
FAQs |
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I've
pitched my yeast and nothing is happening. |
| More often than not you are
experiencing a bout of delusional paranoia. Just teasing! But
seriously 99 percent of the time you're just worrying. You may
also be experiencing an extended lag time due to under-pitching
yeast or insufficient aeration of the wort. If you really believe
that nothing has happened, I urge you to take a hydrometer reading
before taking it to the next panic level. If for some reason you
were born under a bad sign and nothing actually did happen you can
repitch a sufficient quantity of yeast. For this reason it is
ALWAYS a good idea to have a few packets of dried ale and/or lager
yeast on hand in the extremely rare event that you should need it. |
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My wort was fermenting happily and then it
abruptly stopped. |
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Stuck fermentation you say? More often than not the most turbulent
stage of fermentation has passed and while it appears to have
stopped, in reality it is probably still quietly, inconspicuously
going about its business and finishing up. Wait a few days from
when you think it had "stopped" and take a hydrometer reading
before panicking. |
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What is two-stage fermentation and
what are its advantages? |
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The words two-stage fermentation is a bit of a misnomer. Usually
by the time you transfer your beer to the secondary fermenter the
fermentation is all but finished. The main purpose of the
secondary vessel is to facilitate the settling of the yeast and to
allow the beer to age. THIS IS NO LITTLE AND FRIVOLOUS THING AND
CAN DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR HOMEBREW. |
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When should I transfer my
beer from the primary
fermenter to the secondary fermenter? |
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Good question. There are as many opinions on this as there are people
breathing air. Here's an idea: 7-10 days in the primary (I'm always in the
primary for 2 weeks, cause I'm a lazy ass!) and then 2 weeks or more in the
secondary. If aging longer than 1 month in the secondary I recommend racking
the beer again after the first month. Bottom line-like so many techniques in
homebrewing-FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU AND RUN WITH IT! One thing though, it is
generally not a good idea to leave your beer too long on that large bed of
trub that forms in the primary. |
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How long can fermented beer remain in
carboy without bottling or kegging? |
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This is, again, an arguable question but I would not recommend
leaving your beer in the secondary for more than a month if you
are bottling it. If you bottle after a solid month in the
secondary, your beer will be very clear. Also beer ages faster in
the bottle than it does in the carboy. Once it's bottled and
conditioned it can be cold aged (laagered) for as long as you wish
(almost) before consumption. |
My beer has bubbled up
through the airlock/has blown
the bung and airlock off, what now? |
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This problem always occurs during the most raucous period of
primary fermentation. The yeast is producing carbon dioxide gas at
such a prolific rate that the airlock cannot allow the gas to
escape efficiently enough, hence, ejected bungs. This type of
occurrence is common under one or more of the following
conditions; the primary fermentation vessel is not large enough to
accommodate the volume of beer produced (and a larger one should
be used), you have fermented a particularly high gravity brew in
an otherwise adequate primary vessel (in which case a blow-off
tube should be used), the vessel is usually adequate but the
temperature is unusually warm (in which case every effort should
be made to keep the fermentation temperature down to a more
optimal level and/or a blow-off tube employed), the vessel is
usually adequate but I pitched a monstrosity of a yeast starter
(if the starter you pitched is not inordinate then a blow-off tube
should be used). The upshot of this apparent debacle is that the
rapidly escaping carbon dioxide gas is creating an upward draft,
which is keeping atmospheric air (i.e. airborne microbes and wild
yeast) out of the primary vessel and out of contact with your
beer. Once you get home from work and discover this, merely
re-sanitize the bung and airlock and reposition it back on your
fermenter. If the fermentation is still too rigorous then a
blow-off tube can be attached in lieu of the bung and airlock.
Your beer SHOULD NOT be disposed of, 9.9 out 10 times everything
will turn out just fine. |
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Oh sh#t! I accidentally pushed
my rubber stopper into my carboy! Is the beer ruined? Can I get it
out? How do I get out? Aaaaahhhh!! |
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RELAX. Everything's going to be just fine. This has happened once
to just about everyone. And here's a good place to interject my
favorite phantom statistic, 9.9 out of 10 times the beer turns out
just fine. Fix another sanitized bung and airlock to the carboy
and allow the primary fermentation to be completed. Proceed to
siphon it into a secondary like you normally would (if you are
single stage fermenting then wait until fermentation is fully
completed and then siphon to a bottling bucket and complete the
bottling process. Once the beer is secondaried or bottled you can
dump and rinse out the trub that has collected at the bottom of
the carboy with the bung in it. Next invert the carboy and guide
the trapped bung into the neck of the carboy so that it is as
close to the opening as possible.
Then take a smaller screwdriver and insert it into the carboy
opening and through the hole in the bung. At this point it will
serve you well to breathe deeply, remain calm, and BE PATIENT.
Once the screwdriver is through or at least up into the hole in
the bung you can, in fulcrum fashion, CAREFULLY push the handle of
the driver up against the lip of the carboy and force the carboy
bung back out through the opening. Please understand that this
takes a little doing and you will need to be persistent and
careful while doing it, but it does work. After extricating the
bung you can be fairly certain, by the very unpleasant nature of
the whole experience, that you will not do that again! |
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What are the ideal
fermentation temperatures for ales and lagers. |
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The general guidelines for ales and lagers are as such. Ale yeasts
generally enjoy fermentation temperatures between 65-75 degrees F.
Some ale strains produce better results toward the cooler end of
this spectrum and a few prefer to ferment even cooler than 65
degrees. Likewise some ale yeast strains produce better results
when fermented toward the warmer end of the spectrum. Consult your
local homebrew supply shop or printed material from the yeast
purveyor regarding the optimum fermentation temperature for a
particular ale yeast strain. Lager yeasts generally enjoy
fermentation temperatures between 45-55 degrees F. Some lager
strains produce better results toward the cooler end of this
spectrum and several prefer to ferment even cooler than 45
degrees. Likewise some lager yeast strains produce better results
when fermented toward the warmer end of the spectrum. One lager
yeast in particular will produce good results as warm as 68
degrees but generally lager yeasts do not produce optimum results
this warm. Consult your local homebrew supply shop or printed
material from the yeast purveyor regarding the optimum
fermentation temperature for a particular lager yeast strain. |
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