first batch bottled with a few concerns...

[E-DUBB]

peace, HBT!

so i completed my very first batch (wee heavy) this past Sunday and i have a few concerns.

pics: (not the best pics)

these are pics of the 4th day in secondary.

i checked the FG = 1.019 (OG 1.100) and immediately racked into the bottling bucket.

what sucks about this is, i don't even know where the 'error' came into play.

i brewed this batch at my friends house. he transferred it into the secondary (3 weeks in primary) for me.

im guessing a sanitation issue. the beer however, did not smell or taste bad whatsoever. so i went ahead and bottled it.

so of course upon seeing the white film within the secondary, noobitus kicks in.

i start researching everywhere to figure out what happened.

now i have a small fear that it could possibly be a brett infection. LOL.

whats fueling this fear is:

1) the bottle bomb stories.

2) i used one clear bottle to monitor the beer and i see a slight film forming up top.

3) the fact my beer is carbonated on day 3 in the bottles (room temp @ 75 degrees) and i only used 3/4 cups of dextrose for priming.

while the beer is green, it tastes and smells GREAT!

im wondering should i throw the beer in the fridge to slow down carbonation or just step back and wait a 2-3 weeks????

 

[ericwatkins_utk]

If its carbed the way you like it, I'd throw them suckers in the fridge and halt the carbonation. If not, you may or may not get bottle bombs, but still could wind up with a beer that pours 7" of foam when opened.

Clear bottles are fine as long as you try to keep them out of the light. You probably would want to store them in a closed box, even in the fridge.

The stringy things kinda do resemble an infection, but I saw the same thing on a wee heavy my father-in-law brewed. We racked from underneath it and it never picked up any off flavors.

 

[E-DUBB]

If its carbed the way you like it, I'd throw them suckers in the fridge and halt the carbonation. If not, you may or may not get bottle bombs, but still could wind up with a beer that pours 7" of foam when opened.

Clear bottles are fine as long as you try to keep them out of the light. You probably would want to store them in a closed box, even in the fridge.

The stringy things kinda do resemble an infection, but I saw the same thing on a wee heavy my father-in-law brewed. We racked from underneath it and it never picked up any off flavors.

its not carbonated to my desire just yet.

when priming, I made sure to pour in a little at a time for a even mix.

did your father in law have any bottle bombs? LOL. gosh I am scary.

I racked from underneath as well and definitely did not taste any off flavors.

then again, I think 10lbs of amber malt extract would do a good job hiding off flavors.

 

[ericwatkins_utk]

did your father in law have any bottle bombs?

We kegged that batch - so no explosions! I have had a couple bombs in the past before I ever really paid much attention to the sugar and volumes of CO2 ratio. Each batch is a learning experience - I wouldn't sweat it too much.

 

[brewvac]

Did you prime with sugar or DME?

If you used DME the the film at the top of the bottle is just a mini version of the krausen that you'd see in the primary.

If your priming ratios are correct, and you've left some headspace in the bottles, then bombs shouldn't be too much of a worry.

Although you are seeing some foam when you pour the beer now, it takes a couple of weeks for the beer to fully absorb the co2. Be patient if you can. If you think your priming ratio was off then you may want to chill them to avoid explosions.

It sounds like your beer still tastes good, so hopefully nothing went wrong. Good luck with carbing!

 

[E-DUBB]

I used sugar (dextrose) for priming.

It was in 4.5oz pack and I added it into 3/4th's cup of boiling water.