Wait for all yeast to fall to bottom before bottling?

[deeve007]

Hey guys,

So bottling is supposed to happen tomorrow or the next day (7-8 days fermenting as per recipe followed), and most of the yeast has fallen to the bottom but there's still a small amount near the edges of the beer, should I be waiting for all of it to fall/disappear before bottling?

 

[Abrayton]

If it’s done fermenting you can bottle. You might get a bit more yeast in the bottom of your bottles but it’s not going to hurt anything. If you have the ability you could cold crash to get the rest of the yeast to drop but only if fermentation is done.

 

[JPDosey]

If you have a Hydrometer..Take a reading to see if you have reached your final gravity. Might be done if you get the same reading
multiple times

 

[MaxStout]

Different yeasts flocculate (settle out) differently. Don't use that as an indicator that a beer is ready for packaging. Take a couple hydrometer readings a day or two apart. If there's no change, it's ready to package.

 

[IslandLizard]

Hey guys,

So bottling is supposed to happen tomorrow or the next day (7-8 fermenting as per recipe followed), and most of the yeast has fallen to the bottom but there's still a small amount near the edges of the beer, should I be waiting for all of it to fall/disappear before bottling?

7-8 days can be a little short. You want to make sure it's done or your bottles may explode.

Take a hydrometer reading and another one 3 days later. If they are the same AND close to your expected FG it's done.
This gives the yeast ample time to clean up and flocculate, clearing the beer. It may still be a little hazy when you bottle, that's OK, it will settle out in the bottles over the next 3 weeks.

 

[deeve007]

7-8 days can be a little short. You want to make sure it's done or your bottles may explode.

Take a hydrometer reading and another one 3 days later. If they are the same AND close to your expected FG it's done.
This gives the yeast ample time to clean up and flocculate, clearing the beer. It may still be a little hazy when you bottle, that's OK, it will settle out in the bottles over the next 3 weeks.

So opening the container to get some of the liquid won't be an issue?

 

[deeve007]

(and really appreciating the help guys, it's helping a lot!!)

 

[IslandLizard]

So opening the container to get some of the liquid won't be an issue?

What kind of fermenter is it in?
Do you have CO2 on hand?

 

[deeve007]

What kind of fermenter is it in?
Do you have CO2 on hand?

No CO2 on hand, fermenter has screw lid, it does have spigot too though haven't use yet (I guess this would be a time to try it out... )

 

[Abrayton]

No CO2 on hand, fermenter has screw lid, it does have spigot too though haven't use yet (I guess this would be a time to try it out... )

You’ll want to pull the bung/airlock when use the spigot or you’ll get suckback of whatever liquid is in the airlock.

 

[IslandLizard]

No CO2 on hand, fermenter has screw lid, it does have spigot too though haven't use yet (I guess this would be a time to try it out... )

Best to use the spigot, it will disturb the headspace the least.
Take a small sample, but large enough to sink your hydrometer without it bottoming out.

After you get the reading, taste it, and write down the aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel of that experience. Make notes what you like and don't like. It will change once conditioned and carbonated, so it becomes a lesson in judging "green" beer.

You’ll want to pull the bung/airlock when use the spigot or you’ll get suckback of whatever liquid is in the airlock.

That's an excellent point!
Replace airlock immediately after taking the sample. You want to keep the CO2 in the headspace.

Clean and sanitize that spigot before sampling; spray Starsan into it. Rinse and resanitize it after the sample.

 

[JPDosey]

It would be wise to let it go for another 5 -7 days

 

[IslandLizard]

It would be wise to let it go for another 5 -7 days

That's the best strategy, regardless of gravity measurements.

14-21 days is very nominal for beer to be done. So let it be for another 5-7 days without doing anything, before taking your 1st reading.
Leave the beer at 70F so the yeast can clean up nicely.

 

[Miraculix]

That's the best strategy, regardless of gravity measurements.

14-21 days is very nominal for beer to be done. So let it be for another 5-7 days without doing anything, before taking your 1st reading.
Leave the beer at 70F so the yeast can clean up nicely.

Depends on the gravity and the yeast. I rarely have a beer that isn't done after ten days with the common yeasts (us05 etc), most of the beers I brew are actually done after 4 to 7 days.

But it doesn't have a detrimental effect to leave the beer on the yeast for longer, for most styles, most of the time it actually is beneficial for the flavour as the yeast has time to clean off flavours. Only for English ales and some other ester driven styles it can be better to get the beer off the yeast as quickly as possible, otherwise the yeast cleans up too much after itself, removing also wanted esters.

For the beginning, going with the hydrometer sample three days apart is the best way. You might introduce some oxygen, but that's ok. You will get a feeling for your particular beer and yeast and later on you will know when it is safe to bottle without a second reading upfront. Just one reading on the day of bottling to confirm that is done.

Usually, two weeks should be safe to bottle for most beers, I rarely have it in the fermenter for longer than a week these days, but I also brew primarily low gravity stuff and use aggressive yeast strains.

 

[Soulshine2]

Hey guys,

So bottling is supposed to happen tomorrow or the next day (7-8 days fermenting as per recipe followed), and most of the yeast has fallen to the bottom but there's still a small amount near the edges of the beer, should I be waiting for all of it to fall/disappear before bottling?

dont listen to the recipe saying its done fermenting at day 7 or 8 . yeast doesnt keep a schedule. more realistically day 10-12 but you should use a hydrometer to really know when its done.

 

[deeve007]

So I decide to take a gravity reading (and taste my first "green" beer), my first brew so obviously keen to see how it went, and learn from the mistakes made...

--> Photo below of how it looks currently.

So after star sanning the spigot, took an amount just enough for getting a gravity reading.
Current gravity: 1020
Target gravity is 1008-1012, does this mean I should leave it for a few more days?

And "green" beer itself tasted okay, a little cloudier than main batch as got some of the trub in it when pouring out the spigot, but I think it's about as good as I could have hoped for at this stage (though obviously I'll only know for sure after bottling and ready for drinking).

This is how it looks currently:

 

[deeve007]

My "green" beer... seems to taste & smell decent, colour looks good...

 

[IslandLizard]

So I decide to take a gravity reading (and taste my first "green" beer), my first brew so obviously keen to see how it went, and learn from the mistakes made...

--> Photo below of how it looks currently.

So after star sanning the spigot, took an amount just enough for getting a gravity reading.
Current gravity: 1020
Target gravity is 1008-1012, does this mean I should leave it for a few more days?

And "green" beer itself tasted okay, a little cloudier than main batch as got some of the trub in it when pouring out the spigot, but I think it's about as good as I could have hoped for at this stage (though obviously I'll only know for sure after bottling and ready for drinking).

This is how it looks currently:

1.020 is high. What was you OG? Which yeast?
Please post the recipe, especially the grain bill, mash schedule and actual mash temp(s).

Is this a scaled down batch from a larger recipe? It looks you've only got 1.5, maybe 2 gallons in that fermenter.

Note:
With that huge headspace you do not want to remove the lid as long as there is beer in the fermenter.
Good call on using the spigot!

 

[IslandLizard]

Did you calibrate your hydrometer?

 

[Miraculix]

Did you calibrate your hydrometer?

Good point!

I've been screwing up batch after batch just because my old hydrometer would show 15 gravity points more than it actually was.

..... Paired with a thermometer that was off by five degrees as well... Chaotic times

 

[deeve007]

Did you calibrate your hydrometer?

How do you do that?
(I'll google too of course... )

 

[whovous]

The gravity of room temp water should be close to 1.000.

 

[Miraculix]

How do you do that?
(I'll google too of course... )

You also might want to Google the gravity of sucrose solutions, meaning table sugar in water. Than you can weigh water and sugar, dissolve it knowing the resulting gravity and the check if your hydrometry tells you the correct gravity.

 

[deeve007]

The gravity of room temp water should be close to 1.000.

It was, I did do that test when I first got it.

 

[deeve007]

1.020 is high. What was you OG? Which yeast?
Please post the recipe, especially the grain bill, mash schedule and actual mash temp(s).

Is this a scaled down batch from a larger recipe? It looks you've only got 1.5, maybe 2 gallons in that fermenter.

Note:
With that huge headspace you do not want to remove the lid as long as there is beer in the fermenter.
Good call on using the spigot!

Recipe below.

It's a 10L (~2.6 gallon) recipe. Water used was probably a little low (my error due to recipe not stipulating when to add extra water), hence added more into fermenter as instructed by a few people, but didn't want to add too much, it's probably around 8 I think. It's probably going to be lower alcohol than the recipe says, but the errors I did make are pretty easy to address (and much easier to recognise having done this than just reading/watching others doing so)

 

[Miraculix]

To test, mix up a 10% solution of sugar: 10 grams sugar in 90 grams water. If the scale is Brix, your solution should read 10 at the calibration temperature. If the units are gravity points, it will read 40.

 

[Bubbles2]

Most are calibrated at 60ºf TOO soon to bottle.
Make the Universe laugh... make plans.

 

[Soulshine2]

So I decide to take a gravity reading (and taste my first "green" beer), my first brew so obviously keen to see how it went, and learn from the mistakes made...

--> Photo below of how it looks currently.

So after star sanning the spigot, took an amount just enough for getting a gravity reading.
Current gravity: 1020
Target gravity is 1008-1012, does this mean I should leave it for a few more days?

And "green" beer itself tasted okay, a little cloudier than main batch as got some of the trub in it when pouring out the spigot, but I think it's about as good as I could have hoped for at this stage (though obviously I'll only know for sure after bottling and ready for drinking).

This is how it looks currently:

Definitely , let it go ...like another week. then check it again

 

[IslandLizard]

Some other thoughts...
Have you calibrated that thermometer at 0C and 100C (depending on elevation)? How else would you know you mashed at a real 65C/149F?

Regarding that recipe, with only 10 grams of hops in 10 liters, it may be a pale ale, but it's not a "Pale Ale."
At least it's not drowning in crystal malt, 3% of C30 is very restrained, that's good.

What temps did you ferment at? Per recipe instructions, 22C/72F is on the high side actually. 18-20C/66-68F would yield better tasting beer. Keep that in mind for your next batch.

It's quite puzzling how you'd end up at 1.020 after a week at 22C, even if your wort's OG (after boiling and diluting) was 1.050 or even 1.060. Did you boil it down a lot and boiled very hard maybe?

 

[deeve007]

OG was 1.070, I should haved used more water than the recipe stated to start, and/or added water for the boil I think = lessons learned.

[edit]Sorry, I added more boiled then cooled water into the fermenter the day after, going on advice from a couple of places, that brough the OG down to 1.040... but due to this error it may not have been a "real" 1.040, so I did expect some variation on the recipe outcome.[edit]

Fermenting temp is probably more like 18-20 (room temperature here at present, winter), though I dont have a way to control that accurately unfortunately.

 

[IslandLizard]

OG was 1.070, I should haved used more water than the recipe stated to start, and/or added water for the boil I think = lessons learned.

1.070 is more than 50% higher, but after adding water it's pretty much all the same.

With all grain brewing, getting the right volumes is important, it will take few times to get that more predictable. I think I mentioned before, boil off is more kettle/heat source related than batch size related. IOW, boil off volume with 20 liters can be close to boil off with only 10 liters, which can be close to boil off with a mere 5 liters. Using a boil off percentage is looking at it the wrong way, or inaccurate at best.

Batch sparging:
Grain => add strike water + stir => mash => stir => vorlauf + lauter => add sparge water + stir => vorlauf + lauter. Repeat last 2 steps if splitting sparge into 2.

You're aiming at getting just the right pre-boil volume and gravity. Then after boiling off a known amount, will yield your target post boil volume at the desired gravity. No top up water should be needed. If you get all those within 10% you're doing well.

 

[deeve007]

I waited 3 days, gravity reading hadn't changed so chose to bottle. Bottling was far from great, I didn't fully test all the equipment with water before using, so my bad and further lessons learnt...

Ended up with around 6 litres of beer, which means I had around 7 when taking into account the crap at the bottom you need to leave. I wrote earlier that I had messed up water amounts... but I guess this also illustrated another reason to do 20L rather than 10L brews, the amount you lose at the bottom of the fermenter is probably not double for 20L, so you probably get a higher ratio of usable beer.

Anyway, lessons learnt, lessons learnt... hoping the beer is drinkable, at whatever mystery ABV it is (somewhere between 2.6 and 5 ), and I'll aim to improve on my next brew.

Appreciate once again the help from everyone.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

If you wait for ALL yeast to fall out, it won't carbonate.