Brewed my first kit, Mosaic, and am really itching to try it. Ok, I did sneak one after 2 weeks in the bottle, mighty tasty! A little high on the sediment, but actually not too bad. If I don’t have a refrigerator that my carboy will fit in, what are other ways to cold crash?
This one was dry hopped, and I just threw the hops in. when I racked it into the bottling bucket after a week, there was still a pretty thick layer of “foamy hops” on top. When I put the racking cane in, as careful as I could, that did stir things up a bit.
I also ferment in the basement, but have nowhere to bottle down there, so I carry the carboy upstairs. That probably didn’t help either. Next time I suppose I should carry it up and let it rest for a while. Any idea how long? The hydrometer reading was where it was supposed to be, but should the beer be free of floaties as my wife calls them?
Thanks in advance, doing my second batch on Saturday. This IS addicting.
Rack it over to the bottling bucket while in the basement, then bring the bottling bucket upstairs. That way there is less trub to stir up.
Even after fermentation is done, the yeast are still cleaning up after themselves. The flocculation of your yeast will tell you how much will settle out. Give it any extra week in the ferm vessel to allow more of the yeast to drop. Also, keep you siphon off the bottom so you don’t get any of the sediment from there into the bottling bucket. To get the last bit of beer out, just tip the ferm a bit and viola.
I carry up my carboy from the basement the night before bottling. everything seems to settle back down by then. when racking I now use a nylon paint strainer bag on the end of my siphon hose, especially if it was dry hopped(i just throw the pellets in also). even if I stir it up a little it seems to keep most of the hop particles out.
I used sanitized cheese cloth and a rubber band when I siphoned my off the topper to bottling bucket…worked pretty well. I didn’t use a secondary and just threw both dry hops in the primary…cheesecloth was quite full of hop particles.
The thing I might worry about (to each their own) is oxidation when it’s going through a filter in open air. I would just plan ahead better.
2 weeks in the bottle is plenty of time to start drinking them. Make sure to put them up right in the fridge for a day or so before you crack them open and pour them slowly, leaving the last cloudy/murky bit in the bottle.
I use gel fining to clear the beer. At the grocery store buy Knox Plain gelatin or any plain gelatin, not flavored. One tspn of gelatin to 2/3 cup of 150 deg. water, then stir till dissolved. Put in fermenter 24-48 hrs. before packaging beer. This will drop clear the beer and still have enough yeast in the beer to carbonate. I then rack to bottling and leave dregs behind and prime. Works for me.
