Ok got a pumpkin ale and american wheat in primary now. These are the first batches I have made where I am going to skip the secondary. There is alot of debated over doing this but I decided to give it a shot for myself to see how they turn out.
My question is when to bottle…the pumpkin has been in primary for two weeks was going to wait a full 21 days before bottling. The wheat is about a week behind the pumpkin. I want to give plenty of time for the yeast to clean up.
How long would wait???
Oh forgot they have been temp controlled at 65 throughout.
Three weeks from kettle to keg is usually plenty of time for me - I cold-crash for the last three days, too.
If I cold crash it and intend to bottle will there be enough yeast to carb up?
If it were me, I would bring it out of the 65* temps and let it warm up a bit before cold crashing. I always find a get a couple days of slow steady activity when I bring up to room temps.
Don’t forget to remove the airlock when you cold crash.
Typically yes, but I always add 1-2 g of rehydrated S-04 or US-05 to each fermenter just to be sure.
how do you properly measure out the yeast and stay sanitized?
Weigh the yeast out on a piece of foil (sanitary off the roll) and add it to the bowl of boiled and cooled water (100mL is good enough). Then roll the top of the yeast pack down, tape it shut, and store in the fridge.
Why do i want to remove the airlock prior to cold crashing? I have a surly furious dry hopping that i plan to stick in the fridge for a day to get the hops to settle out before i keg.
I almost ruined a better bottle and lost 5 gallons of beer by putting a batch that was in secondary into a fridge with the air lock still on. The next morning when I opened the fridge, the better bottle looked like a pretzel. I guess as the airspace condenses by getting cold, if the top cannot breathe, the vessel will collapse inward. Obviously this would not happen with a bucket or glass carboy, BUY, if you use an blow off hose and it is in fluid when you cold crash, that fluid will be in your beer for the same reasons.
I have been just taking the inner piece out of the airlock until the beer is close to its final cold crash temps and then put it back in until I keg.
FWIW, my better bottle is clearly weakened permanently.
because it will suck ever bit of starsan in the airlock into your carboy.
because it will suck ever bit of starsan in the airlock into your carboy.[/quote]
If you use starsan in your airlock, I really doubt that that very small amount will have any ill effect on 5-6 gallons of beer. Don’t fear the foam, so why fear it when it isn’t foamy any longer, ya know???
Use a three-piece airlock and the vacuum will pull the bobber down tight enough to keep the StarSan out.
Use a three-piece airlock and the vacuum will pull the bobber down tight enough to keep the StarSan out.[/quote]
But that is what caused the better bottle to collapse inward in my case. Going from 75* or so to 34* creates a bit of vacuum
If you leave the airlock in the BB and cold-crash you have to burp the pressure once it’s cold, but it’s not an issue for hard-sided fermenters. Or you could remove the airlock entirely and cover with foil for cold-crashing with a BB.
That is effectively what I am doing by removing the airlock center piece. Once the temps stabilize, it put it back in, in case anything is floating around in the refrig.
Use a three-piece airlock and the vacuum will pull the bobber down tight enough to keep the StarSan out.[/quote]
That is the only air lock I use. And it happens every single time.
+1 Same process for me. Unless its a big beer, then its an additional 3 months of bulk aging in secondary.
Time is not the measurement; final gravity is - take readings and wait for 3 consecutive readings over 2-3 days at a stable temperature. If you pitched enough yeast, you shouldn’t have to allow it to warm. I usually give my beer a month in the primary to make sure it is done with all post-fermentation clean up and, of course take readings along the way to ensure completion. YMMV.
Hey Shad, I found an unused wyeast 1056 dated the end of June left in my fridge. Could I just use it instead of the dry yeast and just pour a third or so in for bottling?
