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carbinating in the bottle
i bottled my first batch of brew last week. there is some sediment in the bottles but i dont see any thing else happening. should there be visible things i can look for to make sure it is being carbonated or is cracking open a bottle the only way to really tell if there is anything going on.
Sediment at the bottom is actually a good sign, but really the best thing to tell would be opening a bottle.
I would open one bottle each week, until you find the right level of carbonation. The chill them to stop it, and you'll be all set to drink away....
i am going out of town three days after the one week mark after the bottling process. if the beer is not as cardinated as i would like can i refrigerate until i get home and them leave them out again the continue carbinating. also if i leave them out i asume that i run the risk of having all my bottles explode.
How did you prime your bottles? If you primed your bottles with priming sugar and kept the sugar at the right amount (or at least not way over 3/4 - 1C for a 5G batch) you should be OK. Priming directly with sugar is a bit more tricky. Also, if you have the proper headspace in the bottles, (about 1 inch) you shouldn't have anything to worry about. If you haven't had a bomb in a week, i doubt that you will...so there shouldn't be a need to cool them off...you want to watch the temp changes after you bottle, so i would keep them at cellar temp until you are ready to chill to drink. The sediment at the bottom is all just yeast that fell out of suspension after bottling, that is what will eat up the priming sugar for carbonation, so your'e all good.
Hope it all turns out OK!
I always bottle three or four nips... that way I can keep an eye on the carbonation levels and the aging process. You might try that in the future.
As far as the whole fermenting, refrigeration, fermenting thing, I don't know that I'd recommend it. Cant be good for the taste for it to have such extreme variables. That's just an educated guess, mind you, I am not certain that I am correct on that but I know that wildly fluctuating temps during fermenting can cause off flavors, and since sugar priming is just a tiny controlled ferment, it stands to reason that big fluctuations in temp would affect the taste...even if it's not as profound as it would be on the full batch.
If you used the correct amount of sugar, there is only so much sugar available for the yeast to eat, hence no real worries about over carbonating or exploding bottles.
culinaryskater wrote:
i am going out of town three days after the one week mark after the bottling process. if the beer is not as cardinated as i would like can i refrigerate until i get home and them leave them out again the continue carbinating. also if i leave them out i asume that i run the risk of having all my bottles explode.
You are over thinking it. As long as the beer was done fermenting prior to bottling, and you used the proper amount of sugar for priming, they will be fine left alone. And they'll be ready to drink when you get back.
In the past I would check bottles until the carbonation was where I wanted it. Then I would crash chill all the bottles for a week. This tends to shock the yeast and slows down any additional carbonation, even when they are removed and stored again at cellar temps. So I don't recommend you chill them and try to rewarm then to start the carbonation process. Just let them sit.
thank all of you for your comments. i feel more comfortable now. i do have the profound problem of over anylizing my brew, did it like twelve times this first batch. thanks again!
culinaryskater wrote:
thank all of you for your comments. i feel more comfortable now. i do have the profound problem of over anylizing my brew, did it like twelve times this first batch. thanks again!
The hardest part of being a beginning homebrewer is exercising patience. I opened most of my initial batches of beer too early and regretted it later when the end of the batch had an improved flavor/carbonation profile over the early bottles.
It's not bad to over-analyze. I find that calling up my local homebrew shop for advice usually keeps me from jumping off the ledge, and taking good notes while you brew is essential to improving your skills. Keep a log (or blog about it).
Cheers,
JJJ
I've been careful with my priming, and have been fortunate enough not to have any 'bombs'. Usually 2 weeks is a good start, but again, some beers do better with age (i.e. longer conditioning), and some don't age well at all. It certainly shouldn't hurt to leave your bottles a few extra days by themselves.
One trick which I use is to either (a) dissolve my priming sugar/DME into boiling water, let it cool, then mix it into the whole batch before bottling or (b) use priming tablets. either way, I know that my bottles are primed uniformly.
I'm also fortunate to have a second bathroom which I don't use all that much. I put my bottles in the empty bathtub and pull the curtain closed; that way if a bottle does explode at least the mess and flying shards will be somewhat contained. If you have the space, you could use a large tub, a kiddie pool, etc...just a couple of ideas.
Have fun!
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