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Brewing in the winter
I am curious as to how the cold weather affects us as home brewers.
As some of you have read from my previous posts, I am brewing my first batch, a German wheat from a kit. The directions on the kit said it should ferment for 3-4 days, settle for 3-4 days and bottled a week after fermentation started.
It has now been 9 days since I pitched and my batch is still fermenting. I was worried at first and it was very difficult for me to hold off instead of throwing it in bottles early. At one point (about 3 days ago) the airlock stopped bubbling, I took a gravity reading and it was 1.022. So, I gave the batch a good swirl to try and reactivate the yeast. This worked and it started bubbling again pretty good.
As of last night my gravity was at 1.018 and getting one bubble about every 12 seconds. I am waiting until my gravity is around 1.014-1.012 before I think about bottling.
I live in New England and it has been cold lately. When I took a sample to test I measured the temp (62F on my kitchen floor in the pantry) - is this normal for winter brewing?
Should I expect to add a week on to recipe times when brewing in cooler temps? Any special considerations?
Thanks guys
Cooler weather can certainly slow down a fermentation. I wouldn't put too much stock into directions given to you by a kit as to how much time you let things ferment. You should let your beer stay in a primary fermenter for at least a week, even if it finishes the primary fermentation after 2 - 3 days. You are probably better off letting the beer stay in the primary for 10 - 14 days.
You should also keep in mind that your final gravity reading may be different than that given on the instructions. If you are checking your gravity daily, you know fermentation is complete when you get the same reading, or close to it, for 2 - 3 consecutive days. This is the best indication of when fermentation is complete, although I never check my gravity. I just let it sit in a primary for at least 10 days.
The directions/recipes provided for most beers really just give you general guidelines for fermentation times and final gravities.
I don't think I've ever seen an FG on a kit recipe. Hmmm interesting.
Like what norcal said, leave it in the primary at least 7 days, if not longer. I now go a minimum of 10. My spruce ale is at 7 days and it is STILL fermenting, albeit very slowly.
The kit said to ferment 3-4 days, settle for 3-4? They are on crack. Yes, I have seen recipes stating "primary - 3 days, secondary - 10 days", but I have no idea why.
Leaving your beer in the primary longer than a week will not hurt anything. I've even left mine in primary for 2 weeks.
Norcal has good advice. Just let it keep on going. There have been a few batches of mine that were stilll fermenting after 10 days, although that is not common. It certainly won't hurt anything to leave it in thre a few extra days.
Ale yeasts generally ferment between 68-74 degrees, but I have seen some lower, some higher. My spruce is around 66, and during the summer since I don't have temperature control, mine was around 80 even with a fan blowing on it. Didn't hurt anything. But it can affect flavors.
The colder temps will slow things down, but other than that shouldn't have any other negative affect on the beer. I have a good friend who brews commercially, and he brews all his ales at 62F, because he prefers the flavor at that temp.
The biggest misconception/misunderstanding among homebrewers is calling the secondary a "secondary fermenter". You should not be doing ANY fermentation in secondary. Clarification and further aging is all that should go on in the secondary. Use whichever "# of days in primary" rule works best for you, but keep it somewhere in the 7-14 day range. If you're fermenting at 62F I'd give it 14 before moving it.
You can always get one of those brew belts to warm up the fermentation if your house is just too cold. My wife usually won't let me turn the heat down past 65 in the house, so I just let the beer ferment at whatever the house temps are. If you are fermenting in lower temps, it's best to give it some extra time and might even help to stir/shake it for a couple of days to keep the yeast in suspension.
In the summer it can get pretty hot here, but a wet towel and a fan seems to work good. I've found that after the first couple of days or so of fermentation it didn't matter too much what temperature it was at. Most of the off flavors produced by too warm a fermentation are produced in the beginning when the yeast is working so hard to replicate itself.
DT
Thanks for all the advice.
Yes, my kit gives suggestions for Initial gravity reading and final gravity. Starting gravity was rated between 1.040- 1.049 and FG was between 1.014-1.012. My initial reading was at 1.038, so since then I assumed the ranges were not set in stone.
Yes, according the recipe that came with my kit the beer should be ready for BOTTLING 7 days after fermentation started. They broke it down into a 3-4 day fermentation and a 3-4 day settling period... nothing about transferring it to secondary.
My brew is now on day 10 since I pitched the yeast and it still seems to be fermenting.... very slowly. I will take another reading when I get home tonight to see where it is. The last thing I want to do is rush it, especially since I have noticed it tastes better and better each time I take a sample out for testing.
I dont care too much about the clarity of my beer... especially since it is a wheat, so 14 days of sitting seems like a bit much, although I am almost there anyway.
If the reading today is the same as it was 2 days ago, I will bottle. Ill let you all know how it goes.
OG was 1.038 and FG is 1.018? That's going to be one low alcohol wheat, not that it's a bad thing. You could have a nice session beer on your hands.
DT
You are right, very low ABV %. I dont know why... I used only what they gave me in the kit. Maybe I didn't boil long enough?
After three days of 1.018 FG, I decided to bottle last night. It was messy, but I learner what not to for next time.
Now I wait.
Yea, I don't know. It's usually pretty easy to at least hit your SG when using extract. I can understand missing the FG, but missing the SG by that much is weird!
DT
It is quite possible I did something wrong... my first time and all. My wort was pretty warm when I took the first reading, but I factored that in by referring to the chart that came with my hydrometer.
The only thing I can think of is that maybe I had too much water in there.. either due to not boiling long enough or I added too much water form the get go..
Relax, have a home brew,
If, as you said, you took a kit and started it, you will end up with about 5%alcohol.
I've done this, we all will do this. Worry too much.
A Prefect fermentation will eat that sugar in three days at about 75 degrees. A noermal ferment will eat it in 5-7 days.
Factors - this ain't rocket science
a)Cooler is longer and if you have a true lager yeast cooler you need cooler temperatures - this means less than 50 degress, as low as 40 degrees and it can take a month. That's right, a month. But the clean taste and lack of complex esters found in an ale brewed at higher temps is what you are looking for. That is what you get with a slow cool fermentation.
b)Hotter is faster. Want a "steam beer" Brew at 80 degrees or more. Boom!. It is thermal kinetics.
c) Yeast - Some are fast some are slow - all have an optimal temperature range. Kit beers all use a yeast - Windsor, Nottingham, whatever brand that is very tolerant or a variety of temperatures and fast. The trick is that if you start at one tempreature, high or low, the yeast will by competition select for the line or strain in the packet that does best at that temperature. If you now, after two days, radically change the temperature, say more than five degrees, you can get a 'stuck' ferment, that stops. It doesn't die, it gets stuck. Restore the temperature, you gat going again. Out of the kit yeasts, this is uncommon.
c) with a kit, nutrients are not a likely issue. With an all grain brew, they can be because you have to convert the starches to fermentable sugars as completely as possible. Fail here and you have some weird timings at fermentation. A kit removes this threat and, indeed, if you have good water, you don't even have to boil. Seriously, if you want, mix the malt in hot water, stirring to 'disolve' add cool water to tepid by feel) on theoutside of the bucket- no fingers) and pitch.
d) amount of yeast. The faster you get fermenting, the less chance of screww up. Hydrate the yeast in a bottle, half full of water with a teaspoon of corn sugar as the first move you make to start the batch. This usually gives you an hour and a half for it to get started before you are ready to pitch it. This will give you a very strong start and you may see convection currents from the fermentation in as little as two hours after pitching. A clean bottle, a clean room, don't fret about the sterility and the longer it works, the shorter the time to establish in the bucket.
e)Aerate the wort!. Kit or otherwise, this is the only time you want lots or oxygen so stir the wort like crazy before pitching the yeast. Well maybe not that hard, but get the air in.
f) if you are really concerned - go buy a tub of "yeast nutrient" from the brew supply store. 5 ml (1tsp) for five gallons.
g) if you are reeaallly in trouble, pitch anotherpacket of yeast in, prefeably hydrated as in (d)
h) if you are still worried, use your hydrometer like you should have in the first place to confirm that, as everyone has, you didn't mis it and the fermentaion is complete.
i) crack a bottle, have a home brew and don't worry. The yeast have been doing this for longer than we have and they know what to do.
Biss
Wine is easier to make than beer. Sanitation it not AS much an issue.
You can make $10 wine but you can make world class beer.
I'm hoping to experience brewing during winter. Unfortunately, there's no winter season in my place. How does it feel to brew in cold weather?
Since I have never brewed in warm weather I wouldn't know the difference!
For the record - I finally got some steady gravity readings after 10 days of fermenting. I bottled on the 11th day and had my first test bottle 6 days later... patience is so important!
It tasted fantastic!!! So much better than I thought would come out of making beer in my kitchen. I am impressed at how resilient my brew was... I figured it was going to be horrible. I am going to let it age over the next few weeks, sampling along the way of course, and begin work on my next brew, a partial grain spiced holiday ale!
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