Bottling query, sediment, cloudy etc. etc etcetera ;-)

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Gusto
Posts: 13
Joined: Friday Sep 24, 2004 3:45 pm

Bottling query, sediment, cloudy etc. etc etcetera ;-)

Post by Gusto »

Greets to all from Lismore NSW :D
I made up my first brew this week, an Aussie Draught that came with a Morgan kit. I had no problems with the fermentation, I started last Thursday week and yesterday, 7 days later, the hydrometer is just into the green. I figure my alcohol % to be around 4.06% using the documentation to calculate it and I went ahead and bottled it this morning. I did notice that even though fermentation had ceased, when bottling there was quite a bit of activity in the bottle, ie: bubbles rising. I used one clear stubby and I put that one aside on the kitchen bench and it still appears rather cloudy. I stopped bottling when the liquid level reached the top of the tap on the fermenter and I have been very careful not to disturb the fermenter from the day prior to bottling. Is this much sediment considered normal and how much sediment can I expect in the bottom of each stubby? Will the beer remain cloudy, and should I consider the use of finings to ensure a clearer beer? I decanted the remaining beer and sediment into a 2 litre PET bottle to use as snail bait in the vegie garden, maybe they will get some enjoyment out of it :lol:
Lastly, I particularly like German style beer, like the DAB or Veiss beers, any recommendations on kits to attain this type of beer? Thanks, Gusto. :wink:
Dogger Dan
Posts: 3168
Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada

Post by Dogger Dan »

When you add the priming sugar you are starting another fermentation so it will get cloudy and then drop out. As far as snail bait goes, they wanted no part of mine prick bastards. Oh well, there loss.

Dogger
dab123
Posts: 83
Joined: Thursday Sep 09, 2004 11:28 pm
Location: WEST AUSTRALIA

Post by dab123 »

Hi Gusto, take heart , as somewhere on this website can't remember where I saw it. but the fact was pointed out that cloudy beer is very popular as it helps to replace the vitamin B that is lost when drinking large quantitys of booze, thereby stopping big hangovers.???
Oliver
Administrator
Posts: 3424
Joined: Thursday Jul 22, 2004 1:22 am
Location: West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Post by Oliver »

Hi Gusto,

Welcome to homebrewing. Sounds like you've got a fine beer on your hands. As a general rule, leave the beer to settle for a day or two after fermentation stops to let most of the yeast fall out of suspension to the bottom of the fermenter.

As for brewing a German style beer, you might find the Cooper's Pilsner kit, perhaps made with 500g light malt and 500g glucose/dextrose will be nice. This kit comes with a true lager yeast, so keep the beer nice and cool (anything down to 13C will be fine, but most likely you'll have trouble getting it this low) and you'll end up with a nice crisp lager.

There aren't a great deal of wheat beer kits out there, but I know that Cooper's does one. Anyone else got some ideas?

dab123, you probably read on http://www.homebrewandbeer.com about the yeast replenishing the vitamin B that alcohol draws out!

Cheers,

Oliver
Gusto
Posts: 13
Joined: Friday Sep 24, 2004 3:45 pm

Post by Gusto »

Well thanks for the replies and the vote of confidence :) I must say that it has settled down and the stubbies have only a thin ring of sediment at the base. I think one of the secrets to this game is patience :wink: I'll definately give the Coopers a try, thanks for the tip. Cheers Gusto
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