cranky wrote:OK my wife says that last post makes me sound like an A-hole. This was not my intention. My personal suggestion for consistency is to prepare your ferment. Let it sit 3-4 weeks undisturbed. Rack it off the trub. let it sit another 4 weeks. Do this every time and everything will be done exactly at the same time 2 months after you start it.
Dang it cranky, you made me snort coffee all over my iPad. Now I gotta swab it off.
moosemilk wrote: If it wasn't so long-winded, I would put your take on "the butterfly effect" into notable and quotable. But you did sum it all up very well! Oh so many variables. I wonder what the oyster from some shells I have was doing while your horse swatted the fly with its tail...
I do tend to be a bit long winded, guess that's why I have never been noted and quoted and don't get me started on oysters and global ocean temps, sea otters, fish poop etc...
still_stirrin wrote:
cranky wrote:OK my wife says that last post makes me sound like an A-hole. This was not my intention. My personal suggestion for consistency is to prepare your ferment. Let it sit 3-4 weeks undisturbed. Rack it off the trub. let it sit another 4 weeks. Do this every time and everything will be done exactly at the same time 2 months after you start it.
Dang it cranky, you made me snort coffee all over my iPad. Now I gotta swab it off.
And I was locked on to your experiment too!
ss
Sorry about that, I was worried that that 2nd post this morning also made me sound like an A-hole. Just living up to my screen name, In truth I should learn not to try to beat the clock and get a quick post in before I have to leave for work. but that's how I do it. I think 2 months out and try to have enough fermented that I run one, have another working and start a new one so there is never a need to be impatient or worry about it.
As I stated earlier, I am more interested in learning why some ferments take longer than others. Especially if the same process is followed each time.
I don't care how long they take to finish out. My issue is having 2 buckets finish together so I can run them in the big keg together.
I suppose the title is worded wrong and should read
HOW TO MAKE OUR FERMENTS FINISH OUT THE SAME TIME.
BentJar wrote:As I stated earlier, I am more interested in learning why some ferments take longer than others. Especially if the same process is followed each time.
I don't care how long they take to finish out. My issue is having 2 buckets finish together so I can run them in the big keg together.
I suppose the title is worded wrong and should read
HOW TO MAKE OUR FERMENTS FINISH OUT THE SAME TIME.
bent
I always start mine in a large container so everything is equal, then move it to smaller containers, however like I said there are an infinite number of variables one of which can be the slight distance one of your fermenters is from the heat source than the other. Also like I said, when I exposed one of my carboys to light and compared it to one not exposed the yeast accumulated to one side. This resulted in slower activity and a longer finishing time in the one exposed to light. In my opinion the only way to guarantee they finish on time is to leave them alone for a month or two and not worry about it.
Incremental feeding of the ferment also speeds up fermentation: if the same amount of yeast starter been put into a mash with 1.075 SG vs. a 1.045 SG, the latter one will start to work faster and with much less stress. This way, after high krausen ends and the yeast is already on cruising speed, feed it with a mash that has mopre sugar in it. This is a technigque I learned from making tripels and quadruples, which are very high starting gravity beers, and even the hitemp workhorse Belgian yeast strains would say "wooohooo mate, stop, wtf is this thick syrup?".
1.080-1.095 SG, pretty hardcore stuff, but it starts with a foreplay.
There's so many variations of what someone has done or will do, to make there fermentables be consumed faster. simple, it the yeast has the right environment. Just pitch more yeast Or don't have as much fermentables. the rest is up to the yeast and time. cranky said it good things take time
One thing I found with wine making. Look at the temp range for the yeast you are using. Ferment in the lower temp range (not the lowest... for example if it shows 62-80f I would ferment about 65-67f) for that yeast and you will end up with a cleaner tasting product (this is assuming correct ph and a balance of all the required nutrients for the yeast)... you don't want to be too low and stress the yeast, too high will also stress things. Its a balance and everything has a trade off.
I never try to rush my ferments. When I did they took much longer to age to were they suited my taste.
bitter wrote:One thing I found with wine making. Look at the temp range for the yeast you are using. Ferment in the lower temp range (not the lowest... for example if it shows 62-80f I would ferment about 65-67f) for that yeast and you will end up with a cleaner tasting product
Yup, good advice. Low and slow for a nice clean ferment. 60F for 1118 on cider, 65-67 for ale yeasts on beer and all grain whiskey ferments. One exception I have to this is Hefeweizen yeast. I run them warm 78F to get heaps of banana and clove esters going.
Now I have to figure out how to cool the ferment. My shed gets hot out there during these summer time ambient temps.
Wonder if a water bathe set up would work? Then I would have to lift them out.
I cant ferment in the house anymore plus I am near 70 year old with a mechanic's back and cant lift the 6 1/2 gal. buckets up off the floor.
I have remodeled the ferment area and shelving to be able to slide my buckets from the shelf to a rolling work table and then straight to the keg. I still have to haul the water up there. Its like Popcorn Sutton said "makin likker is hard work"
What I really need is a still hand, a young buck with a good back and likes good likker. Cant trust them to keep their mouth shut though.
I guess my days of this hobby are coming to an end. My police Roadking is setting there in the garage because I cant handle it on the streets any longer with crazy texting drivers everywhere. I would never be able to stomp it up again in a slide.
dammit
I've got a mate who is right into brewing beer, he controls his fermenting temperature by placing his fermenter in a dedicated fermenter fridge set to a comfortable temperature for his yeast so things cant get too hot , inside the fermenter he still runs a fish tank heater to provide the heat required. With this setup he has perfect control of temperatures during primary fermentation. Not too hot not too cold, this level of control gives him some damm fine beer.
that may help you with your hot shed problem.
He too activates / hydrates his yeast before adding it to his fermenter.
Last edited by CROW-EATER on Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'd rather a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
BentJar wrote:Now I have to figure out how to cool the ferment. My shed gets hot out there during these summer time ambient temps.
Wonder if a water bathe set up would work? Then I would have to lift them out
Throw a wet sack over it. Dangling the sack in a trough of water will keep it wet and working for longer.
I use an old fridge that still works and have some fermenters with spigots so that to empty them all I have to do is slide them forward enough to get a bucket under the spigots. I lift them into the fridge before I fill them to the top. The fridge is controlled for heating and cooling, so it can be used summer and winter.
