Cooper's Stout - Slightly Odd

[Graz]

I made up a batch of Cooper's Stout just under two weeks ago, never made it before but thought I should give it a try having seen all the positive reviews here.

Plan is to bottle it sometime this week. Last night I thought I'd take a gravity sample whilst out in the garage kegging another brew. Upon opening the brew fridge there was a slightly unpleasant and odd smell, the lid on the FV must have somehow sealed itself as it had domed up a bit (I don't us airlocks). Now I'm used to odd smells in the brew fridge as it concentrates all the smells associated with brewing but this smell wasn't that nice.

Now wasn't sure what to expect but went ahead with the sample, this smelt fine, gravity of about 1.009 which suggests to me it's ready to bottle. Decided to taste, again no off flavours, quite nice as it goes but what I found odd was that it was a little bit fizzy. Majority of the time I've taken samples in the past the beer has been flat which is what I'd expect, that's why we prime / force carbonate.

Is this normal or have I got some sort of infection? If I bottle it is it asking for trouble, exploding bottles, gushers etc.?

Is there a chance that because the FV had sealed itself up I've actually ended up partially carbonating the beer with any residual CO2?

Cheers,

Graz

 

[H0PM0NSTER]

Doesn't sound like anything to worry about. A lot of my beers have been slightly carbonated by the time they're ready to bottle. Just means you've got a good seal on your FV. Makes it harder to get an accurate hydrometer reading though!

 

[Spapro]

Sounds normal to me, my lids (no bubblers) alway bulge a bit - the CO2 has been escaping though otherwise the lid would have been blown off during fermentation.

Sounds ready to bottle but I would take another reading 2 days after your last just to check it hasn't moved any more and check the 1.009 was an accurate reading.

Funny smells on opening the FV aren't out of the ordinary - even a noseful of just CO2 isn't a pleasant experience !

Good luck with it, good kit that Coopers Stout.

 

[terrym]

Just make sure the primary has finished. Normally done by having the same SG readings on two or three consecutive days irrespective of how long it has been in the FV

 

[Graz]

Thanks for the reassuring replies. Haven't got round to bottling this yet but will do so over the weekend :thumb:

 

[BeerCat]

Whenever i bottle Wheat Beer it always has loads of bubbles in it even after 3 weeks in FV.

 

[Graz]

Finally got round to bottling this last night. The sample I had tasted good and seemed to have lost its fizz anyway. Now have the bottles sat in the brew fridge waiting for them to prime. Happy days.

On another note this is the first time I've bottled a brew in a very long time, stopped doing it as it used to be a major pain and quite messy so have stuck with pressure barrels since. Recent purchases have included a bottle tree, bottle washer/sanitiser, and bottling bucket with tap / wand. Wow what a difference it makes. This kit went into Coopers PET bottles but I do now have a nice bench capper too. Quick squirt into each bottle with Star San then on the bottling tree to drain, then so quick and easy to fill with the bottling bucket / wand having previously syphoned from the primary fermenter into it. Simply a matter of screwing the top onto the bottle after that though I'm sure crown capping would be just as easy.

 

[Spapro]

Finally got round to bottling this last night. The sample I had tasted good and seemed to have lost its fizz anyway. Now have the bottles sat in the brew fridge waiting for them to prime. Happy days.

On another note this is the first time I've bottled a brew in a very long time, stopped doing it as it used to be a major pain and quite messy so have stuck with pressure barrels since. Recent purchases have included a bottle tree, bottle washer/sanitiser, and bottling bucket with tap / wand. Wow what a difference it makes. This kit went into Coopers PET bottles but I do now have a nice bench capper too. Quick squirt into each bottle with Star San then on the bottling tree to drain, then so quick and easy to fill with the bottling bucket / wand having previously syphoned from the primary fermenter into it. Simply a matter of screwing the top onto the bottle after that though I'm sure crown capping would be just as easy.

Pleased to hear your brew tastes good at the bottling stage.

Having the right gear for bottling definately takes some of the pain away.