ericmark
Regular.
My normal practice is to transfer my beer after around a week to remove the majority of sediment into a clean fermentor and normally the first fermentor sits on a high stool so plenty of head for the siphon. However last time only on a low stool and near end siphon was lost so poured what was left with a funnel into a demijohn to settle.
Week latter the demijohn is still going fine I can see the stream of bubbles from the yeast at the bottom however the air lock not that active but since not U bend type it makes bigger bubbles so really no indication as to if ready to bottle and fermentor has dropped to one bubble every 60 seconds at 18 degrees C so likely around time to bottle so got out the hydrometer to test.
Demijohn reading 1.002 and fermentor reading 1.006 this was rather a surprise thought may vary but not that much so thinking about what is different between the two lots.
1) Daylight on demijohn fermentor covered so dark.
2) Demijohn temp varies 14 - 20 degs C but fermentor 16 - 18 degs C over 24 hours.
3) More sediment in demijohn.
4) Demijohn beer would have been at top of original fermentor.
Both kept in same room and for first week were the same batch clearly not stirred before siphon so could be variation top to bottom but stirred very well at start and reading 1.044 shows it was fully mixed. Was a kit beer "Geordie Bitter" with extra sugar and water to instructions expect ABV of 5%.
According to what caused the difference will determine if demijohn or fermentor used for second stage in the future. As yet not ready to taste but will make sure when bottled I label which is which. If number 4) then that means bottles from the same batch will vary in ABV which I think is unlikely. With all possibilities it will likely affect the taste as well once bottles and left for a month.
I had previous to that made two batches of lager one at 18 degrees as per can and one at around 10 degrees which should mean it will be proper lager but the one at 10 degrees was moved to demijohns for second stage of fermenting although in the dark so now I do not know if any difference in taste is due to being split into 6 or because of lower temperature.
Comments please.
Week latter the demijohn is still going fine I can see the stream of bubbles from the yeast at the bottom however the air lock not that active but since not U bend type it makes bigger bubbles so really no indication as to if ready to bottle and fermentor has dropped to one bubble every 60 seconds at 18 degrees C so likely around time to bottle so got out the hydrometer to test.
Demijohn reading 1.002 and fermentor reading 1.006 this was rather a surprise thought may vary but not that much so thinking about what is different between the two lots.
1) Daylight on demijohn fermentor covered so dark.
2) Demijohn temp varies 14 - 20 degs C but fermentor 16 - 18 degs C over 24 hours.
3) More sediment in demijohn.
4) Demijohn beer would have been at top of original fermentor.
Both kept in same room and for first week were the same batch clearly not stirred before siphon so could be variation top to bottom but stirred very well at start and reading 1.044 shows it was fully mixed. Was a kit beer "Geordie Bitter" with extra sugar and water to instructions expect ABV of 5%.
According to what caused the difference will determine if demijohn or fermentor used for second stage in the future. As yet not ready to taste but will make sure when bottled I label which is which. If number 4) then that means bottles from the same batch will vary in ABV which I think is unlikely. With all possibilities it will likely affect the taste as well once bottles and left for a month.
I had previous to that made two batches of lager one at 18 degrees as per can and one at around 10 degrees which should mean it will be proper lager but the one at 10 degrees was moved to demijohns for second stage of fermenting although in the dark so now I do not know if any difference in taste is due to being split into 6 or because of lower temperature.
Comments please.
