Long Wherry fermentation

[davelee212]

Hi all

I put on a Wherry kit on December 18th. I went back to my parents over xmas and came back on the 27th hoping to be able to bottle it up. Unfortunately my heating had packed up and the beer was at around 14c so I guess the yeast had stopped working - hydrometer said it was at around 1022.

I gave it a stir and kept the room at around 22c since and it is definately fermenting again but quite slowly. I checked it a few hours ago and it's at around 1016. It's been going 16 days now and I'm hoping it gets down a few more points in the next couple of days then I can bottle it.

It's likely that, by the time I bottle it, it will have been in primary fermentation for around 20 days I guess. Is the length of fermentation likely to have a negative affect on the outcome or is it fine as long as it gets down to roughly where it should be?

thanks all

Dave

 

[Wez]

It's believed that after 14 days the dead yeast cells affect the taste of the beer and give i yeast bite. However, I have had beer in FV's for a month which have been un affected.

If you are concerned though you could drop it to another fermenter and even pitch another sachet of yeast to get things going a bit quicker. Try not to splash the beer around too much when you transfer it.

 

[davelee212]

Hi Wez

I do have another fermenting bin I could throw it in. What's the advantage to doing so and do I need to transfer the sludge that will no doubt be at the bottom (presumably this is settled yeast?). Why do I need to be careful not to splash the beer too much? Would I be best off syphoning the beer from one fermenter to the other?

thanks for your help!

Dave

 

[prolix]

splashing even syphoning at this stage can oxygenate the beer and give it a cardboardy taste. I transfered a beer just before Chrismas from one cornie to another, prefilled with CO2 and everything and it still came out tasting of cardboard whereas it was beautiful before transfer. Beer is very forgiving before fermentation but totally the reverse after, oxygen kills beer.

leave it where it is and give it another week, yeast autoysis is unlikely if fermentation was that slow as there won't be any yeast to rot, and a safer gamble than transferring.

 

[davelee212]

With regards oxygenating.... I've had the lid off a little a few times, mainly for taking a samples with a small jug (sterilised!) for hydrometer readings. Do I need to be careful about doing so? I tend only to open it up halfway so I'm hoping I'm not exposing it too much.

I think I'll leave it for the moment and hopefully it'll drop a few points in the next few days.

thanks guys

Dave

 

[Wez]

Lifting the lid wont hurt it really, just be careful of dropping anything in which might infect it.

I'd transferred beers lots of times and luckily never had a problem, famous last words

 

[evanvine]

In wine yeast bite (casse) can occur after 6 wks, so don,t panic re your beer!

 

[davelee212]

In wine yeast bite (casse) can occur after 6 wks, so don,t panic re your beer!

That's good to know. I took another hydrometre reading today and it's come down a little bit. Fingers crossed a few more days and it'll be good for bottling.

cheers chaps!