Question on bottle conditioning

[Istanbilly]

Hi all,

I am getting ready to brew my first all grain batch, using a Grainfather 30 and fermenting in a Fermzilla 27 litre without pressurisation. This is also my first batch of home brew since about 1980 when I made a few kit batches. Once I take the fermentation to the point where all the yeast has finished doing its job I can then take out all the trub. But if I do that how do I then get my priming sugar to bring about carbonisation in the bottles as I will have removed the yeast (I believe).

So, at the end of the fermentation period do I...

1. Leave the trub in the Fermzilla, add the priming sugar solution and hope the yeast in the trub does the job of carbonising the beer (but then I would not be in a position to ensure that the priming sugar has evenly distributed through the beer)
2. Take off the trub, add the priming sugar to the Fermzilla, give it a swirl round and hope there is enough residual yeast in the beer to make the carbonisation work.
3. Take off the trub, add the priming sugar solution to the Fermzilla, at the same time adding a little (how much?) trub back in and give it a swirl to start the carbonisation process.
4. Don’t try to start the carbonisation process in the Fermzilla but use another bucket to put the beer, priming sugar (yeast/trub or not) and bottle it from there?

Having put the priming sugar into the beer, when do I start bottling? Immediately, the next day, the next week? Or some other time?

If I do put back some trub or make a new yeast mixture how much do I pitch - I guess it wouldn’t take much and would cider yeast do the job or would I be better to reserve a small amount of the original dried yeast specifically for this purpose and, if so, how much.

One final question, do I need to use a full pack of yeast when I initially start the process - I am using Mangrove Jack’s M36.

Many thanks

Bill

 

[chesters-mild]

You should not need to add any yeast to the beer pre bottling - even after 2 to 3 weeks fermenting there will still be enough yeast in suspension to carbonize the beer in bottles, all you'll need is to prime the beer with sugar, or use a carbonization drop per bottle. It's never failed me yet 40+ brews now.

 

[Istanbilly]

Many thanks for the reply chesters-mild

 

[terrym]

Following may answer some of your questions.
My rule of thumb is the longer I leave a batch of beer after a the fermentation has definitely finished, the clearer the beer will be and that means less yeast in the bottles. So irrespective of how much priming sugar there is in there it will take longer to carb up, but it will get there in the end. In practical terms for me that means if I am bottling a beer that is almost clear it will nearer 2 weeks to carb up max and not nearer 1 week. I have seen reports on this Forum from members who have left their beer in the FV for a number of weeks after the end of fermentation, yet it still carbs up eventually without any extra yeast being needed, it just takes a long time.
So in your case having allowed the beer to get substantially clear I would not deliberately stir things up I would go ahead and bottle, priming directly into bottles or by bulk priming in a bottling bucket. Less yeast in the bottles usually means you leave less beer behind at pouring time
And as soon as you have primed your beer its time to seal up the bottles or any CO2 produced will be lost to the carbonation process.
Finally whether one packet of yeast is enough for your beer is really dependant upon the volume you are brewing and the temperature. But one packet of the specialist yeasts is normally enough to ferment 20-23 litres or so at at the mid to top end of the temperature range specified on the packet. But others may be able to advise better on your M36 yeast which I havent used before

 

[chesters-mild]

Oh! and one little tip, bottle a few in PET (plastic bottles) you'll be able to 'squeeze' them to test how well the whole batch is firming up after a few days. Once carbonated and conditioned, this may well take 5 to 6 weeks, don't worry about any 'chill haze' if you have them cold out of the fridge - beer need not be crystal clear!