Lobes
Active Member
Howdy folks,
I'm currently fermenting my second batch of Woodforde's Wherry. I was very impressed by the taste of my first batch, although made a couple of errors which I'm hoping to improve on to get it right this time!
Basically, I completely forgot about using a hydrometer to check it was ready for bottling, so I just left it for the 6days it recommended and then syphoned into bottles, adding 1/2tsp sugar per bottle.
After 3weeks or so I opened my first bottle, which exploded beer foam all over the kitchen! This obviously stirred up all the sediment, so the remaining beer wasn't as tasty as it should've been. But, after settling for a couple of hours it was actually pretty nice.
I've slowly drank my way through the rest of the bottles over the last couple of weeks, all with the same results. I've been working around this by having a jug ready when I open the bottle to catch the foam as it shoots out of the bottle, then putting the beer into tupperware-type jugs in the fridge to settle for a few hours.
My question is, why was it so lively? Is it because it wasn't fully fermented in the first place, or is it to do with the sugar in the bottle?
Also, I have now bought some Munton Beer Enhancer to use instead of the sugar. It says to add this at the start of fermentation, or to use instead of sugar according to the instructions on the kit. My kit says to add the sugar to the bottles after fermentation.
Is it better to add at the start or the end of fermentation? As I've already started fermentation on this batch, will I encounter any problems by adding it at the end? Am I better off putting 1/2tsp in each bottle, or adding the total amount needed to the beer before bottling?
Hope someone can help!!
I'm currently fermenting my second batch of Woodforde's Wherry. I was very impressed by the taste of my first batch, although made a couple of errors which I'm hoping to improve on to get it right this time!
Basically, I completely forgot about using a hydrometer to check it was ready for bottling, so I just left it for the 6days it recommended and then syphoned into bottles, adding 1/2tsp sugar per bottle.
After 3weeks or so I opened my first bottle, which exploded beer foam all over the kitchen! This obviously stirred up all the sediment, so the remaining beer wasn't as tasty as it should've been. But, after settling for a couple of hours it was actually pretty nice.
I've slowly drank my way through the rest of the bottles over the last couple of weeks, all with the same results. I've been working around this by having a jug ready when I open the bottle to catch the foam as it shoots out of the bottle, then putting the beer into tupperware-type jugs in the fridge to settle for a few hours.
My question is, why was it so lively? Is it because it wasn't fully fermented in the first place, or is it to do with the sugar in the bottle?
Also, I have now bought some Munton Beer Enhancer to use instead of the sugar. It says to add this at the start of fermentation, or to use instead of sugar according to the instructions on the kit. My kit says to add the sugar to the bottles after fermentation.
Is it better to add at the start or the end of fermentation? As I've already started fermentation on this batch, will I encounter any problems by adding it at the end? Am I better off putting 1/2tsp in each bottle, or adding the total amount needed to the beer before bottling?
Hope someone can help!!
