How can I avoid dried kraeusen floaters?

[Joerg]

Yesterday I bottled an IPA and then a Pale Ale. The IPA was nice and
clear. The Pale Ale was clear as well but had small dried clumps of
kraeusen residue in it. I had used secondary fermentation on both. They
look like undersized bleached raisins. The ones floating on top I could
fish out of the bottling bucket with a sanitized sieve, most of the
bottom ones I could leave but those floating in the middle made it into
the hose. Especially towards the end. The gravity of this stuff seems to
be close to that of finished beer, meaning not all sink to the bottom or
float to the top. Personally I don't mind but if a guest of someone I
gave a bottle to sees stuff flaoting around in their beer that's not cool.

Is there some sort of simple sieve that can be mounted inside in front
of the bottling bucket spigot? Or some other sort of measure during
racking? I could imagine something like an automotive fuel filter but
those are difficult to impossible to clean and using a new one for each
load gets expensive. In the old days those had removable wire mesh
inserts that were easily cleaned but newer ones I saw are non-serviceable.

Any ideas?

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Joerg
Yesterday I bottled an IPA and then a Pale Ale. The IPA was nice and
clear. The Pale Ale was clear as well but had small dried clumps of
kraeusen residue in it. I had used secondary fermentation on both. They
look like undersized bleached raisins. The ones floating on top I could
fish out of the bottling bucket with a sanitized sieve, most of the
bottom ones I could leave but those floating in the middle made it into
the hose. Especially towards the end. The gravity of this stuff seems to
be close to that of finished beer, meaning not all sink to the bottom or
float to the top. Personally I don't mind but if a guest of someone I
gave a bottle to sees stuff flaoting around in their beer that's not cool.
Is there some sort of simple sieve that can be mounted inside in front
of the bottling bucket spigot? Or some other sort of measure during
racking? I could imagine something like an automotive fuel filter but
those are difficult to impossible to clean and using a new one for each
load gets expensive. In the old days those had removable wire mesh
inserts that were easily cleaned but newer ones I saw are non-serviceable.
Any ideas?

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/stainless-steel-standard-weight-scouring-pad/999434.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20HP&utm_term=1100404859969&utm_content=Janitorial

[Joerg]

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Joerg
Yesterday I bottled an IPA and then a Pale Ale. The IPA was nice and
clear. The Pale Ale was clear as well but had small dried clumps of
kraeusen residue in it. I had used secondary fermentation on both. They
look like undersized bleached raisins. The ones floating on top I could
fish out of the bottling bucket with a sanitized sieve, most of the
bottom ones I could leave but those floating in the middle made it into
the hose. Especially towards the end. The gravity of this stuff seems to
be close to that of finished beer, meaning not all sink to the bottom or
float to the top. Personally I don't mind but if a guest of someone I
gave a bottle to sees stuff flaoting around in their beer that's not cool.
Is there some sort of simple sieve that can be mounted inside in front
of the bottling bucket spigot? Or some other sort of measure during
racking? I could imagine something like an automotive fuel filter but
those are difficult to impossible to clean and using a new one for each
load gets expensive. In the old days those had removable wire mesh
inserts that were easily cleaned but newer ones I saw are
non-serviceable.
Any ideas?

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/stainless-steel-standard-weight-scouring-pad/999434.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20HP&utm_term=1100404859969&utm_content=Janitorial

Afraid if I'd ball that up in front of the plastic spigot it'll scratch
the plastic bucket and it also doesn't look like it could ever be
properly sanitized again after the first use.

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Joerg

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Joerg
Yesterday I bottled an IPA and then a Pale Ale. The IPA was nice and
clear. The Pale Ale was clear as well but had small dried clumps of
kraeusen residue in it. I had used secondary fermentation on both. They
look like undersized bleached raisins. The ones floating on top I could
fish out of the bottling bucket with a sanitized sieve, most of the
bottom ones I could leave but those floating in the middle made it into
the hose. Especially towards the end. The gravity of this stuff seems to
be close to that of finished beer, meaning not all sink to the bottom or
float to the top. Personally I don't mind but if a guest of someone I
gave a bottle to sees stuff flaoting around in their beer that's not cool.
Is there some sort of simple sieve that can be mounted inside in front
of the bottling bucket spigot? Or some other sort of measure during
racking? I could imagine something like an automotive fuel filter but
those are difficult to impossible to clean and using a new one for each
load gets expensive. In the old days those had removable wire mesh
inserts that were easily cleaned but newer ones I saw are
non-serviceable.
Any ideas?

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/stainless-steel-standard-weight-scouring-pad/999434.html?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20HP&utm_term=1100404859969&utm_content=Janitorial

Afraid if I'd ball that up in front of the plastic spigot it'll scratch
the plastic bucket and it also doesn't look like it could ever be
properly sanitized again after the first use.

They are used all the time. make your own filter. The stainless cleans
up fine.

[baloonon]

Post by Joerg
Yesterday I bottled an IPA and then a Pale Ale. The IPA was nice and
clear. The Pale Ale was clear as well but had small dried clumps of
kraeusen residue in it. I had used secondary fermentation on both.
They look like undersized bleached raisins. The ones floating on top I
could fish out of the bottling bucket with a sanitized sieve, most of
the bottom ones I could leave but those floating in the middle made it
into the hose. Especially towards the end. The gravity of this stuff
seems to be close to that of finished beer, meaning not all sink to
the bottom or float to the top. Personally I don't mind but if a guest
of someone I gave a bottle to sees stuff flaoting around in their beer
that's not cool.
Is there some sort of simple sieve that can be mounted inside in front
of the bottling bucket spigot? Or some other sort of measure during
racking? I could imagine something like an automotive fuel filter but
those are difficult to impossible to clean and using a new one for
each load gets expensive. In the old days those had removable wire
mesh inserts that were easily cleaned but newer ones I saw are
non-serviceable.

Assuming it's yeast, my experience is that longer cold crashing helps a
lot and is the simplest. Cold crashing the primary before you move to
secondary helps, and chilling the bottles for a good amount of time
afterwards does too. That may be all you need.

Sometimes it's also a factor of keeping things really still, as some
yeasts form a much more stable layer at the bottom of the fermenter than
others, which seem to "swim" at the slightest movement.

I don't have a sense of the consistency of what you're seeing, but it's
possible it will help to line the bottling bucket with a paint strainer
bag and then pull it after the beer is transfered to get some of the big
particles out. You'll want to be careful to minimize any air getting
mixed in at this point. Under just about everyone's setup, some always
gets mixed in when you transfer, you just want to avoid adding a lot to
the mix with splashing and churning.

I've found that gelatin fining helps stubborn yeast. I know you've said
that you're hesitant to use gelatin, so Biofine Clear is a vegan
alternative, and Isinglass is made from fish. They are a little pricier
than gelatin, but I think they come out to around a dollar or less per
five gallon batch, so it's not too bad.

[Joerg]

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg
Yesterday I bottled an IPA and then a Pale Ale. The IPA was nice and
clear. The Pale Ale was clear as well but had small dried clumps of
kraeusen residue in it. I had used secondary fermentation on both.
They look like undersized bleached raisins. The ones floating on top I
could fish out of the bottling bucket with a sanitized sieve, most of
the bottom ones I could leave but those floating in the middle made it
into the hose. Especially towards the end. The gravity of this stuff
seems to be close to that of finished beer, meaning not all sink to
the bottom or float to the top. Personally I don't mind but if a guest
of someone I gave a bottle to sees stuff flaoting around in their beer
that's not cool.
Is there some sort of simple sieve that can be mounted inside in front
of the bottling bucket spigot? Or some other sort of measure during
racking? I could imagine something like an automotive fuel filter but
those are difficult to impossible to clean and using a new one for
each load gets expensive. In the old days those had removable wire
mesh inserts that were easily cleaned but newer ones I saw are
non-serviceable.

Assuming it's yeast, my experience is that longer cold crashing helps a
lot and is the simplest. Cold crashing the primary before you move to
secondary helps, and chilling the bottles for a good amount of time
afterwards does too. That may be all you need.

I did let the secondaries drop from 65F to 60F at the end. Not much of a
cold crash but it would really surprise me if it would help here. The
floaters look like chunks of lava rock. The same stuff as you have it
under the fermenter lid after a very vigorous fermentation (which Pale
Ale doesn't exhibit) and then dried up.

When you take one of those floaters between the fingers it does squish
and leaves a brown slimy mess.

Post by baloonon
Sometimes it's also a factor of keeping things really still, as some
yeasts form a much more stable layer at the bottom of the fermenter than
others, which seem to "swim" at the slightest movement.

That could be a problem. I have to carry the secondaries (which are just
glorified water cooler bottles) out of the fermentation chamber and onto
a counter about 30ft away. Though I do that two days ahead of the
bottling event so that stirred sediment can float back down.

Post by baloonon
I don't have a sense of the consistency of what you're seeing, but it's
possible it will help to line the bottling bucket with a paint strainer
bag and then pull it after the beer is transfered to get some of the big
particles out.

<slapping hand against forehead>

That's it! Thanks. How could I not have thought of that? I have almost
two dozen muslin bags stashed away because a new one comes with almost
every recipe kit and I re-use those a lot. I shall try that next time. I
could make myself some sort of heavy metal bracket with a large hole in
one leg to keep the muslin bag in front of the spigot intake.

I'll tie a sanitized string to it during first use in case it clogs up.

Post by baloonon
... You'll want to be careful to minimize any air getting
mixed in at this point. Under just about everyone's setup, some always
gets mixed in when you transfer, you just want to avoid adding a lot to
the mix with splashing and churning.

I always try to be careful when siphoning over. There isn't any
splashing, just a gradual rise of the beer level until it's all in
there. Then I do four slow "fluid heaves" with a sanitized long pasta
strainer spoon to make sure the corn sugar water mixes in evenly.

Post by baloonon
I've found that gelatin fining helps stubborn yeast. I know you've said
that you're hesitant to use gelatin, so Biofine Clear is a vegan
alternative, and Isinglass is made from fish. They are a little pricier
than gelatin, but I think they come out to around a dollar or less per
five gallon batch, so it's not too bad.

So far I have used Irish moss. Makes nice clear beer. One of the reasons
to avoid any animal-based products is that we give bottles to a couple
that is more of less stuck at home for health reasons and the wife is a
strict vegetarian.

Yesterday I also transferred another Belgian Tripel and a Superior
Strong Ale to the now freed-up secondaries. Had to take a sample, of
course. Then another, and just to make sure, another.

[baloonon]

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
Assuming it's yeast, my experience is that longer cold crashing
helps a lot and is the simplest. Cold crashing the primary
before you move to secondary helps, and chilling the bottles
for a good amount of time afterwards does too. That may be all
you need.

I did let the secondaries drop from 65F to 60F at the end. Not much of a
cold crash but it would really surprise me if it would help here. The
floaters look like chunks of lava rock. The same stuff as you have it
under the fermenter lid after a very vigorous fermentation (which Pale
Ale doesn't exhibit) and then dried up.

If you can, try dropping another batch a bit above freezing and let it
sit for a few days. I find that it really speeds up the dropping of
stubborn yeast clumps. I think I've had them sit for a couple weeks
once or twice in the 65F temperature range, but cold crashing really
sinks them. It depends on the yeast strain, though I don't remember
which ones did that.

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I don't have a sense of the consistency of what you're seeing,
but it's possible it will help to line the bottling bucket with
a paint strainer bag and then pull it after the beer is transfered
to get some of the big particles out.

<slapping hand against forehead>
That's it! Thanks. How could I not have thought of that? I have almost
two dozen muslin bags stashed away because a new one comes with almost
every recipe kit and I re-use those a lot. I shall try that next time.
I could make myself some sort of heavy metal bracket with a large hole
in one leg to keep the muslin bag in front of the spigot intake.
I'll tie a sanitized string to it during first use in case it
clogs up.

A five gallon paint strainer bag should fit completely around a typical
bottling bucket and you can hold in place with a clip. They cost
something like $5 and you can use them indefinitely for this purpose.
If you use a bucket fermenter for primary you can also use them when
transferring cooled wort from the kettle to catch all the hops and other
crud.

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I've found that gelatin fining helps stubborn yeast. I know
you've said that you're hesitant to use gelatin, so Biofine
Clear is a vegan alternative, and Isinglass is made from fish.
They are a little pricier than gelatin, but I think they come
out to around a dollar or less per five gallon batch, so it's
not too bad.

So far I have used Irish moss. Makes nice clear beer. One of the
reasons to avoid any animal-based products is that we give
bottles to a couple that is more of less stuck at home for
health reasons and the wife is a strict vegetarian.

Irish Moss in the boil won't help for yeast issues, though, since you
need fining to capture the yeast after it has grown. Biofine Clear is
fine for vegans. It's listed at $2.99 here and other mail order brew
supply places also sell it.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/biofine-clear-clarifier-1-oz.html

I think the standard dosage is 0.2 ounces per 5 gallons, so that would
work out to 70 cents per batch, which seems pretty low. You shouldn't
need to use it every time either, since a lot of times cold crashing
ought to be sufficient.

[Joerg]

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
Assuming it's yeast, my experience is that longer cold crashing
helps a lot and is the simplest. Cold crashing the primary
before you move to secondary helps, and chilling the bottles
for a good amount of time afterwards does too. That may be all
you need.

I did let the secondaries drop from 65F to 60F at the end. Not much of a
cold crash but it would really surprise me if it would help here. The
floaters look like chunks of lava rock. The same stuff as you have it
under the fermenter lid after a very vigorous fermentation (which Pale
Ale doesn't exhibit) and then dried up.

If you can, try dropping another batch a bit above freezing and let it
sit for a few days. I find that it really speeds up the dropping of
stubborn yeast clumps. I think I've had them sit for a couple weeks
once or twice in the 65F temperature range, but cold crashing really
sinks them. It depends on the yeast strain, though I don't remember
which ones did that.

The fermentation fridge isn't geared to go below 48F though I could
force it by "hot-wiring" something in the electronics I added. However,
it holds two primaries and two secondaries so three other beers would
suffer when cold-crashing one that hard.

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I don't have a sense of the consistency of what you're seeing,
but it's possible it will help to line the bottling bucket with
a paint strainer bag and then pull it after the beer is transfered
to get some of the big particles out.

<slapping hand against forehead>
That's it! Thanks. How could I not have thought of that? I have almost
two dozen muslin bags stashed away because a new one comes with almost
every recipe kit and I re-use those a lot. I shall try that next time.
I could make myself some sort of heavy metal bracket with a large hole
in one leg to keep the muslin bag in front of the spigot intake.
I'll tie a sanitized string to it during first use in case it
clogs up.

A five gallon paint strainer bag should fit completely around a typical
bottling bucket and you can hold in place with a clip. They cost
something like $5 and you can use them indefinitely for this purpose.
If you use a bucket fermenter for primary you can also use them when
transferring cooled wort from the kettle to catch all the hops and other
crud.

Good point. I'll have to find a larger strainer bag for my 13-gallon
kettle anyhow to get ready for BIAB later this year. Plus a roller mill.

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I've found that gelatin fining helps stubborn yeast. I know
you've said that you're hesitant to use gelatin, so Biofine
Clear is a vegan alternative, and Isinglass is made from fish.
They are a little pricier than gelatin, but I think they come
out to around a dollar or less per five gallon batch, so it's
not too bad.

So far I have used Irish moss. Makes nice clear beer. One of the
reasons to avoid any animal-based products is that we give
bottles to a couple that is more of less stuck at home for
health reasons and the wife is a strict vegetarian.

Irish Moss in the boil won't help for yeast issues, though, since you
need fining to capture the yeast after it has grown. Biofine Clear is
fine for vegans. It's listed at $2.99 here and other mail order brew
supply places also sell it.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/biofine-clear-clarifier-1-oz.html
I think the standard dosage is 0.2 ounces per 5 gallons, so that would
work out to 70 cents per batch, which seems pretty low. You shouldn't
need to use it every time either, since a lot of times cold crashing
ought to be sufficient.

However, quote "Biofine strips out all remaining yeast in 24-48 hours!".
How are the bottle to ever carbonate if the yeast is all gone?

The Belgian Tripel already has a hard time carbonating as it is.
Probably because the yeast had a massive workout with the Belgian candi
sugar and all.

[baloonon]

Post by Joerg
The fermentation fridge isn't geared to go below 48F though I could
force it by "hot-wiring" something in the electronics I added.
However, it holds two primaries and two secondaries so three other
beers would suffer when cold-crashing one that hard.

I currently use the outside when it's cold enough, or now that it's
warming up, put the bucket in a styrofoam cooler and put a bunch of ice
packs in with it.

One of my someday projects is to use some scrap wood and styrofoam I
have to build a slightly larger and nicer looking version.

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
A five gallon paint strainer bag should fit completely around
a typical bottling bucket and you can hold in place with a
clip. They cost something like $5 and you can use them
indefinitely for this purpose. If you use a bucket fermenter
for primary you can also use them when transferring cooled
wort from the kettle to catch all the hops and other
crud.

Good point. I'll have to find a larger strainer bag for my 13-gallon
kettle anyhow to get ready for BIAB later this year. Plus a
roller mill.

FYI, Corona style mills tend to be cheaper. They're harder to fine tune
than roller mills, but it doesn't matter for BIAB.

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
Irish Moss in the boil won't help for yeast issues, though, since you
need fining to capture the yeast after it has grown. Biofine Clear
is fine for vegans. It's listed at $2.99 here and other mail order
brew supply places also sell it.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/biofine-clear-clarifier-1-oz.html
I think the standard dosage is 0.2 ounces per 5 gallons, so that
would work out to 70 cents per batch, which seems pretty low. You
shouldn't need to use it every time either, since a lot of times
cold crashing ought to be sufficient.

However, quote "Biofine strips out all remaining yeast in 24-48
hours!". How are the bottle to ever carbonate if the yeast is
all gone?
The Belgian Tripel already has a hard time carbonating as it is.
Probably because the yeast had a massive workout with the Belgian
candi sugar and all.

I haven't used Biofine Clear, but if it works anything like gelatin it
will leave plenty of yeast for carbing after it has cleared the beer. It
doesn't really need to be visible to get reactivated by priming sugar.
Just keep an eye on it so that it doesn't sit too long before bottling.

I've made beers with a good dose of sugar before and they've carbed
fine, but of course different yeasts may well act in different ways, so
it may be worth checking if there are reasonable alternatives to what
you're using. And then other variables kick in such as fermenting temp,
pitch rate and water chemistry and it gets really hard to know why
things work great one time and struggle another.

[Joerg]

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg
The fermentation fridge isn't geared to go below 48F though I could
force it by "hot-wiring" something in the electronics I added.
However, it holds two primaries and two secondaries so three other
beers would suffer when cold-crashing one that hard.

I currently use the outside when it's cold enough, or now that it's
warming up, put the bucket in a styrofoam cooler and put a bunch of ice
packs in with it.
One of my someday projects is to use some scrap wood and styrofoam I
have to build a slightly larger and nicer looking version.

I am pretty much tapped out for space after cramming a massive former
wine fridge into the basement utility room. Says SWMBO :-)

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
A five gallon paint strainer bag should fit completely around
a typical bottling bucket and you can hold in place with a
clip. They cost something like $5 and you can use them
indefinitely for this purpose. If you use a bucket fermenter
for primary you can also use them when transferring cooled
wort from the kettle to catch all the hops and other
crud.

Good point. I'll have to find a larger strainer bag for my 13-gallon
kettle anyhow to get ready for BIAB later this year. Plus a
roller mill.

FYI, Corona style mills tend to be cheaper. They're harder to fine tune
than roller mills, but it doesn't matter for BIAB.

They aren't all that much cheaper. EBay has two-roller grinders for $100
or about 2x what Corona mills cost:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kegco-Homebrew-Grain-Mill-Barley-Grinder-Malt-Crusher-2-Roller-with-Hopper-/361376169760

Coronas "mush" the grain and gunk up. They are also not so easy to be
driven by an electric drill, something that is really helpful when
having to crush 10-15lbs.

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
Irish Moss in the boil won't help for yeast issues, though, since you
need fining to capture the yeast after it has grown. Biofine Clear
is fine for vegans. It's listed at $2.99 here and other mail order
brew supply places also sell it.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/biofine-clear-clarifier-1-oz.html
I think the standard dosage is 0.2 ounces per 5 gallons, so that
would work out to 70 cents per batch, which seems pretty low. You
shouldn't need to use it every time either, since a lot of times
cold crashing ought to be sufficient.

However, quote "Biofine strips out all remaining yeast in 24-48
hours!". How are the bottle to ever carbonate if the yeast is
all gone?
The Belgian Tripel already has a hard time carbonating as it is.
Probably because the yeast had a massive workout with the Belgian
candi sugar and all.

I haven't used Biofine Clear, but if it works anything like gelatin it
will leave plenty of yeast for carbing after it has cleared the beer. It
doesn't really need to be visible to get reactivated by priming sugar.
Just keep an eye on it so that it doesn't sit too long before bottling.

The recipes recommend four weeks in secondary for Belgian Tripel,
Superior Strong Ale and similar bigger beers. It would probably ok to
cut that to three but I haven't tried yet. Later today another round for
a Belgian Tripel will arrive even though one is in secondary right now.
I love that stuff. One of the reasons I could not retire in Belgium. Me
liver would go to pots :-)

Post by baloonon
I've made beers with a good dose of sugar before and they've carbed
fine, but of course different yeasts may well act in different ways, so
it may be worth checking if there are reasonable alternatives to what
you're using. And then other variables kick in such as fermenting temp,
pitch rate and water chemistry and it gets really hard to know why
things work great one time and struggle another.

The Belgian Tripel and a Stout were already borderline with carbonation.
After one week, nada, totally flat. After the second week there was a
little fizz but it wasn't anywhere close. Later they were ok but never
reached the carbonation level of the usual Pale Ale and IPA. I guess the
yeast was simply tuckered out.

[baloonon]

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I currently use the outside when it's cold enough, or now that it's
warming up, put the bucket in a styrofoam cooler and put a bunch of
ice packs in with it.
One of my someday projects is to use some scrap wood and styrofoam I
have to build a slightly larger and nicer looking version.

I am pretty much tapped out for space after cramming a massive former
wine fridge into the basement utility room. Says SWMBO :-)

The obvious solution is to get out a pick and shovel and start digging.
Then you can use the earth's natural cooling function to help maintain a
low temperature. It would probably need some kind of hydraulic jacking
system to help lower and raise the fermenter while you're at it. A hole
about five feet by five feet ought to do it.

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
FYI, Corona style mills tend to be cheaper. They're harder to fine
tune than roller mills, but it doesn't matter for BIAB.

They aren't all that much cheaper. EBay has two-roller grinders for
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kegco-Homebrew-Grain-Mill-Barley-Grinder-Malt-

Crusher-2-Roller-with-Hopper-/361376169760

Post by Joerg
Coronas "mush" the grain and gunk up. They are also not so easy to be
driven by an electric drill, something that is really helpful when
having to crush 10-15lbs.

I got mine for $25 including shipping from Amazon, and haven't had a
problem with mushed grain or clogging -- a dish brush gets out any
random grains that occasionally get stuck after grinding is done.

I can't say about the drill connection, though, since I only hand crank
it. I thought about it but couldn't figure out how to mount the drill
so I had my hands free for feeding the grain into the hopper. I know
people do run them on drills, but can't comment on how easy it is to set
up.

It's certainly possible that the roller mill has faster throughput --
just eyeballing it makes me think that it can handle more grain faster
than a Corona-style mill, but that's just a guess.

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I haven't used Biofine Clear, but if it works anything like gelatin
it will leave plenty of yeast for carbing after it has cleared the
beer. It doesn't really need to be visible to get reactivated by
priming sugar. Just keep an eye on it so that it doesn't sit too long
before bottling.

The recipes recommend four weeks in secondary for Belgian Tripel,
Superior Strong Ale and similar bigger beers. It would probably ok to
cut that to three but I haven't tried yet. Later today another round
for a Belgian Tripel will arrive even though one is in secondary right
now. I love that stuff. One of the reasons I could not retire in
Belgium. Me liver would go to pots :-)

While I love them, I find it's hard to drink a lot since there tends to
be so much flavor going on -- it's like trying to gorge on fancy cheese
or pate. I find that with big Belgians, it just makes more sense for me
to buy a single or a four pack when the mood strikes.

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I've made beers with a good dose of sugar before and they've carbed
fine, but of course different yeasts may well act in different ways,
so it may be worth checking if there are reasonable alternatives to
what you're using. And then other variables kick in such as
fermenting temp, pitch rate and water chemistry and it gets really
hard to know why things work great one time and struggle another.

The Belgian Tripel and a Stout were already borderline with
carbonation. After one week, nada, totally flat. After the second week
there was a little fizz but it wasn't anywhere close. Later they were
ok but never reached the carbonation level of the usual Pale Ale and
IPA. I guess the yeast was simply tuckered out.

An Englishman will tell you that Stout was properly carbed with just a
touch of carbonation. You can say that's what you wanted all along.

Give them time, gently swirl them every once in a while, don't let them
get too cold, and odds are that the yeast will get around to eating all
the priming sugar eventually. You'll just need another beer to drink
while you wait....

[Joerg]

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I currently use the outside when it's cold enough, or now that it's
warming up, put the bucket in a styrofoam cooler and put a bunch of
ice packs in with it.
One of my someday projects is to use some scrap wood and styrofoam I
have to build a slightly larger and nicer looking version.

I am pretty much tapped out for space after cramming a massive former
wine fridge into the basement utility room. Says SWMBO :-)

The obvious solution is to get out a pick and shovel and start digging.
Then you can use the earth's natural cooling function to help maintain a
low temperature. It would probably need some kind of hydraulic jacking
system to help lower and raise the fermenter while you're at it. A hole
about five feet by five feet ought to do it.

In our area that would require copious amounts of dynamite, neighborhood
evacuation and a permit from the fire marshal :-)

However, we have an old 1956 Bosch fridge in the basement and if there
is a phase where my wife doesn't need it for a couple of months I might
brew a bock beer which needs 8 weeks or more at temps close to freezing.

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
FYI, Corona style mills tend to be cheaper. They're harder to fine
tune than roller mills, but it doesn't matter for BIAB.

They aren't all that much cheaper. EBay has two-roller grinders for
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kegco-Homebrew-Grain-Mill-Barley-Grinder-Malt-

Crusher-2-Roller-with-Hopper-/361376169760

Post by Joerg
Coronas "mush" the grain and gunk up. They are also not so easy to be
driven by an electric drill, something that is really helpful when
having to crush 10-15lbs.

I got mine for $25 including shipping from Amazon, and haven't had a
problem with mushed grain or clogging -- a dish brush gets out any
random grains that occasionally get stuck after grinding is done.
I can't say about the drill connection, though, since I only hand crank
it. I thought about it but couldn't figure out how to mount the drill
so I had my hands free for feeding the grain into the hopper. I know
people do run them on drills, but can't comment on how easy it is to set
up.

Hand-cranking 12lbs of grains doesn't sound like fun.

Post by baloonon
It's certainly possible that the roller mill has faster throughput --
just eyeballing it makes me think that it can handle more grain faster
than a Corona-style mill, but that's just a guess.

Yes, they can handle a lot more and they've got bigger hoppers. Most
people mount then on a sturdy chunk of plywood which fits over a bucket.

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I haven't used Biofine Clear, but if it works anything like gelatin
it will leave plenty of yeast for carbing after it has cleared the
beer. It doesn't really need to be visible to get reactivated by
priming sugar. Just keep an eye on it so that it doesn't sit too long
before bottling.

The recipes recommend four weeks in secondary for Belgian Tripel,
Superior Strong Ale and similar bigger beers. It would probably ok to
cut that to three but I haven't tried yet. Later today another round
for a Belgian Tripel will arrive even though one is in secondary right
now. I love that stuff. One of the reasons I could not retire in
Belgium. Me liver would go to pots :-)

While I love them, I find it's hard to drink a lot since there tends to
be so much flavor going on -- it's like trying to gorge on fancy cheese
or pate. I find that with big Belgians, it just makes more sense for me
to buy a single or a four pack when the mood strikes.

I lived in the south of the Netherlands and it was a short bike ride
over to Belgium so I got very used to the taste of abbey ales. We drink
it on occasion and then only one or max two 12oz bottles between my wife
and I. It lasts a long time but not forever which is why I ordered round #3.

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
I've made beers with a good dose of sugar before and they've carbed
fine, but of course different yeasts may well act in different ways,
so it may be worth checking if there are reasonable alternatives to
what you're using. And then other variables kick in such as
fermenting temp, pitch rate and water chemistry and it gets really
hard to know why things work great one time and struggle another.

The Belgian Tripel and a Stout were already borderline with
carbonation. After one week, nada, totally flat. After the second week
there was a little fizz but it wasn't anywhere close. Later they were
ok but never reached the carbonation level of the usual Pale Ale and
IPA. I guess the yeast was simply tuckered out.

An Englishman will tell you that Stout was properly carbed with just a
touch of carbonation. You can say that's what you wanted all along.
Give them time, gently swirl them every once in a while, don't let them
get too cold, and odds are that the yeast will get around to eating all
the priming sugar eventually. You'll just need another beer to drink
while you wait....

No problem, we've got plenty of beer since I started brewing again. The
Belgian finally carbonated after I placed a crate of it near our wood
stove for a week. The Stout was weird. It always emitted a nice hiss
upon uncapping but only after 4-5 weeks was there a really decent head
with some retention.

[baloonon]

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
Give them time, gently swirl them every once in a while, don't let
them get too cold, and odds are that the yeast will get around to
eating all the priming sugar eventually. You'll just need another
beer to drink while you wait....

No problem, we've got plenty of beer since I started brewing again.
The Belgian finally carbonated after I placed a crate of it near our
wood stove for a week. The Stout was weird. It always emitted a nice
hiss upon uncapping but only after 4-5 weeks was there a really decent
head with some retention.

I wish I had the space and equipment to keg and keep 3-4 kegs cold at a
time, and then just go the forced carbing route. Or even more abitiously,
casks serving naturally carbed hand pulled beer....

[Joerg]

Post by baloonon

Post by Joerg

Post by baloonon
Give them time, gently swirl them every once in a while, don't let
them get too cold, and odds are that the yeast will get around to
eating all the priming sugar eventually. You'll just need another
beer to drink while you wait....

No problem, we've got plenty of beer since I started brewing again.
The Belgian finally carbonated after I placed a crate of it near our
wood stove for a week. The Stout was weird. It always emitted a nice
hiss upon uncapping but only after 4-5 weeks was there a really decent
head with some retention.

I wish I had the space and equipment to keg and keep 3-4 kegs cold at a
time, and then just go the forced carbing route.

An engineer at a client had a large new fridge delivered. "So where do
you want us to put it?" ... "Leave it right here in the middle of the
kitchen because first I'll have to drill some holes into it" ... "WHAT?!"

This became his "keg fridge". A IMHO more attractive alternative would
be what I did, converting an upright wine fridge. Mine became a
fermenting chamber but it could also hold a number of Cornelius kegs and
visitors could see those straight through the glass door:

Loading Image...
Loading Image...

The weird thing in front of one of the secondaries is a "kludge-works"
heater module for winter. These fancy wine fridges often show up for
cheap, for example when the controller electronics are fritzed or
something else doesn't work right. The controller shelf in mine could be
moved after some re-wiring so that there is sufficient space in the
bottom for the kegs. The top could hold some bottles of specialty stuff,
pre-cooled glasses, snacks, Hopka liquor and whatever else might be needed.

Post by baloonon
... Or even more abitiously,
casks serving naturally carbed hand pulled beer....

For that you could look at real estate listings in Northern Europe. They
have some nice castles for sale with large cellars :-)