carbonation

[sawansley]

I just purchased the american ale and the brewing enhancer. DO i need anything for carbonation, or will it happen with these items?

[John Sand]

Hello, and welcome! Carbonation requires additional sugar. The yeast will eat all of the sugar in your ingredient kit, leaving it alcoholic and slightly carbonated. When you put it in the bottle you add a little sugar for the yeast to carbonate. There should be instructions, maybe even a measuring spoon in your kit. For a twelve ounce bottle I find that Domino Dot sugar cubes are just about right. If your bottles are pint or half liter, you need more.
Let us know how it works out.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Welcome to the Borg, if you have questions please ask!!! John pretty much covered the carb question. I want to give you a heads up on giving it more time than the instruction call for. Best way to get a decent beer out of these kits is to let the beer ferment 3 weeks, bottle condition for 4 weeks, put what you will drink in the fridge for 2-3 days to let the CO2 absorb back into the beer. For an FYI experiment, you can put a bottle in the fridge @ 2, 3, and 4 week marks and try as you go, you will see the progression of how the beer tastes as it is conditioning.

[TonyKZ1]

Hello and welcome to the site!
Yep, basically what was already said. 3 weeks in the fermenter, in the mid 60s temperature range and then 4 weeks at room temp for carbonating/conditioning. As for the priming sugar required when bottling, here's a link to Mr. Beer's recommended sugar priming amounts for bottle priming. On BrewDemon's site, the 2G instructions also recommends the same amounts of priming sugar. Most of us use just a little less than that though. As in the chart recommends 3/4 an ounce of priming sugar for 12oz bottle, I and others use 1/2 ounce. Or one of the Domino Dots 1/2 ounce sugar cubes, that makes it easier.

[Tapakegaday]

I just need some clarification, as im new to brewing also. do you ferment for 3 weeks and then once you bottle it let it sit for another 4 weeks to carbonate or wait until week number 4 to try for taste?

[bpgreen]

I just need some clarification, as im new to brewing also. do you ferment for 3 weeks and then once you bottle it let it sit for another 4 weeks to carbonate or wait until week number 4 to try for taste?

Ferment for three weeks, then bottle with priming sugar and let them sit 4 more weeks to carbonate and condition.

[ScrewyBrewer]

I just need some clarification, as im new to brewing also. do you ferment for 3 weeks and then once you bottle it let it sit for another 4 weeks to carbonate or wait until week number 4 to try for taste?

Ferment for three weeks, then bottle with priming sugar and let them sit 4 more weeks to carbonate and condition.

During the 6-7 week waiting period, you may want to brew another batch of beer. That's how you get what's called a pipeline going. With a little planning you can have cold beers to drink while waiting for that next batch to be ready.

[Hayzer]

I too am new and I am currently fermenting (68 degrees) a BrewDemon Pilsner, which came with the 2 gal. kit. I should leave this in the fermenter for three weeks total? Do I bottle per directions and then set at room temperature for four weeks in the bottle? After four weeks in bottle do you start refrigerating?

[mashani]

I should leave this in the fermenter for three weeks total?

It is probably a good idea to do so. Later if you start to pitch a lot more yeast then comes with those kits and you have a hydrometer to measure with you can go down to 2 weeks or even less, but without those things just let it sit 3 weeks, it causes no harm to wait, but bottling too soon is bad.

Do I bottle per directions and then set at room temperature for four weeks in the bottle? After four weeks in bottle do you start refrigerating?

Yes, leave at room temp for 3-4 weeks.

You do NOT need to refrigerate the whole batch after that. You can if you try a bottle and then like how it tastes. But you also can leave it at room temp longer and try them with more age, some beers might continue to improve with more aging. Other beers might do better with being put in the fridge and left cold for 2 or even 4 weeks before you drink them. It just depends on what kind/style of beer it is and also how well it was brewed (time can fix some types of flaws).

I make lots of beer that stays at basement temps (60-70) for many months/a year/more and doesn't go down hill.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

Mashani's right. Without a hydrometer, the only way to know for sure that your fermentation is complete is to wait the full three weeks.

Some call this the "3/4 Method" meaning 3 weeks in the fermenter and 4 weeks in bottles at room temps before chilling. I keep mine in the basement too, in tubs that can contain any bottle rockets and out of the light.

[Hayzer]

Mashani's right. Without a hydrometer, the only way to know for sure that your fermentation is complete is to wait the full three weeks.

Some call this the "3/4 Method" meaning 3 weeks in the fermenter and 4 weeks in bottles at room temps before chilling. I keep mine in the basement too, in tubs that can contain any bottle rockets and out of the light.

I have to be at Knucklehead's on day 21. Can I bottle at day 19 and be ok? I'm not trying to split hairs here, but just want my first batch to be right. Should I wait until day 23+?

[Kealia]

Day 19 will be fine. The 3-week recommendation is a safe zone but 2 less days shouldn't cause problems assuming that you're in the right temp zone (not too cold).

[Hayzer]

Day 19 will be fine. The 3-week recommendation is a safe zone but 2 less days shouldn't cause problems assuming that you're in the right temp zone (not too cold).

I’ve been hovering around 69-72 degrees during the fermentation.


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[mashani]

It will be done.

FYI: Assuming you are using the Mr. Beer/Brew Demon default yeast packs, you might want to try to keep it more like 64-68 next time if you can. It will probably make better beer if you do. I don't like those yeasts lower then 64, they throw off acetaldehyde that bugs the crap out of me (although others might not taste it).

Some other dry yeast strains can be used even lower then that. But even if you can't go lower, 64-68 is typically not going to be "bad" for an ale yeast.

[LilGTO71]

Im really thick in the head I guess. Should I use 2 Dominoe Sugar Dots for a quart bottle, or one. TIA