BeerBorg

Hi,

I just got my Brewdemon kit last week and set it up immediately. I'm excited about what's to come.

I do have a couple quick questions. I've decided to let my brew stay in the fermentor for about 3 weeks and then 3 weeks for bottling. How does that sound?

Also, is there a reason Brewdemon sells a clear kit for cider? Will it not work as well in the beer kit?

Thanks, I can't wait to try more advanced stuff too.

Cider will work fine in your little brown fermenter. The clear fermenter just lets perverts watch the little yeasties doing their thing more easily, and maybe it make it easier to see what needs cleaning later.

But beer would not be so good in the clear one because light + hops = skunked beer. The brown fermenter provides extra protection from sunlight, not just perverts.

Your 3 weeks + 3 weeks is probably good, but at 4 weeks after bottling you may find the beer even better. It just depends on the beer.

Welcome to our obsession.

Yeah, what he said.

It's clear that you've done some reading, good for you.

For new Brewers I do suggest to try a bottle after two weeks, then keep sampling at 1 week intervals so you can see and taste the difference. It gives you the "why" as to why you are waiting instead of just blindly following advice, ya know?

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I have no advice to add, but I will welcome you to the forum and let you know that you can ask any question you have, no matter how basic it is. A problem with a lot of forums is that people forget what it was like when they were new. Here, everybody seems to be able to remember what it was like when they were new, but there are also people who are able to answer really complex questions from advanced users.

Welcome to the forum and to the hobby/addiction.

Welcome aboard! Please keep us posted.

Welcome. I agree with the suggestion to try one early, just so later you can say "wow, what a difference a week (or two) can make."

Welcome to the Borg and happy brewing!

Welcome.

Refrigerate only what you're ready to drink, and put it in the frig 3 days prior to drinking it, which allows the CO2 proper time to absorb into the beer. You can try one early, and then one each, and what you'll learn is that light or hoppy beers are best young, and dark and heavy beers are best aged. I go 3-4 for everything minimum.

Welcome to the Borg, great group here! If you have questions please ask, you will get answers!

RickBeer wrote:Welcome.

Refrigerate only what you're ready to drink.

Interesting, so you don't recommend the cold conditioning I've heard about?

Also, will any white sugar be fine for the carbonation process?

Thanks, this seems like a wonderful community.

Welcome to the Borg!!
As for cold conditioning, I used to carbonate the bottled beer in my basement for 4 weeks. After that period I would put a couple in the fridge and do what RickBeer said, tasting them over time. They will change a bit over time. Try it and you'll see what we are talking about.

But now I'm going to throw a wrench into that theory...I keg my beers now. And you can't exactly leave some at basement temps and put a couple in the fridge to taste them. It's either all or nothing with a keg. After I keg a batch, it goes into the fridge and hooked up to gas to carbonate. It takes me about a week or so to fully carbonate. Basically a keg is just one big bottle of beer. I will say the the beers I pour a couple weeks after it's been carbonated are usually better than the ones I pour right away. So the wrench is that I think they they will condition just fine if you put them all in the fridge at the same time. You'll most likely be drinking them over time too, so you'll be able to tell the difference between the ones that have been in the fridge for a while compared to the ones that have only been in there a few days after being fully carbed.

So, to answer you question, I believe they will cold condition just fine if you put them all in the fridge after they've been fully carbed, it does in a keg!

You can use any white sugar to carb, I always used corn sugar. Not really sure why, it's just what I learned. Hell, some people even use honey to carb.

The only thing I will add is that when bottling, you are creating a little "mini fermentation" to get the carb, where kegging this isn't the case. I'd wait at least a few weeks after the beer is fully bottle carbonated before I threw them all in the fridge if I was going to go that route because otherwise I would taste acetaldehyde (cidery green apple), and that will not condition out in the fridge, the yeast has to be active for that to happen. IE, I would let them sit for 4 weeks and then throw them all in the fridge if I was doing this.

I generally don't, I just keep beer in boxes in my basement, and move say 6 or 8 at a time into the fridge as they are "depleted".

Any sugar works as said. The difference between cane sugar and corn sugar is that yeast can directly eat corn sugar, but has to split cane sugar into two simpler sugars by producing an enzyme (invertase) before it can eat it. Basically it creates its own invert sugar out of cane sugar. Honey actually has invertase in it.

This process "may" create more acetaldehyde. I say "may" because I don't know if anyone has ever actually measured this scientifically. But lots of people (including me) would say they can taste the acetaldehyde more when using cane sugar if the beer is consumed really young (like 2 weeks in the bottle). By 3 weeks or 4 weeks I can't tell any difference because they yeast cleans it up anyways. I am an acetaldehyde super taster however, many people might not even notice. And I don't drink my beers until they have been in the bottle for 3-4 weeks anyways, so I just use cane sugar anyways.

Acetaldehyde doesn't just taste like cider/green apples, it can give you significant headaches / hangover symptoms, and trigger migraines. So you really do want to let it condition out whether you can taste it or not.

Some people think corn sugar gives them "finer carb". I think this is more likely just that it's producing carb a bit faster due to the process I mentioned above (direct consumption vs. splitting the sugar), so the carb that is produced has had more time to fully absorb into the beer if you are drinking them when young. I think with some age on it, it doesn't matter.

mashani wrote:IE, I would let them sit for 4 weeks and then throw them all in the fridge if I was doing this.

Yup, I agree, and also metioned the 4 weeks carb/conditioning time.

Hello and welcome to the site. As others have said, I do also, ferment 3 weeks and carb/condition for 4 weeks.

Maunruh; welcome to home brewing.
Some say it's an obsession.
Some say it's an addiction.
The choice is yours to make.

My 2¢ ...
Corn sugar cost more than table sugar.
Table sugar works just as well as corn sugar.
- As they say ... it's your beer; do what you want.

All else equal ... Home Brewing 101 kit recipes ... such as Brewdemon and Mr. Beer ... are ready for bottling after fermenting for two weeks. Waiting three weeks to bottle will have no ill effect on the finished product.
Better to wait an extra week to bottle than bottle too soon (see: bottle bombs).
- As they say ... it's your beer; do what you want.

As for conditioning; it's been my experience w/extract recipes ... they come into their own around Week 6 in the bottle.
That's not to say you can't drink it sooner ... only that the brew's flavors needs that much time to meld & mature.
- As they say ... it's your beer; do what you want.