Brewing beer - step by step, part 6: Fermentation!

in #beer7 years ago

Fermentation is both exciting an very boring at the same time...

Fastferment.jpg

FastFerment tank

Fermentation is a fascinating topic that can be as easy as just sprinkling a packet of dry beer yeast on top of the wort in the fermenting tank or a multi-stage process with several different yeasts added sequentially to push the beer higher and higher in alcoholic content! It is also possible to just leave the fermentation tank open and letting the natural yeast in the local environment do the job, probably with a different result each time! I use the Nottingham dry yeast from Danstar regularly and liquid yeast packs when I do a more complex beer. My Elder flower cider uses the natural yeast on the flowers themselves to ferment, usually this works very well!
The fermentation starts with the addition of the yeast to the wort, preferably directly after cooling the wort from boiling temperature to room temperature. A rehydration step is recommended when using dry yeast, just sprinkle the packet over 1dl/0.1qt room temperature water and let it sit for 30 minutes. A yeast starter can also be used with both dry and liquid yeast but that is another story!
The yeast will start to work almost immediately but it can take 12-24h before it is obvious that the fermentation is on its way. At full krausen (peak yeast activity) it will look something like in the picture above!
The fermentation schedule can be found at the bottom of the Brew Sheet from the Beersmith software:
brewsheetbottom.JPG

Here you can read that the primary fermentation will last for 4 days, after which you can siphon off the wort into another fermentation tank for the secondary fermentation step, or you can just leave the wort in the first tank and let it sit for another 10 days secondary fermentation before siphoning out the finished beer!
Since I have a FastFerment tank I leave the bottom valve closed during the primary fermentation. I open the valve and the air (or preferably CO2...)will bubble up through the tank stirring the content. The bottom sediment will then settle into the bulb beneath the bottom valve and it can easily be removed after the secondary fermentation. I then put a clean and sanitized cornelius keg beneath the Fastferment and open the bottom valve, letting the beer pour into the keg, ready for the CO2 addition!

That is all for today, tomorrow I will describe my kegs and the serving tap system!

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Thanks for the education!

Thank you!

helllo @almide , Brewing beer post is very helpful .... i upvote you can follow and up vote me .

Thank you!

Why am I just finding this!!? Now I have to go back and read parts 1-5. I've always wanted to get into a little home-brewing. I brew my own kombucha and make my own yogurt. Beer seems like it's not all that far off.. Now I've got some homework! Great post, resteemed!

Thank you for your kind words and you are absolutely right, beer brewing is not far from kombucha and youghurt! I do my own kefir and sometimes youghurt as well.

OOh i've never tried making my own kefir - I shy away because of the 'grains' (is that what is used?) But i do like kefir. I might try to talk my husband into doing a batch of beer....if so, your posts will be my first resource :)

Yes, the grains for kefir is kind of tricky and the first ones I ordered online froze in my mailbox... But it is not difficult once you get the hang of it! Should'nt be too hard to talk him into beer? ;-) Start with a kit with malt syrup or spray-dried malt and you kan skip the mashing process!

Ooh good idea! Yeah shouldn't be too hard is right :) I just tend to have loads of projects at any given time :))

Me to, I have to learn to finish a project before starting the next one! Right now I have a kayak, a patio, a CNC router and a CNC laser to build, where to start...?

Mmm. beer.. thanks for sharing!

Both a hobby and pure bliss!

Good post ....thanks for sharing

Thank you!

Good post.
I was surprised when I read you can leave the fermenter open and let the wild yeast do the job? Have you ever tried this? Don't you also invite bacteria and other not welcomed things to have a go at the wort?

It is still a common practise in some monastic brew houses in Belgium, but the result is very unpredictable if you do not control the environment like they do. With the Elder flowers it is a little better, but I have had some batches look more like jelly than cider...

Fascinating. Can you do a post about that maybe, I would love to read about it :)

What part would you like me to write about? The yeast starter?

The wild yeast brewing. How they do it in monasteries and what kind of beer is produced and how to do it at home :)
I would be interested in reading that

Ok, absolutely! I'm going to cover the basics first but then I plan to deep dive into special topics like this!

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I would be happy if you like to follow me and give your opinion about my posts.
Thanks.

Thank you! I really liked your chocolate chip recipe post!

thanks for like my friend

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