HLB rack to secondary
It is now 5 days after starting the HLB; bubbling seemed to have stopped a couple of days ago.
The fermentation started off very active, blowing yuck out of the airlock. I cleaned it up and put it back in. The fermentation was marked by the distinctive odour of rotten eggs (and other nastier things). This is unmistakably caused by the production of hydrogen sulphide. Aparently there are two possible causes: some yeast strains do this, and so will the addition of sugar to the wort. Both of these could be factors in my case. The good news is that hydrogen sulphide is extremely volatile, and will hopefully come out of solution in the secondary.
So it's time to rack to the secondary. I racked to the 1 gallon juice jar, with not much ado. I took a gravity reading, and was pleasantly surprised it had gone all the way down to 1010 (from 1050). This represents 80% AA and 5.6% ABV. Not bad! The taste was pretty light, as could be expected. The orange was perceptable, but none of the other flavour adjuncts were. However, there was no sweetness, which may be in part to bitterness imparted by these ingredients. The completeness of the fermentation probably also contributes to the lack of sweetness. During racking, the liquid was extremely cloudy. Hopefully this will settle out somewhat. However, it is worth remembering that wheat was used, so this is a good excuse for cloudyness! Colour is pale amber.
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Last Chance for PNB
I measured the SG of the PNB - it is still 1026 after 2 weeks. I have 3 choices.
1. Bottle now
2. Throw away
3. Repitch
I'm scared of bottling with this high of an SG - I think I'll produce some time bombs this way.
Tipping down the drain is rapidly becoming a realistic option. However, I figured I'll try repitching, just in csae. This has two possible benifits. First, there is the chance that fermentation might continue, and I get something drinkable. Second, this a good test to see if the baker's yeast is to blame for the H2S smell in the HLB. I know I'm supposed to repitch with the same strain of yeast, but since I don't have any right now, and I have the prospect of the above experiment, I'm going to anyway.
To give the yeast the best chance, I re-aerated by tipping the wort into a bucket, then funneling back into a carboy. I did this several times, and believe that I got pretty good aeration. I figured, just in case I do get vigorous fermentation, I should use the 6.5 gallon carboy. At this stage, I have to admit, I didn't spend much time or effort with sanitation. I pretty much eyeballed to make sure everything was clean, and rinsed under the hot tap. I figure any off tastes from bad sanitation will be offset by the general sourness of this beer anyway. Having said that, the sourness has mellowed perceptably over 2 weeks.
The fermentation started off very active, blowing yuck out of the airlock. I cleaned it up and put it back in. The fermentation was marked by the distinctive odour of rotten eggs (and other nastier things). This is unmistakably caused by the production of hydrogen sulphide. Aparently there are two possible causes: some yeast strains do this, and so will the addition of sugar to the wort. Both of these could be factors in my case. The good news is that hydrogen sulphide is extremely volatile, and will hopefully come out of solution in the secondary.
So it's time to rack to the secondary. I racked to the 1 gallon juice jar, with not much ado. I took a gravity reading, and was pleasantly surprised it had gone all the way down to 1010 (from 1050). This represents 80% AA and 5.6% ABV. Not bad! The taste was pretty light, as could be expected. The orange was perceptable, but none of the other flavour adjuncts were. However, there was no sweetness, which may be in part to bitterness imparted by these ingredients. The completeness of the fermentation probably also contributes to the lack of sweetness. During racking, the liquid was extremely cloudy. Hopefully this will settle out somewhat. However, it is worth remembering that wheat was used, so this is a good excuse for cloudyness! Colour is pale amber.
-------------------------------------------
Last Chance for PNB
I measured the SG of the PNB - it is still 1026 after 2 weeks. I have 3 choices.
1. Bottle now
2. Throw away
3. Repitch
I'm scared of bottling with this high of an SG - I think I'll produce some time bombs this way.
Tipping down the drain is rapidly becoming a realistic option. However, I figured I'll try repitching, just in csae. This has two possible benifits. First, there is the chance that fermentation might continue, and I get something drinkable. Second, this a good test to see if the baker's yeast is to blame for the H2S smell in the HLB. I know I'm supposed to repitch with the same strain of yeast, but since I don't have any right now, and I have the prospect of the above experiment, I'm going to anyway.
To give the yeast the best chance, I re-aerated by tipping the wort into a bucket, then funneling back into a carboy. I did this several times, and believe that I got pretty good aeration. I figured, just in case I do get vigorous fermentation, I should use the 6.5 gallon carboy. At this stage, I have to admit, I didn't spend much time or effort with sanitation. I pretty much eyeballed to make sure everything was clean, and rinsed under the hot tap. I figure any off tastes from bad sanitation will be offset by the general sourness of this beer anyway. Having said that, the sourness has mellowed perceptably over 2 weeks.
posted by number9 at 6:45 PM
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