ive been wanting to homebrew a cider or lambic and was curious if I could natural ferment or need yeast regardless? also I have home brewed APAs and IPAs using using dry brewers yeast. can I use yeast packet for baking or does that effect flavor or fermentation ? one last question. my homebrews almost always come out flat after 10 to 14 days in the carboy fermenting. Is my airlock not right enough? should I put sugar in bottles to bottle condition it? and which sugars work? tl;dr what yeast could I use? bakers? brewers? does it effect in any way? what is natural ferment? why does my homebrew almost always come out flat? bottle condition with sugars but which kind? how much ? any help is appreciated thank you very much
also my wort was sweet so I know that Im doing the mash and boil right. I think the flatness is coming from something else
this is all for 1 gallon homebrew also. gallon fermenter glass carboy bottled into 64 oz growler 4 grolsch swing top bottles not sure 16oz?
1. People try "natural" ferment, often called wild brews, with mixed results. 2. Yeast used for baking can be used for brewing, but generally not with good results. Yeast used for brewing can be used for baking, but it is generally a waste of money. 3. Off-gasing in the fermenter is natural. You should be carbonating in the bottle by dissolving sugar in your beer right before you bottle. Google bottle priming calculator for instructions and feel free to ask more specific questions on this. Use of corn sugar is often recommended but table sugar is cheaper, more easily attained, and just as effective. The priming calculator will tell you how much you need.
I agree with what pweis909 says, but I'll expand just a bit. For you to try to naturally ferment something, it has to be a wort that is not boiled, or you have to introduce some sort of yeast because the natural yeast is killed during the boil process. If you ferment in an open-top container, you're taking a huge chance that you'll get any airborne yeast at all, or a yeast that will give you a tasty product. If you are fermenting in a closed container with an airlock, then you have to introduce the yeast of your choice. Your beers are flat because the yeast eat the sugar to make the alcohol, and the off-gassing of the CO2 is not captured in a fermentor, thus there is no carbonation. If you add some fermentable sugar back into the beer at the time of bottling and then cap the bottle, the little bit of CO2 that is produced by this tiny amount of refermentation is what produces a carbonated beer. But you have to be certain that 1.) fermentation is complete, and 2.) the amount of priming sugar that you add is calculated for the amount of your liquid (see the calculator that pweis909 mentioned), otherwise, if either of these conditions is off, you can end up with over-carbonated bottles that produce gushers, or in the worst case, exploding bottles (and a mess).
Have you read "How to Brew" by Palmer? 1st edition online howtobrew.com or 3rd edition at amazon for ~$13
Your beer should be flat coming out of the fermenter. Now that the yeast has converted all of the sugar and the resulting CO2 has been allowed to escape through the airlock during fermentation.
I have a how to-brewers book from The Brooklyn Brewshop I've got everything down except the carbonation they always come out flat. But the wort is sweet so I know the sugar is there. The yeast I did have though was 6 months old maybe it died? It says put sugar in bottles while waiting for fermentation. I did but maybe feel like it wasn't enough sugar and I do not know which kind because I can't find anything in that book that tells me and I've read it several times. I've seen people use an off gas tube into a Tupperware of solution but I've also seen people who don't even off gas so idk if that's something to do with it and I shouldn't off gas for the first couple days. Thanks everyone for the advice.
Also should I off gas for a couple days? Or just put the airlock on right away? Will my carboy leak or explode if I don't off gas? My book doesn't explain pros cons of off gassing and I can't find info on it. I've made three flat home brews so far
As Mothergoose03 already said, you need to "capture" the CO2 for proper carbonation. You must have a sealed container (bottle or keg usually) and package with a little fresh sugar...the problem here is to not use too much of this priming sugar or you will be added to Homeland Security's "Do Not Brew" list. : ) Highly recommend "How To Brew" by Palmer also.
You have a philosophical disconnect on the technique for carbonation. The carboy is for fermenting, this is where you want to off-gas. Carbonation is accomplished when the beer is mixed with sugar and capped in a bottle. When your beer has finished fermenting you want to transfer to a sanitized bottling bucket, add your priming sugar, then bottle/cap. Here are the step-by-step details: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11.html Keep your newly-bottled beer in the low-to-mid 70s, and in 1 - 3 weeks the carbonation will naturally occur. A Grolsh bottle has 15.2 ounces. Lambic is normally served uncarbonated.
Oh shit, thanks man haha. For some reason and I did read the book I was under the impression that during the fermenting in the air locked carboy, there would be some carbonation because that's where the yeast eat the sugar in the wort then add sugar to bottles after fermentation to make it more so carbonated when the remaining yeast do their job. Now that I say it like that, it doesn't make sense and I feel dumb haha. Thanks for all the help. Next time I'll just add more sugar to the bottles than I previously had done, I feel that was my misstep because I put BARELY any priming sugar. and go from there. I really appreciate all the help. Thanks so much.
Take the guess work out of it, use this calculator and you will know exactly how much sugar to add.http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/
Never done lambic but a friend that does introduces the wild yeast with the un-sanitized fruit. It´s important to say that I don´t like her lambics (or any lambics i´ve tried so far), too damn acid for me.
