Question about yeasty beer

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by craftbeerbabe, Jul 3, 2015.

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  1. craftbeerbabe

    craftbeerbabe Initiate (0) May 25, 2015 Pennsylvania

    Hi All,

    I'm fairly new to home brewing. I followed the recipe for a chocolate stout purchased at a homebrew store and got lazy and let it sit from March to June in the secondary. When I went to finally buy bombers in which to syphon, they recommended I reintroduce yeast while adding the priming sugar or it won't carbonate.

    Fast forward a month. I've been letting it condition in the bottles and just tried it today to find that it tasted 100% yeasty and even had big live yeast floaters in there. Disgusting. Did I mention I threw in the entire packet of yeast? Maybe I shouldn't have done that...

    My friend who homebrews a lot more than I do recommended I throw it back in the carboy to ferment for a month longer. When I transfer from my bombers to the carboy, should I use the syphon or just dump it in? I'd much rather dump it in but I don't want to cause even more problems. Syphoning from each bottle sounds kind of hellish to me.

    Like I said, I'm a total novice. Appreciate any feedback and advice.

    Thank you!
    E
     
    #1 craftbeerbabe, Jul 3, 2015
  2. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    The yeast in your bottles will settle to the bottom of the bottles if you just give it sufficient time; gravity does wonders here. If you want to accelerate the yeast sedimentation process put your bottles in the refrigerator; cold temperatures 'encourage' the yeast to settle out.

    I would strongly discourage you from pouring your bottled beers back into a vessel (i.e., a secondary). This will result in oxidized beer. I do not understand why your friend would tell you to do this.

    Do you have the book How to Brew? If not, buy it (or read the online version).

    Cheers!
     
    #2 JackHorzempa, Jul 3, 2015
  3. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You're right, you shouldn't have.

    There's nothing left to ferment. And all raising the temperature of this finished beer will do is accelerate autolysis of your rather abundant yeast. Your friend may homebrew more than you, but he/she is wrong about this.

    At this point, all I would do is cold crash your bottles, and pour very carefully when drinking.
     
    #3 VikeMan, Jul 3, 2015
    JohnSnowNW likes this.
  4. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Next time ... re-pitch 1/10 the original amount.
     
    #4 HerbMeowing, Jul 4, 2015
  5. scottakelly

    scottakelly Maven (1,487) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    I also doubt you needed any added yeast at bottling.
     
    #5 scottakelly, Jul 4, 2015
  6. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    RDWHAHB. Live and learn
     
    #6 inchrisin, Jul 4, 2015
    MrOH likes this.
  7. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Carry around some sort of air freshener, cause you'll be farty
     
    #7 MrOH, Jul 4, 2015
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