Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

How long can you leave a brew sitting in the fermenter? Have forgotten about mine so its 6 weeks old :/

Hmmm not good Badger, I'd still probably bottle it but 4 - 14 days would be the fermentation window for most beers. I find most Ale yeasts take about 7 days.

I have left brews in the container for far longer than the recommended period with no problem. 6 weeks may be pushing it though but still worth bottling. Temperature regulation is the main thing to prevent it going off.

For sterilisation I use sodium percarbonate to wash bottles then a quick rinse with fresh water. A double sink or two buckets is the go. For the wort I just use a kettle of boiled water and swish it around. The main thing with sanitisation is to always rinse the bottles and equipment straight away and not let anything fester in the bottom. Makes life so much easier.

As a general rule, I ferment Ales for 7 days and Lagers for 10 days at the appropriate temperatures.

Usually you should use your hydrometer to tell you when to bottle according to a brewing calculator.

http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe

6 weeks is a long time, theoretically the CO2 produced during fermentation should have expelled all the
oxygen, but I don't know whether I'd be game to drink it.
It really depends how well sterilised it all was at the beginning.
Any stray bacteria may have multiplied substantially in 6 weeks.

cheers Lou

Everybody I know uses sodium metabisulfate to sterilise. It's called NaMeta for short.
Actually 1 person I know heat sterilises his bottles.

As for 6 weeks. It depends on the yeast. I regularly leave meads on the lees for 8-12 weeks.
But if the yeast is prone to autolysis, you'll get some nasty tasting compounds.
Some brews are actually aged 'sur lie' which is up to 5 years on the yeast, regularly stirring it up. But again, the right yeast must be used.
Taste your beer. If it tastes like warm flat beer, then bottle condition it and start drinking. If it tastes gross, cut your losses.

We used to put down a brew and then go to sea, then come home whenever we had finished whatever we were doing and bottle the brew (if it wasn't infected, talk about stink!) The longest I had a batch in the fermenter was over 8 weeks, but this was at constant temperature (27C +/- 1C). It bottled OK, but whenever I opened a bottle of the stuff, it just bubbled and frothed for hours, sort of like that space-invader foam. It took 45 mins to pour a middy's worth of beer into a jug because of the excessive gassing and head. Not too sure if it was the prolonged time in the barrel, or something else? Taste was OK though, when you could finally get a drink of the stuff.

Unless you've got the time and resources to babysit what might be a dud brew, I'd just chuck that batch and get another one on the go, otherwise, consider this an experiment and bottle it.

Thanks for all the info dudes.

My first batch has finished fermenting and I have just finished cleaning 70 bloody stubbies. Must admit Im kinda enjoying it

Tomorrow.... bottle time!

I gave up on stubbies long ago, King Browns sooooo much quicker!

Yes, go the Kingies, or whilst "learning", pay some extra and get some "extra strength" home brew bottles, they help prevent explosions (well, do less damage anyway!)

Place your bottles in solid crates and cover with cardboard or wrap in a sturdy blanket, just in case; keep children and pets away.

yea Ive quickly found out that long necks (shoulder chargers) are def the go. can see this bottling getting old real quick. I have acumulated about 200 stubbies thou so Ill use those up for now.

I mentioned to Mrs charlie that I will have to drink a few box's of long necks to get some stock up and she looked at me like I was some kind of bush bandit.... oh well, looks like Ill have to grow a beard not to dissapoint hehe..

What do you mean "extra strength" scotty?.... as in extra strength beer? Didnt realise they were stronger bottles... or am I missing the point?

Absolutely !!

Some bottles are designed to be able to hold a higher pressure, the shoulders are more rounded, the base is slightly different to " normal" beer bottles and the glass itself is thicker. They cost a little more, but they're almost indestructible, they leave dents in hardwood floors instead of smashing!! You can also soft-cap bottles so the weakest point is the crown seal, then tighten them up after the secondary fermentation has finished, but it can be pretty and hit and miss.

Just remember these are pressure vessels, you could build up to about 6 atm or more!

Years and years ago I used to use the kids sterilising fluid for the beer equipment and their bottles. Didn't harm the beer - and didnt harm them either so something must be right!

Good advice there bunson, Homebrew shops will have a bunch of different bottle options, I'm trialling some of the plastic ones at the moment. For my money I prefer coopers longnecks - the bottles are heavy duty, and the beer is pretty good too

Charlie there are a couple of brewshops near Jandakot, could be a good time to stock up on supplies....

I use these grolsch bottles. Pretty solid glass, resealable caps and holds roughly a pint. Was expensive to get them initially but tasted pretty good.