bottling
Bottled Oktoberfest Lager
05/09/10 19:00 Filed in: Lagers
I bottled my Oktoberfest lager today. It was my first attempt at making a lager. I think some thing is wrong with my refractometer. Like with my Kölsch-style brew, the gravity readings I get from it do not seem right. This time, it stated my FG for this Oktoberfest was 1.035. Tasting the brew before I bottled it did not reveal any sort of sweetness. In fact, it tasted quite good. I don't really know what is up with this refractometer.
One thing I found curious about this brew is that when I removed the carboy from my brew fridge so that the brew could warm up before bottling, the brew started bubbling, and it actually developed some head after a hour or so. This died down a few hours later and completely stopped with the brew reached room temperature. This being my first lager, I didn't know what to expect, but my best guess is that C02 dissolved in the beer while it was chilled, and as it got warmer the CO2 was driven out. Anyway, bottling went fine, and the brew should be ready in time for Oktoberfest 2010!
One thing I found curious about this brew is that when I removed the carboy from my brew fridge so that the brew could warm up before bottling, the brew started bubbling, and it actually developed some head after a hour or so. This died down a few hours later and completely stopped with the brew reached room temperature. This being my first lager, I didn't know what to expect, but my best guess is that C02 dissolved in the beer while it was chilled, and as it got warmer the CO2 was driven out. Anyway, bottling went fine, and the brew should be ready in time for Oktoberfest 2010!
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Bottling the Organic Kölsch
After fermenting for 2 weeks, then 4 weeks in the secondary fermentor, 3 of which were at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, the organic Kölsch I brewed is finally ready to bottle. Keeping with the organic theme of this brew, I used 1 cup organic corn sugar even though the recipe calls for 3/4 cup. I find that I am not satisfied with the carbonation that 3/4 cup gives.
However, upon cracking up the secondary fermenter and racking it over to the bottling bucket, I was in for a bit of a surprise. My final gravity was 1.028 from an OG of 1.056. That's an apparent attenuation of only 47%. Thinking my refractometer was not calibrated correctly, I quickly took a reading with plain water. That yielded a gravity of 1.0, so it wasn't the measurement instrument. I retook a measurement once the priming sugar was mixed in, and the new reading was 1.030. I don't quite know what happened here. I used a yeast starter, and I had vigorous fermentation within 12 ours of pitching. Tasting the beer before I bottled it didn't yield a sweet malty flavor. In fact, the beer tasted pretty good, if a bit hoppy.So we'll see how it turn out after conditioning. If my gravity readings are correct, I might have some heavily carbonated beer ... probably should have gone with the 3/4 cup corn sugar like the recipe says.
However, upon cracking up the secondary fermenter and racking it over to the bottling bucket, I was in for a bit of a surprise. My final gravity was 1.028 from an OG of 1.056. That's an apparent attenuation of only 47%. Thinking my refractometer was not calibrated correctly, I quickly took a reading with plain water. That yielded a gravity of 1.0, so it wasn't the measurement instrument. I retook a measurement once the priming sugar was mixed in, and the new reading was 1.030. I don't quite know what happened here. I used a yeast starter, and I had vigorous fermentation within 12 ours of pitching. Tasting the beer before I bottled it didn't yield a sweet malty flavor. In fact, the beer tasted pretty good, if a bit hoppy.So we'll see how it turn out after conditioning. If my gravity readings are correct, I might have some heavily carbonated beer ... probably should have gone with the 3/4 cup corn sugar like the recipe says.
