Noobie Questions BrewFerm Orange Bock Beer 12 ltr Beer Kit

[DesQuinn]

Hi All,

For my third brew I've decided to try the BrewFerm Orange Bock Beer kit. The kit advises using a second fermenter, which I decided not to bother with. I bottled it last night with a FG of 1020, OG was 1055 (the kit advises that FG should be 1010).

No matter how much I tried I couldn't get the damn thing to start siphoning for me so I used a sterilized jug and funnel to bottle the beers. I tried not to let the beer splash but it did get "foamy" as it filled the bottles.

My main questions are as follows

1. Could I have introduced oxygen to the beer using the jug? and does this even matter? does the oxygen thing only matter when bottling wine?
2. I hit the yeast cake at the bottom a few times with the last 3 jugs, will this sediment ruin the taste? will it make the beer cloudy?

The other two brews I have bottle conditioning at the moment are the Coopers Dark Ale (I used a second fermenter and although the beer came out clear, I don't think I'm happy with the overall taste just yet, but I'll give it time) I also gave the Coopers Stout a go, I was quiet happy with the way it came out, I added extra water and this reduced the overall abv.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Des

[Chris]

1.020 is a high finishing gravity. Are you sure it had fermented out fully.

You may have oxidised the beer but in my experience it takes a lot of splashing. Kits are very forgiving.

If you stirred up a bit of yeast it won't matter too much to the taste. Don't forget a Bock takes a good while to condition.

[DesQuinn]

Thanks Chris.

I had issues measuring FG with the hydrometer because it was only a 12l kit and the hydrometer was hitting the bottom of the bucket.


So I had to find a pint glass long enough to measure FG, of course I made the mistake of pouring a beer I had bottled (and primed), it was only after I posted this that I remembered the beer was primed, so the extra sugar (a carbonation drop) had an effect on FG.

I'm not sure if FG would go up or down because of this though.

The kit required 10days primary fermentation, actual primary was 19days, I didn't go for secondary fermentation with the kit as the kit said that it was ok to skip this step.

[Garry]

Welcome to the NHC Des.

The priming sugar will make your gravity reading higher. You'll probably be fine. 19 days in primary should be plenty of time for the fermentation to finish.

You probably did introduce extra oxygen using the jug but the yeast will more than likely eat this up during conditioning.

Get yourself a trial jar for doing gravity readings 

[DesQuinn]

Thanks Gary, I'll have to invest in one of those! 

[shweeney]

you may also be able to use the tube your hydrometer came in.

[johnrm]

Sanitise your Hydrometer and drop it in your FV.

[Garry]

He tried that and it bottomed out 

[Chris]

I have a hacked version of this kit bottle conditioning at the moment. The yeast is very aggressive and it's unlikely it didn't ferment out after 19 days. The high gravity reading is most likely because of the priming sugar. It's a great kit I have no doubt you'll enjoy it