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Paul Erbe
Advanced Member
Username: Perbe
Post Number: 570
Registered: 05-2001
Posted From: 12.27.22.67
| | Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 07:38 pm: | 
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I brewed a Wit on May 21st and had something happen during primary that I have never seen before. I left it sit in my basement for a week. It looked like the foam had made it all the way to the top of the carboy but did not blow the top and had started to subside. I check the temp on the surface of the carboy and it was 72F.
I decided to move it to a cooler room so the temp would not go any higher. The action of moving the carboy literally 8 feet must have roused the yeast enough to restart an active fermentation as the next day yeast and beer had totally blown the top. After a week I was surprised that there was a enough sugar left to cause such an eruption. |
Beertracker
Senior Member
Username: Beertracker
Post Number: 1118
Registered: 03-2002
Posted From: 72.16.20.233
| | Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 07:48 pm: |
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Your wort may have stratified and/or the act of moving it roused the yeast back into suspension. It certainly happens with some fermentations, but I'm surprised at how vigorous it restarted. I've had it happen a few times and even with meads. 
CHEERS! Beertracker
"From man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world." ~ Saint Arnold of Metz (580-640) - Patron Saint of Brewers
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Paul Erbe
Advanced Member
Username: Perbe
Post Number: 572
Registered: 05-2001
Posted From: 12.27.22.67
| | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 01:23 pm: |
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I did a gravity check last night and cleaned out the airlock on this beer. The gravity is 1.010 so if it is not done it is close. A very nice hazy yellow. The flavor seems very nice but the body might be just a little thin(I forgot the oats for my recipe, oh well).
The yeast(3944) is giving a very nice phenolic character. This will not be served until the 4th of July. Do I risk loosing this flavor in a month of cellering? |
Doug Pescatore
Senior Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 1929
Registered: 10-2002
Posted From: 141.232.1.1
| | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 02:32 pm: |
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Moving you fermenter most likely shook up your wort that was saturated with CO2 causing it to come out of solution. Probably happened shortly after you left the room. Think or shaking up a soda or the trick where you hit the top of a buddy's beer bottle with the bottom of your and his erupts.
-Doug |
Beerboy AKA The Jolly Brewer
Senior Member
Username: Matfink
Post Number: 1152
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 86.128.168.78
| | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 02:47 pm: |
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I made wit recently with 45% flaked wheat, 5% oats and 5% rye. Everything went fine and I've bottled it. But I checked the bottles last night and it is crystal clear?????
A chill haze developed when I stuck it in the fridge overnight, but I expected it to remain hazy in the bottle. Interesting....I wonder if Hoegaarden add anything to perpetuate the haze during storage or if I just did something 'wrong' to get such clear beer? |
Steve Funk
Member
Username: Tundra45
Post Number: 196
Registered: 06-2004
Posted From: 209.216.182.35
| | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 07:00 pm: |
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Beerboy, what yeast did you use? When I used the hoegaarden strain (WY3463??) it floced pretty well and left a clear beer. Nothing wrong with the taste tho'. |
Graham Cox
Advanced Member
Username: T2driver
Post Number: 557
Registered: 11-2004
Posted From: 68.32.248.92
| | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 08:18 pm: |
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I once got a scoresheet back on a wit that had scored well in a contest, but it was dinged for being too clear. The judge was sincerely trying to be helpful, I think, but he wrote that he put bread flour into the kettle to ensure that his wits and hefes stayed cloudy.
Unconverted starch into the finished product?! For the sake of a score category that (if memory serves) is only worth 3 points? Not smart, IMHO. |
Chad D.
Intermediate Member
Username: Icehouse
Post Number: 444
Registered: 02-2003
Posted From: 162.58.35.101
| | Posted on Saturday, June 03, 2006 - 01:03 pm: |
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I remember reading in an issue of BYO awhile back... (maybe a year ago? more?)
It was an article featuring wheat beer. I beleive they stated that if you really wanted to ensure cloudyness in your finished product, you could add a couple of tablespoons of bread flour into the boiling kettle in the last couple minutes of the boil.
I am at work now, so cannot check the article, but if memory serves, I beleive they even said some commercial breweries do this. I think they may have mentioned Boulevard wheat ale did this, but I can't remember for sure. |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 5547
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.57.224.243
| | Posted on Saturday, June 03, 2006 - 01:24 pm: |
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Obviously using flour introduces unconverted starches into the beer. This can be the source of nutrients for bacteria that can digest starches and cause infection. However, it takes time for this to occur, and wit is a style normally best consumed relatively young. So it's entirely possible that a tablespoon or two of flour would contribute a nearly permanent haze yet not produce infection if the beer were consumed within a reasonable period of time.
This begs the question of whether it's worth the risk of infection for the sake of appearance points in a competition. From a strict standpoint, clarity should result in a loss of only a single point, although there is always the intangible category of "overall impression."
I added about 2 Tbsp. of flour to a wit, which resulted in an attractive (for this style) haze that never quite settled. Most of the batch was kegged for a party, but the bottles showed no sign of infection during the few months before they too were gone. |
Beerboy AKA The Jolly Brewer
Senior Member
Username: Matfink
Post Number: 1153
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 86.128.168.78
| | Posted on Monday, June 05, 2006 - 08:13 am: |
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Steve, WLP500 (Trappist). |
Brews and Views Archive 2006 
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