I may have messed up the perfect 2nd brew

[molehill]

I did a brew nearly two weeks ago .... Old Speckled Hen. The whole process went to plan. Pre-boil aAG was 1034 and ended at 1050. Used Nottingham dry yeast. I transfered it to the secondary fermenter after 4 days with AG 1018. I added auxiliary and islinglase finings at this stage and bottled it 4 days later with AG 1014. I have since learnt that adding the finings may stop any carbonisation process. It will have been in the bottle 7 days come this Friday. My thoughts are to test a bottle then and if there is no carbonisation evident then add a carbonisation drop to each bottle.

Any thoughts..... apart from what a dimwit I am!

[Eric]

You will certainly have taken out most of the yeast, but unlikely to taken out all. Therefore it will take much longer to carbonate than is usual.
Keep those bottles warm to help them carbonate and maybe next time you bottle you could also fill one small screwtop plastic (PET) bottle that you might feel expand in proportion to carbonation.
There's a lot to learn and from my perspective, you have gone to extraordinary lengths very early into the hobby, but please put that in context as I've only once used auxilliary finings and had just three phases of using isinglass in nearly 50 years homebrewing. Good luck with your chosen and steep learning curve.

[molehill]

Thank you for voicing your obvious well extended knowledge/experience..... This forum is a life saver for newbees like me and I have obtained so much va;luable information fromthis site. I will take heed of your advice and not use the fining additions in the future unless necessary. I did place my bottles straight into my beer fridge at 20-21c. Under normal circumstances I would have opened my first bottle after 3 weeks. How much longer would you expect I should leave before sampling? I like your suggestion of using a screwtop plastic bottle to note cabonisation.

Thanks again.

[jimp2003]

I agree with what Eric has already said. I undersatnd why people might want to use finings but you have been a bit too eager to use them in this case.

Don't forget that it is usually beneficial to leave the beer on the yeast for a few days after you have reached your final gravity target as it gives the yeast time to clean up some of its by products of fermentation that can cause off flavours - don't rush it unless you have to.

Also don't be too eager to get stuck into the beer just because it has carbonated. Most beers need a period of conditioning after the carbonation has taken place. For example I will usually leave a brew like Old Speckled Hen for 2 weeks in the warm to carbonate and then about a month in addition to this before drinking. It varies of course - a lot of wheat beers can be drunk quite quickly whereas an Imperial Stout might need 6-12 months to condition.

[jmc]

Sounds like it will be fine. Don't worry.

By all means try a bottle but don't worry if its not very gassy. Ideally bottles need 2 weeks at room temp and a couple of weeks of cold conditioning so that CO2 produced can dissolve in the beer.

I think finingsvare a red herring. Lots of people add them at the end if the brew prior to bottling.

Enjoy your brew.

[andybiochem]

These are just my opinions...

Old Speckled Hen is an english bitter ale, thus should have very little in the way of carbonation. With my first 15 or so brews I would always add a bit of priming sugar etc. Now at brew no 47 I don't add any priming sugar at all for these types of ales.

Bottle the beer when it has a stable final gravity, and start drinking it a couple of weeks later. Any residual yeast (you'll never be able to remove ALL the yeast with finings) and sugar will add that little bit of natural carbonation needed for the 'real' ale style.

You've not done anything wrong at all in my opinion. hope it turns out well!

[molehill]

I thought I would update you guy's that offered some encouragement and advice. I started drinking my brew (Old Speckled Hen) a couple of weeks ago and each one improves with age. It pours a beautiful creamy head and excellent carbinisation without being at all gassy..... Just our you would wish a real ale to taste.

I love this hobby!

[Mckelvie20]

for me i'm trying to avoid using finings as i see them as totally pointless things to added to a brew,my understanding is they are only used by commercial breweries because the general public (that know very little about beer) think beer should'nt be cloudy.

[stevetk189]

Glad it's turning out ok with time. It's nearly impossible to remove all the yeast, without some major filtration and pasteurizing, As said above, the finings will have knocked a lot of the yeast out of suspension and so there's a lot let to get busy in the bottles. They get there in the end though, good old yeasties.

As for secondary finings in general I think they have a place and shouldn't be totally dismissed. Yes, those in the know, so to speak, don't mind hazy beer - as long as it's good - but I think in these days of the resurgence of craft brewing it's important that folks new to the craft beer scene have some kind of crossover. Clear beer is a good start, it draws them in, then they taste and realise what they've been missing out on.

That said, good floculant yeast and a good primary, secondary fermentaion/conditioning routine and temperature control makes very clear beer. Then it's down to the person pouring from the bottle not to screw it up.

[molehill]

Following up on the sound advice recieved on my post. My 2nd brew (OSH) has continued to improve and now is nice and clear and creamy.

My first brew, which I cocked up a little by adding excessive finings (Gales Butser Bitter). I carbonated using carbonisation drops which I do not intend to repeat. The beer never seemed to condition, with no fizz sound when opened. I think I stored it in too cool a temperature a little research confirmed this, so I placed the bottles in a warm environment (20c) for two weeks then placed them in a room at 10c for a further two weeks. I tried one and bingo carbonation..... maybe a little too much. No matter how carefully/slowely I pour it, I finished with a 1" inch head. Problem is that within 15 minutes its almost going flat..... So much still to learn.

Priming and bottling brew #3 tomorrow.

[john_drummer]

I use approx 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar per 500ml bottle for priming, then leave near a radiator for 2-3 weeks. Usually good enough.

re finings: don't use auxiliary and isinglass at exactly the same time, the effect of one will counteract that of the other; use auxiliary first & then isinglass after a few days if you feel you need to. But you probably won't. As with some of the other posters above, I don't always bother with finings. Especially for porter, stout or Old Peculier/Hobgoblin