secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

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RatboyOllie

secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by RatboyOllie » Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:53 pm

Hiya chaps, hopefully a quick and stupid newbie question

ive both kegged and bottled some cider and beer. Its sat in my spare room at the minute with the intention of leaving it to secondary ferment, but, my question is........ how do i know if it is doing or not?

I bottled a belgian ale that was fermenting at 25oC with a fishtank heater, now its in bottles its sat in an ambient air temp of around 18 to 19oC.

Will it be fermenting in the bottles still? i do hope so !!

My other is a kegged cider which is sat in the same room in a budget barrel.

Anything I can do or observe to check if its all goin to plan? Hate to get 3 months down the line to find its all flat !!!!

help !

:?

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Re: secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by WishboneBrewery » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:48 pm

You could always bottle a bit in a plastic coke bottle, squeeze most of the air out before capping it and leave it somewhere warm, It should swell and pressurise so long as its primed. :)

farmhousekeg

Re: secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by farmhousekeg » Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:53 pm

I'm sure it'll be OK but you could just crack open the barrel tap a tiny bit and when you have pressure there then you'll know all is well. Safe to assume the bottles will also be OK. Cheers.

Lillywhite

Re: secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by Lillywhite » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:24 am

farmhousekeg wrote:I'm sure it'll be OK but you could just crack open the barrel tap a tiny bit ....
Or simply squeeze the rubber band on the pressure valve and listen for a hiss.

RatboyOllie

Re: secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by RatboyOllie » Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:04 pm

cheers everyone

i will go and squeeze the band and see what happens. fingers crossed for a hiss..........

Good idea with the empty coke bottle, i will try that one next time around, cheers

:D

Operator

Re: secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by Operator » Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:18 pm

RatboyOllie wrote: Hate to get 3 months down the line to find its all flat !!!!


:?

3 Months!!! How much will power do you have Ratboy, I struggle with 3 weeks, sometimes (coopers stout) 3 days... :mrgreen:

RatboyOllie

Re: secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by RatboyOllie » Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:27 pm

its my 30th in May mate so im brewin as much as I can now and leavin it to condition until May

it truly is a real test of will power, fingers crossed it isnt all knackered when I finally crack it open !!

By the way, i squeezed the valve thingyme and it hissed so presumably its workin

excellent, cheers !

:D :D

Lillywhite

Re: secondary fermentation - how dya know if its happenin?

Post by Lillywhite » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:10 pm

RatboyOllie wrote: By the way, i squeezed the valve thingyme and it hissed so presumably its workin

excellent, cheers !

:D :D

Just love when it when a plan comes together. :wink:

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