I just completed my first all grain brew!
I observed a few things during the fermentation process that I'm not sure about.
1) A lot sediment!
I've done several extract brews and at by the end of the fermentation process there is a layer of sediment in the fermenter bucket which is certainly old yeast (hops filtered when going into fementor), so no issue there.
But in my all grain brew, there was a huge amount of sediment... probably 3 or 4 cm in the bottom of the bucket. Looks like sediment from the milled grains? Is this normal?
(I noticed that the wort was very cloudy when I transferred to the fermenter bucket (not the case when doing extract brewing).
Is this cloudiness normal? Do I need to filter more when transfering to the fermentation bucket?
2) Bubbling after reaching final gravity
I tracked the gravity during the fermentation process. As usual, a lot of bubbling at the beginning and progressively slowed down. Reached the FG in about 4 days, but slow bubbling continued. Even after 10 days, there was still some activity even though there was little or no change in gravity points. I thought that maybe the yeast was still munching on something in all that sediment so I racked for a 2nd fermentation without all that sediment. The bubbling immediately stopped after it was racked. I left is there for about 5 days then packaged.
What can cause this extended fermentation period and is it normal?
3) No after taste?
After conditioning for about 3 weeks, first taste... It is carbonated ok, first taste in the mouth is actually pretty good. But there is "no" after taste... I expect the taste to linger a little. There is no off taste. First moments in the mouth are good, but after than kind of bland,
I read somewhere that this could be related to that extended period of active fermentation? That the yeast is processing something in the wort that can cause this blandness?
Any advice on what could cause this?
Ifit helps, here is the recipe:
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Belgian Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 17 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 23 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.037
Efficiency: 60% (ending kettle)
Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.005
ABV (standard): 5.93%
IBU (tinseth): 27.67
SRM (morey): 10.88
Mash pH: 5.72
FERMENTABLES:
2.5 kg - Pale Ale (55.7%)
0.9 kg - Vienna Malt (20%)
400 g - Munich (8.9%)
400 g - CaraRed (8.9%)
190 g - Biscuit (4.2%)
100 g - Special-B (2.2%)
HOPS:
20 g - Goldings, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.6, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 11
25 g - Aramis, Type: Pellet, AA: 8, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 16.67
MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Strike, Temp: 67 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 11.2 L
2) Sparge, Temp: 67 C, Time: 15 min, Amount: 11.8 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 2.5 L/kg
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
3 g - Irish Moss, Time: 15 min, Type: Other, Use: Boil
YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Belgian Saison Ale Yeast BE-134
I observed a few things during the fermentation process that I'm not sure about.
1) A lot sediment!
I've done several extract brews and at by the end of the fermentation process there is a layer of sediment in the fermenter bucket which is certainly old yeast (hops filtered when going into fementor), so no issue there.
But in my all grain brew, there was a huge amount of sediment... probably 3 or 4 cm in the bottom of the bucket. Looks like sediment from the milled grains? Is this normal?
(I noticed that the wort was very cloudy when I transferred to the fermenter bucket (not the case when doing extract brewing).
Is this cloudiness normal? Do I need to filter more when transfering to the fermentation bucket?
2) Bubbling after reaching final gravity
I tracked the gravity during the fermentation process. As usual, a lot of bubbling at the beginning and progressively slowed down. Reached the FG in about 4 days, but slow bubbling continued. Even after 10 days, there was still some activity even though there was little or no change in gravity points. I thought that maybe the yeast was still munching on something in all that sediment so I racked for a 2nd fermentation without all that sediment. The bubbling immediately stopped after it was racked. I left is there for about 5 days then packaged.
What can cause this extended fermentation period and is it normal?
3) No after taste?
After conditioning for about 3 weeks, first taste... It is carbonated ok, first taste in the mouth is actually pretty good. But there is "no" after taste... I expect the taste to linger a little. There is no off taste. First moments in the mouth are good, but after than kind of bland,
I read somewhere that this could be related to that extended period of active fermentation? That the yeast is processing something in the wort that can cause this blandness?
Any advice on what could cause this?
Ifit helps, here is the recipe:
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Belgian Pale Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 17 liters (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 23 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.037
Efficiency: 60% (ending kettle)
Hop Utilization Multiplier: 1
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.050
Final Gravity: 1.005
ABV (standard): 5.93%
IBU (tinseth): 27.67
SRM (morey): 10.88
Mash pH: 5.72
FERMENTABLES:
2.5 kg - Pale Ale (55.7%)
0.9 kg - Vienna Malt (20%)
400 g - Munich (8.9%)
400 g - CaraRed (8.9%)
190 g - Biscuit (4.2%)
100 g - Special-B (2.2%)
HOPS:
20 g - Goldings, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.6, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 11
25 g - Aramis, Type: Pellet, AA: 8, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 16.67
MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Strike, Temp: 67 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 11.2 L
2) Sparge, Temp: 67 C, Time: 15 min, Amount: 11.8 L
Starting Mash Thickness: 2.5 L/kg
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
3 g - Irish Moss, Time: 15 min, Type: Other, Use: Boil
YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Belgian Saison Ale Yeast BE-134