Ask a Brewer

Club President, Homebrew Shop owner, and longtime brewer Tom Davidson spends a great deal of time answering questions from brewers from novice to seasoned. Tom has volunteered to answer questions here on the Wootown web site for a column we're calling "Ask a Brewer."

Fermentation Temperatures

I made a batch of India Pale Ale Saturday evening. I've been watching the CO2 and the temperature since. It has stayed around 72. It off-gassed a lot of CO2 Sunday afternoon into Monday. This AM I noticed that it has slowed considerably. Is this normal?

Yes, that is normal. It is not unusual for a batch to ferment out in just a couple of days especially if the temps are elevated at all. 72 is about as warm as I would normally ferment at and down into the mid 60's would be preferable. Cooler fermentations yield a cleaner tasting brew and also take longer the cooler you go. No worries, your beer will be quite good but maybe a bit fruity. Temp control is tough this time of year (summer) but can be done, only you can decide what lengths you want to go to. Wet t-shirts and fans, ice packs, and temp controlled freezers all work to varying degrees, pardon the pun.

Cheers,

Tom

I think the carbonation issue I've been having was due to improper beer glass cleaning because I have no problems when I use a new plastic cup. Either my dark ale was tougher than this batch of helles, or I am doing something different/wrong when cleaning the beer glass. Do I need to buy a special beer glass cleaner or is there something else I can use instead of common dish detergents? Is hot water good enough? I have a couple cans of Miller Lite I could use :)

Grease and oil kill head quickly so sometimes it's just whatever you're eating on your lips, pizza or peanuts, etc. Reserve your glasses for beer only. If someone drank milk out of one of my grand-dad's beer glasses he'd just throw it away. I'm sure he'd cringe but any good dish detergent should work fine, just rinse very well. Stay away from the scented stuff.... yuck. Most of the trick is to do it right away after use, not pile them in the sink with the dinner dishes. Plain old baking soda works well also if they need a good scrubbing.

Take two cans Swiller Lite and two cans of water, add a bunch of Old Bay and two dozen crabs individually freshly blinded with another dash of Old Bay. Cover, steam until the crabs quit banging on the pot and turn bright red. Have a homebrew and congratulate yourself for keeping the world safe from sea monsters.

Cheers,

Tom