Keep going or head for the sink?

KrakityJones

Hi

Hoping someone more knowledgeable than me can give me a bit of advice on this dumbass mistake I made..

I made 2 batches of similar Pilsners at the same time (from different companies). Let them ferment for around 1 month which should be plenty of time based on Pilsner's I've done before. Last night was bottling time

Batch 1 : Measured and tasted it - absolutely spot on, nice and clear, low FG, tasting very nice already. Primed and bottled it - happy days.

My mistake then (and in my defense I hate bottling, it was late and I was tired) :
I assumed that because batch1 was good to go batch 2 was as well. So I primed and bottled it. Only after I had them all capped did I decide to measure and taste. Slight problem - cloudy, really sweet and FG was around 1.02 (the other finished about 1.008).

For whatever reason it looks like batch 2 stalled out about halfway through fermentation.

So my question is where do I go from here?

Option 1 : Leave all alone, say a few hail jebuses and hope for the best. As I've primed and it's been moved about a bit there's a chance it'll start back up again. Only thing is it'll do this in the bottle. If that happens am I looking at ferocious pressure build up and a few kabooms in a couple weeks, or is it more likely to be still sickly sweet wort in 2 months time?

Option 2 : Uncap all the bottles, pout it back into the fermenter and re-pitch, let it finish out and re-bottle. Dodgy as the chance of introducing something unwanted to that is high I'm guessing, but at least it won't be wasted.

Option 3 : Send it all on a holiday down the plughole, keep the bottles and brew up a new batch.

Can't think of any other options.

Any and all advice greatly apprecaited!

Thanks

gothictwilight

I had a pilsner kit finish a bit high once and I bottled it with no bottle bombs.
Tasted ok in the end also.
If you are concerned about the second batch maybe put them in the shed so if they do go kaboom they wont cause any damage.
Would be a shame to throw it all out.

Donadea Leo

KrakityJones wrote: »

Hi

Hoping someone more knowledgeable than me can give me a bit of advice on this dumbass mistake I made..

I made 2 batches of similar Pilsners at the same time (from different companies). Let them ferment for around 1 month which should be plenty of time based on Pilsner's I've done before. Last night was bottling time

Batch 1 : Measured and tasted it - absolutely spot on, nice and clear, low FG, tasting very nice already. Primed and bottled it - happy days.

My mistake then (and in my defense I hate bottling, it was late and I was tired) :
I assumed that because batch1 was good to go batch 2 was as well. So I primed and bottled it. Only after I had them all capped did I decide to measure and taste. Slight problem - cloudy, really sweet and FG was around 1.02 (the other finished about 1.008).

For whatever reason it looks like batch 2 stalled out about halfway through fermentation.

So my question is where do I go from here?

Option 1 : Leave all alone, say a few hail jebuses and hope for the best. As I've primed and it's been moved about a bit there's a chance it'll start back up again. Only thing is it'll do this in the bottle. If that happens am I looking at ferocious pressure build up and a few kabooms in a couple weeks, or is it more likely to be still sickly sweet wort in 2 months time?

Option 2 : Uncap all the bottles, pout it back into the fermenter and re-pitch, let it finish out and re-bottle. Dodgy as the chance of introducing something unwanted to that is high I'm guessing, but at least it won't be wasted.

Option 3 : Send it all on a holiday down the plughole, keep the bottles and brew up a new batch.

Can't think of any other options.

Any and all advice greatly apprecaited!

Thanks

i d be enclined to put back into fermentor and let it finish out, even if the bottles don t explode you ll end up with a pint of head or as you described a sweet low alcohol alco pop type thingy. Make sure you store the bottles in boxes and away from pets and people if you chance leaving them in bottles.

KrakityJones

Cheers, that's what I've done for now - no shed but I've kept them in plastic storage boxes so at least if they pop they'll be contained. Guess it's worth leaving for a couple of weeks anyway and see how it goes. I am slow to waste it, especially after bottling, a task I don't fancy having to do again for a while

gothictwilight

You'll know by a week or so if they're going to be bottle bombs.
Fingers and toes crossed it works out fine.

KrakityJones

Actually the more I think about it the more I'm inclined to go back to the fermenter, I don't know would I trust it.

Been lucky enough not to have had any bottle bombs yet - what kinda force are you potentially looking at? Don't fancy the idea of picking one up to have it shatter in my face.. feck it maybe best play it safe, chuck it back in and if it's ruined then at least it's just ruined with no injuries (or is that just being overly cautious).

I'll give it 3 days and open one, i suppose I'll know from that how much pressure is (or isn't) building.

Cheers again

dukeellington

I'm interested to see how this turns out for you, for what it's worth I'd have done the same as you're doing, I've never emptied bottles back into a fermentor and I'd worry about that amount of splashing around.
If the ferment was stuck it was still reasonably close to the end so maybe you'll get it finished in the bottle? After a week of carbonation I'd advise a while in the fridge if possible to help any yeast/thrub/solid settle and hopefully stick as much as possible to the bottom of the bottle.
The second batch may take longer to some right in the bottle, but I'd love to hear how they compare!

KrakityJones

I know the airlock is a bad judge but it was bubbling away for days - both batches were actually, they both seemed to be running exactly the same way. The second one must have just stalled out shortly after the first (which kept going).

I'll update so in a couple days - if anyone has a full bomb disposal suit to lend I'll borrow that when I'm opening!

evolving_doors

keep at least one bottled anyways!

/follows thread/

ian_m

Was it one of the Gozdawa kits you were using by any chance?

KrakityJones

ian_m wrote: »

Was it one of the Gozdawa kits you were using by any chance?

It was actually, have you used them before? This was my first try on those, the other (good batch) was a muntons gold with a few additions.

ian_m

Four years of various kit brewing the Gozdawa kits are the only ones I have had trouble with. The latest one didn't ferment down all the way and it tastes like crap to say lightly. I can't figure out if its bad yeast or just a very poor quality kit. It's also the first batch I have considered pouring down the drain.

Even if it was just bad luck (twice) I wouldn't touch them again. I don't think it's any coinincidence that the only kits I have had trouble with are the Gozdawa kits. Muntons, Coopers etc. I've tried them all and never ran into trouble.

So it's probably a similar issue with yourself. Hopefully nobody gets one of them as a first kit because they will never brew again. As for me I will steer clear of them.

KrakityJones

So decided to open one tonight to see what's happening, has been 3 days bottled.

Things are looking up.. I think. It's definitely started moving again as there was a slight hiss on opening, and a little bit of fizz in the glass, plus there's actually a slight taste of alcohol off it now as opposed to just pure sugar.

Next problem now is how long it keep going for - big difference in 3 days so if it keeps going at this rate i could well be on for a batch of bottle bombs. I'll leave it another couple days and test another.

I presume taking a gravity reading at this stage is pointless as the bubbles will just lift the hydrometer up higher?

KrakityJones

In case anyone's interested

Almost 2 weeks gone now, tried another bottle this evening.

It has carbonated nicely, normal enough pfft when the bottle opens, bit less than say a shop bought commercial beer. Head does foam up quite a bit on pouring but dissipates in seconds.As of now i think there is no fear of bottles going bang.

So, the most important part - is it going to be drinkable?

It's very dark in colour, more like an ale than a pilsner but it is clear. At the moment it's extremely sweet but it has improved hugely since last taste.

If i had to call it right now i'd say its a gonner - it has to ferment a lot more to get the sweetness out, and i think it's got too much to do. I only have taste to judge but i'd reckon it's at maybe 2.5% 3% tops abv. A single glass of it is drinkable, but only just and anything more than that is just way too sweet.

I'll give it another couple of weeks but it's not looking good.

dukeellington

Stuck ferment, yeast not turned to alcohol... sugar and yeast left in beer... sweet yeasty flavor kind of job?

KrakityJones

dukeellington wrote: »

Stuck ferment, yeast not turned to alcohol... sugar and yeast left in beer... sweet yeasty flavor kind of job?

That's exactly it, nicely summarized!

KrakityJones

Just to finish off this thread, it's been over 5 weeks since I bottled this and it's no better. I reckon I've got about a 2% strength sweet fizzy drink that tastes pretty bad.

So to the sink they went. Don't buy Godzawa kits if myself and ian_m's experiences are anything to go by is all I'll say.