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Can I carb this batch naturally?

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fathand

fathand

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 8, 2009
90
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Warren, Michigan
I made the following 5 gallon batch

Brewed 9/4/10

12 clover
Water to make 5 gallons of total must
K1V1116

Aerated and added Nutrient per the staggered approach

OG 1.048* on 9/04/10
SG 1.002 on 12/2/10 (has been 1.002 for a few weeks)

*I believe this is wrong due to all the honey not being blended at time I took the gravity reading.

I have this cold crashing right now as I am trying to get as much yeast to drop out as possible.

Now I'd love to add about 5 to 6 oz. of additional honey at bottling (12 oz beer bottles) so this carbs. If by adding this honey it doesn't carb and just sweetens it a little I am OK with that. What I don't want to happen is have bottles bombs on my hands.

So to those that are more experienced do I run the risk of creating bombs if I add 5 oz of honey at bottling? Or should I Sorbate and Sulfate this and bottle it still?
 
Medsen Fey

Medsen Fey

Fuselier since 2007
Premium Patron
May 23, 2007
9,004
53
48
Fusel Shack, in the swamp west of Ft. Lauderdale
It may be able to ferment further, but with 12 pounds of honey in 5 gallons I would have expected it to go dry with a final gravity less than 1.000. One thing you can do is test a bottle by adding a a few grams of sugar and capping it to see if it ferments, but if it does wake up and ferment, it may not stop at 1.002, and if it drops a few more points, you could have bottles explode.

To be safer, I would see if I could get this batch to go dry before attempting carbonation. Instead of cold crashing it, I'd warm it up and check the pH and perhaps add a few yeast hulls to see if I could get it to perk up again. If you get the gravity below 0.999, you should be able to carbonate safely.
 
Last edited:
Golddiggie

Golddiggie

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 22, 2010
472
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Nashua, NH (USA)
photo.golddiggie.com
fathand said:
*I believe this is wrong due to all the honey not being blended at time I took the gravity reading.
Click to expand...

If I'm not 100% sure the honey is fully dissolved, or in solution, when I make the must, I'm (now) letting it 'rest' overnight before testing and pitching in yeast... Of my first three batches, only one had the honey close to fully dissolved when I took my readings. The other two batches had hydrometer readings far different after a day, when I made the must...
 
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