Dry-hopping

Last night, I dry hopped the California Common I brewed.  Also took a hydrometer reading and threw some gelatin finings in for clarity.

The fermentation has been going well so far.  I started fermentation at 19 deg C then once the yeast had taken hold (around 12 hours) I dropped the temp to just over 10 and kept it there for 6 days.  Constant airlock activity throughout the entire period (I know, I know, airlock activity is by no means an indication of a healthy fermentation… but it’s just so fun to listen to it bubbling away!)  This is the first time I’ve been able to keep the fermentation temperature so constant (and low!!) I love winter for that reason alone.

The SG of the hydrometer sample was already down to 1.012 and I’m not expecting it to get much lower since we used almost 500g of crystal malt.  It’s already lower than I was expecting though, which means is going to come out quite dry.  Not too bad though considering the complete thermometer mess up that happened (planning a permanent fix for that).  Since it’s so close to ending I raised the temp a bit to 18 deg C and plan on keeping it there till Thursday night.  The increase in temp will allow the yeast to clean up after itself nice and quickly.

I want this batch in the keg on Saturday and after tasting the hydrometer sample (BEST sample I’ve ever tasted by the way) I’m getting more and more impatient!  The sample was very heavy with sediment and also hadn’t been dry-hopped yet so it can only get better.

The sample was probably so cloudy due to the fact that primary fermentation hadn’t actually finished yet.  Should clear up quite nicely when I cold-crash – the gelatin will help too.  Even if it isn’t too clear, I don’t mind. Clarity doesn’t impact flavour. I’m going to drop the temperature as far as I can on Thursday night in an attempt to get the floaties to settle out. I don’t have the patience for an extended cold crash so Thursday till Saturday is going to have to do.