[Clint Yeastwood]

I'm doing my first pressure fermentation, started on the night of 2/7. The OG was 1.056, and the beer's pressure was too high to register the next day, so I dropped it to about 12 psi. The temperature is about 68. I used Fermcap in the fermenter and the boil. I pitched one packet of 34/70.

I got maybe an inch of krausen and very vigorous fermentation. I could see all sorts of stuff going up and down in there. Today the krausen collapsed.

I guess what I want to know is whether all this sounds normal for a pressure-fermented lager. I was told it should be ready to keg after 5 days in the fermenter, and if that's true, I should be able to move it on 2/13.

Do I need to do anything with this beer after kegging it, or is pressure so miraculous the beer will be ready to drink?

[HighVoltageMan!]

I pressure ferment lagers, but at traditional lager temperatures (48F-50F). Typically when it's done you can crash cool it. If your pressure is high enough at 68F it will be carbonated and ready to drink. At 2.0 volumes you need 20 psi, if you want 2.5 volumes you need to be at 27psi.

I like to leave the beer set another 24-48 hours once it hits final gravity before crashing it.

[Clint Yeastwood]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm trying to get ready to move carbonated beer. This will be a first. I found a video, and it looks like I have all the parts I need.

Guess I'll check the gravity, and if it's okay, I'll chill it before transferring.

This will be my first time checking the gravity of a carbonated beer.

[HighVoltageMan!]

Honestly, I don't really check the gravity before I crash cool it. Toward the end of fermentation, I just crank up the pressure 5 pounds or so a day. When I hit my carbonation pressure, I stop raising the pressure. I put my spunding valve output into a beer bottle with water in it. When it burps less then once every 4-5 seconds over a 24 hour period, the beer is done. Pretty crude method, but it works really well. I just did it with a Pils and after cold crashing I checked the gravity. It went from 1.050 to 1.009. Simple, stupid and cheap, just like me.

You will have to de-carb the beer sample before checking final gravity with a hydrometer (if you want to, or just taste it). You can just take a sample and pour it between two glasses until it stops foaming. If there is any carbonation in the beer, it will show a higher gravity than it really is. Or you can measure it with a refractometer and use a calculator to account for the alcohol present. The alcohol will cause the refractometer to show a higher gravity, the calculator will correct the reading.

Brew on!

[Clint Yeastwood]

I learned something useful today. I can test the gravity of a foamy beer with a hydrometer if I take the hydrometer out a couple of times and wipe it dry. The bubbles go into the rag.

I also dug up a painfully boring paper and found that dissolved CO2 can increase the density of water by up to 3%, which is a lot. Dissolved CO2 (not bubbles) makes beer look heavier to a hydrometer.

What I conclude from this is that a nice, light reading without bubbles can tell me a beer is done fermenting, even if the CO2 hasn't been removed. But it may be that a heavy reading can't be trusted.

I got 1.013 today with no foam or bubbles but no degassing. The beer can't be any heavier than 1.013, so it ought to be ready to keg.

[wayne1]

You can pour carbonated beer through a coffee filter to degas it.

[Clint Yeastwood]

If I pour through it the other way, will it carbonate coffee?

[HighVoltageMan!]

If I pour through it the other way, will it carbonate coffee?

Yes, of course.