Bottled and ready

Yesterday, we bottled the beer that had been fermenting since the previous Sunday. The rule of thumb to adhere to before bottling is that the main fermentation should be over as evidenced by no activity in the fermentation keg for at least three days. 'Activity' could be seen as CO2 escape (the blubbering) or, to be more exact, the rest sugar level. To determine the rest sugar in the beer you can use either a hygrometer (the archimedes principle) or you can use a refractometer. I bought a refractometer because it means you lose less beer. If you use a hygrometer you have to tap off 200ml of beer every time (a couple of times a day). With a refractometer you only need a drop or two. The refractometer measures how refraction of light as it passes from one material into another. It is measured in Brix (after the guy who invented it). Since last Wednesday my rest sugar level was 7.2 Brix (which works out at about 2,4°P after a rather complicated mathematical excursion which eliminates the effect that the alcohol in the beer has on the refraction).

So, there you have it - about 20l of home made beer "Klosterbier". It turned out to be a darker kind of beer (probably because I dumped the Farbmalz in right at the beginning rather than 10 minutes before the end of the mashing) - not full a 'dunkles' but certainly in that direction. It will also be Naturtrüb (cloudy) - I don't think it is possible to get a really clear Klosterbier. Now, the beer ferments again at 20°C in the bottles, for about a week. This "recreates" the CO2 in the beer (I want about 5g/l). Then the beer goes into the fridge at as close to 0°C as possible, to diffuse the CO2 into liquid (the colder, the better). After at least a week, (the longer the better), the beer can be moved into a normal fridge, somewhere around 6-8°C.