Do any of you practice open fermentation?
I recently made a hefeweizen and had way too much volume, so I just left the bung/airlocks off to allow for overflow (I knew my tiny blowoff wouldn't be adequate).
That batch came out simply divine. I wasn't really worried about infection due to a few reasons
1. airborne contamination is far less likey than a dirty vessel.
2. During ferm you're producing bucketloads of C02, so I wasn't worried about oxidation.
3. I ferment in a chest freezer, so the risk of airborne was pretty minimal to begin with.
4. Many commercial breweries use open.
I've been reading recently that it will impact a stronger yeast-profile to the beer, I'll experiment with my next batch by doing one open and one closed. So perhaps it was beneficial for this hefe but will be less desirable for a cleaner ale.
But so far on this hefe I have absolutely no offtastes which would lead me to any cons some people are worried about.
Post #2 made 15 years ago
Sounds like a great experiment Jak. Having your fermenter in an old chest freezer will keep almost all the nasties out. I don't think I'd like to try it in the open air. I believe the English used to open fermnent (maybe they still do) their home brew, simply covering the fermenter with a tea towel.
I think it would be a good idea to get it into a closed fermenter once primary fermentation has slowed down.
I think it would be a good idea to get it into a closed fermenter once primary fermentation has slowed down.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."
Post #3 made 15 years ago
neat! What yeast strains, if any, have you used? Which brings to my next question - anybody do this w/o yeast to see what wild yeasties pop in? I assume that would be outside.
Post #4 made 15 years ago
Nikobrew wrote:neat! What yeast strains, if any, have you used? Which brings to my next question - anybody do this w/o yeast to see what wild yeasties pop in? I assume that would be outside.
There are a lot of lambic brewers on HBT who do this type of thing, one of them left a carboy out in an orchard to pick up some wild bugs as they call them.
I'm gonna make a geueze soon using BIAB, but for that I've bought a Wyeast Lambic blend, I'm not sure I could trust the local wild yeasts to sort it out for me properly, I'll use some of those belgian ones.
Last edited by EoinMag on 15 Oct 2010, 17:54, edited 5 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.
Post #5 made 15 years ago
Good to see you wanting to do some experimenting iijakii 
,
Does anyone know the correct definition of open fermentation? I always assumed that it was when you used no yeast and just let the wild yeast go to work so as to brew beers like the lambics that Eoin mentioned. I don't know much about this so am probably wrong.
If I didn't want any wild yeast, I'm with hashie and would definitely cover the fermenter with something like the cheesecloth that joshua mentioned. Not sure this would still be open fermentation though.
The other thing to consider, if wild yeasts are not your aim, is that you might get lucky 2, 3, 4 or even 10 times but sure enough some bloody mould spore or wild yeast or bacteria will come along and bite you on the bum just when you think you have things all worked out - lol! This is bound to happen on the first brew that you have just varied something on so you'll blame it on that and repeat the same mistake for another 2 or 3 brews.
So, I reckon this could be very dangerous territory iijakii. I'd almost certainly put your simply divine beer down to brewing it really well rather than the "open fermentation."
Good on you,
PP
P.S. Please do some more reading on the open fermentation so as you can let me and others know how loose the definition is.
,Does anyone know the correct definition of open fermentation? I always assumed that it was when you used no yeast and just let the wild yeast go to work so as to brew beers like the lambics that Eoin mentioned. I don't know much about this so am probably wrong
.If I didn't want any wild yeast, I'm with hashie and would definitely cover the fermenter with something like the cheesecloth that joshua mentioned. Not sure this would still be open fermentation though
.The other thing to consider, if wild yeasts are not your aim, is that you might get lucky 2, 3, 4 or even 10 times but sure enough some bloody mould spore or wild yeast or bacteria will come along and bite you on the bum just when you think you have things all worked out - lol! This is bound to happen on the first brew that you have just varied something on so you'll blame it on that and repeat the same mistake for another 2 or 3 brews
.So, I reckon this could be very dangerous territory iijakii. I'd almost certainly put your simply divine beer down to brewing it really well rather than the "open fermentation."
Good on you,
PP
P.S. Please do some more reading on the open fermentation so as you can let me and others know how loose the definition is.
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Post #6 made 15 years ago
Proper open fermentation has no covering. That said the rooms are kept relatively clean, unless you go to belgium where they are doing lambics where they apparently encourage the spiders in the brewery to trap any fruit flys that get in there.
The famous Burton union open fermenters are on view on this page http://www.whitebeertravels.co.uk/ukrecces3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Under the headline 2007: Trip Featuring Marston's Brewery,in Burton upon Trent, in Staffordshire
You can see the open fermenters. I'd link to the pic directly only the link doesn't seem to be working correctly.
Basically it's totally uncovered, so with a cheesecloth over is close, but not quite. After the primary dies down they normally get drained off into bright tanks to fall bright before kegging or bottling and before that filtering if it's being practised.
I found a pic
The famous Burton union open fermenters are on view on this page http://www.whitebeertravels.co.uk/ukrecces3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Under the headline 2007: Trip Featuring Marston's Brewery,in Burton upon Trent, in Staffordshire
You can see the open fermenters. I'd link to the pic directly only the link doesn't seem to be working correctly.
Basically it's totally uncovered, so with a cheesecloth over is close, but not quite. After the primary dies down they normally get drained off into bright tanks to fall bright before kegging or bottling and before that filtering if it's being practised.
I found a pic
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by EoinMag on 15 Oct 2010, 19:59, edited 5 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.
Post #7 made 15 years ago
What I great picture, I can smell it from here *drools*
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."
Post #8 made 15 years ago
I guess I was a bit ambiguous in my meaning.PistolPatch wrote: I'd almost certainly put your simply divine beer down to brewing it really well rather than the "open fermentation."
The beer was definitely due to a fantastic recipe, proper pitching amounts, controlled temperatures. I've just read so much doom and gloom about open fermentation that I was a little happy to see this come out with no noticeable demerits.
My next ale will definitely experiment with one open and one closed.
*ps I'm understanding open as in no lid.
Last edited by iijakii on 16 Oct 2010, 05:47, edited 5 times in total.
Post #9 made 14 years ago
My buddy did an open ferment. He modeled it after Samuel Smith's Yorkshire squares, except in mini. He dug up some slate tiles from his back yard (buried there by previous owners), made a wood frame, cleaned and sanitized the slates, and used food safe caulking to make the square. He then pitched his yeast and left it uncovered. It made a big, puffy krausen that protected the beer during active fermentation. I think he covered it loosely when the krausen fell. It was very good beer.
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