Fermentation is the process of turning a liquid and adding yeast. The liquid that goes into your beer is called wort, which is made up of malted barley, water, and hops.
The yeast converts the sugar from this malted barley into alcohol, so there is some kind of activity inside it. When we add yeast to this mixture, it starts to ferment. T
That’s when the magical process starts happening, where all these sugars turn into alcohol, and carbon dioxide bubbles are created by enzymes in the yeast cells. In this short article, we will examine what happens when you overdo it with beer fermentation.
Can you expect your beer to be a lot stronger than usual when fermenting it for a greater period? Does more alcohol mean a better beer or not?
All these questions will be treated here fairly, and you will have the best answers about the right beer and the most convenient fermentation process.
Fermentation Period Length As Opposed to the Other Brewing Stages
When it comes to making beer, brewers will tell you that the fermentation period is an important time. That’s because this phase of the brewing process produces excess CO2 bubbles that form natural carbonation.
You can explode with confidence knowing the length of your fermentation period! Keep fermenting at eight days, twelve days, or even up to two weeks, and see how long it takes for your yeast to wake up and start working.
As you may realize, the fermentation period could be longer compared to the other stages. That is because it takes time to turn sugars into alcohol using the enzymic process.
However, it’s one of the most important parts of the beer brewing process. All brewers ask their chemists and give extra care to that period that will define their beer’s character and personality.
What Is the Ideal Fermentation Period Length for Beer?
Fermentation period length plays an important role in the quality of your homemade beer. The longer the fermentation time, the more intense the flavor and aroma.
This means that by adding sugar and adjuncts like caramel coloring or fruit juice extracts to your fermenters, yeast may absorb these flavors during the fermentation process leaving behind a brew with more flavor character.
Too little fermenting time can also cause serious problems with consistency, and off-flavors will result. The ideal fermentation period length for most ales is six weeks, depending on your chosen yeast strain, brewing style, and desired level of attenuation (higher carb content).
What Happens When Beer Ferments Too Long?
Although beer is generally thought to be a quick-brewed beverage, a few microorganisms can spoil it in just a short amount of time. When beer ferments too long, these microbes produce off-odors and flavors that make it unpleasant to drink.
However, it’s always a good idea to take a consultation with your chemist. He is the one responsible for drawing a specimen from the barrel and performing some thorough chemical analysis.
You will end up finding the actual alcohol concentration in your beer and checking the carbon dioxide creation. Then it’s up to you to decide if a longer fermentation period would be necessary.
Sometimes longer fermentation periods negatively affect the taste of your beer. Some beers may become better with time.
It all depends on your personal preferences and how patient you are in enjoying your home-brewed beer.
Is There any Way to Increase Alcohol in Beer After Fermentation?
There is a way to increase the alcohol content in beer after fermentation. Because beer is made from grains or other plant matter and stored in barrels or vats at room temperature, the yeast cells that form during fermentation consume the sugars in the liquid and excrete alcohol as waste products.
The yeast leaves behind mainly ethanol but also small amounts of other substances such as carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), organic acids, and other organic compounds. Increasing alcohol by adding “wet brewers yeast” to a beer will lead to an increased amount of ethanol production, even if no new yeast cells are added during this process.
However, you need to know that beers taste better when their alcoholic concentration remains the same during the fermentation process. It’s better to seek the alcohol only through this process rather than find expert ways to bypass the process and add it in the end.
How Do You Tell That Your Beer is Fermenting?
Beer needs to ferment in order to taste its best. When you try a beer from a can, you’re tasting only hops – the bitter and astringent flavors derived from the flowers of hops plants.
If your beer is quite granular or chalky, then typically, this means that it has been pasteurized (heated quickly and artificially) instead of fermented. If so, it will likely have an unpleasant flavor due to metallurgic sanitizing, which occurs during the processing of canned beer.
Opening the barrel and checking the wort is the only way to say that your beer has entered the fermentation period. However, you can do so by also checking the alcohol grades daily.
What Alcohol Percentage Makes Your Beer Too Strong?
Deciding what percentage of alcohol is too strong for your beer can be tricky. It depends on the beer itself, how well it was brewed, how long it sits in the barrel, and other factors.
A lot of it comes down to personal preference and experience. The general rule of thumb is a beer should taste right at around 6-8% ABV.
Any alcoholic percentage beyond that point means that your beer starts becoming a wine! So ensure that you always keep it within the right range.
Final Words
Getting your beer fermented is one of the pillar processes of brewing. Making your beer too strong could be worthless when you have a final product that would be hard to consume.
It’s always better to keep alcohol within the right range and then review the beer taste according to the beer hops you use and the water filtering.
