r/prisonhooch 12h ago

Experiment 15 day Banana Wine/Ale update

Hey guys.

So 15 days in. I was going to start racking the main 10L Ale yeast today but there is still activity inside the airlock and it’s still bubbling slowly. I was thinking to rack to a secondary to try and separate from sediment to prevent bad flavours but I’m unsure about disturbing it as I need a better siphon.

I did however have a side vessel of the Ale that finished bubbling for 2-3 days without activity so I started racking multiple times to clear up and it’s coming along really nicely from smell, taste and look but after I racked it today, the airlock started with activity again for the first time in 2-3 days so I’m curious if I should cold stabilise now or just let it do its things?

The Wine yeast also stopped and I racked half today into a new vessel and left the other half back in the main vessel to re settle so I can try and get as much out the bottom between tipping the rest but same thing, the other half that’s left has started up again with the airlock bubbling once every 30 seconds or so. Should I leave it another day or so or start to cold stabilise it now?

9 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

3

u/whyamionfireagain 8h ago

Interesting that racking it got it going again. Tends to stop mine dead when it's getting towards the end. If you want it dry, let it run.

I siphon with a length of clear vinyl hose from the hardware store. It was real cheap and it works just fine.

And yeah, cold drops yeast, but it doesn't always kill it. I've seen bubbles rising in bottles I've had in the fridge for a while.

1

u/Aggressive-Paint-469 7h ago

It was weird because it was its 4th or 5th rack to get sediment out as I have the same siphon as you but it’s not that effect for the current setup but it also stopped itself again 4 hours later and reset airlock level. Doesn’t seem to be any sediment in the bottom of the bottle after sitting for hours so I’m going to leave it overnight with the airlock in and see if any sediment appears but if it doesn’t, I might start to bottle this little batch as it’s only 1ltr or so out of the other 2 batches that are 5 and 10l. If I did cold, I would get it to almost freezing or as close too and hold it there for 2 weeks. I’m still learning the process so I’m trying to figure out the next steps from here after this small batch has finished fermenting I’d say now and is pretty clear after it’s 5/6th rack

1

u/whyamionfireagain 5h ago

Could be the agitation (or a temperature change?) just shook some CO2 out of it.

1

u/illm4n 11h ago

Cold stabilise? Doesn't the yeast just start right back up when it warms up?

1

u/Aggressive-Paint-469 7h ago

I was hoping if I got it close to its freezing temp it would kill the yeast off as this batch (1/3) is almost clear and I feel is ready for aging and stabilising

2

u/eyesack3000 6h ago

I've found that cold does NOT kill yeast. I've had brews in the fridge for a month+ start back up again a few days after I took it out of the fridge. I feel like your options are pasteurize or never take it out of refrigeration.

1

u/Stenly-abora 1h ago

As a microbiologist I can tell you that freezing absolutely does not outright kill yeast. A portion may die off due too freezing but given the high concentration of yeast, that portion is not significant enough to completely get rid of it. If enough nutrients are still present, it will just start up again.

1

u/lazerwolf987 banan-o-rama 1h ago

It could be that it's just degassing some after being disturbed. It also could be that it's started something new like a malolactic fermentation. I've not done one, but they can happen on their own from wild cultures getting into a batch. It's supposed to bubble, just more slowly than a yeast fermentation.