Day 3 – Staring at Beer
So – what happens on Day 3 in the beer-making process? Mostly foam.
On Day 2 we “pitched the yeast,” and closed it up. Toward the end of the day foam began to appear, and by Day 3, there was thick foam all over the top.
So what is foam? It’s the sign of fermentation. The yeast is creating alcohol and CO2 as it munches on the sugars. During this first week the process will only retain the alcohol created and the wort vat will vent the CO2. Only in week 2 will the CO2 be retained, and create the fine bubbles of carbonation that are associated with beer.
That’s it for today’s update – easy? All I had to do was look at it! It’s really great having a semi-see-through wort vat to view the process. It’s about the transparency of a brown beer bottle, just plastic. The picture here to the left shows a considerably more complex set of beer-making equipment, more on the professional side. Link to source.
Cheers, Miriam
