Newest Threads

ampsman · 08-19-2011, 04:36 AM

Brewing my first ever beer, an IPA.
Brewed Monday night, everything went well.
Took initial gravity reading and it was 1.04, I realized this was low and read that I probably hadnt mixed the top off water well enough, which I knew I hadnt, so I wasnt concerned.

Tonight (thursday) I noticed no bubbles in the airlock, at all.
I kinda freaked out and decided to take a reading, it was 1.018.
My recipe calls for dry hopping after fermentation has slowed, so I went ahead and added hops and sealed her back up.

So...did I dry hop to soon?
I have read it should be in the primary atleast 2 weeks, but also read it isnt good to dry hop for that long as you can get some funky flavors.
Should I rack to a secondary in 4 or 5 days?

Any advice?

ahhhhhhh!!!!!

bigbeergeek · 08-19-2011, 04:50 AM

You have a couple of options.

Could you post your recipe (including how much dry hops you added)? That would help us decide whether you should rack off the dry hops to a secondary fermentor or just let the beer sit for another week or two and bottle.

ampsman · 08-19-2011, 05:00 AM

Recipe is as follows:

7lbs alexander light malt extract
1lb munich malt extract
1lb crystal malt
1/2lb carapils malt
1oz centennial
1oz warrior
1oz Cascade

Dry hop consisted of 1oz of cascade.

**Laughing_Gnome_Invisible** · 08-19-2011, 05:10 AM

Too soon or too late you haven't screwed it up at all. You have simply diverted from the recipe a tad. It will be just fine unless you screwed something more important up!

ampsman · 08-19-2011, 05:15 AM

Does it make sense for specific gravity to be that low after only 3 days?
I assumed that meant most of the fermentation had occurred and the recipe said to add the dry hops when fermentation had slowed.

**Laughing_Gnome_Invisible** · 08-19-2011, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampsman

Does it make sense for specific gravity to be that low after only 3 days?
I assumed that meant most of the fermentation had occurred and the recipe said to add the dry hops when fermentation had slowed.

Bubbles in the airlock is not always a sign of fermentation. One small gap in your airlock grommit, and you might not see it. 3 days is plenty of time to make a big dent if it had an early start.

samc · 08-19-2011, 06:05 AM

You are fine with what you did. Check the gravity after a week and then if you get a consistent reading after another 2 days, you are ready to bottle or keg. If you can do a cold crash (a few days at near freezing temps) before the packaging go for it.

From reading OP, I assume he had bubbles - he was just surprised they went away so fast. What was the yeast? I've used some like S-04 that have been done in 2 days.

btw - don't fear off flavors from a few weeks of dry hop.

bigbeergeek · 08-19-2011, 08:45 AM

You're fine. The beer is only sitting on an ounce of hops anyway. You could probably leave it on there for two to three weeks with no noticeable off flavors. Give it a week and bottle.

**Homercidal** · 08-19-2011, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laughing_Gnome_Invisible

Bubbles in the airlock is not always a sign of fermentation. One small gap in your airlock grommit, and you might not see it. 3 days is plenty of time to make a big dent if it had an early start.

When did Revvy change his avatar??

Anyway, you are doing fine. Maybe in a bit of a rush, but that's excusable. After a bit of experience you'll be able to stop playing with it so much. (TWSS!)

**Hernando** · 08-19-2011, 02:00 PM

If you already added the hops for dry hopping, there really is no need to rack to a secondary IMHO. Just let it sit and do it's thing. Take a reading in a week and see where it sits.