First brew up..oh how i wish i read you first..

EDIT: New questions in the brew process, posted at the end.



The wife got me a starting beer kit for Christmas. I went and got some extra things and an extract kit from the local (tiny) homebrew store. I went with the belgian tripel from brewers best to start with. I brewed first and read the forums after, so I made a lot of noob mistakes...hopefully the fruits of it being my own beer will make it so I don't notice LOL.

The kit said stay in primary 4-6 days the go to secondary but do it before fermentation ends, my OG was around 1.082 I guess. (BTW do they make bigger hydrometers to make reading this easier?!?!? My best guess is to get it within a half thousandth..dont know if I could tell the difference between 1.082 and 1.085)

So I went to secondary at 4 days for fear of fermentation ending like the instructions said (way early after reading all the posts of sitting on primary for weeks and that it helps big beers *sigh*) the SG was around 1.032 I would guess when it went in the secondary. The siphon kept getting bubbles and stopping so I suck started it *rolls eyes*..I know..I know...

SOOO...I guess the plan its to let it double down in there for a couple weeks and do a test gravity pull a week into it to make sure i didn't stall the yeast. Hopefully this comes out as a tasty beer still, I think I will just be a lot more patient on the next one.

Glad to be here, just a few hours of reading would have saved me a lot of worry on this first brew!! Any suggestions from here on out are appreciated.

No worries man. If it did stall, you can always pitch more yeast and warm it up a touch to get things going. BUT, don't do anything yet. Let it ride and check back in a week or so to see if the gravity is dropping. If not, come back here for some advice on how to restart things.

It's all good. Your beer is gonna be great.

There will still be plenty of yeast in suspension to continue fermentation in the secondary, as long as your temp is fine you shouldnt worry about that. I probably wouldnt even worry about checking on it for 2-4 weeks. Then just pull a sample and test 3 days before and day of bottling. Those two readings should be the same, if they are then bottle away!

Welcome to the hobby!

What if anything do you think pulling out of the primary when i did, did to this type of beer style? Also any suggestions on this type of beer for length of stay in the bottle to get to the sweet spot?

I was planning on buying EZ cap beer bottles..do they work pretty well? I figure most of my friends and myself drink a few beers in our sittings so a 32oz EZ bottle is about perfect and saves bottling 50 some 12oz.

I doubt you will notice anything. I am sure you have read already on the forum but most people don't ferment in secondary unless they are doing some kind of addition. Most styles I brew just stay in primary for 3-6 weeks then straight to bottle.

I have found that all of my beers just get better and better the longer they are in the bottle. I dont normally start opening bottles for about 3 weeks.

The most common problems from moving it around like that are oxidization of the beer and the increased chance of infection. Using your mouth to prime the siphon isn't the best idea (as it may introduce unwanted bacteria), but you'll probably get away with it many more times than you won't. I've had a stuck siphon and I've jammed my unsanitized arm into the bucket to unclog it, left the siphon lying on the ground and done all kinds of other "no-no's" and have yet to have a problem (knock on wood). For most brewers, beer is very resilient and is quite forgiving of our errors.

But yes, continue to read, explore, experiment and definitely ask for help here and share your successes. I'm a year and a half into it and the bulk of my still novice knowledge has come from the good people on this site.

So, bottles are showing up next week sometime.. I have suppressed my urge to keep fiddling with the beer and checking to see if the specific gravity has reached final, i'll cross that bridge the day I go to bottle.

I have a couple questions on bottling, I went with 36 oz EZ top bottles because 3 beers is about what I drink in a sitting and TBH I dreaded the thought of bottling 50 some odd 12oz bottles. Anyone with an opinion or knowledge of these bottles?

Second question is, do you maintain same temp during bottling as it was in the primary/secondary? In my case it was around 67-71 degrees. Then when the beer hits its magic spot for carbonation, fridge them to kill the yeast correct?

Finally, I was reading that big beers take longer to carbonate, in your experience how long should I be looking at for a beer that is supposed to end at 8.5-9% and length of time for it to develop into the flavor and character it is supposed to?

Thanks everyone, when this finishes I'll drink a beer to you all!

clavalla said:

Second question is, do you maintain same temp during bottling as it was in the primary/secondary? In my case it was around 67-71 degrees. Then when the beer hits its magic spot for carbonation, fridge them to kill the yeast correct?

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You can keep the bottles at 70-ish, or whatever room temp is. You don't have to refrigerate them when they are done. That is why you make sure it is done fermenting before you bottle. Then you add enough sugar to carbonate and not more. It will be just like a commercial beer at that point.

clavalla said:

Finally, I was reading that big beers take longer to carbonate, in your experience how long should I be looking at for a beer that is supposed to end at 8.5-9% and length of time for it to develop into the flavor and character it is supposed to?

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I would start checking at 3 weeks, but I'm betting curiosity will get to you sooner than that. If they aren't ready, wait longer.

I bought about 200 of the EZ top style bottles. Only used 4 of them in an experiment so far. I just want to guarantee that tiny imperfections and them being cheap overseas budget brand they can still hold good CO2 amounts before exploding. Currently sitting at a mere 2.5 without issue as expected. Next batch is 3.0, the one after probably around 3.5. Anyways...

I never sanitize the exterior of my bottles. Call it what you will if you must. The first thing I do when they're capped is put them into a non sanitized box anyways. Clean yes, sanitized no. With your swing tops after sanitizing make sure you move them to the side of the bottle in such a way that the rubber gasket and "in bottle" side are pointing away from the bottle. Another way to say it is the top of the cap is against the neck of the bottle. If you spray the necks with starsan it may save time and effort avoiding placement. Also when capping I make sure I only touch the wire and top portion of the cap - never the gasket.

I leave my bottles at room temp in my beer closet after they're carbed, except for 2-3 days worth in the fridge. I don't currently have the experience level to declare the effect this has on bottle conditioning, not to mention I have one of those pesky finite capacity fridges.

thanks zepth, i got mine from northern brewer so I hope they are good quality. I need to look at the carbonation load and look into all of that before i bottle.

I couldn't help myself and pulled a test out of it yesterday and was at a SG of 1.022, the kit said it should finish at 1.020-1.017. I read that extracts generally end high so is this OK as a general consensus?

The flavor was..OK I suppose, I know a lot of the flavor comes out when its carbonated. It didn't seem to pop though, I know I lost some flavor by taking it out of the primary so early. I just don't want this to end up like Steel Reserve lol. I was thinking about maybe adding orange peels right now for a few days or maybe boiling them with the water and priming sugar. Any thoughts on this or what kind of flavors this imparts from either method?

Congratulations on your first batch! Two weeks in primary is fine - I'm a noob with only a coupla dozen batches, and finally listened to the experienced folks who said leave it for 14 days, the last 7 really helps the yeasties to clean up the wort. Whatever size bottle is fine, I have used everything from 7 oz Malta Goya to 2 liter plastic soda bottles. My preference is the standard 12 oz with some 16 oz flip-tops for odd bits over case lots.

Aldi's markets have 16 oz brown flip tops with spiced pumpkin cider for a very short time around Thanksgiving, $3 each. The cider is nice and the bottles are useful.

Quote: I couldn't help myself and pulled a test out of it yesterday and was at a SG of 1.022, the kit said it should finish at 1.020-1.017. I read that extracts generally end high so is this OK as a general consensus?"

Never go by what expected final gravity should be if you are bottling. At the minimum you should take another gravity reading in one or two days to ensure that the beer is done, to prevent over-carbed bottles. If you get the same reading in two days it is probably done.

Epimetheus said:

Congratulations on your first batch! Two weeks in primary is fine - I'm a noob with only a coupla dozen batches, and finally listened to the experienced folks who said leave it for 14 days, the last 7 really helps the yeasties to clean up the wort. Whatever size bottle is fine, I have used everything from 7 oz Malta Goya to 2 liter plastic soda bottles. My preference is the standard 12 oz with some 16 oz flip-tops for odd bits over case lots.

Aldi's markets have 16 oz brown flip tops with spiced pumpkin cider for a very short time around Thanksgiving, $3 each. The cider is nice and the bottles are useful.

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Actually I only kept it in the primary for 4 days :/ the instructions said to move it to secondary before it finished fermenting, I've left it in the secondary for 3+ weeks now trying to make up for it and ensuring it gets a chance to mellow out.

Kee: That's why I pulled some now, the bottles should be here next week and I wanted to make sure the fermentation was done, and last time I checked it was at 1.033 and I wanted to make sure it wasn't stuck

I would age that beer a long time in secondary, like 3 minimum to 6 months.

Cheers

No matter what, when you are done, you will still have beer. Almost every new brewer gets in a hurry, most make some kind of mistake (s). Some people by the fourth or fifth batch follow the same process from that point on, and some folks like me after two plus years, still make mistakes. As long as your expectation of your first batch isn't unreasonable, and there is no infection, enjoy the fruits of your labor. Oh, and by the way, instructions from store bought kits are usually wrong in some way or another. You'll get there if you try, and just remember time is your friend. Time will usually smooth out any wrinkles your beer, and well conditioned beer beats green beer every time.

clavalla said:

Actually I only kept it in the primary for 4 days :/ the instructions said to move it to secondary before it finished fermenting, I've left it in the secondary for 3+ weeks now trying to make up for it and ensuring it gets a chance to mellow out.

Kee: That's why I pulled some now, the bottles should be here next week and I wanted to make sure the fermentation was done, and last time I checked it was at 1.033 and I wanted to make sure it wasn't stuck

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What instructions are those? 4 days is pretty short. You're also leaving behind s lot of the yeast that is going to cleanup. And the yeast that should help you get to the expected FG.


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The instructions said to move it to secondary before fermentation was done...so...me, before reading on here..moved it after 4 days out of fear of it finishing. Started at 1.082, moved it to secondary 4 days later and was at 1.033, checked it yesterday and it was at 1.022. Left a lot of yeast and trub and junk left over after the 1st move, there is some trub and yeast on the bottom of the secondary now as well.

So to recap, it wasn't the instructions, it was me being naive and fearing the fermentation ending before i moved it. I'm not an expert beer taster or anything, the flavor from yesterday was, dry..malted, very slight bitterness.. it was a lot more mellow then day 4 of course lol, I just don't want my beer to end up like or worst than something I can in a 40oz down at the store.

I always like to do a few small bottles (Coronita 9 oz) for my tasters. Then, when I'm too impatient to wait as long as I should, I open one of those for a taste, not wasting a big bottle if the flavor isn't quite right yet. Because they are clear, I keep them under cover, though.


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Brewing is very forgiving. That's my 2 cents. Just remember what you did though. I've had a couple of brews where I thought I really screwed up, but they ended up being crowd pleasers. Now I can't remember what I did.

Ok..Bottles have arrived, sanitized everything. I think I've got this. Did final SG reading and looks like FG is 1.023-1.022 when corrected for temp its the same as Saturday when I did a reading. So final questions and then I'll post some pics of this brew in the bottle lol.

Priming sugar. The kit came with 5oz, the calculator at tastybrew says for a 2.2 volume of Co2 for a Belgian tripel at 5 gallons I should use 3.7oz of Dextrose, the calculator here on HBT says 4 oz.
EDITED: After this I am going to add gallons into both bucket and carboy and record so I can tell what my exact volume is as I prep for bottling..lessons learned, there have been many on this brew.

So do I do I just take a bit of dextrose out and try to get to 3.7-4? Messing around with the calculators, I would have a CO2 of 2.54-2.7 if I use the full 5oz. I have no experience with this, so is a lot of carbonation and super noticeable or not enough of a difference to worry about? I guess best case is that when I go to my bottling bucket and realized I have just over 5 gallons and it works itself out.

Last thing is, with the sugar added and a little bit more fermentation to happen, will my ABV go up a little bit in the bottle since I didn't hit the FG target in the kit? Thanks for the quick responses as when these are answered the brew is going in the bottles

Well..I just went ahead and did it with full 5oz, after filling my bottles I did the math and i had 4.84 gallons of beer so i'm at about 2.7 CO2. Now comes the waiting game thanks for all the help everyone. I learned a lot from the forum and doing this first brew.


First homemade brew.

I prefer to use one PET bottle when I bottle my beers. When it gets rock hard, I know that enough time has passed for carbonation. I generally leave it a week after that just to be safe, then refrigerate a few if I'm ready to drink some.


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