My 1st Batch - Questions

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Vanion

Vanion

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Hey all, I'm new to home brewing and just made my first batch on Sunday.

It was an Irish Red Ale kit that I'd gotten to make my 1st attempt at a home brew, and overall, things went pretty smoothly I think, minus a little boil over when I added the hops for a 60 min boil. Man, I was not expecting that violent of a reaction!

Anyways, the recipe said to bottle after 72 hours, which I thought a little odd, since everything I've ever read has instructed to allow things to ferment for at least a week.

So, not wanting to deviate too much, I decided to rack it to a secondary last night, and figure I will let it sit for a week or two. Is this fine?

I have some people telling me let it sit in the secondary for 2 weeks, then cold crash and keg/bottle it.

I had made sure there were no signs of fermentation left before racking to my secondary, so I think I should be safe for the most part. Krausen had died off and fallen through. There just doesn't seem to be 5 gallons of beer in there however... Looks like 3/4 of what it should have been. Is it normal to lose that much? I didn't think my boil over caused me to lose THAT much.

Anyways, questions....

How long should I leave it in my secondary before giving it a taste test for off-flavours?

Also, what off-flavours should I watch for? I didnt use any bleaches or anything, and my water isn't chlorinated at all that I'm aware of.

Am I fine to do a little taste test without it being carbonated?

Thanks!

Ryan
 
Two weeks or after airlock activity stops. Take a hydro reading. Then a couple days later take on other one. When your FG has stopped dropping. Then your safe to bottle. When I take my samples for hydro readings. I always drink the sample. You are your only critic. If it tastes good to you then :tank:

72 hours seem like a short time.
 
Don't count on your equipment/directions to be right either when it comes to final volume. All of the kit beers I made have been way off with how much water I need to start out with. When my boil begins I am brimming on my 8 gallon pot. By the time my boil is done I have about 5.5 to 6 gallons of Wort. I also found the markings on my pot were in correct. I took a gallon water jug, dumped it in my pot and discovered my pot was reading short over half a gallon!

Once you start playing around a bit you'll figure out how your equipment works and won't be so short next time.

And I agree with the above post. Always taste!
 
Too add to the others, almost never do anything after 72 hours. A good minimum to remember is 2 weeks in the primary. You'll see a lot on here that people don't even use secondaries any more. They are really only useful if you are adding dry hops or fruits, but even then alot still just toss them in their primaries. The only way to know for sure if your beer is done is to take a hydro reading. Even if the airlock activity slowed or stopped, it still could be fermenting. If you rack to a secondary or other vessel before it is done, you could stall the process. The beer should not be racked off of the yeast cake before it reaches FG. Your beer will also clear just fine if you leave it on the yeast cake and you won't get any off-flavors if its left on it for a month or more. Patience is a key ingredient to this hobby and the longer you are able to wait things out, the better your beer will be. Welcome to the obsession!
 
Vanion said:
Hey all, I'm new to home brewing and just made my first batch on Sunday.

It was an Irish Red Ale kit that I'd gotten to make my 1st attempt at a home brew, and overall, things went pretty smoothly I think, minus a little boil over when I added the hops for a 60 min boil. Man, I was not expecting that violent of a reaction!

Anyways, the recipe said to bottle after 72 hours, which I thought a little odd, since everything I've ever read has instructed to allow things to ferment for at least a week.

So, not wanting to deviate too much, I decided to rack it to a secondary last night, and figure I will let it sit for a week or two. Is this fine?

I have some people telling me let it sit in the secondary for 2 weeks, then cold crash and keg/bottle it.

I had made sure there were no signs of fermentation left before racking to my secondary, so I think I should be safe for the most part. Krausen had died off and fallen through. There just doesn't seem to be 5 gallons of beer in there however... Looks like 3/4 of what it should have been. Is it normal to lose that much? I didn't think my boil over caused me to lose THAT much.

Anyways, questions....

How long should I leave it in my secondary before giving it a taste test for off-flavours?

Also, what off-flavours should I watch for? I didnt use any bleaches or anything, and my water isn't chlorinated at all that I'm aware of.

Am I fine to do a little taste test without it being carbonated?

Thanks!

Ryan
Click to expand...


Welcome to the craft!

One of the first things you will learn is a lot of kit directions are garbage and encourage a quick turn around so you can buy another kit. When I first started brewing I found that a good rule of thumb was the 1 week Primary, 2 week Seconday and Three weeks bottle condition (although I never actually made 3 weeks before tossing a six pack in the fridge). Typically, I only use a secondary if I need to make room in a primary for a new brew or I am going to bulk age something for a few months (Read: I don't really secondary any more).

You can taste the beer whenever you want -- you will know when its off. I would suggest giving it 10 days, though. If you taste at lets say 5 you might get some off flavors like diacytil(sp) which tastes buttery, but the yeast will generally clean that up.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I will let it sit until next weekend and then give it a taste and see how things stand. This 1st batch was really meant as a learning experience, so if things go bad, well... Lesson learned!

Next time I will let it sit in the primary for 4 weeks before doing anything I guess. Is 4 weeks a decent amount of time to let it sit in the primary before bottling or kegging?

Thanks again!
 
Vanion said:
Thanks for the tips guys. I will let it sit until next weekend and then give it a taste and see how things stand. This 1st batch was really meant as a learning experience, so if things go bad, well... Lesson learned!

Next time I will let it sit in the primary for 4 weeks before doing anything I guess. Is 4 weeks a decent amount of time to let it sit in the primary before bottling or kegging?

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

It really depends on 1) if it's stable and 2) what kind of beer it is.

Stable is most critical since you want the beer to be finished and not have exploding bottles.

Some styles (IPAs, wits, etc.) can handle being packaged early. Others (barley wines, imperial stouts, etc.) need months and/or years of aging. A month is probably a good starting point for most of the things you would make from a kit.
 
If you can wait that long that's perfect. Also, it will depend on the type of beer you're doing. Some may actually only take a week to ferment, but it is good to give them a couple of weeks for the yeast to clean things up. Some may take 4 weeks to ferment and you may need to give another week or two for cleanup. You could check for your FG after 2 weeks, and if you're there, I'd let it sit another week to clean up.
 
I am still very new at this but the guy who owns the brew store here said at least 10 days in the primary to allow the yeast to clean everything up.
 
Correct, at least 10. Most of us here wait three weeks for a normal ale batch. Different beers may need different times.
 
Get some Fermcap-S. When the boiling wort starts to foam up, drop 1-3 drops in there. It will break up all the foam.
 
Well, may turn out that this will be a botched batch, but hopefully still drinkable. I'll be sure to keep these tips in mind for my 2nd batch, which will most likely be another ale.

I need to get my corny kegs sometime in the next 2 weeks... then build a keezer I think. A nice little chest freezer ought to do the trick. Should hold 2 or 3 20L cornys and a 5lb. CO2 tank fairly well.

The brewing part I need to get a handle on... the building part, I've got that covered.

I always was a good carpenter and MacGyver-style handyman!
 
Highly unlikely you botched it unless you get an infection. AS long as you added all of your ingredients you should be good. Sounds like you may be kegging this batch if you get the equipment, but if you bottle, it'll need another three weeks or so to get carbed up, patience remains a virtue. The importance of getting a pipeline! :mug:
 
And don't forget to use a hydrometer to test when it's done. Don't just guess. My ales take 3-4 weeks on average to hit FG & settle out clear or slightly misty.
 
Yeah, I figure once I get into my 2nd and 3rd batches, I will do them a few days apart over some holiday time and get a stockpile going so I am in good supply.

Once I build a keezer though and have beer on tap... My friends are likely to invade my mancave on a weekly basis lol
 
Vanion said:
Yeah, I figure once I get into my 2nd and 3rd batches, I will do them a few days apart over some holiday time and get a stockpile going so I am in good supply.

Once I build a keezer though and have beer on tap... My friends are likely to invade my mancave on a weekly basis lol
Click to expand...

I am going to invade it if you get that! ;)
 
Don't worry too much about ruining your batch. I've just started myself but was amazed at how good my first batch was despite my attempts to screw it up.
 
So, I kegged my first batch and must say... It turned out pretty fantastic!!
 
Congrats. What you will learn as time goes by is that you can adjust your primary and secondary (if used) times longer than the paper said that comes with it. As others have stated, a bit more time clears up the beer better too. I pretty much leave all my batches for about the same amount of time anymore. Usually 4-6 weeks till I bottle and another 3 before I start drinking.

The one main thing I've learned from these pages is time clears up a lot of things with beer. Rushed or hurried production is usually at the root of 99% of the problems posted at this site. Like really really good sex, take your time and enjoy the process....
 
So, if I kegged my beer mid August, how long is it good until?
 

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