Kegstand

Recipes 

Hey guys,
Decided to start brewing at home and bought a simple brewing kit from Bevmo. Just finished the bottling stage a few days ago. I bottled them in (8) 1-liter bottles. I noticed that some of them are cloudy and others are not. Was just wondering why this was the case. I personally don't care if they are cloudy or not...but was confused as to why half the batch was while the other half wasn't.

Anyways...great forum. Looks like I have lots of reading to do. One more week and I can finally open my first beer!

Nurmey

Recipes 

Welcome to HBT!

How long did you let it ferment? It could be that you sucked up more trub in some bottles but time will settle it out.

p.s. It usually takes 3 weeks at room temperature to carbonated a 12 oz beer, bigger can take longer.

__________________
Batch 1 Brewing
The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

Kegstand

Recipes 

Thanks it's good to be here!

I followed the instructions on the kit and did exactly what it said. I let it ferment for 1 week and bottled it last Friday night. It said to give it another week after bottling and then to condition it by putting it in the refrigerator for 2 days.

It's been fun so far but I can't wait to start having my own brew in the fridge ready to drink so I can start on my second batch. Nothing worse then making beer and not having any to enjoy, lol.

Nurmey

Recipes 

Those instructions suck big time. I'm very glad you didn't bottle in glass or you would probably be looking at bottle bombs. Yikes, your one liters aren't glass are they?

One week isn't really long enough for your yeast to finish and your beer to clear. I leave mine at least 4 weeks but since this is your first batch, your head would probably explode to leave it that long.

__________________
Batch 1 Brewing
The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

Kegstand

Recipes 

They said their yeast was "fast acting" and it's "not uncommon for it to be done after a few days" but then says to leave it in the fermenter for a full week just to make sure.

They are plastic bottles with screw on lids. You think there's going to be too much carbonation? lol As long as they don't explode I guess it's ok. Nothing worse then having flat beer.

I'll let you know how it turns out. So far so good....with the exception of my original question about some being cloudy while others weren't.

MikeG

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There are clearing agents you can use in your brewing. I use Whirlfloc, another is Irish Moss.

I was hit or miss when I was brewing using extract, since I went AG I've never had cloudy beer even if I forgot the Whirfloc and it wasn't a characteristic I was trying to remove. Like you, cloudy didn't bother me.


I'm with Nurmey on the instructions...next time after you pitch your yeast leave it alone for at least 3 weeks (I typically go for 4) before bottling (or perhaps move it to secondary). After that, then bottle.

BBKing

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I think I did 10 days ferment on my first batch, I'm GUESSING that you'll probably be ok. But the general rule is 2 weeks minimum.

And on letting your bottles carbonate, do what you want. Some people let em sit crazy long, then there are impatient people like me who can barely wait a week.

When you get into your beer after 5 days you can always justify it by calling it "research"! Works for me

Welcome to Brewing and HBT by the way. I hope someone has warned you that you will soon be obsessed.

Cheers to your first batch, what was it by the way?

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Black Sheep Brewery
Untamed and unapologetic

Kegstand

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Thanks man. The kit came with "West Coast Pale Ale"...looking forward to it.

Kegstand

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Just testing to see if I could post pics. Cool!

First batch is taking way too damn long, lol.

JadeMonkeyStang

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I'm guessing it was a Mr. Beer kit if it came with WCPA. There's a giant stickied thread in this section all about Mr. Beer and tips to getting the most from it, you should check that out if you have some time.