First brew day complete! more newbie questions

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akramer

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So, I finally finished my first brew day, though I haven't finished cleaning up. (my wife is going to be piiiised :) )

I used pellet hops, and didn't strain them. The beer store shopkeeper said I didn't need to strain. Will they settle down onto the trub? If not, that's going to be some nasty beer. I can't find any conclusive answer as to whether they should be strained.

My fermentation bucket has a spigot, and I used it to draw off some wort to measure gravity before pitching yeast. I couldn't toss my hydrometer into the top of the bucket because the wort was too foamy after being aerated. How do I sanitize the outside of the spigot so it won't infect my beer when I move it to the bottling bucket? Or am I overthinking this and it won't be a problem? I sprayed some iodophor into the bottom of the spigot.

FWIW, things seem to have gone pretty smoothly. I'm brewing a black butte porter clone, recipe OG was 1.050, mine came out 1.053, close enough for me to not be terrified. :)

Steeping grains smell great, boiling hops smell nasty.
 
No need to strain, it will settle over time. It's good practice to spray the nozzle with sanitizer; I never do but then I'm not much of a sanitization freak either. The only thing I ever sanitize is my yeast starter equipment and anything that touches the wort after boiling (chiller, strainers, etc.).
 
Straining isn't necessary. Don't worry. In fact, personally, I have seen that straining improperly or at all can cause your wort/beer to lack that extra flavor.

Don't worry too much about taking your gravity in that foam. Just stick it down in there and you can see about where it is.

You should be ok on sanitization... just make sure to get the area a nice clean swipe when you rack or bottle from the spigot. If you really think it might be "dangerous" then autosiphon, but I highly doubt you need that...

Best of luck!
 
Straining isn't necessary, especially if you ferment under 68-70 deg.

Were your hops fresh? Were they green with a fresh hop smell? I love the smell of the hops being added to the beer. The only thing that comes close is mowing sassafras leaves. :D
 
congrats on your first homebrew. i left my hop pellets in a couple times, beer tasted a little like grass but was drinkable. Now I use a paint strainer a beer is tasting better and clearer. When I started a year ago my spitgot question was proably very funnny to some people. I just turned the nozzel up and sprayed star san in it with no probelms. keep brewing, ask qustions, good luck and may i be the first to say RDWHAHB :)
 
Just like everyone else said, no need to strain. It'll settle.

Using the spigot to get wort for measuring OG was fine. I usually use a sanitized turkey baster (which works when your bucket or carboy doesn't have a spigot).

For sanitizing the spigot, a spray bottle filled with a mixture of star-san and water works wonders. If you use distilled water it'll last a long long time, and it'll save you the hassle of mixing up a batch of sanitizer whenever there's a small task. Can't when transferring to bottling bucket, a few sprays on the spigot and you're good.

Welcome to the obsession!
 
Thanks for the info, all. :)

I need to buy some real starsan, the triple-san that my local store sold me is disgusting nasty stuff that just reeks - I'm not putting this anywhere near my beer. Just having the bottle sitting in my bottling bucket has made the bucket reek in a manner I can't wash off.

My fermenter got up to 76 degrees earlier with a brew belt on, so I took the belt off and it's holding steady at 72 in my 55-60 degree basement. Could I have done damage with a few hours at 76-77?

Is it safer to let the fermenter get down closer to 60 rather than 75ish? I'm using Wyeast London ESB 1968.
 
Here's what I know - the more steady the temperature the closer to *optimum* you are. A quick shift in temp won't ruin it, may change the character slightly, but unless it fluctuates a bunch throughout fermentation I doubt you'll notice any off flavors. As far as the yeast goes I'd be guessing but I've heard others let the temp slowly drop once the fermentation is drawing to a close. Helps drop more of the yeast out of suspension or something to that effect anyway.
 
Right. Obviously consistently ideal is perfect but who lives in a perfect world. However, if the temp is kept conisistent but outside the yeasts tolerances then they get stressed and produce off flavors. Wildly varying temps will do this also. Get as close to optimum as possible but don't stress if its not perfect. Bottom line, relax and work with what you have. You'll get good beer.

1. Close to ideal temp as possible and steady (ideal meaning you're leaning toward a certain flavor profile as provided by your yeast strain)
2. Within range (as printed on the yeast pack) and steady
3. Close to ideal with small fluctations
4. Within range but small fluctuations

Check this out: Wyeast London ESB Info

Note how your yeast's range is listed as 64 to 72 and in the description it says "Fruitiness will increase with higher fermentation temperatures (70-74F, 21-23C)." This speaks to how temperature differences affect beer flavor. Steady is better than fluctuating. Within range better than outside range. Either won't necessarily ruin a beer but will change its character.
 
Use a 'Thief' for your gravity reading. Actually pulls from the bottom, won't have to worry about the foam. Cheap enough and in 5 gallons, pulls just enough to float the hydrometer. The mechanism can drain the wort back in. Everything says you shouldn't return the sample, but I'm a little OCD about sanitizing all my equipment, so it's been safe so far for me.
 
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