New to the home brew

I just started my first home brew last friday. So far so good, except a few things. I do have bubbles in my primary so that's good, but my temp is 75, so that's not good right? However, the temp is constant, and what is showing on the outside of the bucket not in. And this is a German Oktoberfest with an intial gravity of 1.047. My gravity is light about 5 thousanths light, is this goin to be a problem? I've wanted to make my own brew for a long time now, and just now able to do so. I've noticed through reading others threads that a lot of have waited a long long time to bottle after the secondary, is that normal, or just becuase most of you have something else already goin on? I figured a month and half from start to finish, but from reading that might be a lil fast, or really fast. I really want to make a good brew, and if you read my other thread u can see more of whats goin on. Anyway any help would be much appreciated.

In case you haven't seen it, I would recommend that you study this: <www.howtobrew.com>. It will answer all of your questions. If you're brewing a true Oktoberfest (lager), then you need to be a lot colder in your fermentation temp. (~45-55 F) If it is a pseudo-Oktoberfest with an ale yeast, then you're probably OK, but still on the high end of temp. In any case, your yeast packaging should have indicated an ideal fermentation temperature range.

Again, if this is a lager, then you will need to "lager" it... meaning that once primary fermentation is complete, you store it at a cold temp. (~32-40 F) for at least a month. Although, true Marzen Oktoberfests are brewed in March (Marzen) and stored until September... this allows for the beer to condition enough to bring out the clean, malty taste true to an Oktoberfest. So, generally Oktoberfest lagers are "lagered" longer than most others. If this is an ale, then just leave it in the primary for 3 weeks and bottle it (for your first brew).

Thanks, and yeah its an ale. So hopefully I'll be fine.

75F is still going to produce esters in nearly all ale yeasts. expect some fruity oktoberfest until it ages out.

thanks again, how long should i wait after I bottle to drink? And being as though my gravity is a lil bit on the light side, should I add some yeast with my surger? and how much?

Figure (on average) one week in primary, two in secondary, and three to bottle condition so a month and a half is right on the low end. But often enough your primary fermentation will take more than a week, pushing you closer to two months.

When people interested in homebrewing ask me how long it takes before drinking I just tell them two months. Wheat beers that don't benefit from secondary will be done faster.

Beers can set in secondary for even longer, depending on whether or not they need aging or if you don't have the time to bottle right away, which is a common reason for the delay.

bonezilla said:

thanks again, how long should i wait after I bottle to drink? And being as though my gravity is a lil bit on the light side, should I add some yeast with my surger? and how much?

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No dont add any yeast, just use the priming sugar. There is enough yeast still in the beer to carbonate it.

Thanks guys for all the help!