First Solo Brew w/ New Equip

So, last night I did my first batch with my own equip - and my first batch brewing by myself...

First off, the good:

-- I was impressed with the quality of the stuff I got from MoreBeer, that kettle is niiice!
-- All my connections proved to be tight.. the wort chiller and the ball valve on the kettle were invaluable

Now, the bad:

-- Why did I pick the heaviest kit that I had purchased (Grateful Dead Guy from NB) to do on my own? Stirring in that last 5 or 6.5 lbs of extract with one hand while stirring with the other was pretty much a *****.
-- I seriously need to leave the kettle alone. The stove was definitely capable of bringing my 6-ish gallons of water to a nice rolling boil, but I was constantly paranoid about not having enough headspace and boil overs and a bunch of other stuff that didn't happen.

So yeah, I'm tired as hell this morning... and worried like I have a newborn at home that I should be watching.

The instructions and stuff said that this particular beer ferments best at 60-70 F. It had been less than 8 hours in primary & this morning I didn't see any foam or activity, but it's probably barely 60 downstairs.

I moved it up to the kitchen this morning, where it's closer to 65-70 throughout the day. Think I'll see some activity when I get home? Oh, my yeast was the Wyeast Pacman and I had activated it yesterday morning and let the package swell all day - they seemed viable and good.

Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, well-wishing!

* edit: it's fine... *

What are you fermenting in? Buckets are hard to seal perfectly so if there is no bubbling it may just be the lid isn't on tight. Look in and see if you can see any foam buildup.

To seal the bucket I've found backing the lid completely off the threads and then re-tighten usually works so you can start seeing bubbling in the airlock.

It's a 6.5 gal glass carboy... rubber stopper, 3-piece type airlock. I'm sure when I check it this evening there will be some activity...

What temperature did you pitch the yeast at? Did you aerate well?

Hopefully someone else can chime in because in all my batches fermentation took off quick so I don't have much troubleshooting experience.

I had it down to about 70 when I pitched the yeast, because I figured that's where it was going to ferment at, it might have been a few degrees cooler.

Moving it to the basement probably dropped it further, as it's 58-60 down there.

I aerated as well as i could via shaking the fermenter, as I don't have an aeration stone or anything like that...

When you say "took off quick" - you're talking a few hours and you had activity?

I may go check on it on my lunch break too... say a little prayer

Burgs said:

I may go check on it on my lunch break too... say a little prayer

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I think I'm going to look into opening a primary daycare where concerned brewers can drop their buckets/carboys off for the day to make sure the airlocks get the attention they need. Airlocks are very sensitive and if you're away at work all day and can't see the great bubbles it's producing then they can get very discouraged. We don't know the long term effects that working families have on early carboy development, but why take the chance?

By took off quick I saw the airlock bubbling within 4 hours. I was using dry yeast that I rehydrated. It was a 1.070 OG brew too.

NorCalAngler said:

I think I'm going to look into opening a primary daycare where concerned brewers can drop their buckets/carboys off for the day to make sure the airlocks get the attention they need. Airlocks are very sensitive and if you're away at work all day and can't see the great bubbles it's producing then they can get very discouraged. We don't know the long term effects that working families have on early carboy development, but why take the chance?

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LOL, that's funny.

Well, it's still sluggish... any suggestions? Or just wait it out.

Burgs said:

LOL, that's funny.

Well, it's still sluggish... any suggestions? Or just wait it out.

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You're going to be fine. The yeast was viable given the fact the activator pack swelled. I have read liquid yeast takes a little time to get going, especially if you don't make a starter. I have only used dry yeast up to this point and my current batch took a little over 24 hours before I saw any activity.

Cool... you'd be a good carboy day care administrator... ;-)

Yeah, I mostly use liquid yeast to pitch with no started for my 5-gal batches. I've noticed anywhere from 24-72 hours before the airlock start rolling along, and all of my batches have turned out alright. As long as everything is sealed/sanitized, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I guess I didn't think I needed a starter, since I was using the Wyeast smack-packs... I checked their FAQ and they said it wasn't necessary. I kinda assumed I was effectively doing a mini-starter by letting the pack inflate all day...

Smack pack isn't a substitute for a starter. 24 + hour lag is normal for having not pitched a starter.

It'll be fine. Like another poster said, as long as sanitization was good the lag time won't hurt a thing.

NorCalAngler said:

I think I'm going to look into opening a primary daycare where concerned brewers can drop their buckets/carboys off for the day to make sure the airlocks get the attention they need. Airlocks are very sensitive and if you're away at work all day and can't see the great bubbles it's producing then they can get very discouraged. We don't know the long term effects that working families have on early carboy development, but why take the chance?

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Maybe you can do a live feed for us so that we can check it on our computers at work!

HalfPint said:

Maybe you can do a live feed for us so that we can check it on our computers at work!

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Dude, I thought of the exact same thing... "hmm, I could just aim a webcam at the carboy and stream it to the web..."

And RE: smack pack vs. starter: That kinda sucks... what the F, Wyeast. I guess next time I'll use a starter, that's knowledge/experience I want to get under my belt anyways.

yeast_infection: I think my sanitation practices were tight, I should be good there.

Thanks for all the replies so far!
:rockin:

Wyeast packages say that they are good for 5 gal of wort up to 1.060. Since your kit is 1.064, you're over that and you underpitched. But like many have said, it will probably be ok, but you might want to help it out on the temp a little bit. Keep it at 60-65 for the first 3-4 days and then try to get up to 70 later when the yeast wants to start slowing down.

Congrats on the new equip setup, I am considering a new kettle and have been oggling the Blichmann line lately...

Burgs said:

-- Why did I pick the heaviest kit that I had purchased (Grateful Dead Guy from NB)

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I brewed this kit 4 weeks ago, and thought it was pretty easy. I had very active fermentation with re-hrydated munton's dry yeast within 8 hours, and vigorous fermentation after 24 hours, but my temperature was closer to 70F. It is a maibock and 60F is recommended, but it probably takes longer to ferment at that temp.

Well, it's definitely taken off now!

By the time I got home yesterday, it had a nice cap of foam on it and steady airlock bubbling. I've noticed this morning that it's actually bubbling through the airlock a little. I've had a towel over it to keep it dark and it's got a bit of foam and crap on that, but not much...

My question is - should I put a blowoff tube on the fermenter or just leave it? It's not really making a mess... just getting the airlock dirty with wort, really.

I don't think it matters either way, at this point it's more about containing the mess. Once it slows down a bit I would clean/sanitize the airlock and put it back on.

Congrats on the first brew. You'll quickly learn that the hardest thing and one of the most important things about brewing is Patience.

Yeah, I hear you...

I quickly swapped the airlock with a cleaned/sanitized one.. it's still bubbling steady but not making a mess really - I didn't bother with the blowoff tube, and the local lhbs didn't have one anyway...

I did some apfelwein today too... we'll see how that one turns out! I'm not gonna babysit it too much, as i don't plan on touching it for 5-6 months.

I just started my first brew this past weekend. Its in the basement and started out at 62 degrees... took just over 24 hours to start bubbling out of the airlock. After 48 there was about 1/2" layer of krausen on top. Its been almost 4 days now and it is nice and thick with lots of activity and the temp is up to 65ish. I dont have the experience to say what is up with yours, just wanted to post that mine started out slowly too

I'm actually getting ready to put this in secondary tonight...

My only worry now with the brew is that I may have fermented a little warm. I know I shouldn't have been looking at ambient temp outside the fermenter, but I don't have stick-on thermometer strips (yet, they're in the mail).

F*ck it, though... it's all a learning experience. What I screw up on this brew I'll fix on the next, right?

Burgs, dude. Its going to be fine!

Burgs said:

I'm actually getting ready to put this in secondary tonight...

My only worry now with the brew is that I may have fermented a little warm. I know I shouldn't have been looking at ambient temp outside the fermenter, but I don't have stick-on thermometer strips (yet, they're in the mail).

F*ck it, though... it's all a learning experience. What I screw up on this brew I'll fix on the next, right?

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Keep this thread going until you're sucking down bottles--I've had my eye on this kit and I'd like to know how it turned out.

To echo the others, you're gonna be just fine.

jturie, will do!

The move to secondary went smoothly & I got a pretty nice spot set up in the basement for it - nice and dark and cool. The beer looked nice through the tubing & no funky smells, so I'm feelin' confident.

I think I'm gonna make a big investment in a turkey baster so I can quickly sanitize it and grab samples in a few weeks.

Thanks, all!

Temperature is holding steady at 57 degrees, I'm really gonna try and wait 4 weeks on this & then 3 in the bottle. God, that seems like forever right now.

jturie said:

Keep this thread going until you're sucking down bottles--I've had my eye on this kit and I'd like to know how it turned out.

To echo the others, you're gonna be just fine.

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UPDATE:

Just pulled a sample out of secondary to taste it and I think it's gonna turn out really nicely! Smells like beer, looks like beer... tastes like beer!

I'm really excited to taste it bottled, carbed and cold!

:rockin:

I have a question about this yeast...I read that it's a Rogue proprietary strain. Is this a genetically engineered yeast or something? I know that a lot of rare yeasts are sought after, such as ones used in original Belgian brews, but is it pretty common for there to be a patent...or whatever you'd use for a yeast strain? It seems a little much considering that yeasts are living things.

Teromous said:

I have a question about this yeast...I read that it's a Rogue proprietary strain. Is this a genetically engineered yeast or something? I know that a lot of rare yeasts are sought after, such as ones used in original Belgian brews, but is it pretty common for there to be a patent...or whatever you'd use for a yeast strain? It seems a little much considering that yeasts are living things.

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I haven't heard of any engineered yeasts or any patented yeasts. If you find a link to any information related to that, then please send it to me. I'd be very interested to see that. A quick search for 'yeast' on the USPTO site yields about 200 results. I glanced at a few and didn't see anything about DNA patents, but 200 is too many for me to weed through...

If I decide to make this brew again, I think the main thing I'll improve upon is my pitching rate. This is just a touch sweet for me, like it could have finished a little drier/more abv. Not cloyingly sweet or undrinkable by any means, but it could be improved. Once it's cold and carbed I think it will be a respectable effort.

I accidentally ended up with 6 gallons instead of 5 gallons when I did this kit, which should have made it watered down, and initially, it did seem watered down, but it has aged for a couple of months now and it tastes much better. I did a side-by-side comparison with a real dead guy ale and my kit dead guy ale. SWMBO and I both prefer the 'watered-down' kit dead guy ale. The molasses-like flavor (I'm guessing from the dark rock candy) is mellower in mine, which I think gives it a much more balanced taste.

Dark rock candy? I think we must have different kits.

Not sure why a Dead Guy kit would have that anyway:

http://rogue.com/beers/dead-guy-ale.php

Doesn't seem like it would fit with the taste of the beer? Maybe I don't know what dark rock candy flavor would be like.

LVBen said:

I haven't heard of any engineered yeasts or any patented yeasts. If you find a link to any information related to that, then please send it to me. I'd be very interested to see that. A quick search for 'yeast' on the USPTO site yields about 200 results. I glanced at a few and didn't see anything about DNA patents, but 200 is too many for me to weed through...

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Yeah, I noticed this when brewing a Belgian Wit I read this from White Labs under their FAQ:

"I have a question about WLP400. Can you verify that it is not genetically modified?

None of our strains, including WLP400, are genetically modified."

This led me to believe that there must be enough genetically modified strains out there, for WL to make a statement like that. When reading this thread I noticed the unique name "Pacman Yeast" so I looked it up. From RebelBrewer's website, under the product description:

"Proprietary yeast strain from Rogue breweries in Oregon."

Then from the Wyeast release statement on their website:

"... And, we have also received permission from Brett Joyce, President of Rogue Brewing, to release the Pacman strain. This yeast is perfect for brewing big, rich stouts and porters. It is a clean aggressive strain that works well at lower temperatures. 1764-PC Rogue Pacman yeast is only available to home brewers! ..."

I was just curious about how all of this works in "big business" as far as yeasts are concerned. It got me wondering what would happen if a commercial brewery used the yeast, and how they (Rogue) could prove that the other brewery didn't cultivate it themselves. You know what I mean?

Three different links and they all have 'candy sugar' as one of the items that the kit includes:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...e967996&itemid=280377669433&ff4=263602_263622
http://www.enstore.com/brewstock/shop/item/rogue-dead-guy-ale-extract-kit
http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Rogue-Dead-Guy-Ale-%2d-Ingredient-Kit.html

LVBen said:

Three different links and they all have 'candy sugar' as one of the items that the kit includes:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...e967996&itemid=280377669433&ff4=263602_263622
http://www.enstore.com/brewstock/shop/item/rogue-dead-guy-ale-extract-kit
http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Rogue-Dead-Guy-Ale-%2d-Ingredient-Kit.html

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Weird, I guess it's Northern Brewer's version that's the odd man out.

Bottled this batch 4-13-2010, 1 case of 24 12oz. bottles, 1 case of 12 22 oz. bottles. Was a biiiiitch to bottle solo, but I think it will be worth the effort. Smells fantastic out of secondary!

It's been two weeks in the bottle - I cracked one earlier last week and it was pretty green (read: ****ty), but I'm hoping time will be kind to it. If not, I've already got a new name picked out for it: "Fail Ale"

Burgs said:

It's been two weeks in the bottle - I cracked one earlier last week and it was pretty green (read: ****ty), but I'm hoping time will be kind to it. If not, I've already got a new name picked out for it: "Fail Ale"

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IFA - Inferior Fail Ale