fermenting time question (first Beer)

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Iceman1979

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Hi,

I just got my brewing kit and made my first batch last night. I bought the kit that was advertised on Sam Adams web site.

I followed the instructions and for the most part it was self explanitory. The only thing that was unclear was the amount of yeast. The instructions didn't specify one or two packets and the kit cam with two. The only thing I could find that said two packets was when it was telling me to put the yeast in it said packets (plural) I took that to mean both packets and mixed bot of them in.

Its been 24 hours since I put the wort in the first stage (plastic bucket) The bubling has slowed down but has not stopped completely. My first gravity reading was 1.042 and it is now at 1.020. The instructions say to leave the wort in the bucket 3-4 days and then take a reading again and when it reaches half of the first reading move it to the glass carboy for againg. Its only been 24 hours and its already at half the starting weight.

Is it ready to move now or should I still wait? Did I mess up by putting both packets of yeast in there?

The only thing I know to do is to wait untill the bubling has stopped completely before moving it to the carboy. The foam head has gone down and is flat all the way across.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
John
 
There was a kit advertised on sam adams' website??!!! Got a link?


Sounds to me like you're doing fine. It's pretty difficult to add too much yeast, they probably did mean for you to add both packets.

As for moving it to secondary, I would wait a few more days. No hurry. Waiting a week is actually pretty typical. Yes, I know your gravity reading is down to half. It's common for the first half to go fast and then for it to take a long time to completely finish. The only thing you can screw up at this point is rushing it along.

Give it a few more days in primary, siphon it to secondary, give it a week or two, then prime it, bottle it, and give it a few more weeks.

Patience is rewarded in this hobby. It sounds like you're doing fine.


Now, where did you find a Sam Adams brew kit??!!!!
 
no you didn't mess anything up....in fact it's kinda hard to

the two packets just meant a pretty big fermentation but nothing wrong with that

Most people use the 1-2-3 method....meaning 1 week in primary 2 weeks in a clearing tank(secondary) and 3 weeks in bottles then drink it all as fast as you can!

ok just joking about that

but yeah you've still got plenty of time

my last brew I put new wort on a yeast cake from my clearing tank and went out of town the next day....two days later when I got back it wasn't bubbling but I knew it had fermented bc there was trub on the top of the carboy....

since you've got a hydrometor you could take a sample everyday until it stays the same for 3 days...but thats a lot of work and I don't even have a hydrometor bc it would make me worry to much!

so yeah don't worry just RDWAHAHB

take it easy and good luck!
 
Toot said:
There was a kit advertised on sam adams' website??!!! Got a link?


Sounds to me like you're doing fine. It's pretty difficult to add too much yeast, they probably did mean for you to add both packets.

As for moving it to secondary, I would wait a few more days. No hurry. Waiting a week is actually pretty typical. Yes, I know your gravity reading is down to half. It's common for the first half to go fast and then for it to take a long time to completely finish. The only thing you can screw up at this point is rushing it along.

Give it a few more days in primary, siphon it to secondary, give it a week or two, then prime it, bottle it, and give it a few more weeks.

Patience is rewarded in this hobby. It sounds like you're doing fine.


Now, where did you find a Sam Adams brew kit??!!!!


The supplies you order from beer-wine.com but I found it from a Sam Adams commercial. The videos show how to make the sam adams boston lager.
http://www.samueladams.com/promotions/LongShot/Default.aspx
Thanks
John
 
Sounds good. Thanks for the replys and i'll just keep an eye on it for now.

I do have another question about the beer. Right now it is not real clear. I know that when I take it out of the primary firmenter and move it over to the secondary to leave the sediment behind. I imagine that will help a bit. Will I have to strain it to make sure that it comes out realy clear or will it always have a cloudy look to it?


for right now all I can do is RDW can't have a home brew yet, this is my first beer :)

Thanks
John
 
It's only been what a day or 2? It'll clear up... what kind of beer is it?

no man don't worry about filtering/straining it or anything it'll clear up as it ages...

remember it's got like 6weeks so plenty of lees(yeast and other stuff) will fall out by then

plus the yeast that stays in suspention is good for you! it's packed full of vitamin B so it's less likely to get a headache from homebrew...there was a recent thread about this that was kinda interesting

take it easy
 
This beer that I'm making has 2 cans of light malt extract, dry malt, and Fuggles Hops. Its what came in the kit when I ordered it. I specifically ordered a light beer kit. My next one is going to be a dark beer.

Thanks again for all the answers to my questions.

John
 
greenhornet said:
my last brew I put new wort on a yeast cake from my clearing tank


If you're going to get serious about re-using yeast, this is not a recommended practice. The yeast cake in the bottom of the clearing tank/secondary are the 'slow learners' that took a longer amount of time to do their job and flocculate. Ideally, you want to use the yeast from the primary cake since these are the 'go-getters' who get their job done and go to sleep ASAP. Not saying you'll have a bad beer using the secondary yeast, but over a few generations, it'll take longer and longer to ferment a batch with them, and you will start to develop off-flavors quickly. Something to think about.

Iceman, you're totally fine leaving it in there. I leave my beers in primary for two weeks usually. It gives the yeast a chance to clean up after themselves so to speak. You could do 2-1-3 and be perfectly fine.
 
Chairman Cheyco said:
If you're going to get serious about re-using yeast, this is not a recommended practice. The yeast cake in the bottom of the clearing tank/secondary are the 'slow learners' that took a longer amount of time to do their job and flocculate. Ideally, you want to use the yeast from the primary cake since these are the 'go-getters' who get their job done and go to sleep ASAP. Not saying you'll have a bad beer using the secondary yeast, but over a few generations, it'll take longer and longer to ferment a batch with them, and you will start to develop off-flavors quickly. Something to think about.

Iceman, you're totally fine leaving it in there. I leave my beers in primary for two weeks usually. It gives the yeast a chance to clean up after themselves so to speak. You could do 2-1-3 and be perfectly fine.


yeah I know....I kinda screwed up and thats why I had to do it...

I ordered all of the ingredients but FORGOT THE YEAST! plus there aren't any brew shops here so it's all I could do


seemed to work fine...its been about 2 weeks now (kinda forgot..) and it looks fine (lots of sediment and a pretty clear beer.

I don't plan on doing it a lot but it seemed to work fine this time
 
Well, the beer is bottled. And it has set for a couple of weeks now. The beer in the bottle is clear and looks realy good. I put a couple of bottles in the fridge and a couple of days later pulled one out to enjoy. The only thing is that it got cloudy sitting in the fridge. I don't understand why it goes in clear and comes out cloudy. The only thing I can come up with is that the beer might be churning in the fridge. meaning that as the beer cools off at the top of the bottle the cooler beer falls to the bottom forcing the warmer beer to the top and taking some of the sediment with it.

Can anyone explain why this is hapening?

Thanks
John
 
It's just chill haze. As you get more familiar with brewing you'll find out that you can add finnings to help clear you beer and other methods like cold conditioning/lagering will drop out the protiens causing the haze.

Some don't bother with doing anything as it don't affect the flavor, just the look of clear beer. As it warms up ( if it lasts that long) you'll notice it goes away.

Some great free reading can be found here http://www.howtobrew.com/

Cheers and welcome
 
The only thing is that it got cloudy sitting in the fridge.

They call that chill haze... Something about tannin-proteins that are soluble at room temperature, but not at refrigerated temps.. (from Papazian)... It doesn't effect the flavor at all...

Using a teaspoon of irish moss (scroll down to clarifiers) in the last 15 minutes of your boil should help a bit, although most of the time when I've used extract, I got chill haze..
 
Thanks guys for all the posts. I did notice that the taste had not changed so thats good.

I'll do some reading and try some things to see if I can get the next batch to be a little more clear.

Thanks again
John
 
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