Day 11 -First time opening fermenter on first batch

EDIT: Sorry I meant to post this in the Beginner's Forum. If any Mods see this could you move it - Thanks


I opened my Ale fermenter last night for the first time since brew day (11 days ago) to take a gravity reading. Airlock activity has slowed to approx 1 gurgle every 90 seconds. Below is a top down view of what I saw when I opened the lid. I wasn't expecting this foam and I thought it would have all fallen back into the liquid by now. It looks slightly green in the picture but it was a cream/brown colour. Is this normal 11 days into fermentation ?







Secondly, when I took a sample below it was pretty cloudy and had a few little yeasty bits floating around. Reading Palmer I was expecting most of this to have settled by now and the beer to be clearer. The beer didn't taste too bad, quite bitter and what seemed like faint carbonation. When I dumped the sample there was a thin layer of sediment on the bottom of the glass. The gravity reading was 1.011. The instructions on my hydrometer say "don't bottle until it reaches 1.006 or the bottles WILL explode". Having looked up Palmer this seems to be nonsense as the FG for his Pale Ale is 1.010 - 1.015. Is this much cloudiness normal at this stage ? Does it suggest I should hold off on bottling ? Plan was for this Sunday at 15 days.

Give it another week, two if you can stand it. I learned the hard way that the best thing for your beer is time.

11 days is not surprising to have some fermentation still going on, depending on your ferm temp and how long it took the yeast to get going in the first place. If there's still foam on top I would leave it alone for at least a few more days to a week. Of course your only true measure will be hydrometer readings. Check it again in a few days, if the same as your previous reading, your fermentation is complete.

If you give it another week before bottling your beer will be fine. There's no rush to stop the yeast from working on your beer.

+1 on let it rest

it will also help work out some of the bitterness you mentioned (it won't get rid of it all, but there should be a slight difference...if your pallette is very sensitive to bitterness)

That looks just like my Pale Ale I have in primary right now (also batch #1). How did it taste? Mine tasted like beer-- warm, flat beer but, hey...it's beer!

Did you take those pictures with an etch a sketch ? it Looks fine.

MMW said:

That looks just like my Pale Ale I have in primary right now (also batch #1). How did it taste? Mine tasted like beer-- warm, flat beer but, hey...it's beer!

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It tasted ok. Not exactly smooth but I suppose that's to be expected. At least there were no nasty flavours.

IrregularPulse said:

Did you take those pictures with an etch a sketch ? it Looks fine.

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Close!...taken with my Nokia phone. Must use my camera next time! Original plan was to bottle this Sunday. I'll check the clarity then and decide on bottling. Hopefully the extra 4 days will have made the difference.

What does clarity have to do with when to bottle?

pizzaman said:

What does clarity have to do with when to bottle?

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I suspect the answer is: "nothing" and that I should go by the hydrometer.

pizzaman said:

What does clarity have to do with when to bottle?

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Well, I like to bottle when the beer is clear, too. Even if fermentation is finished, the yeast is still working on the beer. After the active fermentation is over, the yeast can start actually digesting their own waste products, like diacetyl. When they are done, they drop to the bottom or clump together, leaving the beer clearer. This gives a better tasting beer, if the yeast have a chance to do this work.

Bottling a clear beer helps keep excess sediment from falling out into the bottom of the bottles, too. If it clears in the bottle, all that "stuff" is also in the bottle. It's really just a matter of personal preference.

Yes ma'am. Basically my point was just because it's clear, doesn't mean it's done...and just because it's done, doesn't mean it's clear. I still say give it another 2 weeks.

Diablo said:

Having looked up Palmer this seems to be nonsense as the FG for his Pale Ale is 1.010 - 1.015.

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I regularly make a Pale Ale that consistently finishes at 1.012-1.014 and after aging 6 weeks in the bottle each time I've never had a bomb. It's good to follow the instructions as much as possible, but many of the instructions I've received with kits aren't specific to any one style and are handed out with everything from Pale Ale to American Wheat.

Patience is KEY. The same Pale Ale I've been speaking about spends 7 days in primary and then a further 21-28 days in secondary, depending on my schedule and the clarity of the beer based on conditions (primarily temperature).

Update on original post.

Took another sample today, 3 days after first sample. SG is the same and clarity has improved quite a bit as you can see from this. It also tastes better. Did not use Etch a sketch this time to take picture




I'm not sure how clear ales normally get in primary as it's my first brew. I'm leaning towards bottling tomorrow.

Is it me or does that pic look like a HUGE infection? My beer never looked like that. Granted i'm only on my 8th batch, but that is one scary lookin brew to me... maybe im wrong but green and bacteria-like bumps and circle patterns all over the surface?

Beau815 said:

Is it me or does that pic look like a HUGE infection? My beer never looked like that. Granted i'm only on my 8th batch, but that is one scary lookin brew to me... maybe im wrong but green and bacteria-like bumps and circle patterns all over the surface?

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It's not infected. I said in the original post that it wasn't green. The surface has settled down now and looks more like a bubbly head.

Diablo said:

Update on original post.

Took another sample today, 3 days after first sample. SG is the same and clarity has improved quite a bit as you can see from this. It also tastes better. Did not use Etch a sketch this time to take picture

I'm not sure how clear ales normally get in primary as it's my first brew. I'm leaning towards bottling tomorrow.

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Looks good! I'd probably wait another week before bottling, but if you're at Fg, you're safe to bottle.

I wouldn't worry too much about clarity. By the time you bottle (if you're bottling, that is) and get them carbed and ready to drink, you'll end up with some chill haze anyways. Happens to all of us.

Nice color on that brew!

For an extract pale I would bottle that puppy and get the clock ticking. Plus it will free up your fermenter to get another batch going.

With extract brewing your beer is pretty much going to be darker than the all grain stuff on the "same" recipe, it just is.

If you can wait a little bit longer there will be less crud to clean out of your bottles later, but if there is no homebrew in your pipeline you might as well bottle it, it won't suck.