Timeline.

Hello all, long time reader, first time poster.

I was curious to get some impressions of how batch number one is progressing. Its a Coopers pre-hopped IPA extract (3.75 lbs) with a light DME (3 lbs) for a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon bucket as the primary. I took all sanitation precautions as well.

Tuesday 1/17 @ noon:
I boiled for 30 minutes, using an ounce of cascade hops for the last 10 minutes, and another ounce for the final minute. After getting the wort cooled in the sink I got an OG of 1.052. I hydrated and pitched the yeast that came with the Coopers extract (I cant remember what it was), airlocked it and left it overnight.

Wednesday:
I had bubbles in the morning, and the heat from the fermentation was keeping the temperature steady at about 72 degrees.

Thursday:
The bubbles continued Wednesday night but by Thursday morning had stopped completely, though the airlock responded to pressure on the lid. From my reading I had gathered it was best to resist opening the fermenter out of curiosity, so I let it sit.

Friday night:
Decided to take a gravity reading; 1.020. Saw rings around the top of the fermenter (evidence of krausen?). A little higher FG than I expected so I resealed it airlocked it and waited some more.

Sunday afternon:
1.020, still a little high but no movement, and the higher SG maybe from the non-fermentables from using DME and not sugar though right? So I racked to a 5 gallon carboy.

I was thinking about bottling the Saturday before superbowl, thats about 2 weeks in secondary, then bottle conditioning for 2-4 weeks (with periodic tastings of course).

So some of the questions I have are:
Does the 1.052 sound in range for 6.75 lbs of extract in 5 gal.?
How about the 1.020 FG?
Should I expect a lower FG after the secondary?
If its not should I be concerned about botle bombs?
Is it possible the 36ish hours for fermentation was enough?

From my reading it seems to me like a decent timeline to follow for this and future brews, although maybe they'll have a longer primaries.

Didn't mean to make this too lenghty, but it seems I would get the feedback I was looking for if you had the details. If I left anything out, feel free to ask.

And thanks for have me on your fine fine forum.

The finish gravity of 1020 seems a little high for your original gravity. Be wary of the yeast that come with the cans, but it seems as though there was nothing wrong with the yeast? I wish I knew what kind it was. I would let it go longer in the secondary it may just be slow. Give it a week it wont hurt. The yeast is what helps condition the beer if you bottle too early you could end up overcarbing, and the yeast in the bottle will have to work twice as hard not only eating your priming sugar but eating residual sugar in your brew too. Make sure the hydrometer is right and what was the temp of your brew when you tested it? If it was not 60 you will need to temp correct it. 36 hrs is enough for primary, bottle bombs.....probably not just over carbing, Give it a little more time have a homebrew what is the temp of the brew now?

Yeah, I wish I checked the name on the yeast too, ive been trying to . It seemed viable to me when I hydrated it.

I think it was about 75 when i took the first gravity reading before pitching, so does that deserve a temperature correction? The final gravity was taken in the mid 60s.

Right now its at a cooler temp for the secondary its about 64, its in glass now with less insulation than the plastic bucket and there is no active fermentation to keep it warm.

looks like the temp correction does not make that much differance. Looks like you had 1.054. Also when I figured the gravity for the malt, I got an original gravity of 1.047. Are you 100% sure your had 5gal? Anyway I would give it a little longer If it does not change in a week I would bottle it.

J'agree. The FG may be a tad high, but if it's done, it's done. Give it some time to think about what it did in solitary er, secondary for a couple weeks. Sounds like you're right on track.
I've done quite a few Cooper's kits and they all do what you just described, crazy activity for two days and they're done. I usually rack those ones on the third day or so, at let them sit a weekish, and when the fg is stable and the beer is clear, bottler it up. I've been getting really good results.
One other thing, I usually don't check the gravity in primary, when the krausen is gone and activity has slowed, it's ready. All you want to do is get it off the trub, so some activity in secondary is okay.

Welcome.

Echoing what Dark_Ale asked, was your 5Gal measurement before the boil or after, and if before, did you top off the batch to make at least 5 Gal? Not sure how much it would affect your batch, but the boil-off would tend to concentrate the batch a little, I would think. If not, no worries, I would think that it would still taste fine. My first batch started at 1.047, and only got down to 1.016, so it was not that much lower than your's. It WAS tasty....it is all gone now save 1 last 12ozer I am saving to drink on the 6 month anniversery of my first brewing.

i usually only take two hydro readings, one before i pitch the yeast, and one right before bottleing, i dont like to muck around in unfinished beer. i mainly do the second reading just for records...generally if you give the yeast enough time it will finish its job. (1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary for most ales)

I didnt do a full boil; I boiled about 2.5 gallons of water plus the extracts then topped off the fermenter to the 5 gallon mark. In the next batches should I go a little above the 5 gallon mark to account for the trub? I notice my secondary is not quite full.

As for the extra gravity reading, I'll try to cut that out in the future, I understand not wanting to give the bacteria any extra shots at my brew. (I did try to sanitize everything each time though, hydro. and airlock each time it went back on.)