My first batch in 11 years

Hi all,

Just got back into brewing recently. Picked up a pretty basic starter kit (2 buckets, siphon, hydrometer, airlock, capper, etc) at my local shop and cooked up a batch a week and half ago.

I think my biggest problem with this batch is going to be temperature. In the reading I have done since, I have learned that you want to get your wort down to temp before adding the yeast. I added by 2 gallons of wort to 3 gallons of cold water in the bucket and then pitched the yeast right off, so I think my wort was hotter than it should have been when I pitched. Also, the guy at the shop told me to put it up on my 3rd floor which I did...but we had a heat wave and it got to be 80+ degrees up there. So we'll see.

After 7 days, I moved it to secondary. I did snatch a little taste test and it tasted pretty good to me, definitely has potential. I got distracted by my kid while siphoning and ended up sucking over some of the trub by accident, but not very much. I'm sure it will settle out fine.

I'm going to bottle on Sunday (7 days primary, 7 days secondary)...I'll let you guys know how it turns out!

I've been reading a lot since starting this batch, and see that a lot of people skip secondary fermentation and just go with a longer primary. I think on my next batch I am going to give that a try.

Ouch! 80+ degrees.

Yeah, 7 day primary and secondary was a process borrowed from commercial brewers and isn't necessary - they do it to free up fermentors. Most home brewers do a 3-4 week primary and that's it - cold crash it for a couple days if you can prior to bottling. 80+ is HOT for anything but saisons. It loves that temperature as far as repopulating, but hopefully you only get esters and not fusels. I can't believe someone suggested that. What style of beer was it? Welcome back!

PUD said:

Ouch! 80+ degrees.

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Yea, it was a bummer. The guy at the brew shop told me to put it upstairs so it would be in a "warm room". I called him a day or two later and told him it was 80+ up there and asked if I should move it, but he still didn't seem too concerned.

It is a "Belgian Golden" and he said the Belgian's like it a little bit hotter and that it would probably be fine. We'll see, I'm not quite as optimistic. It did bubble for a good 5 days or so, so it's not like the yeast got overactive and dropped off quickly, so maybe I got lucky.

Let's face it...first batch, I'll drink it no matter what :rockin:

blackbear219 said:

Yea, it was a bummer. The guy at the brew shop told me to put it upstairs so it would be in a "warm room". I called him a day or two later and told him it was 80+ up there and asked if I should move it, but he still didn't seem too concerned.

It is a "Belgian Golden" and he said the Belgian's like it a little bit hotter and that it would probably be fine. We'll see, I'm not quite as optimistic. It did bubble for a good 5 days or so, so it's not like the yeast got overactive and dropped off quickly, so maybe I got lucky.

Let's face it...first batch, I'll drink it no matter what :rockin:

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What is with these LHBS guys? It seems none of them ever know what they're talking about...

I've heard the guy at the place I stop through on occassion give weird advice too, I think it goes with the territory!

nefarious_1_ said:

What is with these LHBS guys? It seems none of them ever know what they're talking about...

I've heard the guy at the place I stop through on occassion give weird advice too, I think it goes with the territory!

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They're wicked nice and very helpful, but some of the things they have told me definitely fly in the face of what I've read EVERYWHERE else.

I was going to ask them what they thought about skipping secondary and doing a long primary, but I don't think I even want to go there now.

blackbear219 said:

Yea, it was a bummer. The guy at the brew shop told me to put it upstairs so it would be in a "warm room". I called him a day or two later and told him it was 80+ up there and asked if I should move it, but he still didn't seem too concerned.

It is a "Belgian Golden" and he said the Belgian's like it a little bit hotter and that it would probably be fine. We'll see, I'm not quite as optimistic. It did bubble for a good 5 days or so, so it's not like the yeast got overactive and dropped off quickly, so maybe I got lucky.

Let's face it...first batch, I'll drink it no matter what :rockin:

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What yeast did you use?

aygov said:

What yeast did you use?

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You would ask that. I'm not sure. :cross:

I couldn't wait any longer and I popped a bottle into the fridge last night. I figured what the hell, I have 50 bottles of it...I'm not going to hurt anything if I drink one early! Plus it will be fun to taste it off and on as it conditions to see how much it improves.

It's only been in the bottle since Sunday but I got a nice hiss of gas release when I popped the cap. Obviously, it was mostly flat but damn, it was taaaaaasty. Can't wait until this batch conditions more!! I declare...success!!

blackbear219 said:

You would ask that. I'm not sure. :cross:

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I was just curious since different types of yeast have different happy temperature ranges. Whenever I'm planning a batch I like to look at that range so I can be sure I stay within it. Since it sounds like it turned out alright it looks like you did good! RDWHAHB!

"It is a "Belgian Golden" and he said the Belgian's like it a little bit hotter and that it would probably be fine."

Before we badmouth the LHS guy, he might have been right. Most Belgian yeasts like hot temperatures. I usually start mine at 75 and try and push them up to 85 F at the end.

I believe Dupont ferment at 90 F for their Saison Vieille.

Any other type of yeast I would say that 80 F is crazy and will produce fusels up the wazoo, but with a Belgian, it's right where it does it's best stuff.

Calder said:

"It is a "Belgian Golden" and he said the Belgian's like it a little bit hotter and that it would probably be fine."

Before we badmouth the LHS guy, he might have been right. Most Belgian yeasts like hot temperatures. I usually start mine at 75 and try and push them up to 85 F at the end.

I believe Dupont ferment at 90 F for their Saison Vieille.

Any other type of yeast I would say that 80 F is crazy and will produce fusels up the wazoo, but with a Belgian, it's right where it does it's best stuff.

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I think you're right. I put this thing 4 steps (on the landing) from being on the 3rd floor. It's pretty much the hottest time of the year here, it's gets downright nasty up there on that 3rd floor. I thought it was perfectly fine at the time and now, 3 short weeks later, I look back and wonder what the hell I was thinking. Just shows up much you can learn in this hobby in a short time

My attic is converted to a finished master bedroom/bath. I stuck it up there because my directions said "make sure it is in a warm room"...so I said, "You want it warm, I'll give ya warm!" and that's where it went. A couple days went by and I did some heavy reading on this site and realized that it was way too warm. But, I read all the threads about not panicking, etc, etc, so that is what I did. It paid off.

I tried another bottle of it yesterday. It has bubbles! It has still only been in the bottle for 7 days and tastes pretty green, but overall once it conditions some more it is going to be just fine. Certainly very drinkable...maybe not the best Belgian ever brewed but for my first batch I will take it to the bank and not complain at all. RDWHAHB!

I learned a ton in the 1st batch that I corrected in my 2nd batch. I made some more mistakes there that I corrected in my next batch. I just brewed my 3rd batch (an IPA) on Saturday as far as I can tell from everything I have learned, it has gone great so far. It is going to be my first batch that I don't secondary and I can't wait to see the results of that. It will also be my first time dry hopping. I'm starting to understand the process and am really looking forward to watching my batches improve as I get better. Someday, I'll come back to read this thread and laugh at my n00bness.

PS: I'm addicted to this website.

It's improving nicely with age!