True Brew Irish stout question

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yanksball14

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Hey guys, this is my first post but have a pretty good understanding of the process, or so i think haha. I'm using a True Brew Irish Stout kit, using a carboy for fermenting in. I brewed this on Thursday, it was finished and sealed by 2pm. I had an airlock in and by 11pm i had no bubbles, i know that doesn't mean no fermentation though. By 9am Friday i switched to a blow off tube. I have a thermometer sticker on the carboy and that said 74 degrees yesterday. I put it in a dark corner and left the fan on overnight and left the window cracked. When i checked it this morning the thermometer said 65 degrees. and the kraussen looks like it has subsided and fermentation slowed. Is this because of the dramatic change in temperature? Is this bad? any suggestions? thanks guys
 
65 is a good temp. Try to keep it there. It should still be fermenting. Dropping from 75 to 65 will not have much affect on yeast once it gets raging.

At 75 it might have fermented most of the sugars quickly. If you have a Guinness clone there then it was probably a low OG (~1.045) so the yeast might have finished up quickly.

Next time, try to keep it at 65 the whole time. I'm sure it'll end up fine this time. Don't worry, make sure to give that yeast another week before you do anything else. Then measure the gravity. Probably looking for about 1.012-ish to know it's done.
 
No, it's fine. Krausen forms during the first part of the fermentation process. After the first three days, usually the first part of the fermentation is done. That does not mean that it's good to bottle yet. But after 3 days, usually the krausen falls. The yeast are no in there cleaning up after themselves. Secondly, Why did you wait 9 hours to put an airlock in? Lastly, do some research on temperature control. Temp control is probably the second most important thing after sanitation. While your thermometer said 74 degrees, on the inside of the carboy, it is probably 8 degrees higher. I would research a swamp cooler. It is a cheap, effective way to control temp. All in all though, you are on the right track. Congrats bro.
 
Ok thanks! i was starting to worry that would be a problem. I hope it comes out good, this is my second try at it. My first try there wasn't enough water in the airlock and mold grew on top in the secondary. Definitely learned my lesson on that one. I'm thinking about going partial mash for my next one. I got the itch!
 
My mistake, I didn't wait 9 hours to put an airlock in. I put it in right away. But I will definitely look into a cooler.
 
Drastic temp changes aren't a great thing, but I don't think that is terribly drastic. You're probably fine, and maybe over thinking it a bit.

You did create a make-shift air lock with a jar or something at the end of your blow off tube, right? If you still have CO2 bubbles burping, then it is still fermenting - let it do its thing and poor yourself a beer. It sounds like maybe you're ready to stick an air lock on. BTW, I always just start with a blow off tube. You usually need it inside 24hrs anyway.

I wouldn't go out of my way to cool it once you've pitched the yeast. I'd have maybe tried to get it down a couple more degrees before pitching, but once you pitch the yeast, all bets are off, just let it go. It'll cool in its own time, and once the yeast is on its way, the slower it cools the better.
 
If I were you, I would do a few more kits before you jump to partial mash. There really is that much more that can go wrong with partial mashes. Get your sanitation and process down before you start worrying about partial mash temps and everything else. Just my thoughts. You will not have any problems from the higher fermentation. It can produce off flavors, but with it being an irish stout, you will more then likely not be able to distinguish the off flavors from the stout itself.
 
Yeah the blow off tube goes into a large pot with water into it. My first attempt at this actually blew the airlock off and made quite a mess which is how i found out about the blow off tube, haha. But yeah definitely just going to start with that from now on.
 
If you want to get away from the hopped kits, move up to an extract brew with steeped grains. There's nothing more to it than steeping a couple pounds of grain in a sack for some color, flavor and additional fermentables. Add in pellet hops during the boil at the appropriate times and you should have yourself a great brew.
 
Yeah the blow off tube goes into a large pot with water into it. My first attempt at this actually blew the airlock off and made quite a mess which is how i found out about the blow off tube, haha. But yeah definitely just going to start with that from now on.

Yeah, a blown off airlock is a fun mess. As stated earlier, I just start with that, leave it on for 2-3 days and then switch to the small airlock. They are both technically "airlocks", one is just bigger than the other.

You probably already know this, but since it wasn't mentioned I'll remind you to put a bit of sanitizer in the water, otherwise it defeats the purpose.
 
So, I figured I would follow up on this thread now that I'm enjoying it! Tastes very good for a first brew! here's a pic:

IMAG0120.jpg
 
Damn, that is a thing of beauty right there. How are the flavors? I typically brew wheat beers, and IPA's, but I wanted to expand and learn something new, so I brewed my first Irish Stout this weekend, and everything went smooth. I am considering adding some oak chips and transfering to a secondary. I'll be taste testing the brew over the next week or so to not overpower the brew. While there is no real need to add the chips, I just thought adding a little more character.
 
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