Anyone want to reassure a Noob?

Hi all,

I've just started brewing my first batch, a Muntons Nut Brown Ale, a few days ago. I've had dozens of questions which I Googled and kept finding myself referred to this board so I figured I might as well join. I hope you kind folks don't mind answering the same questions over and over again.

So here's where I stand right now. I started a batch of Muntons Nut Brown Ale a few days ago. I sterilized everything and followed the directions the owner of my LHBS gave me, even though they didn't agree 100% with what the Muntons package said. For instance, the Owner said to boil the mix in 1.5 gallons of water for 15 minutes, the package said not to. I boiled it. I added water up to 5 gallons and cooled the wort in an ice bath, bringing it down to 78 F in about an hour. I mixed the yeast in some warm water and let it sit 15 minutes, then pitched it. OG 1.043 (after correcting for temperature). I put on the airlock then stashed the carboy in the closet. At 24 hrs., I had 1" of krausen, it was at 68F and bubbling at about 3 bubbles/2 seconds. At 48 hours the krausen was very much reduced, the temp had dropped to 65F and the bubbling had slowed to 1 bubble/sec. At 68 hours, the krausen is pretty much gone, the temp is down to 62-63 degrees, and the bubbles are down to 1 bubble/7 seconds. Here are my questions:

Should I move the beer to a warmer location?
Should I add more sugar or yeast?
Should I rack to a secondary?
Anything you can tell from the narrative that I did wrong?
What can I expect to see in the next week or so?
Should I give up on brewing and just go back to stalking super-models?

Any insights would be welcome.

Be patient, check the gravity after 1 week and be prepared to let it go for 2 weeks, 2 weeks is very normal. Most will show activity and then settle down. Your directions should give a final gravity expected. ( this may be a little different than the actual gravity you get depending on a number of variables),When you don't see any change in gravity for about 3 days its time for the next step.

It may be difficult, but close the closet door and don't open it again for at least a week (two would be better.) Then as schooner said, start checking your gravity to see if it has stabilized. The airlock bubbling is cool to watch but is not really indicative of what is happening in the fermenter. Also, once fermentation finishes you want to give the yeast a little more time to clean up and give a better tasting beer.

Should I move the beer to a warmer location?
No anything above 60 degrees is good in my book.

Should I add more sugar or yeast?
No definitely not. Let it sit for a few weeks.

Should I rack to a secondary?
I only do a secondary if i am going to mature it for a few months or if i am adding something like fruit. No otherwise.

Anything you can tell from the narrative that I did wrong?
Nope sounds great.

What can I expect to see in the next week or so?
After two weeks you shouldnt see any big changes in your gravity readings. Also beer will really start to clear up after a couple of weeks. You will also notice yeast at the bottom of your bucket/carboy as it falls out of suspension.

Should I give up on brewing and just go back to stalking super-models?
Do both they are not mutually exclusive.

Folks,

Thank you all very much for your input. I will close the closet door, put a piece of duct tape across it, and walk away for a week.

Rick

All good advice given except - be very careful stalking the super-models. After a stint in jail the beer would be past prime.

kh54s10 said:

All good advice given except - be very careful stalking the super-models. After a stint in jail the beer would be past prime.

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i completely agree, or at least leave instructions here, as to how we could find this beer while you are in jail... and ... you know, watch it for you.


btw, are there many super models in port angeles, my wife and i were looking into moving there after we leave England, because of its location in comparison to the national park, and seattle, and the beach. i guess my real question is, how far is the lhbs.

My advice for the beginner is always, leave it alone and let it work.

I think we've all been there, over thinking the whole process ,Fussing with the batch, checking the gravity way to often.

I agree you should peek at the batch to check temp. Check your bubbler( airlock) just as a gauge of fermentation. I myself check my carboy after work when I get home. And yep it's still there.

The sooner you get comfortable with your brewing the better it will come out. Then not long after that you'll be wanting to go all grain and design your own recipes.

Relax, drink a beer it's supposed to be fun

+1 on leave it alone!
Alot of the problems new brewers run into with brewing, can be corrected by time. You must force yourself to forget that you brewed it ( repeat after me.....there is no beer....there is no beer....breath in and out...relax), for me thats usually three weeks, sometimes longer depending on the style of course

A beer pipeline is a wonderful thing. Once you get enough beer going that you are not tempted to drink green beer and monitor every little step your beer will start to come out better and better.

Remember 3 weeks at 70 degrees in the bottles to carb and then a few days in the fridge. Speaking of which I need to go and stock the fridge again

Varmintman said:

A beer pipeline is a wonderful thing. Once you get enough beer going that you are not tempted to drink green beer and monitor every little step your beer will start to come out better and better.

Remember 3 weeks at 70 degrees in the bottles to carb and then a few days in the fridge. Speaking of which I need to go and stock the fridge again

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+1 way easier to let them age properly once that steady supply of delicious brew is readily available

Thank you all for the advice. I shall try to let the yeast do it's job and just stay out of its way.

Cpl-America,

Port Angeles is a once thriving port and logging/mill town surrounded by the ocean, the mountains, and tremendous natural beauty. There isn't much here for industry anymore, but we do have a lot of beer, wine and cider being produced locally, both by small commercial operations and by homebrewers. The lhbs is very well equipped, conveniently located, and I would be more than happy to show you some of the local craft beer watering holes.

Rick

Ok, so it's been a week since I started this Muntons Nut Brown Ale batch. Bubbling is still going on, although very slowly, maybe one bubble/minute. Possibly due to my swirling and moving the carboy to a more convenient location, the wort is still very cloudy. Just because I was curious, I checked the specific gravity. It was way high, about 1.025, whereas it was supposed to be at 1.012 when it was done. OG was 1.042. Whether that was due to un-fermented sugars or the yeast still in suspension, or both, I don't know. I'm sorta bummed and wondering what's gone wrong. I probably could have done a much better job aerating the wort early on, and the wort did get down to 60 degrees a few days after I started it, so maybe that stunted the fermentation.

On the positive side, during the spec gravity checking I spilled some of the stuff and now my office smells distinctly of BEER. Whatever is in that carboy, it may be weak, it may not come out as tasty as I want, but what it is, is BEER. In that I take some satisfaction.

So, moving forward, what should I do with this batch? Should I try to keep it warmer? I'm a polar bear by nature and I keep my home pretty cool (low 60s). I can maintain the carboy at 68 of so with a heating pad if that would help. Also, would it be worthwhile to try pitching more yeast into this batch in case the old yeast is done? Or should I just walk away for a couple weeks?

Rick

Only been a week? LEAVE IT ALONE! I wont even think of messing with any readings or thinking of going to secondary on any of my beers for at least two weeks. I know its tough to be patient on the first batch, but you gotta be. Otherwise sounds like your well on the way to making the worlds most refreshing beverage!

Also you gotta think everytime you get curious and open it or take readings your inviting the chance of infection!

Labradork said:

Ok, so it's been a week since I started this Muntons Nut Brown Ale batch. Bubbling is still going on, although very slowly, maybe one bubble/minute. Possibly due to my swirling and moving the carboy to a more convenient location, the wort is still very cloudy. Just because I was curious, I checked the specific gravity. It was way high, about 1.025, whereas it was supposed to be at 1.012 when it was done. OG was 1.042. Whether that was due to un-fermented sugars or the yeast still in suspension, or both, I don't know. I'm sorta bummed and wondering what's gone wrong. I probably could have done a much better job aerating the wort early on, and the wort did get down to 60 degrees a few days after I started it, so maybe that stunted the fermentation.

On the positive side, during the spec gravity checking I spilled some of the stuff and now my office smells distinctly of BEER. Whatever is in that carboy, it may be weak, it may not come out as tasty as I want, but what it is, is BEER. In that I take some satisfaction.

So, moving forward, what should I do with this batch? Should I try to keep it warmer? I'm a polar bear by nature and I keep my home pretty cool (low 60s). I can maintain the carboy at 68 of so with a heating pad if that would help. Also, would it be worthwhile to try pitching more yeast into this batch in case the old yeast is done? Or should I just walk away for a couple weeks?

Rick

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So.....dispite all our advice you still insist on messing around with the brew. Sounds like a brewer if I ever met one.

You need to leave it alone, the more you touch it the more chance there is for contamination .

I could list a whole bunch of problems that might have occurred from just you moving it. But.....it's not needed.

Your carboy and its home should be treated like a clean room. No entry except by qualified personnel .

At this point in your brewing career you don't have the skills to correct or even notice potential problems. So....just follow the directions.

I have a batch ready to be bottled right now, OMG! I didn't even check the gravity after OG!

Relax, drink a beer, it's supposed to be fun!

Seriously, I just brewed this same kit as my first batch and I'm now enjoying the fruits of my labor. I was a little worried that I may have done something incorrect, and I probably did, but it turned out good! This style was my wife's favorite. I'm thinking my next batch will be an IPA...my favorite.