Just Brewed First Batch

Just brewed my first ever batch with my brother today. It's an Irish Pale Ale from Midwest. I think it went ok. The initial gravity when I pitched the yeast was 1.045. Does this sound ok? Also, we gave it a quick taste from the sample pulled for the hydrometer and it wasn't too bad. Hoping to bottle in a couple weeks.

Thanks for all the great info on this site!

1.045 sounds just fine for a pale. Congrats!

Youll be good. Dont get too caught up in efficiency on the first few. Take your readings, get your procedures down, and be patient. Trust your hydrometer. Don't plan on a fixed calendar date to plan to bottle. Wait until the beer tells you its time......and by the way congrats!

How do I know when to bottle? When the hydrometer reading is the same for 3 days or so? Is there any benefit/risks to leaving the beer in the fermenter once fermentation is done?

Thanks!

bigmac58 said:

How do I know when to bottle? When the hydrometer reading is the same for 3 days or so? Is there any benefit/risks to leaving the beer in the fermenter once fermentation is done?

Thanks!

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I will usually leave my beer in primary 3-4 weeks and then bottle, gives the yeast time to clean things up after actual fermentation occurs.

The yeast will continue to look for more food and clean up their own waste.

bigmac58 said:

How do I know when to bottle? When the hydrometer reading is the same for 3 days or so? Is there any benefit/risks to leaving the beer in the fermenter once fermentation is done?

Thanks!

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You would be correct. Beer is like a fine wine, the longer it sits, the better it will taste. Most people on here will tell you not to use a secondary fermenter, but I would recommend it. It will leave your beer a little clearer on bottling day. But when it comes to fermenting, I would not ferment any less than 2 weeks. 1 week in the primary and 1 week in secondary. Good luck and happy drinking to you!

duboman said:

I will usually leave my beer in primary 3-4 weeks and then bottle, gives the yeast time to clean things up after actual fermentation occurs.

The yeast will continue to look for more food and clean up their own waste.

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Will the fermentation that goes on after bottling and during carbonation do the same job in cleaning up the yeast's waste??

bosco

boscobeans said:

Will the fermentation that goes on after bottling and during carbonation do the same job in cleaning up the yeast's waste??

bosco

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I would say it can work that way in the bottle but remember that is a sealed system with a very high beer/yeast ratio. If the brew is still on the Carboy yeast layer it has a lot more yeast to clean up the flavor of the beer then when it's in the bottle.

JimTheHick said:

I would say it can work that way in the bottle but remember that is a sealed system with a very high beer/yeast ratio. If the brew is still on the Carboy yeast layer it has a lot more yeast to clean up the flavor of the beer then when it's in the bottle.

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This. Also think about this when deciding between long primary vs secondary


Edit: thanks jimthehick for the warning. I gotta get swmbo buzzed up and see if shell let me take pics! Lol yea that ain't happening..

kpr121 said:

This. Also think about this when deciding between long primary vs secondary

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Better make your 2,000th post special, kpr!

JimTheHick said:

I would say it can work that way in the bottle but remember that is a sealed system with a very high beer/yeast ratio. If the brew is still on the Carboy yeast layer it has a lot more yeast to clean up the flavor of the beer then when it's in the bottle.

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Is there a chance the beer may also pick up any off flavors from any used up yeast at the bottom of the carboy?

bosco

boscobeans said:

Is there a chance the beer may also pick up any off flavors from any used up yeast at the bottom of the carboy?

bosco

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Very unlikely in the first month, unless you have the Carboy at 90F.

JimTheHick said:

Very unlikely in the first month, unless you have the Carboy at 90F.

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This^. Keep your fermentation temps as low as possible in the range the yeast you used calls for. If you don't know for sure, you can look it up on line.

If your first batch was an extract do not worry about the OG reading of your wort. Unless you measured the top off water to a wrong total, it will be very close to the OG the recipe indicates. Its a good habit to get into, but not really necessary till you go partial mash or all grain. Your final gravity is a different story. You are correct that 3 straight days of steady FG readings tells of complete fermentation, if its close to anticipated.

Three weeks in primary on a low OG kit should alleviate any concerns about whether fermentation is complete too. And like others have said, three weeks allows the yeast to clean things up.
The yeasties are like college kids. Moping around the dorm, sleeping, lazy. Then they hit the party in the wort. They get carried away with themselves, consume too much, have to pee (alcohol) alot and get gas. They fornicate like crazy too. Next day comes and they have to clean all that up before they can go back to the dorm to sleep it off.

Welcome to homebrewing! Dont get discouraged and remember that patience in homebrewing is almost always rewarded.

barneygumble said:

The yeasties are like college kids. Moping around the dorm, sleeping, lazy. Then they hit the party in the wort. They get carried away with themselves, consume too much, have to pee (alcohol) alot and get gas. They fornicate like crazy too. Next day comes and they have to clean all that up before they can go back to the dorm to sleep it off.

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Makes sense.. The sixties were a long time ago but I still have some memories of the dorm room daze..

bosco

boscobeans said:

Makes sense.. The sixties were a long time ago but I still have some memories of the dorm room daze..

bosco

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The illustration is a fun way to look at things. The yeast arrive to your home in a dormant state. You wake them up, then pitch them in the wort. You might even have a pregame for them by way of a starter if you pitch liquid yeast into wort over 1.050. Next comes the "party" of active fermentation. This can happen rather quickly and be over in as little as a few days. But sometimes this can lead to creation of compounds that have very scary sounding names. These sound toxic but generally aren't. But they can give "off flavors". While the yeast are still active, they will break these compounds down, but its much slower than active fermentation(its the hangover part). So since you have now made so many new yeast cells (the fornication part), if you are patient and leave the beer on the yeast for the 3 weeks, they can do a pretty good job of correcting things before going dormant again.

barneygumble said:

The illustration is a fun way to look at things.

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Oh Yeah... Thanks, I don't think I'll ever look at a glass of beer in the same way again....

Just kidding.

bosco

Ok the airlock was alive with activity when I checked at 7am this morning and all day until now. It's currently only sending out a large bubble every 30 seconds or so. Is this normal to stop this quickly? Could it be an oxygen problem? I stirred and agitated the wort well or so I thought once I put it in the fermenter. Any thoughts?

bigmac58 said:

Ok the airlock was alive with activity when I checked at 7am this morning and all day until now. It's currently only sending out a large bubble every 30 seconds or so. Is this normal to stop this quickly? Could it be an oxygen problem? I stirred and agitated the wort well or so I thought once I put it in the fermenter. Any thoughts?

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This is normal. Relax, give it about 2-3 weeks in the fermenter, bottle it, give it another 2-3 weeks, then enjoy.

I couldn't stand it so one week out I took a hydrometer sample from the bucket. The original reading was 1.045 and it's now reading 1.018 (if I'm looking at it correctly). I sanitized everything thoroughly before taking my sample including the test tube. I've placed a balloon over the end of the sample in the tube. Can I save that sample to retest or will I have to get new next time. My thoughts are that it should continue to ferment at the same rate as what is in the fermenter, correct? I tasted it and it tastes a little strong, it's been fermenting at about 73F according to the LCD on the bucket. I've attached a pic of the sample, it's an Irish Red.

I think you need a new sample because there is no telling how much yeast are in suspension in the sample. But I could be wrong.

OP - the Midwest Kits always list the OG and FG on their instructions sheets (upper right hand corner). I have one from the Irish Red Ale here. OG is (SG) is 1.042-1.046 (you're good here) and the FG should be between 1.010-1.012.

Congrats on brewing your first beer

Bottled one week ago and decided to sample one. I put the bottle and a glass in the freezer for 45 mins or so. When I opened the bottle I heard a nice hiss and after pouring there was a decent head on it which did dissipate fairly quick. Upon tasting it had very nice carbonation and flavor. I know this will only get better with age. First brew is a success!