1st time brew.. appears stalled..

My first time out, irish stout kit. I'm thinking that I did not get it aerated good, and it kind of appears that it stalled.
After 2nd day in fermenter all was looking good. Went in last Sunday. By today it had all but stopped bubbling so I racked to secondary, drew a small sample to taste. Tastes green, but smells excellent. has a bite and quite a bad after-taste. I'm hoping this is just young beer. When I opened it you could see the krausen <sp> had reached about 3-4 inches above the beer.
Checked the gravity, started at about 58, now its only down to about 29. "Instructions" say it should finish 17-20.....??
Also, after snapping the lid back on the secondary, it began to bubble some more, about once every 10 seconds and has done that all day.
I'm working out of town next week so it will sit in sec. all week and hopefully work itself out.
If it was under-aerated is there anything I can do now? I don't think it'll be ruined, but it's not seeming real drinkable ATM.

Thanks

Leave your brew in primary at least seven to ten days. Even though the heavy chugging slows or stops after 24hrs or so it's still fermenting.

Since you're already transferred it, all you can do now is wait and check it when you get home. It won't be ruined!

When you get home, check the sg to make sure it's dropped a few more points. Next time, check the sg before you transfer, and if it's not where it needs to be, just leave it.

What was the temperature of the room where you fermented? The aftertaste is probably fusel alcohol if it fermented hot. I agree you probably racked a few days too early so it's gonna take even longer to finish now. It should be fine.

You'll get closer to your target FG. When you transfer to secondary some of the yeast get in suspension and it will likely drop another couple of points for you.

Odds are that it will be just fine.

yup RDWHAHB! You'll be fine. IMO what your describing is just green beer. Definitely leave your beer in the primary at least a week. don't judge your fermentation by your air lock bubbling. Always use your hydrom. If I'm not using a hydrom I'll sometimes leave the beer in the primary a couple weeks just to be sure fermentation has stopped.

Don't worry you'll have some good beer!

Ahh ok, thanks guys.. Chalk it up to rookie mistake from the sounds of it..
It's been fermenting at right about 70*. Must be making it's own heat as the house has been 62-65. Something I'll have to address in the future.

Thanks for the replies.

Good luck, I'm sure it'll be fine, you might also read a couple of the threads going on here right now about not doing secondaries, quite the debate. And yeah, it'll generate quite a bit of its own heat as it gets cookin'

Yea there seems to be a huge debate over secondaries everywhere..
I just thought that since the fermintation had stopped (wrong here) that it would be better to get it off the trub and let it continue in a clean fermenter... I'll know next time...
Patience is not my strong suit and I see that as my biggest obsticle in brewing.
How about the temps? I've read that 60* is what you want, 70* is perfect, you name it.. I know it's based on the brew in large part, but for the stout was 68-70 to high? It smells excellent. When I opened it up I thought all was perfect.
Also, what is RDWHAHB...??

We'll see how it is next weekend when I get home, but it was still bubbling slowly when I left today. Unless it's growing fungus or tastes like paint thinner I'll drink it anyway.
Just hope it works itself out.

Thanks

I think 68-70 should be fine. *Relax Don't Worry Have A Home Brew

Let it go. I agree that the wierd tastes are probably just that the beer is SO young. My first brew changed dramatically between the rack to secondary and bottling day. SO, now you have an empty primary........

Ridemywideglide said:

Just hope it works itself out.

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Trust that it will, and trust me it will! Now that you have it in your secondary try and bring the temp down a bit below 70, and let it chill and it will be fine!

temperature varies by the yeast, check on the yeast companies website or refer to a brochure from your LHBS for temperature guide.

it doesnt sound like you did anything wrong....just a little over anxious to transfer to your secondary fermenter. let it sit in secondary for a little while longer for this batch and remember this lesson for your next batch.

Ridemywideglide said:

Ahh ok, thanks guys.. Chalk it up to rookie mistake from the sounds of it..
It's been fermenting at right about 70*. Must be making it's own heat as the house has been 62-65. Something I'll have to address in the future.

Thanks for the replies.

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