Help with first brew.

This is an Aussie Light Ale Kit from Midwest and my first brew. I followed the directions except I added a pound of honey and irish moss during the last 15 mins of the boil. I put in a plastic primary and it fermented for 10 days. I then racked into a 5-gallon carboy. It smelled great when I racked it. Original SG was around 1.045 and the SG when I racked was 1.006. During the boil the Nylon bag that I had the hops in broke and 90% of the hops went into the wort, therefore they went into the fermenter.

I have two questions. It has been two days since I racked and the color looks alot darker than the golden color the Aussie light ale is supposed to be. Will it lighten up within the week?

If you look at the third picture, I used a light so you can see the particles that are floating in the beer. They look like bite size pieces of a really thick yest cake. They also look disgusting like throw up... There are a lot more than the picture shows. I don't know if it is the co2 or if they are less dense than beer, but they float up to the top then drop down and the float back up to the top. Will they ever settle to the bottom? Should I be worried? They were in the fermenter when I racked and they went right into the secondary through the siphon. There was a large amount of sediment that I racked off of. I have a picture of that two, if anyone needs to see it.

The first pic is right after I racked, and the second pic is 2 days after racking, the third is with a light 2 days after racking. Thanks for any help in advance!

Once in the glass it will lighten. Alot.

As fas as the sediment, let it sit in the secondary, and it "should" settle out assuming its parts of the krausen.

ITs not milky white is it?

It is a whitish color. I would call it Tan.

Let it sit another week or 2. Keep it out of the light. The hop material will eventually settle out to the bottom of the fermentor. As someone else mentioned, it will be significantly lighter in the glass than it is in the carboy. Just be careful when you move it to rack it into you bottling bucket so you don't stir up what has settled out. Congrats on your first brew!

I'm curious about the floaties in the third picture. I made mead a year ago and remember at one stage of fermentation it had something similar...but more. They did settle out over a short period, however - not sure if it was yeast flocculation or what (that's my guess). I was freaked out by them anyway, they looked like little mushrooms, and I had never made mead before. Maybe something to do with using honey?

Let your beer sit a week or two. It should clear up and lighten in color as it does. If you can cold crash it, do that as well.

Thanks for the help. It seems time will solve this problem. I have a small fridge I let a friend borrow that I am getting back soon. Hopefully the carboy will fit.

I would let it sit another two weeks and then cold crash for a week, pretty much like everyone said. time is a good thing.

I know this is a newb question, but the cold crash only stops the yeast from being active while allowing large particles to settle. The yeast will still carbonate the beer after I bring them back up to room temp and bottle, right? I will be using the Tap a Draft setup, for first bottling experience.

yeah the yeast will be totally fine for carbonation

Its been two weeks in the glass and not much has changed. Its still fairly dark for a light beer. Is that because the pellet hops boiled into the wert and/or the honey I added? Also the "floaties" are still there as you can see in the pics. There are a few co2 bubbles in the pick, but 90% of what you see are solid clumps of mass, creamish in color. Wish I had a better camera.

I got my fridge back, but it won't turn on. So it looks like I will not be able to cold crash. Should I just bottle? Should I try it to see what it tastes like before I bottle? How cold does it have to be to cold crash? Maybe I can talk my wife in letting me use our fridge for a week?

I just tried it, and it tastes good for a warm flat beer. Can't wait to try it with some carb and ice cold. Do you think if I put a nylon mesh bag over my auto-siphon, it will keep the floaties from being sucked up into the bottles?

crj5000 said:

I just tried it, and it tastes good for a warm flat beer. Can't wait to try it with some carb and ice cold. Do you think if I put a nylon mesh bag over my auto-siphon, it will keep the floaties from being sucked up into the bottles?

Click to expand...

Probably, but in my opinion, that's more trouble than it's worth. As long as you properly refrigerate the bottles before drinking them, any remaining sediment should fall to the bottom. Just be gentle and don't pour the last 1/4" inch or so.

Was this an extract recipe. Liquid extracts tend to be darker and dry extract a bit darker than you would get with all grain. It will look lighter in a glass. If you can find an easy way to strain that would be ok, if not I agree with borden, don't worry about it.

just lightly scrape the bottom of your trub with the auto siphon to get more yeast into suspension when you rack to bottling bucket. also putting that mesh bag on the OUTPUT of siphon rather in input would do the same thing and probably be easier. just use a ziptie to hold it on.

as for the color: your beer will be MUCH lighter once you transfer it.

here is my watermelon wheat in the carboy


here is the same beer in my hydro sample tube

-=Jason=-

Yes it was an extract. It was 3 lb liquid and 1 lb dry. I like the idea of putting the bag on the output. It will probably be close to the weekend before I get a chance to bottle, so one more week in the secondary and then I guess two more to condition. Thanks for the tips and I will post how it comes out.