first batch problems please help

sorry to bother the forum but tried our first brew last night. ran into multiple problems. besides the air lock getting stepped on and cracked in 3 pieces which we were able to tape back up in interim before replacing and fill with water, we also forgot to add back the last galon of water after the boil. right now we have the 4 gallons only. is this something i can add tonight or do i risk contamination? also is their any problem in replacing the air lock with the new one we purchased when it arrives or should we leave the one which we have on currently? thanks again.

You can replace the airlock. Make sure everything is sanitized.

You can add the water, but I'd boil it first and let it cool to the appropriate temp. Sanitize your funnel or whatever you are using to transfer the extra gallon.

Beer is fairly resiliant. It'll be allright.

And welcome to HBT and congrats on your first brew!

you can add in the water. i would boil it properly for at least 5 minutes to sterilize it, then transfer it to a sanitized container (if you use plastic, let the water cool in the pot a little before pouring). chill the water down to same temp as the contents of the fermenter, and pour in (via a sanitized funnel).

you can also replace the air-lock, but do you need to? if the tape is holding and it isn't leaking, i would just let it be. but if it's not holding its contents then you need to replace it. be sure to sanitize your hands and the new airlock before swapping it out. if you want to be extra-careful, you could sanitize some tinfoil and cover the opening in the bucket/carboy while you fiddle with the old and new air-locks. the idea here is to prevent anything bad from falling into the brew, like dust that could be carrying nasties. don't worry if you don't do this, having the carboy/bucket's open for a minute is unlikely to cause a problem.

p.s. what Wig said

I also am fermenting the beer in a fermentation bucket in my garage. I live in NY and this time of year the weather can be a concern. Do you think this is a bad place to keep it? I have it in a dark room with no windows which I'd feel was the coolest part. Thanks for all of your help!

If it gets above 70 degrees, put it in the bathtub with wet towels over it and a fan blowing on it to control the temperature.

Just get a vinyl tube from home depot and stick it in a beer bottle in the other end. As for the light, paper bag it. Luckily I have removed all my wife's crap from a tiny closet and replace it with my glorious fermentation vessels.

Ok, so quick update just checked and the air lock did let some of the water it was holding out. I did order two off of eBay for $7 shipped, and hopefully they will be to us by Fri. In the interim I have put a pot of 1G of water on the stove and have broken out the sani star. Should I take a temp reading of the wort, and make sure it is below 70 F?

Your LHBS should have a little sticker that goes on the front of it for like 2$ that will tell you the temp, or at target/wallmart you could get a fish tank one. Something like this: http://stores.mdhb.com/-strse-147/Liquid-Crystal-Thermometer-for/Detail.bok.

As long as you keep the lid on the fermenter, put a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the lid, and poke a hole in it, not next to the hole for the airlock so that the gas can escape. Your just trying to let CO2 out without letting crap in. and a pinhole should be enough to keep the bugs out.

As a side note, When I did extract batches I never boiled the water that I added back in, because I used filtered water, and I never had any problems.

But in the end: Relax, Dont worry have a homebrew (or in your case a commercial one)

Oh man, the hits just keep on coming. Wort temperature is at 76 F in garage according to the temperature on the therm on the outside of the bucket! I just boiled the extra 1G and are letting it cool down to 65 before adding back to the wort. To add back do I open the top, or just try to pour through funnel through hole in the lid? Just cracked a Pond Hopper Double Extra Pale Ale to help cope with all this stress.

76 is hot... try setting the bucket in water with ice to keep it cool... also I use rum in my air lock to keep the bacteria out (water can get bacteria in it)
My last brew was 72F for a few days during active fermentation then cooled to 68 (my basement stays a nice 65-67F

76 can give you off flavors because the yeast would be in overdrive and tire out quickly. What I would suggest if you don't want to go the swamp cooler route, is to set it in a bucket and put the 2 liter frozen water bottles right up next to the fermenter, and wrap it tightly with a towel, multiple towels and sleeping bags. That should help to bring the temp down and stabilize it.

As for the funnel vs lid off, I would just take the lid off, just be careful not to let anything fall in it.

And for what to put in the airlock... I just put some of the starsan I saved from sanitizing everything. In order for alcohol to be able to kill the bacteria, it needs to be 120 proof or higher (60% alcohol). Anything less can actually harbor bacteria because of the sugars.

76 is high but I bet you first brew will still taste special.

I brought the wort down last night in an cold bath to around 70. I left it in an air conditioned room all night, and it is still showing 72/74. To touch the bucket feels cool, but obviously not cool enough. Looks like we will need to need to figure out some (inexpensive) climate controlled environment to condition our brew in the future, any suggestions? Would a mini fridge work?

So before I left for work this morning, I found an old 48 qt igloo cooler that I filled with cold water, submerged my fermentation bucket, and put in two ice packs. Hope this does the trick for today . Gonna be a long two weeks.

For what it's worth, typically the first 5-7 days are the most temperature sensitive. Good luck!

Your cooler looks good. You can also put a towel or T-shirt over the fermenter, draped down into the water. That will wick water up - the evaporating water will help cool it.

When adding the water, I think this should be done with a minimum of splashing to prevent oxidation.

So this tub thing is not working out, had to take out last night wort goes back up in temp. Need some sort of alternative controlled environment to ferment my wort. What is the least expensive option, converting a mini fridge?

those two little ice packs might not have been enough to make a difference. image those two little things against 5 gallons. you likely need more ice/ice packs to have an impact.

aside - herein lies an advantage of glass carboys: they transmit heat more efficiently than plastic buckets. the plastic acts as an insulator. it's not a huge difference, but glass will do a slightly better & faster job of exchanging heat between beer inside and cool water outside. yes, i know, there are plenty of other disadvantages of glass...

Dunerunner said:

If it gets above 70 degrees, put it in the bathtub with wet towels over it and a fan blowing on it to control the temperature.

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Putting frozen water bottles in the tub is going to be a lot more effective and use a lot less energy than running a fan 24/7. If you want to use the evaporation route you will only be able to drop the temp a few degrees and you cant fill the tub up too high or the fermenter will just take on the ambient temp of the water. Ice on the other hand makes it easy to get in the 60's even with 80's ambient temp. For and extra efficient way to do this check out yoopers rolling cooler fermenting tub.

how low can the fermentation go in temp without it harming the wort. now that it has been in the house, and i have been swapping out frozen water bottles, the last reading was high 50's

high 50's is probably a little too low - what yeast are you using?

generally the 60's is where you want to be. 50's will not harm the yeast, you'll just make it go dormant. warm it up a little and they'll get back to work.

(and i'm already rolling my eyes at anyone who jumps in here to claim that they ferment their ales below 60... yes, it can be done but the OP has admitted his lack of experience - let's make things easy on him/her, m'kay?)

Thank you! I have been able to bring the temp down to 65 which sounds ideal. While I wait to bottle this batch next week, I was able to tap into some which I had bottled in the class I took at the brooklyn kitchen. Now I let that condition in the garage, which proved to be too hot for the wort. Not sure if the yeast has the same effect in this stage, but I found the brew to be extra carbonated. I'm assuming that based on the high temp's that the brew conditioned in the bottle at, the yeast were overactive, resulting in an increased level of CO2 to be released? Yes/No/Maybe? Also BTW @sweetcell, him. Thanks again!

Oh and before I forget, I assured myself I would not make the same mistakes twice so have been looking into buying, or building a wort chiller. Went to Loew's yesterday and found the 3/8" copper piping to be $40 alone, so may reconsider buying one prefab. Is there any one better than the other, or all the same. Also when looking into building, and converting a coleman cooler, the fittings Brass v Stainless, any thoughts here? Thanks again.

I bought 50 feet of 3/8 tubing at Lowes for $60, the pre fabbed one that size was 130. I also bought the bending tool which was a mistake, because it came out better when I just wrapped it around a spare Corning keg. The 50 foot cooler cold a 5 gallon batch for me in about 10 min, and a 10 gallon batch in about 15, well worth it in my opinion

Wow, those numbers sound amazing. We sat around for hours, watching that thermometer drop degree, by degree at 1AM . What other parts did you need for your chiller, or which blog/post did you find it on? Thanks!

I mean if you look at the commercial ones, you can see what basically needs to be done.

What you need:

A corning keg or 5 gallon keg, first make sure it will fit in your pot, if not find a cylindrical object that does.
3/8 inch food grade tubing, Here is what I got: http://www.lowes.com/pd_4182-58421-D+06050PS_4294822004+4294763500_11_?productId=3427604&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_38_4294822004%2B4294763500_11_%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=3/8

3/8 plastic tubing (drainage and inlet).
2 clamps

Then you just wrap the tubing around it I found the easiest way was to just put the whole roll around the corning keg, and then just pull the ends tight. At one end be careful when you bend it up towards the top, as to not get a crease in it, So to do that I suggest wrapping a hot cloth around the portion you are about to bend and bend it slowly. You wont get 90 degree angles.

Then cut the PVC tubing and clamp it to the inlet and outlet. They should both be at the top, The Inlet side should be the top of the coil, and the outlet should come from the bottom.

It will take all of about 10 min to make, once you have the parts

scripto said:

Now I let that condition in the garage, which proved to be too hot for the wort. Not sure if the yeast has the same effect in this stage, but I found the brew to be extra carbonated. I'm assuming that based on the high temp's that the brew conditioned in the bottle at, the yeast were overactive, resulting in an increased level of CO2 to be released? Yes/No/Maybe?

Click to expand...

no, not really. the amount of CO2 produced - hence how carbonated the beer is - is a function how much sugar/priming agent you added. sugar is the "fuel" used to create the CO2, so there is a direct linear relationship. temperature will only affect how quickly the sugar is turned into CO2.

sweetcell said:

no, not really. the amount of CO2 produced - hence how carbonated the beer is - is a function how much sugar/priming agent you added. sugar is the "fuel" used to create the CO2, so there is a direct linear relationship. temperature will only affect how quickly the sugar is turned into CO2.

Click to expand...

so what would be the reasoning why the beer tasted extra carbonated. it was brewed, fermented, and bottled in class. just conditioned in my garage, which was my original problem with my current batch. garage had wort at temps above 70. appreciate your help on this.

wfowlks said:

I mean if you look at the commercial ones, you can see what basically needs to be done.

What you need:

A corning keg or 5 gallon keg, first make sure it will fit in your pot, if not find a cylindrical object that does.
3/8 inch food grade tubing, Here is what I got: http://www.lowes.com/pd_4182-58421-D+06050PS_4294822004+4294763500_11_?productId=3427604&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_38_4294822004%2B4294763500_11_%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=3/8

3/8 plastic tubing (drainage and inlet).
2 clamps

Then you just wrap the tubing around it I found the easiest way was to just put the whole roll around the corning keg, and then just pull the ends tight. At one end be careful when you bend it up towards the top, as to not get a crease in it, So to do that I suggest wrapping a hot cloth around the portion you are about to bend and bend it slowly. You wont get 90 degree angles.

Then cut the PVC tubing and clamp it to the inlet and outlet. They should both be at the top, The Inlet side should be the top of the coil, and the outlet should come from the bottom.

It will take all of about 10 min to make, once you have the parts

Click to expand...

your Loews link did not load, can you give the Loews part # and I will look up? I know their site is different based on zip code.

you need to copy and paste the Loews link into your browser, you can't click it (unfortunately).

Got it, thanks! I show:

Mueller 3/8" x 50' Refrigeration Coil
Item #: 4182 | Model #: D 06050PS
$62.00

scripto said:

Got it, thanks! I show:

Mueller 3/8" x 50' Refrigeration Coil
Item #: 4182 | Model #: D 06050PS
$62.00

Click to expand...

Thats the one... you got it cheaper than I did. It was $66 out here.

OK so my replacement airlocks just arrived today. As I'm anxious to see some activity, I sanitized, and replaced. I've been sitting and staring waiting to see some sign of life but nothing yet. Beer has been fermenting just shy of two weeks. What type of activity should be expected at this stage of the brew. My worst fear is that something has gone wrong. Any feedback is appreciated.

I'm new at this too, but from all I have been reading the best way to determine fermentation activity is to take a specific gravity reading and see if it is drooping from your OG. Good luck.
Susie

SusieBrew said:

I'm new at this too, but from all I have been reading the best way to determine fermentation activity is to take a specific gravity reading and see if it is drooping from your OG. Good luck.
Susie

Click to expand...

Said Perfectly!

Bubbles/action in the airlock are not a sign of fermentation. Most of the vigorous activity has probably already occurred (when the krausen was there). The only true way to gauge the fermentation is with a hydrometer/refractometer.

scripto said:

What type of activity should be expected at this stage of the brew.

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after two weeks, i wouldn't expect any bubbles, especially considering that you've just opened up the fermenter to install the new air-lock - that would have released any built-up pressure you had inside there, so what little fermentation you have going on, *if any*, likely won't be able to produce enough pressure to push up through the air-lock and create a bubble. i currently have 3 carboys fermenting at the moment, all are two weeks old, and none of them are bubbling any more.

while you were waiting for the new airlock to arrive, the yeast carried on doing what they do. they don't care where their CO2 goes, they're going to ferment your sugar whether there is an air-lock or not.

So tomorrow is bottling day, 5 gal batch should be around 30 x 22 oz glass bottles? 50 x 16 oz? Need to run out tonight and pick them up. Any recommendations on the cheapest places to find these?

scripto said:

So tomorrow is bottling day, 5 gal batch should be around 30 x 22 oz glass bottles? 50 x 16 oz? Need to run out tonight and pick them up. Any recommendations on the cheapest places to find these?

Click to expand...

If your state has a bottle deposits, some of the redemption centers will sell you the bottles for 10cents a piece

scripto said:

So tomorrow is bottling day, 5 gal batch should be around 30 x 22 oz glass bottles? 50 x 16 oz? Need to run out tonight and pick them up. Any recommendations on the cheapest places to find these?

Click to expand...

Since you need them right away, you'll have to buy them - probably your local LHBS. In the future, try buying beer in recappable bottles and save them. You might be able to have friends save thiers for you, too. Don't forget to buy caps.

Being recappable might be tricky - it depends on your capper. I have a wing capper, and it won't work on Stella Artois and some other brands.

Ok, so here is the update (as if anyone cares). Bottling night was a success, sort of. We bottled two cases of 22 Oz glass bottles which we picked up at our LHBS for $15/dz. We picked up 3 as we thought we needed 30, but we ran dry after the 24th. Beer tasted like it had the potential of one day actually being a delicious ale. Few quick questions regarding problems we ran into.

Is there a preferred temp for the bottle conditioning? Is the same 65-70 ideal for this stage as well? When we open the bucket to transfer the beer from the fermentation bucket, to the bottling bucket using our auto siphon, don't we risk contamination from anything in the air? Last what does everyone do with all their gunk on the bottom of their fermentation bucket? May go with flip top bottles next time, unless I am advised otherwise.

I wish I could share a 22 in two weeks with everyone who has contributed to this batch on this thread, thanks again for all your help.

Here's what you can do with the gunk at the bottom of the fermentation bucket, to make your next batch a bit cheaper:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/

Enjoy your first brew!