Long time lurker, first time poster

Well I did it, I brewed my first batch of beer tonight. I made the Amber Ale from the recipe section of the book "How to Brew". Things went smoothly so I am hoping for a great beer. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in the forum for the knowledge I have leeched. I hope to be able to contribute in the future as I gain more experience.

congrats and welcome to the hobby

Welcome - and remember that the fermentation process can take some time to get going and can be underway even if not visible. Leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks seems to be the consensus.

B

Welcome to HBT, Good Luck on the Amber!!

birvine said:

Welcome - and remember that the fermentation process can take some time to get going and can be underway even if not visible. Leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks seems to be the consensus.

B

Click to expand...

with regards to this comment...is it normal for very active visible fermenation to subside at around 40 hours? there is still some movement in the carboy, but just not a lot to look at, where as i was seeing LOTS of movement inside the wort within the first 40 hours. the blowoff is still going strong. just curious.

Yes, it's very common for the active fermentation to slow in a short time. The yeast has consumed most of the easy sugar and has created a bunch of new compounds in the process, mostly carbon dioxide and alcohol but lots of other compounds too. Once it has eaten the sugars, it begins breaking down some of the other compounds that we think of as bad tasting. Letting the yeast work longer allows it to complete the clean up.

the knowledge I have leeched

Click to expand...

I thought the term for that was Hoovered, like in Hoover vacuum cleaner. I have hoovered up a lot here too.