First Brew question...

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

IvanTheTerrible

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2007
Messages
123
Reaction score
1
So I transferred my first brew yesterday after 8 days. Its a Pale Ale kit.

OG was 1.040.
Yesterday it was 1.017.

The transfer was a success, I think, and this morning the lighter colors were definately settling leaving the top darker.

Questions:

In the sealed glass carboy, there were little white(ish) specs slowly moving around...some floating closer to the top. Since my primary was done in a bucket, I'm not sure what the yeast looks like in person so I'm not sure if this is normal. Is it?

I took a sip from the hydrometer tube yesterday and although it smelled fantastic, it didnt really taste that great. Granted it wasnt cold like im used to, but I guess since it's my first, I'm not sure what to expect. What should it taste like at this point?

My game plan is to leave it 14 days then bottle. All comments are welcomed.
-I
 
Well, it is extremely green so I am not surprised it didn't taste great; I am constantly amazed at how beer flavor changes over time. Give it time, time, and more time (things usually start to taste good after 6 weeks and great after 3 months).

As for the specs, they sound like they might be yeast (or some trub that kicked up in the transfer) but it is hard to tell without a pic.
 
What yeast did you use? I would expect an APA to finish much lower. I used dry Nottingham on my latest batch of my PA and it dropped from 1.054 to 1.006 in 5 days.

You'll probably drop a couple of points in secondary, but you will have a 3% ish PA with those numbers. It's ok though, because it will still taste better than most of what you can buy.
 
Muntons dry yeast.

I posted questions last week about my fermentation. It seemed to be bubbling along on the first night into the next morning, then pretty much stopped bubbling. The lid was inflated with CO2 though, and if I used the slightest pressure it bubbled, not to mention I could definately smell the alcohol.

Do you think the yeast went dorment on me and didnt finish the job?
What is this going to do to the taste?
Is there anything I can do to make it better at this point?
Should I chuck it and start over?
 
IvanTheTerrible said:
Muntons dry yeast.

I posted questions last week about my fermentation. It seemed to be bubbling along on the first night into the next morning, then pretty much stopped bubbling. The lid was inflated with CO2 though, and if I used the slightest pressure it bubbled, not to mention I could definately smell the alcohol.

Do you think the yeast went dorment on me and didnt finish the job?
What is this going to do to the taste?
Is there anything I can do to make it better at this point?
Should I chuck it and start over?

I've never had to repitch yeast, but you may want to consider it if you're worried about the alcohol content of the beer.

If not, then don't worry. Bottle it when it's ready and enjoy it regardless of the alcohol content.

Whatever you do, DO NOT dump it. Infection is the only acceptable reason to dump a batch of brew.
 
If you racked to soon fermentation may have restarted which would explain the white specs. I never consider my gravity final until after secondary.

The biggest flavor factor when considering gravity is sweetness; if your beer is not done fermenting then there will be sugars left that will cause your beer to be overly sweet.
 
So in theory, the gravity will continue to drop if fermentation continues in the secondary? Well then there's still hope, right?
 
IvanTheTerrible said:
So in theory, the gravity will continue to drop if fermentation continues in the secondary? Well then there's still hope, right?

Yes. It's fairly common for the gravity to drop a couple points in secondary.
 
IvanTheTerrible said:
So in theory, the gravity will continue to drop if fermentation continues in the secondary? Well then there's still hope, right?

Yeast left in suspension add to gravity. Just letting more yeast drop out will lower the gravity a few basis points. 1.017 is pretty high, but it is possible. One of my current batches ended in the teens and even repitching didn't help.
 
IvanTheTerrible said:
In the sealed glass carboy, there were little white(ish) specs slowly moving around...some floating closer to the top. Since my primary was done in a bucket, I'm not sure what the yeast looks like in person so I'm not sure if this is normal. Is it?

Here are some pics of the little specs I have floating in my brew. Can anyone comment on these? Normal?

DSCF0004.jpg


DSCF0006.jpg
 
I see three things here:

You got a really tasty looking color of dark brown beer developing in the bottom of this crop.

You got jack doddle for airlock activity -> no water droplets stuck to the outermost wall, so no active ferment or contamination

And you got some yeast pieces flocculating together it looks like. Wait for those to settle before you bottle.

Well crud, I got failing upload on this end. The text will have to do for now. Looks real good to me; probably rushing to bottle this weekend in five days, probably good to bottle the following weekend.
 
Aslso, see if that little tiny ring of tiny white bubbles doesn't go away right about the same day the whole carboy is as dark as the top two inches is today.
 
IvanTheTerrible said:
Should I add more yeast to the carboy?


No! Go drink something that is already in the fridge. Forget about this carboy until Sunday evening when it will be toolate to bottle. Post another pic then if you must.
 
Yeast clumpies? Sorry, all that beer got in my way!

Seriously, that brew looks good! Fermentation isn't pretty, but the end result is beautiful. :)

You said you sniffed it and it smelt fine, but the taste was off. That taste is called being "green" and despite people assuring me I'd learn over time what my finished beer will taste like from that, it all tastes like crap to me. :) It was weird, that flavour, but not offensive. That's a huge indicator that the batch isn't infected. Infected beer is REALLY bad not just "kinda" bad.

Congrats on the successful brew!
 
So I get home today and theres like 1/4-1/2 inch of foam (krausen) on the top of my carboy. I also see tiny bubbles or something constantly working there way to the top of the carboy...kind of reminds me of carbnation.

Here's the pic. Comments?...

DSCF0001-1.jpg
 
Did you have any temperature swings or anything? It looks like either co2 is coming out of solution, or maybe a wee bit of fermentation.

It still looks ok, though!
 
Nope. I racked from the primary and put it right back where it was. Yesterday it was nice and dark on the top and lighter on the bottom, but now, as you can see, its all a lighter color!
 
It looks like a little fermentation going on- that's ok. You probably roused the yeast a little when you racked. At 1.017, that's ok, since it wasn't completely done anyway.

It seems fine to me. Just throw a blanket over it to protect it from light and try to not worry about it! I know, I know, that's the hardest part. But it really does seem "normal". Normal fermentations do some crazy things- roll around inside, smell sometimes, stop and restart, etc. If you let it sit, it'll stop whatever it's doing and then clear up again when the yeast falls.
 
Thanks again. I'm definitely glad its still fermenting because I wanted it to drop a little more. I understand 1.017 is high for a Pale Ale. I guess I just have to wait and see. It's actually in a closet under the stairs which has a door, so it's nice and dark and the temp is very consistent.
 
Theres a full coating of krausen now. I cant see the beer at all through the top like you could in the pic above...and lots of movement. I guess fermentation has restarted afterall!
 
Update...the entire top of the bottle is filled with foam and the airlock is bubbling again. Theres a 1/2 inch of sediment at the bottom and tons of bubbles are rising with yeast wimming around...very exciting!
 
Back
Top