My first beer in progress - does it look as you might expect?

Hi all,

this is my first beer brew.

Six days into it, I'm taking my first gravity sample.

Does it look like you'd expect it to? I thought the yeast might have fallen down by now, but as you can see there are splotches of it still hanging around at the surface.

I had a taste of the sample, and it tastes like it's on its way to being beer in any case!

"First" meaning you didn't get the OG? What was the gravity reading?

"First" as in there were no batches before it. First as in you're just checking it's progress for the first time right? Yes it looks fine the yeast usually sits on top for a while but it will fall eventually. If it's pretty stable in terms of gravity you could transfer to secondary and separate it from the spent yeast. But that's not a major thing. Or really necessary. It just makes most people feel better.

Looking good!

Yes, first as in very first gravity reading.

I was too much of a noob to realise I should have taken an original reading before adding the yeast.

The tempeature-adjusted reading today was 1.019, so I'll wait a couple of more days to get stable readings closer to the suggested 1.009 for my brew.

The concoction is sitting at 18C in my hotpress.

Oh, and thanks for the feedback.

Howareya said:

Yes, first as in very first gravity reading.

I was too much of a noob to realise I should have taken an original reading before adding the yeast.

The tempeature-adjusted reading today was 1.019, so I'll wait a couple of more days to get stable readings closer to the suggested 1.009 for my brew.

The concoction is sitting at 18C in my hotpress.

Oh, and thanks for the feedback.

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Temp looks good but I think you may want to wait at least a week. Every time you take a reading you open up to infection. Just a thought.

Interesting, I'll wait another week in that case (that will be two weeks after starting).

Interesting, since the simple.instructions with the mash said 4-6 days.

That depends on temp, yeast volume, viability and all that stuff. But generally, just throw the instructions away. I haven't seen a set that was realistic yet.

Looks like beer to me! Also: exactly everything that Uniondr says in the post above mine. Do all that.

Looks like beer. Just wait, with patience you'll get to drink it!

Your beer looks great! I'll give you the usual good advice, leave it in primary a month, then bottle and leave in a warm closet for the next month, best results are almost guaranteed. (I know that is easier advice to give than to follow on your first beer!)

The trouble with the first batch is that your in a hurry to drink it. Buy yourself a second primary and lid, etc. and brew your second batch in a week. Then when you can't stand it anymore (hopefully at least another week), check the first batch SG again.

The best thing to better your beer is a so much of a pipeline that you can have patience. I just kegged a batch that is still sitting in a keg conditioning because I have no place to put it (keg fridge is full).

copyright1997 said:

The trouble with the first batch is that your in a hurry to drink it. Buy yourself a second primary and lid, etc. and brew your second batch in a week. Then when you can't stand it anymore (hopefully at least another week), check the first batch SG again.

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+1.

The only way I was able to restrain myself and let my first brew sit for three weeks was to buy another fermenter a start a second one after a week and a half. My first batch, an American IPA, is in the fermenter ready to be bottled tomorrow, my second batch, a Scottish ale, should be ready to bottle Christmas day, and I'm going to get my third batch going tomorrow afternoon before bottling of the first batch.

Yes. I ended up with three fermenters going before being able to taste the first one. I'm to be pitied.

Thanks for all the advice.

mt_rob said:

Your beer looks great! I'll give you the usual good advice, leave it in primary a month, then bottle and leave in a warm closet for the next month, best results are almost guaranteed. (I know that is easier advice to give than to follow on your first beer!)

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I take it the "primary" is the bucket I have it in right now in the photo*above (not the plastic barrel that it will be transferred to).

It would do no harm to just leave the beer at 18C for a full month? I just leave it sit there without touching it for a month? (No stirring, etc, to get the yeast back around?)

That basically guarantees that I don't have to be taking hydrometer readings, since after a full month it's either worked or not. I just take one at the end to calculate the end alcohol volume.

A hydrometer reading is always a good thing to do before any bottling. It tells you where your beer is.

The primary would be the bucket it's in right now in the picture. You shouldn't have any issues leaving it in there for a month. It allows the yeast time to clean up after themselves and being that warm will ensure there is no stalled fermentation by low temps.

Alright, I can purchase beer in the meantime to keep me satisfied

I'll just leave it in there for a month in total. Then, I'll take another couple of consecutive hydrometer readings just to be sure, and then siphon it off to the plastic barrel (with a little extra glucose), and leave there for another month before I start pouring.

Howareya said:

Alright, I can purchase beer in the meantime to keep me satisfied

I'll just leave it in there for a month in total. Then, I'll take another couple of consecutive hydrometer readings just to be sure, and then siphon it off to the plastic barrel (with a little extra glucose), and leave there for another month before I start pouring.

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Post the recipe so we can estimate what the starting SG and estimated final SG should be.

Just curious, what are you brewing in there?

I didn't take my gravity readings for my first batch either because I didn't have a hydrometer. My first was a brown ale that I finally had a chance to drink yesterday, which was good. I love the analogy someone posted on pit bbq being similar to brew fermenting. So true!