First full boil extract brew

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BaconManic

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Hello,

Yesterday I did my first whole boil extract brew. Wow I did not realize how much work went into this! Work, but fun!

The weather turned nice and I finally got my hands on a turkey fryer. Cleaned our the turkey fryer, looked over to make sure no rust (it was used 1 time). Did a 6 gallon boil and let it cool to see if I got all the grease and oils out from the 1 time fry. All was good.

Now the event was fun, just a few things happened I was not ready for. Dumb me while the grains (malt?) was in the brew boiling I walked away for a few seconds. Then I hear my wife " Hun! The beer is doing something" Come back to see a boil over! Oh no! I turned down the heat and gave it a stir. Question one, Will this cause any issues? It seem like the consensus is just relax. So that is what I did.

After about 45 minutes I removed the grains and found out that the sack and turn a little back in an area about the size of a quater! Damn! must have burnt a little. Question two, Will this cause any major down side or issue?

So I go through the rest of the process without an issues. Time to cool down! I put my pot in a big bucket with cold water. I changed this out a few times and waited about 30 minutes. When I pulled it out of the cooler water I saw some weird floaties in it, almost white. I am just going to assume this is some left over from the hops and grains that escaped the muslin sacks. Question three, is my assumption correct or am I making an ass out of u and me?

So I get it cooled and into the fermentor. Now because of all the boiling my beer does not sit at a whole 5 gallons. So I top it off with some cold water. Question four, is this a normal processes? It seems to be a normal practice to me.

So I add the yeast to the fermentor and put it up in my "fermenting" room. I let it sit the rest of the night and I check it this morning. The air lock looks like it as hundreds of tiny bubbles in it, but it does not look active. Is this what is meant by an active airlock? I am trying to resist opening my bucket to look inside, but I have this thing with playing and tinkering with stuff.

So to recap my questions:
1) Will the boil over cause any problems with the beer?
2) will the burning of the muslin sack and grains in my small quater size area cause and problems?
3) White looking floaties in the end product just left over escapees from the hops and gain in the muslin sacks?
4) Topping off with cold water to bring to 5 gallon mark normal practice? (less then a gallon of water needed)
5) Active Airlock activity mean just a bunch of little bubbles in the three-piece air lock?

Whew that is a lot. I feel that maybe I just need to relax, but that is not in my nature. I hope this whole learning to brew process helps me learn to relax a little more.

Thank for the input all!!! :D
 
1. No
2. Not sure if it will contribute off flavors ill defer to someone else.
3. I always run my wort through a mesh strainer when moving to primary, but more than likely i would assume it was left over escapees from the grain sack.
4. Sure, a little top off wont hurt.
5. Seeing bubbles does not equal fermentation. Just relax and let it go.
 
1) No, boilovers are common.
2) Were you boiling the steeping grains? Generally those are steeped in ~150º water for a bit then removed before boiling. Boiling them could leave your beer with a lot of tannins, depending on how much you boiled and for how long.
3) Hard to tell w/o pics
4) Yeah, no worries there.
5) There's no reason to watch an airlock. They bubble and don't bubble for many different reasons. Fermentation is only one of those.
 
I'm sorry I didn't mean I boiled the grains. I pulled them out right as the water came to a boil. Essentially the boil over happened right after I removed the grains or maybe it happened right before. Either way I may get alot of Tannins? Which is what kind of taste?

At least a lot of the answers put me to rest. I know it is really hard to make a terrible beer from what I have been reading.
 
I'm sorry I didn't mean I boiled the grains. I pulled them out right as the water came to a boil. Essentially the boil over happened right after I removed the grains or maybe it happened right before. Either way I may get alot of Tannins? Which is what kind of taste?

At least a lot of the answers put me to rest. I know it is really hard to make a terrible beer from what I have been reading.

No, there shouldn't be a problem with that if you got them out before boil. Especially with the small amount used in a steep, I doubt it'd be a problem at all. Thanks for clarifying, makes more sense.

Also, take solace in the bolded statement you made. It's easy to make beer, just always nerve-racking when you do something new.
 
Not to be a stickler, but I think technically #4 means this was NOT a full boil. Sounds like you only added a little water, so the results are probably nearly identical to a full boil.

If you remember approximately what you added to get to full volume, add that much before you boil for your next batch. This is good information to have. It means you understand your system.

And to reiterate everyone else's sentiment, I think you are fine with the relatively minor issues you had. RDWHAHB.
 
Awesome thanks all! :tank:

The next issue, which is me being over reactive is that the weather got hot here in Central PA. The house has central air, but I am too cheap to turn it on yet.:D

Issue is the house is sitting a around 80 degrees. I know it has been about 72 most of the night and day before. So I assume this is way to high temp to ferment beer, correct?

So I moved my beer from upstairs to the basement. Not sure what the temp in the basement is, but it is much cooler then upstairs.

Just a little background I an using WLP 013 London Ale yeast. Will this deep better in the cooler temp? and hold cold would be too cold? and did the heat kill me beer?
 
Awesome thanks all! :tank:

The next issue, which is me being over reactive is that the weather got hot here in Central PA. The house has central air, but I am too cheap to turn it on yet.:D

Issue is the house is sitting a around 80 degrees. I know it has been about 72 most of the night and day before. So I assume this is way to high temp to ferment beer, correct?

So I moved my beer from upstairs to the basement. Not sure what the temp in the basement is, but it is much cooler then upstairs.

Just a little background I an using WLP 013 London Ale yeast. Will this deep better in the cooler temp? and hold cold would be too cold? and did the heat kill me beer?

80 degrees is way too hot for that yeast, and for most beers. You also have to remember that fermentation temps can be 5-10 degrees higher than ambient. Too high of a fermentation temperature will increase the chances of creating fusel alcohols as well as esters. IE hot alcohol flavor and banana beer (and killer hangovers)

http://www.defalcos.com/index.php?p...d=56&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53

Ideal Fermentation Temperature Range: 66-71

Put the fermenter in a bucket of water with some frozen water bottles to better control the temperature.
 
I figured as much. That is why I moved it to the basement. It is no colder than 65 in the basement. So add 5 to that I am right where I need to be. Just hope I did it soon enough to avoid ruining anything.
 
That yeast will work best in the low-mid 60's (fermenter temp, not ambient). Look into some form of temp control; what we home brewers call a "swamp cooler", basically a bucket of cool water that you put the fermenter in, is a really cheap and easy way to maintain temps. Come summer, even with the AC (unless you keep it at 60), it'll be too warm to ferment most beers w/o some type of control over spiking temps.
 
Alright that makes sense, I guess I need to keep an eye on what yeast I use from now on then. Either way where the fermentor is now, the ambient temp is much cooler then the house.

I will look into a swam cooler, but how often does the water need changed out?
 
Don't change out the water, swap out liter or two liter bottles of ice. Couple times a day should get you a good 5 deg below ambient, if not 8-10.
 
Aways nice to see another PA fellow around here! I did something similar a few weeks ago,fermented to warm. The yeast went nuts quickly and ended quickly. The beer turned out great, different yeast though, you'll be ok
 
So as expected beer turned out. I Am not sure about the flavor seems a little smokey and a hint of something else, not sure what.

A few of my buddies liked it so I guess it must be good.
 
Hooray beer!

Congrats. Now imagine how much better your future brews will turn out once you get your process down better.
 
I'm guessing the Smokey flavor is from over cooking and burnung the grains a little bit. But it came out nice, did it? Proof that beer is forgiving.
 
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