2nd batch brewed and checked 1st beer..... questions...

Brewed a Witbier today from brewers best. I forgot to add some Irish moss to this will this make any difference with this beer? I checked my 1st beer I brewed and have some questions. I opened this for the first time today since I brewed a month ago this Tuesday. There was krausen around the edges but no cake or anything like ive seen from people. Is this ok? 2nd I took a fg reading and it was 1.014 and it says it should be between 1.015-1.018. Is everything cool? I am going to take another reading Tuesday. If nothing changes is it ok to bottle? It was a brewers best imperial blond ale.

Irish Moss is just a clearing agent... so you are fine to leave it out. Krausen is different with every beer you brew, so don't sweat that it doesn't look like others that you've seen. If you brewed the exact same beer again, it would still be different. Your FG finished a point lower than the that expected... just means you will have a points worth more alcohol, again you are fine. And if you take a hydrometer reading three days apart and the number doesn't change, you are good to bottle. The forum standard is to leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks, it helps with clarity. So far no problems. Congrats... you made beer!

Thank you, i figured 4 weeks would be better since its about a 7-8% beer. Should i let the witbier sit the same amount of time?

4 weeks is even better... and if you can wait that long for the wit, definitely.

Just took another reading as today is 1 month since i brewed. It went down from 1.014 saturday to 1.012 today. Is it done or should i let it sit longer?

I would say take it again and if it is between 1.012 and 1.014 again, you can bottle. Since a hydrometer is measured using the human eye, it isn't always perfect especially since 2 points are very close to each other on a hydrometer.

Also my color was more golden color than yellow. Will this change after it conditions in the bottle or is that the color it will be?

smithnick0 said:

Also my color was more golden color than yellow. Will this change after it conditions in the bottle or is that the color it will be?

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It shouldn't change much now, maybe just a tiny bit as some excess suspended yeast falls out after the beer is carbonated, but it won't be much of a change.

What would make the color be off? Will it affect taste?

If you used liquid malt extract and added it at the beginning of the boil... it can caramelize and make the beer darker. This shouldn't affect the taste much.

smithnick0 said:

What would make the color be off? Will it affect taste?

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Extracts tend to be darker brews, simply because the extract is darker than the grain would be, and it darkens even more during boiling. But unless you burned the wort, scorching it, it won't affect taste!

There are some tricks to keep a lighter colored extract beer, though! One is always using the lightest extract possible. Another is adding the majority of the extract near the end of the boil instead of the beginning, because boiling it for an hour darkens it and thickens it a bit.

We can help you with that in your next recipe if you want some input on it when you go to make it.

Ok I did a partial boil and added both cans at beginning of boil. If I would have done a full boil would this have had a lesser effect on color?