Will this beer be OK without a starter?

I have racked to the secondary, but I was just browsing Northern Brewer for my next beer and noticed that under the description it says I should have made a starter.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/big-honkin-stout-extract-kit.html

When I racked into the secondary, it tasted great.

I don't have OG or FG, I am just winging it as a noob at this point. It did take about 60 hours for the fermentation to commence.

I guess my question is, what will the outcome be like for this beer?

Based on my experiences back in the day with their extracts and doing the exact same thing (but taking readings), your FG will probably be way high and the beer will be quite sweet.

Why did you rack to the secondary without taking a gravity reading? You only rack to the secondary once fermentation is complete... and without a gravity reading, you have no idea.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know...

So it will be a little sweet and lower alcohol...like too low worth drinking? Smelled like it had alcohol in it and tasted great, I guess that's good enough for now. We're learning here.

Yeah, I know as a new person it is easy to say screw it with the readings, but you will never really know the answer to your question without some stats.

You did not ruin the beer, don't worry. worst case you just didnt get as many sugars fermented as you could have, so you will have a bit of a residual sweetness in the finished product. Also, as a noob why use a secondary? Did it call for a dry hop? Does it need significant aging?

TreeHugger said:

Yeah, I know as a new person it is easy to say screw it with the readings, but you will never really know the answer to your question without some stats.

You did not ruin the beer, don't worry. worst case you just didnt get as many sugars fermented as you could have, so you will have a bit of a residual sweetness in the finished product. Also, as a noob why use a secondary? Did it call for a dry hop? Does it need significant aging?

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Thanks for going easy on me, I feel like I deserve at least a slap on the wrist.

It isn't for dry hopping, it just said to rack to secondary for a month. I guess it's aging? I am tempted to just go ahead and bottle.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/allgrain/AG-BigHonkinStout.pdf

Starters are made so the yeast is at peak performance when pitched to give it a jump start.
The description says high gravity and starters are highly recommended for high gravity beers. It should give you an estimated OG and FG on the recipe.
A hydrometer is a must to monitor for proper fermentation and even more so with a high gravity beer.
If fermentation didn't complete you could end up with bottle bombs.
Bottle bombs are caps popping off due to excessive carbonation, which means there was still too much fermentable sugar left in the beer went bottled.
I would suggest you purchase a hydrometer and check the gravity every three days till it is stable.
Don't worry though, you didn't screw up your beer. You just need to be sure it's fermented properly.

Yeah, we have a hydrometer, but the times we've tried to use it, it just sunk. I haven't been able to float it in anything. Thinking of picking up a refractometer.

I just went off of what I saw. Fermentation commenced and there was a lot of visible activity for about 6-7 days. I waited until the 9th day to rack just to be sure. Again, it tasted fine and is now resting in the secondary carboy.

Should I just go ahead and bottle this bad boy?

here come another slap. brace for it. You need to check the FG before bottling? How long has it been aging again? 1 month? If so it is done fermenting for sure, just aging now.

TreeHugger said:

here come another slap. brace for it. You need to check the FG before bottling? How long has it been aging again? 1 month? If so it is done fermenting for sure, just aging now.

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It's been racked off the yeast for about 5 days.

themack22 said:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know...
So it will be a little sweet and lower alcohol...like too low worth drinking?

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Totally up to you, friend!

Personally, I can't stand under-attenuated beers, but that's just personal preference... Some people can't stand sour beers and I love 'em!

I mean I think most stouts with a high abv age for a pretty long time. I have a milk stout that ages for 3-4 months in the secondary and another 3 months in the bottle. I think you could bottle and be alright with blow off, but I would guess your recipe calls for way more aging than 5 days.

If you guys are newer, try doing some lower abv stuff and not using a secondary. You can learn a ton and not worry about the extra step. then go for some big stuff when you have a few easier ones under your belt. Just my 2 cents.

themack22 said:

Yeah, we have a hydrometer, but the times we've tried to use it, it just sunk. I haven't been able to float it in anything.

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Not gonna lie, I really want to see this hydrometer!

themack22 said:

Should I just go ahead and bottle this bad boy?

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IMHO, just age it out, looking at the recipe, it may take some time for those big flavors to meld together.

TreeHugger said:

If you guys are newer, try doing some lower abv stuff and not using a secondary. You can learn a ton and not worry about the extra step. then go for some big stuff when you have a few easier ones under your belt. Just my 2 cents.

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Couldn't agree more. We got tired of "meh" beers and really wanted something that tasted like what we'd get at the store. So we went big.

AmandaK said:

Not gonna lie, I really want to see this hydrometer!

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lol

I looked for cracks. It looks brand new and essentially it is. I really need a beaker. I've dropped it into glasses of beer from the store and nothing. Oh well.

I really need a beaker. I've dropped it into glasses of beer from the store and nothing. Oh well.[/QUOTE]

there you go. get the beaker. should work for years without any need for an upgrade. There are tons of awesome beers you can make with a secondary.

Checked on it last night and there is a little bit of Krausen on top. I guess this is a good sign that it's still fermenting in the secondary.

Can someone point me towards a good read on secondary fermentation? I know in primary, the yeast eat the sugars and make alcohol, but what's causing fermentation in the secondary? Leftover yeast?

themack22 said:

I really need a beaker. I've dropped it into glasses of beer from the store and nothing. Oh well.

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There's your problem. Unless you've got the world's shortest hydrometer, you're using a half-yard beer glass, or your SG is like 1.5, you're going to bottom out. The container you're measuring in will need to hold virtually the entire length of the hydrometer---your SG is going to be in the ballpark of 1.05 or less, so look at where that mark is. If your container isn't at least that deep, it won't work.

You can get a nice plastic tube for this measurement for $5 at a brew store or online. Do it.

Thanks zeg! :cheers

Yes - there is still yeast in suspension. That is why adding more sugar and bottle causes carbonation, the existing yeast consumes the newly added sugar, releases co2, abra cadabra - carbonated beer. That is why adding the right amount of sugar is important for proper carbonation levels.

For 5 gallons of the OG you need 200 to 250 billion yeast cells to ferment it properly. If you pitched dry yeast, you probably pitched about the right amount. If liquid, you really under pitched. You don't have to do a starter, you could always buy more than one package. My last 5.5 gallon batch, I pitched 3 wyeast smack packs as I didnt have time for a starter. Under pitching won't make the beer terrible, but it's probably not going to win many awards either.

As for gravity readings, they are only important if you want to be a serious brewer. If you're in it to make beer that is good enough to drink (which is what it sounds like at this point) then to heck with it. Doing extract brewing, your OG will likely be right on every time. And it's only going to ferment what it's going to ferment and that will be your final gravity. You can only change that FG by pitching enough yeast, and fermenting at the right temperatures.

Give the beer another week or two in secondary before bottling. And being a higher abv stout, it's only going to get better with a little age, so try not to drink all 50 bottles in the first week.

Good Luck!

Thanks!

Yeah, I am leaving it in there until next weekend. We are going to bottle and brew another then.

I had 3 other friends help me and we'll all be going to the beach April 5, so we will more than likely drink all 50 bottles then.