Requesting some first brew advice

Ok here's the situation. This is my first brew, didn't really follow a recipe persay, but this is what I did. I started with a Northwestern Golden liquid malt extract 6.6lbs. Brought 2 gallons of water to a boil, removed from heat, and added the extract. Mixed thoroughly and returned to burner. Once it started boiling again, added 1 oz. centenial hops(alpha acid 8.8) and began a 60 minute boil. Then about 30 minutes in, I added a second oz of centenial hops, same aa, followed by a half oz. of cascade hops (aa 5.6). At 60 min I turned off heat and chilled my wort in an ice bath. When it cooled to 70 degrees F I added it to 3 gallons of water in the fermenter, took a hydrometer reading(1.042), pitched my yeast, and agitated it very well. After about 12 to 14 hours, rapid fermantation began, and lasted for about 2 days, maybe 2 and 1/2, and then began to slow. It has been one week and about 10 hrs, and I still see some very slow fermantation. The smell is very representative of a pale to IPA. I was planning on primming and bottling on Sunday, three days from now, but am thinking of possibly doing a secondary fermantation. What I am wondering is, should Sunday(10 days) be a good day to prime and bottle, should I do a secondary fermentation, does anything sound wrong with my process or readings, any steps I should take that I might not know, and what I might could do different? Whew, thanks for taking the time to read this. :fro:

Yes take a hydrometer reading and bottle " When its done"
JJ

Visial cues and smells are useful for getting a rough idea of where you are in the fermentation process, but a gravity reading is your best bet here.

I'd wait until you get the same SG reading two days in a row. Make sure you drink your samples. That'll give you more feedback on how things are coming along.

Just an FYI. Although it's called a secondary fermenter, the purpose of doing so is to allow more sediment to fall out of suspension. Some fermentation can technically occur to be sure.

General rule of thumb is 1-2-3. 1 week in the primary, 2 in the secondary, and 3 weeks condtioning (inthe bottle or keg).

Welcome to it.

Being patient and waiting a few extra days will help IPA's

Even if you don't want to use a secondary (clearing tank), I'd recommend letting it sit at least a total of 2 or 3 weeks before bottling. The beer will be better for it and will help ensure it's truly done! (But the waiting is the hardest part).

I always recommend using a hydrometer, too, to make sure it's done before bottling.

I agree with Yooper. You'll be rushing the beer if you bottle after only 10 days, even if the hydrometer tells you it is done.

The hydrometer tells you when your beer has reached its final gravity. But there is more to fermentation than converting sugar to alcohol. Conditioning processes continue after final gravity has been reached. Conditioning is aided by leaving the beer on the yeast.

I take a hydrometer reading after 7-10 days in the primary to make sure that fermentation is not stuck. Then I leave it for another two weeks or so before either racking to a secondary or bottling. I have good results with this method.

I would not bottle anything sooner than 14 days. Give it time to do it's thing, you'll eliminate the risk of bottle bombs and you'll have a better tasting beer.

Ok just to be clear, is that an additional 2 to 3 weeks, or 2 to 3 weeks total, and would it be wise to transfer to a secondary after 10 days, and leave it there for 2 weeks?

I'd say 3 weeks total- I usually do 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary.

I almost always use a secondary, to get the beer off the trub and to help it clear. The nice thing about doing that is if life gets busy, your beer can stay in there as long as you want. The choice of using the clearing tank is up to you but I recommend it. If you're not doing that, then I'd leave it in the primary for the 2-3 weeks, then bottle.

nfrayer said:

Ok just to be clear, is that an additional 2 to 3 weeks, or 2 to 3 weeks total, and would it be wise to transfer to a secondary after 10 days, and leave it there for 2 weeks?

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3 weeks total is fine.

I've started to leave mine in the primary for the whole 3 weeks. After that I'll bottle it if I'm ready or rack to a secondary if I want the beer to age for a while longer before bottling.

There is no "best" rule for how long a beer should be in primary vs. secondary and there are divergent opinions.

The only thing that really does seem to matter is to not pull the beer out of primary too soon. Leave it there at least until you think it is done attenuating. After that, the choice is yours.

OK thanks alot, all the info is very helpful. I know what I must do now.

I think

nfrayer said:

...I know what I must do now.

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You sound so solemn, like you're going to take your carboy out back and shoot it. :cross:

Remember: Don't Worry, Relax, Have A Homebrew! This is fun!

Your beer will be fine. This isn't one of those make or break moments.

If you're not quite sure what to do still, just to do this: This Sunday, rack your beer into the secondary, wait two weeks, then bottle. Your beer will be great.

This also frees up your primary for another batch! Bonus!

I rushed my last beer (1+1+2) and it suffered so I'm slowing down a lot. This beer is a honey blonde that I'm doing 2+2+4 (kegging/cold conditioning). I also cooled the secondary to 60* for the last two days. So far, I am really pleased with the results. The rack to the secondary was clear, the secondary had very little sediment (~1/8 in), and the rack into the keg was crystal clear.

Yeah, it was foaming so much, I thought it might be rabid. I just took a hydrometer reading, and it read 1.012. Gave it a little taste, mmmmm. I'll check it the next couple of days, then transfer to my secondary if all stays the same. Color looks good, comparable to a Sierra pale, tad darker in the glass. 2 weeks after that I will prime and bottle. I'm really a patient person. Thanks for all the insight. I think I'm on my way to learning a delicious new hobby. Might start another batch in the next couple of days.

nfrayer said:

Might start another batch in the next couple of days.

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Better hurry this one will be gone before you know it!!!
JJ

nfrayer said:

Ok just to be clear, is that an additional 2 to 3 weeks, or 2 to 3 weeks total, and would it be wise to transfer to a secondary after 10 days, and leave it there for 2 weeks?

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I know that everyone has bombarded you with all kinds of good advice, but here's mine anyway.

My official position on brewing standard (OG < 1.060) ales is:

Primary: 10 days
Secondary: 2 weeks
Bottle: 10 days (try one), then one every week after that, so try one at 10 days, 14 days, 21, days (should be ready to drink daily here), 28 days and so on.

Now, some styles get better with bottle conditioning and some peak early in their life. And all beer will change in flavor profile from young to old. Take and IPA for example. Your hydro samples and the bottles you drink after the first few weeks will all be extremely hoppy, but this will mellow after, say, two to three months in the bottle.

I know what helped me the most with the whole "timeline" thing" is trying my beer every step of the way. You'll get a feel for what it should taste like, what off flavors are present early (dicetyl and the like). Besides, its kind of like a treat every week. I pretty much have my schedule set up so that I"m having a tasting every Thursday and Saturday night, 3 to 4 different beers each night.

Being a noob myself, the best advice I can give is to make sure your beer is done fermenting before doing anything (read: USE A HYDROMETER). After that, it's completely up to you, and as long as you sanitize the hell out of everything, you really can't go wrong. You'll develop your own style, and this will only add to each beer you make. Be it a kit, a tried and true recipe, or a recipe that you've written, this will make the beer uniquely yours. I had a personal issue of using other people's recipes/kits because I thought that it wasn't "my beer", but I realized that you could make the same recipe 5 times, and the odds are against it coming out exactly the same, and that, my friend, is the beauty of this hobby. Whatever you make, its yours.

Cheers,

no, no, no...this is not something that can be measured with time. do not transfer to secondary until the fermentation is finished (i.e. the gravity has dropped to a good level and remains there). This could happen in two days, but you should wait AT LEAST a week before transferring to secondary, and AT LEAST three weeks total time in your carboys before bottling.

the only exception would be wheat beer which can go quicker.

this is all IMO, of course still, using time to judge fermentation is simply not very effective

Lets keep it KISS for the n00b.

RDWHAHB!