Questions from a paranoid n00b.

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BeerNoob

BeerNoob

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I understand that time cures all when brewing beer, however i did have a couple of small questions that i was unable to find the exact answers for in the FAQ's and stickies.

Firstly, I am on my first batch of homebrew, I began about 4 or 5 days ago and now that i've done a bit more research i'm finding that the instructions given to me by a Homebrew shop owner in my city left a few important parts out...

First problem: I did not know/was not instructed to remove the boiled or steeped hops from my wort before placing into the primary fermenter. Is this a problem? How will it effect the taste or result of the beer other than it potentially being more "hoppy"?

Second: I racked my beer to my secondary after 3 days of it being in the primary. The Primary foamed quite a lot in the first 4-12 hours and then the foam died down. Afterwards, for the following 2 days it maintained steady activity in the airlock. I only opened the primary once to check on it's progress and my newbie gut instincts told me to rack it. (I neglected to use my hydrometer because I really don't know how)

Lastly: I'm brewing a relatively strong pale ale (comparable to an IPA i would imagine due to the color and scent so far) and I'm intending to add some type of sugar to it during the bottling process for further fermenting and carbonization. Is there a certain type of sugar that I should be adding? And what is a basic, reliable way to do it?

Thanks to everyone in advance! Hopefully it still works :) *cross fingers*

/end noobiness

-BeerNoob
 
Answers in bold:

BeerNoob said:
I understand that time cures all when brewing beer, however i did have a couple of small questions that i was unable to find the exact answers for in the FAQ's and stickies.

Firstly, I am on my first batch of homebrew, I began about 4 or 5 days ago and now that i've done a bit more research i'm finding that the instructions given to me by a Homebrew shop owner in my city left a few important parts out...

First problem: I did not know/was not instructed to remove the boiled or steeped hops from my wort before placing into the primary fermenter. Is this a problem? How will it effect the taste or result of the beer other than it potentially being more "hoppy"?

It shouldn't really effecct it much at all, if any. You can filter it out or you can leave it in. I'd say most people remove them, but not everyone does.

Second: I racked my beer to my secondary after 3 days of it being in the primary. The Primary foamed quite a lot in the first 4-12 hours and then the foam died down. Afterwards, for the following 2 days it maintained steady activity in the airlock. I only opened the primary once to check on it's progress and my newbie gut instincts told me to rack it. (I neglected to use my hydrometer because I really don't know how)

Learn how to use your hydrometer. Three days is not at all long enough in primary. I do 2-3 weeks in primary and I take measurements at the end to make sure I am where I need to be in terms of final gravity. By putting it in secondary, you removed it from all the yeast that was working on it. You probably didn't ruin it, but this is really bad practice.

Lastly: I'm brewing a relatively strong pale ale (comparable to an IPA i would imagine due to the color and scent so far) and I'm intending to add some type of sugar to it during the bottling process for further fermenting and carbonization. Is there a certain type of sugar that I should be adding? And what is a basic, reliable way to do it?

Search this place for priming sugar and then read a book. I think the good ones will have a chapter on how to add it and how much to add.

Thanks to everyone in advance! Hopefully it still works :) *cross fingers*

It'll still work. In time it'll just work better. :)

/end noobiness

-BeerNoob
Click to expand...
 
BeerNoob said:
First problem: I did not know/was not instructed to remove the boiled or steeped hops from my wort before placing into the primary fermenter. Is this a problem? How will it effect the taste or result of the beer other than it potentially being more "hoppy"?

Some people strain their wort before it goes into the primary, i dont, and it doesnt matter which you choose

Second: I racked my beer to my secondary after 3 days of it being in the primary. The Primary foamed quite a lot in the first 4-12 hours and then the foam died down. Afterwards, for the following 2 days it maintained steady activity in the airlock. I only opened the primary once to check on it's progress and my newbie gut instincts told me to rack it. (I neglected to use my hydrometer because I really don't know how)

It is recommended to leave the beer in the primary for ATLEAST a week, i do 2.5-3 weeks. If you go to youtube and search for a member by the name of Bobby_NJ (also a member here) he has a video on taking hydrometer readings

Lastly: I'm brewing a relatively strong pale ale (comparable to an IPA i would imagine due to the color and scent so far) and I'm intending to add some type of sugar to it during the bottling process for further fermenting and carbonization. Is there a certain type of sugar that I should be adding? And what is a basic, reliable way to do it?

Most mix 5 oz of corn sugar with a pint of water, bring to a boil for 15 minutes, cool, and then add to your bottling bucket. Rack your beer ontop of the sugar/water mixture and bottle.
Click to expand...

There ya go!

EDIT: visit www.howtobrew.com for a wealth of info.
 
First your beer will be fine...

leaving or removing the hops are really a matter of preference...Everything floating settles out eventually. I usually strain while going to the fermenter...but other times I just dump...leaving it in won't make the beer any more hoppy...the isomerization of the hops happens at boiling..THe only way to make it more hoppy would be to add hops in secondary (called dry hopping)

You racked WAAAAYYYYY to early...That's why it "foamed" in secondary..sometimes fermentation doesn't even begin for 3 or 4 days after you pitched the yeast. SO it was still fermenting when you racked. Just leave it alone for 2 weeks before you do anything...and learn to use your hydrometer...It's the only way your beer will talk to you.

hydrometer-closeup.gif


(you can find out how to read it in our wiki, or the book refrenced below.)

At bottling time you will add Corn Sugar (also called priming sugar)you will use approximately 4-5 ounces of it dissolved in a cup of boiling water (i usually use 2 cups) which you add to the bottling bucket then rack the beer on top of it...

Then bottle and leave alone for a minimum of 3 weeks @ 70 degrees (or room temp)

You really need to while waiting for the next 2 weeks to read http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html it is one of the best books on brewing.

Your beer is fine, just walk away from it for a couple of weeks. it is really hard to fu@k up beer, unless you mess with it. :mug:

Stepaway_copy.jpg
 
Thanks for the help guys! One last thing though, I'm not sure if I was clear enough but it foamed quite a lot within a few hours of being in the primary and then it died down within 24 hours so I could see the surface of the beer if I removed the bung and airlock.

After a couple days of little activity I racked it to my secondary 23 Litre glass carboy. Should I leave it longer than usual in the secondary now? Or is it going to clear faster than it normally would and just have less alcohol content? I'm just trying to find out what consequences to expect due to the mistakes that I've made so far and how to rectify them in the future. Thanks again :)

-BeerNoob
 
I say 3 weeks in the secondary and you will be good. When racking to the secondary you leave behind the yeast from the primary that were not finished doing their jobs. Thus, you may have a slow or even stuck fermentation. But, RDWHAHB and let it chill. Time to get started on your next batch.....
 
Haha, yeah, as soon as i racked it to my secondary and washed out my primary and cleaned my equipment I realized "Hey! I can make more beer now!" ...I've only just begun and I see this becoming a very serious obsession. But I think I'd have it no other way... have you tried the beer in Canada? I moved from Portland, Oregon recently to Vancouver, BC and I can barely drink the beer here. It all tastes like Malt Liquor to me so I've turned to making my own.

Come to Canada for the people, not the food or the beer.
 
Generally speaking the longer you leave the beer in primary the better, I leave mine for a month, then skip secondary and bottle...

But since you probably still racked too early (even if it died down) it is best to leave it alone for 3 weeks like choguy said..

Again, I can't stress enough Don't go by bubbler activity as a sign of or lack of fermentation, the only way you can judge when fermentation is done is with the hydrometer...Learn to use it.

You'll be less "Paranoid" when you can speak the language of your beer...and the language it speaks is in specific gravities...and the babel fish translator of specific gravity into human speak is the hydrometer...

Or you can do like may of us, and just leave it for several weeks then bottle, but we still use our hydrometers..but waiting pretty much gaurantees that fermentation is done, AND lets the yeast clean up after themselves, after fermentation is complete.

And read how to brew....education also reduces worry and paranoia
 
BeerNoob - I think most of your questions have been answered, but if you don't like the local beer I HIGHLY recommend getting a couple more secondary carboy's, and start filling the pipeline so tight you will not have a choice but to wait two to three weeks to rack to secondary. Then have to wait another three weeks to bottle or keg. Then all you need is a hottie to pull it from the fridge and serve it to you and presto, you are the king of the world. OK, the last part we can't help you with but you get the ideal.
 
a lot of people use the 123 method, One week in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary, three weeks in the bottle. But sometimes a week in the primary is not enough, that's why you really have to get an hydrometer. Also generally the longer you age it the better it becomes, especially the high gravity beers. You have to be patient, something I'm still trying to get the hang of. Usually by the time I'm down to the last bottle it really tastes good and then there's nothing left. Read thru the threads, there is a lot of very knowledgeable people on this board (not me) that will help you.
 
No the anwers you guys gave were great and made me feel a bit better. I did a bit of research and read the latest Palmer book on homerewing. After reading I did a hydrometer test of the beer that I racked far, far too early to my secondary carboy and I'm at about 1.011 with 1.5% AC? Pretty weak... It looks like it's beginning to clear after being in the secondary for a couple days. I fear that this one is a failed experiment...

I'm planning to start over this weekend and do another batch in my primary. I'll let the first one stay in my secondary for the 2 weeks the new one is in the primary and see what happens. Any thoughts?

-BeerNoob
 
You can calculate the alcohol by volume with (Original Gravity - Final Gravity) x 131. So with just the FG of 1.011, it's impossible to determine the ABV.
 
Where did this number, 1.5% AC come from...if it is from one of the scales on the hydrometer, it is useless for a homebrewer, the only scale we use is the specific gravity scale. The way to caluclate the ABV of a beer is as Drunktaw said.
 
My hydrometer has an "estimated alcohol content gauge" on the side opposite of the specific gravity meter. It said 1.5%(ish) so I had no reason or education to argue it i guess...

According the the recipe it's supposed to be 1.038-1.042 Final Specific Gravity but if you read my earlier posts you'll notice that i did not measure it when I should have to get the OG. But judging from the current reading and what it should be at the end, I'm not entirely sure how to interpret it, especially without the OG measurement.
 
If you take the original AC # and subtract it from your 1.5% that you're seeing now, you can estimate your actual AC, but like you said, you don't have an OG, so you can't really get your AC.

But now you know what to do next time, right?
 
All triple scale hydro have that "estimate alchohol" scale...we don't use it in homebrewing. IIRC it only is accurate for distilled spirits or something...

We only use the Specific Grav Scale...
 
So does this mean that my beer is still ok assuming that the OG was around 1.040 and is now 1.011 so it got a solid ferment for the first couple days before i racked it?(There was about a quarter to half of an inch of yeast and sediment that settled on the bottom in the 6 gal primary) Or is this the type of thing that can only be told by the quality of the beer when it's complete?

Sorry for all the questions but I really appreciate your guys' patience and enthusiastic responses :) (I really tend to ask a lot of questions no matter what i'm doing)
 
BeerNoob said:
My hydrometer has an "estimated alcohol content gauge" on the side opposite of the specific gravity meter. It said 1.5%(ish) so I had no reason or education to argue it i guess...

According the the recipe it's supposed to be 1.038-1.042 Final Specific Gravity but if you read my earlier posts you'll notice that i did not measure it when I should have to get the OG. But judging from the current reading and what it should be at the end, I'm not entirely sure how to interpret it, especially without the OG measurement.
Click to expand...

As mentioned to get an estimate of the ABV of the beer you take the (OG - FG)*131 .
With an extract batch if your volumes were correct then you OG should be very close to the 1.040 predicted. So now you can estimate your ABV.

The estimated alcohol potential scale is mostly for wine brewers. Wines usually ferment out completely such that the FG is around 1.000. So the potential alcohol of the wine is easy to figure from the OG, which is what the hydrometer measures. As mentioned it is not usually used in beer brewing as beer finishes with quite a bit more residual sugars.

Your beer is probably done fermenting, but it is not ready to drink yet. With a little age it will clear and improve. Most beers are best bottled about 3 weeks after fermenting. Then another 3 weeks in the bottle for best results. However you can push the rate a little without too much loss of quality.

Your beer will be fine. It really is pretty hard to completely screw up beer. However with a little more knowledge and most importantly patience your beers will improve.

Craig
 

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