bottle bomb?

Ok... got a question for you guys.

I just racked my first batch (ever) over to secondary (from a 8 gal plastic fermenter to a 5 gal glass carboy).

Brew is an IPA. OG was 1073. After 10 days in fermenter, just prior to racking, gravity was 1017.

My question:
Is it safe to fill a bottle at this point providing it will be consumed tomorrow night (taking for my parents to try) .. or am I flirting with a bottle bomb?


thoughts?

1.017 is ok for an ipa. no bottle bombs should happen

Wait you want to bottle one bottle and drink it tomorrow? You realize it won't be carbonated right? Ten days from brew date too means it'll be really green. Sure you can bottle it now then give it a couple weeks to setup then it will be ok.

The only reason Im doing this is because my parents are meeting us up in WA for the weekend and my brew isnt ready. I just thought it would be fun to share a little, since its my first batch. It is green.. but it was still tasty when I drank the hydrometer sample I took before racking. I realize it wont be carbed... I didnt prime it... Im really just doing this for the novelty.

I get it.. its weird.. I just want to know if I have to worry about this thing going BOOM since I am putting it in a airtight situation a little early.

hope that makes sense

You will be just fine, especially after only one day. What yeast did you use?

safale us 05

honestly I would not try it. I only say this because 1st impressions are pretty important, especially if they are taking a dive into a world they don't have any experience with.

Either way I hope it works out for you, I just wouldnt want you scaring them away with their first sampling!

Germelli1 said:

honestly I would not try it. I only say this because 1st impressions are pretty important, especially if they are taking a dive into a world they don't have any experience with.

Either way I hope it works out for you, I just wouldnt want you scaring them away with their first sampling!

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I agree, wait till you can give them the good stuff

HItransplant said:

The only reason Im doing this is because my parents are meeting us up in WA for the weekend and my brew isnt ready. I just thought it would be fun to share a little, since its my first batch. It is green.. but it was still tasty when I drank the hydrometer sample I took before racking. I realize it wont be carbed... I didnt prime it... Im really just doing this for the novelty.

I get it.. its weird.. I just want to know if I have to worry about this thing going BOOM since I am putting it in a airtight situation a little early.

hope that makes sense

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Bottle conditioning is a natural process that has it's own timeframe. The 3 weeks at 70 is the minimum it takes for an average beer to be carbed, not necessarily conditioned.

Your 1 day in the bottled beer is going to be nothing short of disgusting...not something I would drink, let alone share with people I love.


Go buy some nice micros, and tell your folks that you respect them too much to serve them beer that is not 100% at it's best yet.

We get variations of this all the time, someone wanting to rush the process so people at a party or gathering can taste the beer....And we usually tell them the same thing...BUY BEER, or bing something else...they will survive, but your cred as a brewer may NOT if you serve them green beer.

But one day is just ridiculous.

It does noone any good, whether they are knowlegable about homebrew or just like BMC's to serve them green, or sub par beers.

If you are serving green, yeasty, and nasty tasting beer to people who have never tasted homebrew then they won't understand what it's supposed to taste like....

They will think that EITHER you suck as a brewer, ALL HOMEBREW SUCKS (and you'll prolly go blind anyway) or those BMC commercials were right, anything other than fizzy yellow beer, especially homebrew taste like a$$, and we should stick to bud light..."THat's what TV says, so it must be true, right?"

You won't be a great ambassador to the world of homebrewing beer you tried to rush through....and saying "Heh, it's just green, and not fully carbed yet, it will get better with time, really won't fly to someone who drinks bud with their born on dates."

Get some good micros in the same style to share THIS time, tell them you love and repect them waay too much to serve them sub-standard green beer. Tell them it will be PERFECT next time you see them.

You'll come off looking much better and more knowlegable as a brewer and beer amabassador by doing that, rather than making excuses for beer that's not ready.

Or prime a bottle and give it to them. Tell them to keep it at about room temp for 2 or 3 weeks before they cool it down for a couple days, and give it a try.

Of course you will also probably want to tell them it's your first batch and will likely not be your best. Hopefully they like IPAs.

Six_O_Turbo said:

Or prime a bottle and give it to them. Tell them to keep it at about room temp for 2 or 3 weeks before they cool it down for a couple days, and give it a try.

Of course you will also probably want to tell them it's your first batch and will likely not be your best. Hopefully they like IPAs.

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I've done that with beers that I give to folks at X-mas, usually a mixed sixer of bombers of some of my best stuff along with a bottle of APfelwein. I've had stuff that I knew wasn't ready yet. So on the bottle tags I actually stated when they would be drinkable, even if it was still 6 months away (The gift beers usually are big beers that need time.)

Since I only give beer gifts to folks I know are beer geeks (brewers and non-brewers) who have an understanding/appreciation of that they all understand and wait til they are ready. That's a little different than giving it to a "greenhorn" beer drinker though.

well I did it anyway.

And.. although it wasnt carbonated (id did make a hiss when I opened the cap), the beer was actually pretty good. Now, Im no pro.. but I can taste the difference between a beer Id drink and swill. Folks were actually quite impressed (and asked for more). Now, Im even more excited for the beer to be done (patience really is a virtue). Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

Its in secondary now and Im thinking of leaving it in there for 2 weeks.. then to bottle for 1-3 weeks.

unlessss anyone has any suggestions on longer/shorter secondary.

cheers.

I'm glad it worked out for you!

The plus side to ignoring our advise is now you can give them a bottle of the finished product and let them notice how much better it gets with a little aging!

Germelli1 said:

I'm glad it worked out for you!

The plus side to ignoring our advise is now you can give them a bottle of the finished product and let them notice how much better it gets with a little aging!

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exactly!

and for the record.. I wasnt ever asking anyone if they thought it was a good idea to serve beer 1 day out of the fermenter, un-conditioned and un-carbed... I realize its a work in progress. I was simply asking if it was safe.

I thought the point was to RDWHAHB, and enjoy the process. This ended up being a great way to include my parents; who btw rarely buy or drink beer that you can see through let alone beer with a born on date. It prompted a lot of questions and discussion, and allowed all of us to participate in the learning process about how beer is made, how it matures, how it conditions, etc. Now, call me crazy, but I think that does a lot more for beer advocacy than bashing a new brewer for being excited about sharing his first batch experience.


anyway, arent we supposed to be tasting it along the way?

HItransplant said:

exactly!

and for the record.. I wasnt ever asking anyone if they thought it was a good idea to serve beer 1 day out of the fermenter, un-conditioned and un-carbed... I realize its a work in progress. I was simply asking if it was safe.

I thought the point was to RDWHAHB, and enjoy the process. This ended up being a great way to include my parents; who btw rarely buy or drink beer that you can see through let alone beer with a born on date. It prompted a lot of questions and discussion, and allowed all of us to participate in the learning process about how beer is made, how it matures, how it conditions, etc. Now, call me crazy, but I think that does a lot more for beer advocacy than bashing a new brewer for being excited about sharing his first batch experience.


anyway, arent we supposed to be tasting it along the way?

Click to expand...

I think they just didn't want you to turn your parents off to home brew by serving them something sub par. Mainly because a lot of us have had beer which in the early stages tasted...less than optimal. We are all just going off of previous experience. However, I'm glad to hear your beer was a success!

HItransplant said:

exactly!

and for the record.. I wasnt ever asking anyone if they thought it was a good idea to serve beer 1 day out of the fermenter, un-conditioned and un-carbed... I realize its a work in progress. I was simply asking if it was safe.

I thought the point was to RDWHAHB, and enjoy the process. This ended up being a great way to include my parents; who btw rarely buy or drink beer that you can see through let alone beer with a born on date. It prompted a lot of questions and discussion, and allowed all of us to participate in the learning process about how beer is made, how it matures, how it conditions, etc. Now, call me crazy, but I think that does a lot more for beer advocacy than bashing a new brewer for being excited about sharing his first batch experience.


anyway, arent we supposed to be tasting it along the way?

Click to expand...

electric_beer said:

I think they just didn't want you to turn your parents off to home brew by serving them something sub par. Mainly because a lot of us have had beer which in the early stages tasted...less than optimal. We are all just going off of previous experience. However, I'm glad to hear your beer was a success!

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Exactly. I re-read my post and realized it came off a little more dick-ish than I intended. I wasn't trying to bash you, just sharing my own past experiences.

Like I said I am glad it worked out and now you have definitely included them in the process because now they get to sample it as it ages.