First Brew/Fermentation Question

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DMaCATO

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Hey All!

Well, after reading this forum for a month or so, I jumped and got all the stuff to begin brewing my own beer.

So on May 2nd, I brewed my first batch, a Nutbrown Ale. By Sunday night it was fermenting like a madman with fairly large Krausen layer and the Krausen had fallen back in by Tuesday the 5th.

On Wednesday night, I racked to secondary. I think that may have been a mistake. Last night (the 10th) I took a gravity reading and I am at 1.02 (expected 1.012 - 1.016)!! My start was 1.058.

Do you guys think I have a stuck fermentation? There is absolutely no activity in the airlock and hasn't been since I racked to sec. I was getting a bubble about once every 40-45 seconds before I racked.

Definitely trying to relax although I fear I pushed it too fast cause I wanted it to be in bottles and drinkable (not aged) by the time the Indy 500 came around.

What do you think? Am I good? Was planning to bottle on Saturday...
 
if it did stop at 1.020, it ain't the end of the world. you can still bottle and drink it, it might be a little sweeter than you planned, but it'll still be OK. what was the temp of the sample when you hydro-ed it? you may have to make a correction to the reading if it was warm or cold.

take another hydro reading in a few days, if it's the same, bottle it. i wouldn't bother with a repitch.
 
Your beer still has yeast in it, working away, even though you cant see the airlock bubbling. Leave it alone for a few days, then pull a sample and check SG again. I bet it goes down. May be a little slow since you pulled the beer from the yeast cake, but it should still continue fermenting. Oh yeay, keep it at prescribed fermentation temps to give the yeast a shot at continuing their job!
 
To be outright blunt, if you're in a hurry for beer, go to the store. There's plenty there. If you want to make decent beer, don't hurry it.

Transferring to secondary after five days sounds like your Indy schedule has trumped all logic. Almost no beers are done in that time. I think you should stir it up a bit to get the yeast recirculating and let it finish fermenting for a couple weeks. If you bottle Saturday, it almost certainly won't be done fermenting (can you say bottle bombs?).

Even more certain is the fact that it won't be anywhere near its prime for a couple months. The brown ales I've made have been disappointing a few weeks after bottling but really good at 4-6 months.
 
DMaCATO said:
Hey All!

Well, after reading this forum for a month or so, I jumped and got all the stuff to begin brewing my own beer.

So on May 2nd, I brewed my first batch, a Nutbrown Ale. By Sunday night it was fermenting like a madman with fairly large Krausen layer and the Krausen had fallen back in by Tuesday the 5th.

On Wednesday night, I racked to secondary. I think that may have been a mistake. Last night (the 10th) I took a gravity reading and I am at 1.02 (expected 1.012 - 1.016)!! My start was 1.058.

Do you guys think I have a stuck fermentation? There is absolutely no activity in the airlock and hasn't been since I racked to sec. I was getting a bubble about once every 40-45 seconds before I racked.

Definitely trying to relax although I fear I pushed it too fast cause I wanted it to be in bottles and drinkable (not aged) by the time the Indy 500 came around.

What do you think? Am I good? Was planning to bottle on Saturday...
Click to expand...

I was told (and subsequently went with it) that if you wanted a drinkable "quick" ale to start with a heffe or a weizen-style. The kit I got from MWS says to ferment 14 days in the primary and another 14 in the bottles. 28 days total sounds pretty quick to me! Still skeptical on the brevity of this time line though. I'm just crossing my fingers I don't hear the cracking and popping of the bottles at night. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
 
SmugMug said:
I was told (and subsequently went with it) that if you wanted a drinkable "quick" ale to start with a heffe or a weizen-style. The kit I got from MWS says to ferment 14 days in the primary and another 14 in the bottles. 28 days total sounds pretty quick to me! Still skeptical on the brevity of this time line though. I'm just crossing my fingers I don't hear the cracking and popping of the bottles at night. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

That timeline for a hefe is fine. You are not going to have bottle bombs, but you should be using your hydrometer to know for sure.
 
double_e5 said:
That timeline for a hefe is fine. You are not going to have bottle bombs, but you should be using your hydrometer to know for sure.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I just wish I hadn't made the newbie mistake of not taking an OG. And I even more frustrated that I can't find what the target FG is supposed to be for this kit. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on it for when it levels out and hope for the best.

I have a feeling it's going to be a might bit astringent. Hopefully the feeling will be false.
 
Hey,

My first brew (I've done all of 2 now!) was a brown ale. I took consecutive readings of 1.021 on Day 9 and 10, so I figured it was done, and bottled it up. Then I did some more reading here, and got really worried that I'd have bottle bombs. All turned out well in the end, though. No explosions, and the beer still tastes good, albeit a little light on the ABV. Down to my last 6-pack now. :)

So, I'm guessing you'll be fine, and your beer will turn out great. Just let it sit in the bottles for the full length of time. RDWHAHB!!! :)
 
SmugMug said:
Yeah, I just wish I hadn't made the newbie mistake of not taking an OG. And I even more frustrated that I can't find what the target FG is supposed to be for this kit. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on it for when it levels out and hope for the best.

I have a feeling it's going to be a might bit astringent. Hopefully the feeling will be false.
Click to expand...

If you call or e-mail Midwest, they can probably give you the gravity figures. If all else fails, make sure you give it plenty of time to finish fermenting and you'll be fine. I see no reason to worry about astringency unless you've squeezed a grain bag into it.
 
gimmebeer said:
If you call or e-mail Midwest, they can probably give you the gravity figures. If all else fails, make sure you give it plenty of time to finish fermenting and you'll be fine. I see no reason to worry about astringency unless you've squeezed a grain bag into it.
Click to expand...

The wife wants her bathtub back asap, so hopefully things will be where they need to be by this weekend. Cause it HAS to go into the bottles by sat night.:(
 
If you bottle at 1.020, use less sugar than you normally would. I doubt you'll have an issue with bottle bombs.

I'd mostly be concerned that if your fermentation were a little hot, you might have off flavors that will take time to fade. Is the Indy 500 Memorial Day? That is kind of tight.
 
All,

Thanks for the replies. I'm not trying to skimp/rush on the craft as a whole; the next brew will be properly aged and adjusted.

I guess I just got carried away and accelerated the time line on this one because I have family coming in from out of state (multiple states), and they are all intrigued on the process and hoping to at least try some of the beer, even if they know it won't be finished/aged.
 
worse things have happened. like others have said, it might be better in 2 months, but if you have to do it now, do it now... just make sure it's done fermenting. you wouldn't be the first to have a fermentation end at 1.020.
 

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