Minimal Instructions...Need Opinions

My fiance found 2 (pure liquid as I had problems with dry malt and booster) recipes on the net and bought the ingredients. I have made the first, a stout amber ale, as well as an IPA. The directions she copied down were from a third place, and therefore kinda generic.
I intend on giving these brews 3 weeks as I understand it ought to be more than enough time with a bit of refinement.
My questions are fermentation temp for the IPA, as well as any input on fermenting time, bottling time/temp, and conditioning time/temp.
One of the guys here has suggested 3 weeks for each process as I interpret it (3/3/3).
Any reason not to keep them at room temp (73-74*)?
My attempt at keeping fermenting temp around 64* for the amber ale is a storage container with water changed once/twice a day.
My understanding of brewing is mediocre with 2 prior attempts.
These are the directions:

Amber Ale:
5gal recipe
50min boil
Est. SG: 1.063
FG: 1.012
ABV: 6.7%

6# Light LME
3# Amber LME

Hop Schedule (IBU's: 18):
2/3oz Willamett at 50min
2/3oz Willamett at 15min
2/3oz Willamett at end of boil steeped 5min

Yeast: Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit

I fermented at 64deg. to reduce ester's from the yeast profile, yet get some sweet aromas.

IPA:
4lbs Coopers Liquid Malt Extract - Light
4lbs Coopers Liquid Malt Extract - Amber

1oz Fuggles @ 60 min. full boil
1oz Styrian Goldings @ 45 min.
1oz Fuggles @ 15min left

This should give you a Pale Ale at 1.06 OG (most of my recipes start at 1.06). The hops are all U.K. hops so you shouldn't have trouble finding them. The IBU's will be in the 47 range.....quite a noticeable hoppiness. The higher OG will give some kick if you have a nice attenuative yeast.

Thanks,
Bob

3-4 weeks in primary and check gravity to make sure it is done...then bottle...store at 70 degrees for 3 weeks ( give or take) chill for a couple of days and enjoy.
As for temps, look up the yeast you used and the info should recommend a temp but I figure low 60's ambient should be fine.

Are you using forbidden fruit yeast? It will be OK in the low 70s, but I would recommend trying to keep it below 70 F.

Adding about 0.75 lbs of Crystal 60 will help with mouthfeel.

Pitch yeast and leave 3 to 4 weeks. Bottle, leave a couple of weeks, cool and drink.

Indeed did use Forbidden Fruit yeast. It only stated a 65-72* temp to begin with and to adjust to desired fermenting temp once ferment has been started. I can only guess at the water temp as the thermometer claims 75* out of the tap (damn foreign junk!)
What is Crystal 60?
Any reason why 73-74* bottling temp wouldn't be ok?

Well, you now need to run as fast as you can from this hobby. Then again it is too late as it appears it has you.

Spend a bit of time poking around this site. You will learn a great deal. There are some really good vendors that offer a presence as well. Check them out. I believe that Northern Brewery provides directions for their beer kits on-line. Go to their site and search for a kit that is close to the ingredients that you have. Read them and you will be able to adapt yur supplies to the brew you want to make.

Then, order from one of the suppliers and yu will get the service you need.

forbidden fruit is going to smell like rotten eggs. dont worry, thats how it smells, beer should be fine.

rodwha said:

Indeed did use Forbidden Fruit yeast. It only stated a 65-72* temp to begin with and to adjust to desired fermenting temp once ferment has been started. I can only guess at the water temp as the thermometer claims 75* out of the tap (damn foreign junk!)
What is Crystal 60?
Any reason why 73-74* bottling temp wouldn't be ok?

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Crystal 60 is a grain that you can steep (rather than mash) and extract flavor and color from. The 60 refers to the color contribution of the crystal. Crystal adds malt flavor and body to the beer. Too much will make it sweet. The higher the number, the more flavor it will add, and the darker it will make the beer. It also helps with head retention.

I should have said to change the amber extract to light extract if/when you use crystal. Amber extract has some coloring from something; probably from the use of crystal, but you don't know what kind or how much. The beer will be better and fresher if you control the addition with grains.

Sure you can ferment in the mid 70s, BUT ....... higher fermentation will produce more esters (flavor additions which may be undesirable), and will also produce more higher alcohols (called fusel alcohols that can cause headaches). If you ferment your beers high, you will eventually make a beer that can give you a really bad headaches after just drinking a couple of beers; and it is an excess of these higher alcohols that cause it.

You may make a good beer by fermenting in the mid 70s, you will make a better beer if you keep the temperature below 70. Do a search for swamp coolers (a $5 plastic tub from Walmart).

My understanding is that swamp coolers don't work in places where the humidity is high (Texas).
The bucket has been in a storage container filled with water. The candy thermometer claims the water is 75* right out of the tap. I'm guessing it's closer to the low to mid 60's.
So fermenting below is 70* is recommended with any type of beer? For the IPA I plan to brew next?
The pale ale I doctored up to be an IPA was all done at room temp except for conditioning in the fridge for a few weeks. It gave me a horrible headache when I drank several. I wasn't sure if it was because I didn't mix the DME correctly as I figured it would mix well in the boil. That's why these 2 recipes are all liquid.
Thanks for the input!

rodwha said:

My understanding is that swamp coolers don't work in places where the humidity is high (Texas).
The bucket has been in a storage container filled with water. The candy thermometer claims the water is 75* right out of the tap. I'm guessing it's closer to the low to mid 60's.
So fermenting below is 70* is recommended with any type of beer? For the IPA I plan to brew next?
The pale ale I doctored up to be an IPA was all done at room temp except for conditioning in the fridge for a few weeks. It gave me a horrible headache when I drank several. I wasn't sure if it was because I didn't mix the DME correctly as I figured it would mix well in the boil. That's why these 2 recipes are all liquid.
Thanks for the input!

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To me a swamp cooler is where the beer is placed in a large plastic bucket and the water in the bucket is filled to roughly 2/3 rds of the way up the fermenter. Humidity has no effect on it's performance. The beer in the fermenter will stay at the temperature of the water in the bucket, and you will not get the temperature rise associated with normal fermentation as the water will also act as a heat sink (fermentation can increase temperature by 5 to 8 degrees .... so I have read).

You can cool (if necessary) the water in the bucket by using several water bottles that are frozen in the freezer and then rotated to the cooler and the freezer daily.

Get a second thermometer to confirm your water temperatures.

Not all beers need to be brewed below 70 F. Some yeasts work better above 70 F; mostly Belgian yeasts. I believe Dupont brews at 90 F. So if you are into Belgians (I am), it sounds like you have the perfect brewing environment.

And yes, the headaches were probably due to fermenting at high temperatures and nothing to do with the extract.

IPA:
4lbs Coopers Liquid Malt Extract - Light
4lbs Coopers Liquid Malt Extract - Amber

1oz Fuggles @ 60 min. full boil
1oz Styrian Goldings @ 45 min.
1oz Fuggles @ 15min left

This should give you a Pale Ale at 1.06 OG (most of my recipes start at 1.06). The hops are all U.K. hops so you shouldn't have trouble finding them. The IBU's will be in the 47 range.....quite a noticeable hoppiness. The higher OG will give some kick if you have a nice attenuative yeast

I have Wyeast Leuven Pale Ale 3538 PC yeast. I looked on their site but it is not listed.

At what temp should I ferment this at?

rodwha said:

I have Wyeast Leuven Pale Ale 3538 PC yeast. I looked on their site but it is not listed.

At what temp should I ferment this at?

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Depends on the flavors you're looking for. Wyeast says the range is 65-80F. Normally I'm all for fermenting at the lowest end of the temp range, but I like to ferment some Belgian strains warmer to get more/different character out of them. Lower temps will be a bit cleaner and will accentuate the spicy phenols, while higher temps will accentuate the fruity esters and "Belgian" character.

Wyeast Laboratories. Leuven Pale Ale 3Q11-Activator 3538 PC

Hmmm...I don't know what flavors I am after. I've tried nearly a dozen IPA's and love the taste in general.

I drink mostly Ranger as it comes in 12 packs at a reasonable price.
Saint Arnold's Elissa I didn't care much for.
Bridgeport's IPA was a bit boring, but I really liked their Hop Czar! A lot!
Sierra Nevada's Extra Torpedo was quite strange at first as I wasn't expecting it to taste piney. After a while I missed the mountains of Colorado!

Another question:
I read someone here like's to keep their fermenter cold for the first 2 weeks and then allow it to reach room temp for the last week as it allows the yeast to get a bit more active so as to do a better job cleaning up. Is this generally a good idea for doing 1 long primary w/o a secondary?
My understanding is that the most pronounced flavors come out in the first week of fermenting. Once established it's there?

I think 3-3-3 is to long in most cases. 1-2-3 is pretty standard for a low to medium gravity beer

Christianb17 said:

I think 3-3-3 is to long in most cases. 1-2-3 is pretty standard for a low to medium gravity beer

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what is 1-2-3? I like my brews at 9 weeks or more. 3wks. primary, 3wks. carb. 3 wks conditioned & Cheers

Pale Ale at 1.06 OG
Is that considered a medium gravity beer?

Can I avoid the fusel alcohols fermenting at 73* (room temp) with Leuven Pale Ale yeast?
Thanks for the replies!

rodwha said:

Hmmm...I don't know what flavors I am after. I've tried nearly a dozen IPA's and love the taste in general.

I drink mostly Ranger as it comes in 12 packs at a reasonable price.
Saint Arnold's Elissa I didn't care much for.
Bridgeport's IPA was a bit boring, but I really liked their Hop Czar! A lot!
Sierra Nevada's Extra Torpedo was quite strange at first as I wasn't expecting it to taste piney. After a while I missed the mountains of Colorado!

Another question:
I read someone here like's to keep their fermenter cold for the first 2 weeks and then allow it to reach room temp for the last week as it allows the yeast to get a bit more active so as to do a better job cleaning up. Is this generally a good idea for doing 1 long primary w/o a secondary?
My understanding is that the most pronounced flavors come out in the first week of fermenting. Once established it's there?

Click to expand...

IPA's are typically fermented with fairly clean American or English yeasts. Leuven is a Belgian strain, and will produce strong Belgian flavors. There are a few "Belgian IPA's" being made now, but it's a very different taste than normal IPA's like all of the ones you're listing. AFAIK Ranger, Torpedo, and Hop Czar all use clean American ale yeasts. Do you like Belgian beers? Are you sure you've picked the right yeast for this brew?

Yes, most off flavors are produced in the first few days when fermentation is most active, so that's when temperature control is most critical. Letting the yeast warm up slowly at the end of fermentation will certainly aid in attenuation and in theory can help the yeast clean up after themselves.

rodwha said:

Can I avoid the fusel alcohols fermenting at 73* (room temp) with Leuven Pale Ale yeast?
Thanks for the replies!

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I've never used the Leuven strain myself, but most Belgian strains can tolerate high temps pretty well. If you're going for an American IPA, I'd suggest using a clean American ale yeast like the Chico strain (Safale S-05, White Labs 001, Wyeast 1056), and fermenting it fairly cool, like low 60's.

9 weeks is really unnecessary. Most people shoot for 6

BOBrob said:

what is 1-2-3? I like my brews at 9 weeks or more. 3wks. primary, 3wks. carb. 3 wks conditioned & Cheers

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That's close to what I do (except I normally Keg, but it's close)

An IPA can be done usually a bit faster, but that schedule is certainly reasonable.

I second the motion that you need to get the temps down to the mid 60s for ales. It will really make a big difference for clean beer flavor. A swamp cooler should get you down in that range, just change the frozen soda bottles twice a day.

Juan:
My fiance had chosen the recipes as I had become frustrated with things not turning out well with the things I had tried.
She wasn't sure why she chose that yeast as a yeast wasn't specified with that recipe.
I'm going to give it a shot though. I'm ok with something a bit different.
I cannot say I've tried a Belgian beer. But I have tried so many different things and often forget. My memory isn't very reliable and I have been known to drink too much from time to time.
I am interested in trying something German that's traditionally served "room temp" for backpacking.
Otherwise it's a shiraz or whiskey, which is nice for the smaller size.
Thanks fellas!

Tried New Belgium's Belgian IPA...mmmmm!
I didn't find it that off from most IPAs I've had.
I love bitter!

If that's an idea of what I would get by using that yeast I am all for it!
Still a low 60's ferm temp I assume?