Newby in Tucson

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
The subject line is the same I used in the Introduction forum, but since brewing is underway I figured I'd move to the beginners forum for the continuation of my adventure!

My Munton Nut Brown Ale extract batch seems to be going well. I'm 4.5 days into primary fermentation and have gone from an OG of 1.041 to 1.012. The temperature in my kitchen is ~75F. The fermenting wort smells & tastes like flat beer with no odd flavors that I can tell.

My plan is to leave the beer on primary for a total of two weeks then rack to a bottling bucket, prime and bottle. I'll be letting it bottle condition for a couple of weeks before refrigerating.

Any comments regarding my status and plans would be greatly appreciated.

Andy
Tucson, AZ
 
Looks like you have everything covered! Welcome, and good luck! What's next on the brewing list?? :)
 
Comments - yeah - keep your hands out of the beer! I know it's exciting, but just leave it sealed for 2 weeks before you start taking any readings. 4 days is way too early to be checking on it. You are going to drive yourself nuts.

Anyway, congrats! You are well on your way to your first brew.

On bottling/carbonating - just give it some time. Plan on 3 weeks before sticking one in the fridge. (I'm not sure anyone ever makes it that long for a first batch, but at 2 weeks you've got a pretty good chance that it isn't carbed yet) It's your beer though and a bottle is small price to pay for a learning experience.

For future batches, you should consider ways to regulate the temperature a little better. 75F is kinda pushing it for most yeast strains. Sounds like you dodged any bullets this time, but I wouldn't press my luck with those temps on a consistent basis.
 
+1 on the temp. I ferment my ales as close to 68F as possible. Welcome to a new hobby/life long addiction! :mug:
 
Welcome Fellow Tucsonan !!! sounds like you're well on your way. and as for someone who lives in the god forsaken town I second the idea of getting a swamp cooler. will bring those temps down nicely
 
Oh boy, I cracked my first bottle of the Munton Nut Brown Ale that I brewed from extract and I'm reasonably impressed. From my previous posts, it spent three weeks in primary fermentation, then three weeks, so far, in bottles. It smelled like other brown ales I've had, no nastiness there. It tastes wonderful, and has a creamy feel to it, just what I was hoping for! The ending is a little sweet which is fine with me, though I anticipate that it will finish a bit dryer with more time in the bottle. does that make sense? Also, the head, though reasonable, did not last long. The beer has a carbonation bite to it, though I'm not seeing any bubbles trailing up through the beer.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
 
There is more than one cause of the head disappearing too soon. Time is one, it takes more time in the bottle for the beer to mature.
The second is what is in the beer. You can change the amount and stability of the head by changing ingredients. Third is the cleanliness of the bottles and glassware. Even a little soap residue in the bottle before you bottle the beer or in the serving glass will kill the head on your beer.

In your case, I'd suspect time in the bottle since you are brewing from an extract kit and everything needed for the head should be in there and soap in the bottles will cause no head or very little head that is gone very quickly (ask how I know about that). Try to leave at least a few bottles for another 2 weeks to 2 months and see if the head doesn't last longer.
 
Try scrubbing one of your glasses with salt, rinse it out very well with water and then pour your beer. If you get good head retention after that you can rule out soapy glassware - not soapy bottles, just glassware. That's the quickest, easiest and most fun since you get to drink the beer either way. Good luck!
 
Back
Top