My lesson, don't rush when making beer

I was making a new batch of IPA, when I remembered I was supposed to go out with my gf... so naturally I started rushing to finish. While I was rushing I completely stop thinking. First I put a lid on my wort while it was boiling, and it boiled over... then when I finally got the wort in the primary it was too hot to pitch the yeast. I knew it was better to pitch then to wait so I took a temperature reading and it was 35C/95F. This is when I told myself, if it doesn't come out I'll just spend another 15$ to make anther batch. The next day I noticed the the beer was fermenting but not as vigorously as it usually does but I was happy that it was fermenting. On day 4 fermentation slowed down to almost a complete stop, so I took an SG reading and to my disappointment ABV was about 2.5%. So I said to myself I'll rack it to the secondary then bottle, and if worst comes to worst I'll cook with it.

When it got into the secondary, yesterday, it started fermenting again and more vigorously then before...

My guess is that I shocked the yeast and when I racked into secondary it re-agitated the yeast... I'll let know how it comes out in a couple of weeks!!!

For the record, it's better to wait than to pitch the yeast while the wort is too hot.

Yeah you can't rush it for certain. Even with planning there is often something I can't find, or something I forgot to sterilize before the boil was finished. In order to leave some time to do basic cleanup and all aterwards I try to leave myself a 5 hour window for all grain brewing. I would think for extract you could get away with 2 to 2-1/2 hours. These times both leave room for error and help keep the mistakes and stress to a minimum.

Also +1, better get a sanitized cap on the wort and let cool overnight than to pitch in the 90's.

I load my carboy up in the swamp cooler and wait for it to hit 65-70 before pitching. As long as my sanitation is proper, there is no harm, it can wait a day to pitch.

$15 for a 5 gallon batch? please tell me how.

imprez25 said:

$15 for a 5 gallon batch? please tell me how.

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Bah, I do $22 extract brews (not often tho)

Rick500 said:

For the record, it's better to wait than to pitch the yeast while the wort is too hot.

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+1 to this,

I purposely do not pitch yeast for about 24 - 48 hours while I let my starter work with the actual wort and stabalize the temp of the fermentor.

imprez25 said:

$15 for a 5 gallon batch? please tell me how.

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Buy in bulk and save yeast. Grain in bulk can be found for under a dollar a pound, couple of bucks for hops and a free vial of yeast from your stock and you are basically right at $15.

cubbies said:

Buy in bulk and save yeast. Grain in bulk can be found for under a dollar a pound, couple of bucks for hops and a free vial of yeast from your stock and you are basically right at $15.

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IIRC, in the thread about what it costs, EdWort said he could do a batch for like $8.

9 lbs Base = $6.30
2 lbs specialty =$3
2 oz Hops = $2

= $11.30


is about where I'm at. (buy base grain in 55lb bags, hops by the lb)

kool, i didn't think you can wait a day, next time i'll be more patient... I'm good friends with a guy who opened his own homebrew store so I get sweet deals

Zen_Brew said:

Y In order to leave some time to do basic cleanup and all aterwards I try to leave myself a 5 hour window for all grain brewing.

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Wow - If I include setup/flame on and break-down, clean up and put-away AG is a 6-7 hour task for me. Six hours when everything goes right (rarely), and 7 hours when I do something stupid like pull the chiller out too early (no stirring) or add PBM instead of 5.2 ph stabilizer to my mash water . . . If it matters I do 60 min rests, 60-90 min sparges, 90 min boils.

When I first started brewing, I would go into a wort cooling tizzy at flame out. It's better to wait a little longer to get the temperatures right if need be. Haste can lead to dumb mistakes--been there done that.

No need to spend $15 on new batch even if you killed all the yeast. $2-$3 for a new packet of yeast and pitch in when it cools.

Boy, you ain't lying when you said that you need to learn patience. Sure you rushed your brew day, but you also rushed your fermentation even more. Give your beerat least two weeks in the primary fermenter to allow the yeast to complete their entire process. I give my beers between three to six weeks in the primary, depending upon the beer. With a lengthy primary fermentation, you will not need to secondary and be able to go straight to the bottle. Also, don't move your beer from the primary until you get stable hydrometer readings with in 48hrs of each other. This step ensures that at least the active fermentation phase is complete.

I make ales in the summer so fermentation is faster, and i can drink more and faster!!!

yea so like do the right thing next time buddy. Cancel on the chick.

h4rdluck said:

yea so like do the right thing next time buddy. Cancel on the chick.

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On the contrary, ask her to bring over a pizza and have a with her

I did an ipa last night, was drinking a bit more than i should have ok well me and a buddy did in a 12 pack of golden blonds, and ended up, while waiting for the boil to start getting the great idea of dubbling my hop schedule, started with 1 oz chinook at 60 min then going to1 oz chinook at 30 then brewers gold .5 oz at times of 10, 8, 5, 3 mins left in boil, instead of .5 at 30, .25 at times of 10,8,5,3. wow that was a lot of sifting to get my auto sphine to work. pluss the fact that i missed my starting gravity by about ten points i think i added a gallon of water some where. my yeast starter wasnt the greastest job i have ever done... soo on that note drink but dont be carless and remeber relax cause you can always pawn it off on the inlaws and say its a special beer...

IXVolt said:

On the contrary, ask her to bring over a pizza and a girlfriend and have a few with them

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there, fixed that for ya!!

whalenutz said:

...well me and a buddy did in a 12 pack of golden blonds...

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giggity.

Seriously - I have learned twice the hard way to be patient and focused on my brewing. First time the wind blew over a board (that I put up to block the wind on my flame) which knocked over my boiling wort on to the new plastic deck. Second time (same exact extract kit, try #2) I let it boil over and lost about 1/2 the wort. Both times I was inside eating dinner and not paying attention to the brew because of poor planning.

I'm currently nearing the end of an extract brew, almost two hours in, and getting near bedtime and really buggy out - but I waited till the kids were in bed and I knew I could focus on the whole process start to finish. It'll be my best brew yet!

-Z

annasdadhockey said:

there, fixed that for ya!!

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haha, Thanks!