My First Brew - What to Expect Immediately After Pitching Yeast?

So this is my first batch (and my first post!). My friend who has brewed over 150 batches taught me a few things and I've done a lot of research prior to starting, so I'd say I have a basic knowledge level.

I started off with a batch of Baron's Pale Ale - something easy to start with seeing as it's my first batch.

Once I had added everything to my primary fermenter (except the yeast), my temperature was about 80 degrees F. I wasn't sure how long I should wait with the jug open/exposed (wasn't sure if it would harm the beer) before it would cool down to 70-75 F so I could add the yeast. I decided to add a few ice cubes to cool it down, and I added the yeast at 75 F.

Mixed it up and put on the lid with an air lock.

I have two questions:

1) Did I do any harm by adding ice cubes? Should I have just put on the lid and let it cool for an hour or two instead?

2) How long does it take for the yeast to activate? I checked it once a couple hours after I capped it initially and there were almost no bubbles at all.

Thanks for the help with my first post. Look forward to hearing from you guys.

1. Probably not, there is a slight chance there were some critters in the ice cubes to infect your beer.

2. Depends, give it a few days, no need to worry yet.

Redline, welcome to the forum!

1.) LIke hpergolic said, you have a slight chance of critters from adding the ice cubes. If you want to use ice cubs in the future, I would recommend boiling the water that you plan on making the ice with and sanitizing an ice cube tray. When my brews end up being on the warm side after chilling, I either wait or I put my brew pot in a ice water bath. You could also purchase some rubbermaid iceboxes used for lunch boxes or use frozen bottles of water. Freeze them and sanitize them before you toss them into your warm wort. If you are going to do the waiting game, I would recommend putting the lid on the fermenter, that way your wort isn't exposed to air.

2.) Don't worry about not seeing anything. I've had a few brews that showed now movement on the airlocks. If I really want to know if there has been any fermentation, I usually take a flash light and shine it on top of the lid. Usually enough light gets into the I can see how much trub is clinging to the sides of the fermenter.

You should expect to see, or be concened about seeing nothing...it's not about bubbling or anything. Except numbers on a hydrometer, which will happen since this is the 21st century and yeast just don't not work like the horror stories you might have found in reading palmer or papazian. It just isn't that way...in fact many of us just pitch our yeast and come back in a month to bottle.

In fact look at the sticky at the top of the beginners section about how fermentation can take up to 72 hours to even start...

Don't worry about how something looks, they can be deceiving, if you have concerns use your hydrometer...not what anything looks like...

Revvy said:

You should expect to see, or be concened about seeing nothing...it's not about bubbling or anything. Except numbers on a hydrometer, which will happen since this is the 21st century and yeast just don't not work like the horror stories you might have found in reading palmer or papazian. It just isn't that way...in fact many of us just pitch our yeast and come back in a month to bottle.

In fact look at the sticky at the top of the beginners section about how fermentation can take up to 72 hours to even start...

Don't worry about how something looks, they can be deceiving, if you have concerns use your hydrometer...not what anything looks like...

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This. RDWHAHB. The hard part for you is done, not just keep the temps where they need to be and let the yeasties do their work.

You'll PROBABLY see some airlock activity within 3 days. On some setups, youll NEVER see it so don't fret.

On my first brew I immediately had fireworks and harp music flowing from my airlock. No wait that is what I was hoping for. After looking around the forum a bit it became apparent that I must be patient.

I have brew slowly fermenting now because I underpitched. The waiting was killing me until I tasted my previous batch a hef that is now ready to drink. I'll be brewing again tomorrow to keep the pipeline building.

Thanks for all the responses. I understand that the bubbles in my airlock aren't a good representation of fermentation, but I'm happy to report that I checked it the following morning briefly there are some bubbles floating around on the top of the brew.

Too bad I added those ice cubes - unfortunately I didn't realize the potential problems until after the fact. I'll know for future batches. Hopefully it'll turn out ok!

I am sure it will be fine. I wouldn't worry about it.

On my first batch I pitched in a dry yeast packet. As I watched it dissolve, a kaleidoscope of magnificent colors arose. Naked dancing girls surrounded me and showered me with kisses. I suddenly felt handsome, intelligent, and virile.

Of course I had been drinking heavily, so take this with a grain of salt.

Haha I was drinking most of the night as well. Seemed like the right thing to do.

Another question for you guys - the instructions on my batch say it should be transferred to the secondary fermenter within 3-6 days. I have off days on day 4 and 6. Just wondering what you guys would recommend?

If I use a secondary, I normally don't put it in there for 2 weeks or so. (Once my hydrometer shows no more fermentation). My beer is still fermenting at 6 days; too soon to rack to the carboy. IMO

I agree with reim0027, 4 to 6 days seems too soon. I understand the excitement of a first batch and wanting to drink it as soon as possible but if you wait it will be worth it.

Redline, I did the same thing with my first batch (which is only a week into fermentation at the moment).

It's weird, but in every single thing I read, no one mentioned chilling the wort. I read the beginners section of a home brew book, the recipe that came with the extract, the beginner's guide that came with my beer kit, *and* the beginner's guide in zymurgy magazine.

And none mentioned chilling wort. They all simply said to pour the finished wort into the 3 gallons of cold water in the fermentation bucket. When I did that, i had the same problem you did, which was a high temp.

I quickly Googled it, and wouldn't you know it, "chilling wort" is a HUGE part of the process, and an important step to avoiding possible contamination. I was stumped as to why none of my books mention it in the beginner's sections (which all include the first beer recipes).

I finally decided it's left out to make the process as simple as possible for first timers.

Anyway, I panicked and added some ice. My brew fermented fine, and on first taste (from a hydrometer sample) it tasted like it was on its way with no bad flavors.

As a side note, I just watched an episode of Good Eats, where Alton Brown made beer, and he used a 7 pound bag of ice (from the grocery store) as part of the water added to chill the wort.

Anyone else do this?

I wouldn't trust that ice to be sanitary enough to put into my wort.

I wouldn't dump a bunch of store-bought ice into my wort - seems like you're just inviting problems. I would just take the same bag and use it for an ice bath to chill the wort. For me, it takes 4 ten pound bags of ice to chill a five gallon batch down to about 70, normally takes about 20-30 minutes or so.

That being said, I wouldn't worry about putting a few ice cubes in there. I think your instincts served you well - pitching your yeast in too hot of wort can lead to a whole host of problems. The risk of pitching too hot is likely greater than the risk of contaminating a batch with a few ice cubes. In the future, you'll know not to put wort into the ferementer until it is at pitching temp - cool it in the kettle. The other benefit to doing that is you'll get a nice cold break and it will make straining out all of the gunk at the bottom of the kettle a lot easier.

Good luck and congrats on your first batch!

Thanks again, TTB-J.

Yeah, I thought it seemed strange that Alton Brown tossed in a whole bag of ice like that, meanwhile everyone I've read about or consulted use ice baths to cool the wort.

Sometimes the best way to learn is to jump in and do it. I'll never make the same mistakes twice.

onipar said:

Thanks again, TTB-J.

Yeah, I thought it seemed strange that Alton Brown tossed in a whole bag of ice like that, meanwhile everyone I've read about or consulted use ice baths to cool the wort.

Sometimes the best way to learn is to jump in and do it. I'll never make the same mistakes twice.

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I had to laugh when I watched that episode on youtube. He described some things wrong,left some out,etc. It was friggin hilarious. But yeah,ice water bath around kettle in sink. I guess tap water in Texas comes out warm? Cause We used,maybe 1 1/2 small bags of ice to get down to 70F. Of course,it has been unseasonably cool here lately.

My first few brews I never even chilled the wort. I just pitched the dry yeast directly in the semi-hot wort. I never even hydrated the yeast!

Beer came out fine every time.