My first 5gal. batch boiled over

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johnheather125

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Ok my first batch boiled over. I used a imperial pale ale brewers best kit. I was not very worried until I cooled the wort and added water to bring the og to 1.084. I am positive i only added maybe about another gallon of water before it hit the recomended og. So i went ahead and pitched and gave it a good shake. The airlock was bubbling the within 12 hrs , and continued to do so for 6 days when it started to slow on day 6, I racked to the secondary and checked the sg witch was 1.030 ,the airlock bubbled for another day or to. My concern is this, did the boil over only affect the amount of beer i produced (maybe 4 gal) or have i ruined this batch?
 
we all have boilovers when we get distracted and don't watch close enough. don't worry about them. you lose a little beer, but that just gives you a reason to brew more often :D
 
I was hoping that was the case. And i do agree if i had another airlock I would start the Octoberfest now. To bad I have to wait until bottling day. 5 more days :(
 
Im not shure about secondaries but arnt you suppose to let it finish then rack?sounds like it was close but needed a few more days.but musthave finished up in secondary.
Make shure you know your total volume you have when priming for botteling so you dont overcarb your bottles.I have to do this with a pumpkin because i have so much trub i dont know how many bottles i will get out of it so im going to measure it and figure the voulume of it.
 
translation: you should really wait 3-4 weeks before moving from primary to secondary, if you even do that. i don't secondary on a pale ale. when adding sugar for carbonation, if it's less than 5 gallons, make sure you figure that in when calculating the amount of sugar needed. otherwise, you'll have bottle-bombs
 
I followed the directions with the kit. It said to rack to secondary when fermentation slows but before it stops. I think the kit came with 5oz of priming sugar i would guess then 1oz per gal. Thanks for the advice that thought never crossed my mind
 
make sure the directions are in the box, as it will show the box has probably never been opened, then throw them away. primary for 4-5 weeks, bottle for 3 weeks, chill, and drink
 
It also said to do this in 5 to 7 days from brew date

Well its ok for secondary i guess but if you can see it than i would wait till the puttering about ends.When does it say to bottle? Dont chill them all after 3 wks bottled,the best will be yet to come.Save some for another month or two or more.3 wks can carb but not bring the full potential of your beer out often to most of the time
 
I will defenatly try that thanks for the advice and reminding me about the priming sugar, becase i would have dumped all 5oz into my bottling bucket
 
a total of 3 weeks fermenting i guess

Thats not bad,it is high gravity but i have found in higher gravity beers that a full month makes a big difference just in primary.Higher the gravity the longer they need to conditon but this is a IIIpa? so if you do three weeks three bottled just check one first to see how it is at that point.
 
the way most experienced brewers do it: primary 4-5 weeks, no secondary. a secondary on a pale ale is a waste, as well as risking additional infection. just start it fermenting, let it sit for a month, then bottle. i've been making pale ales for years, and am drinking a good 1 right now
 
It is an imperial pale ale. It does recomend 2 weeks in bottle, it also says maybe longer. I will defenatly keep this in mind next time i try it. Patience is so difficult especially with my first batch:(
 
It is defenatly my favorite style of beer , which is why I chose it for my first batch. And i truely appreicate the advice being a beginner
 
I am still stuck with sierra nevada until it is ready i guess. I dont mind though because if i am going to need bottles they might as well come with beer in them:)
 
Patience is heartbreaking for a virgin brewer, a disapointment probably for every one of us freaks.New term maybe for you is "Pipeline" which means brew another in the mean time if you have the means or just try some new beers or differnet styles.While sustaining patience.
The best thing to do is to just learn and research really.
 
I think i will go buy another airlock tomorrow to, so I can start the octoberfest. That is all I am really missing to start it. I only have one and it is tied up with the batch that is fermenting now. I like the term
 
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