Is this infected, or normal?

I'm brewing my first batch, an Irish Red. Went into Fermenter Last Thursday, 5 days ago... The airlock went crazy for about 2 days, had consistent temp of fermentation chamber at 64*, between 2nd and 3rd day the A/C blew the fuse and it was 74* when I found out...

I went to take my first gravity reading as I hadn't seen any movement and this is what I saw... being my first batch I have no clue if this is normal... It doesn't smell as I expected, but like I say, being my first batch idk if it is normal or not...


I also went ahead and took a gravity reading 1.022 is what I was seeing, but using my new thief I bought had a few inches of what appeared to be yeast mixed in so I'm unsure how accurate the reading was...

So Suggestions from here?

(BTW I drained out the lower portion of the thief and tasted it the top... basically taste like a flat Irish Red, but the smell on top of the fermenter isn't an Irish Red by any means...)

Looks completely normal, may need to wait a few more days for the gravity to continue to drop before bottling though.

This...

res291que said:

Looks completely normal, may need to wait a few more days for the gravity to continue to drop before bottling though.

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It's fine man, let it rest another week, all that stuff (hops and yeast) will settle out. Color looks good too!

That looks fine, just stop messing with it before you contaminate it. Leave it alone..........

Looks fine just give it some time and let the yeast do its job, I know its tough but you need patience and it will pay off

Looks like you are actually at 1.020. Most extract batches I have done have finished right about there. The other recommendations of letting it sit are wise. As general advise not knowing your recipe or yeast, I would advise taking another sample at the 2 week mark and then another a couple days later and if they are the same then on to the bottles.

You are to be congratulated.....YOU MADE BEER!!!!! And some great looking beer at that.

ETA: Two more things. Try to get your sample a bit higher up by putting the bottom of the thief against the side of the bucket instead of the bottom. Also don't be tempted to return the sample to the beer. Ok, three things. Give the hydrometer a spin after it settles... This will knock off any CO2 bubbles that may have clung to the hydrometer.

Edit again: The smell will be much different than a finished beer in a glass. As long as it does not smell soured...And even then, it could just be the yeast giving off some rough odors....Let it sit a good two weeks (3 or 4 would be even better.)
And the temp is no huge deal...It is still BEER!

Thanks for the responses everyone!

The recipe is MWS Irish Red Ale with Dry Yeast...

I have touched it once since I put it in the chamber, and it was to get this gravity reading, so I don't feel like I have been "Messing with it" for no purpose...

I plan to put it into a secondary for a few reasons. The recipe suggests to do a secondary, with it being my first batch, I think it will be good to know the process and be able to see the results of a secondary in order to know for future batches if I would like to move them into a secondary, plus I have the time to do it so I figure I might as well!

I plan to take another reading this Saturday and will likely move it to the secondary early next week if everything stays consistent.

Looks good!

tjwor said:

Thanks for the responses everyone!

The recipe is MWS Irish Red Ale with Dry Yeast...

I have touched it once since I put it in the chamber, and it was to get this gravity reading, so I don't feel like I have been "Messing with it" for no purpose...

I plan to put it into a secondary for a few reasons. The recipe suggests to do a secondary, with it being my first batch, I think it will be good to know the process and be able to see the results of a secondary in order to know for future batches if I would like to move them into a secondary, plus I have the time to do it so I figure I might as well!

I plan to take another reading this Saturday and will likely move it to the secondary early next week if everything stays consistent.

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Secondary not completely necessary (IMO), but some will suggest it. Most recipes will suggest it. But you run the risk of oxidation or infection. After it's fermented out, you could "cold crash" it if you have the space. This is dropping the temp to 38-40*F to let the yeast floc out. Unless you're bottling. In which case you may want some yeast left over to carb. At any rate, congrats on the beer!

tjwor said:

I plan to put it into a secondary for a few reasons. The recipe suggests to do a secondary, with it being my first batch, I think it will be good to know the process and be able to see the results of a secondary in order to know for future batches if I would like to move them into a secondary, plus I have the time to do it so I figure I might as well!.

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As a new brewer you would do well to NOT use a "secondary". For the beer you are brewing there are absolutely zero benefits and there can be significant disadvantages. Letting the yeast sit on the yeast cake for the extra time you were going to "secondary" would benefit the beer far more than a marginal amount of clarity you would get from a "secondary". I keep putting "secondary" in quotes because it is quite a misnomer. What transferring beer to another vessel after fermentation is complete is just used as a "bright tank" that is to say a vessel used to make the yeast drop out of suspension. This is used by large scale brewers for a couple reasons...It gets the massive weight off the yeast to prevent a condition that we have no worries about in 5-10 gallon batches. Sometimes you might want to bulk age a really big beer. Transferring to another fermentor might be beneficial in this case.

For your normal beer, leaving it where it is for 3-4 weeks will make better beer than moving it around one extra time.

Do a search on these boards for "no secondary" and read some of the posts from veteran brewers...Including links to Palmer and Papazian where they have reversed their recommendations for using a secondary as standard practice.

If you simply want practice transferring beer around, then use water.

I've read a lot about the secondary and no secondary, and the main reasons I would like to secondary are not for the actual benefits of the secondary, but to be able to view what takes place for future batches. I know there are extra risks and extra room for error with the secondary, but I think it will help in future brewing if I do it now...

And I know it is technically not a stage of fermentation, just a secondary container, I will be bottling after the secondary if I continue to my current plan (although my plan could change...)