First beer underway!!!!!

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AnnapolisBrewer

AnnapolisBrewer

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So I brewed my first beer. It was an Autumn Amber Ale kit from Midwest. I substituted the first set of hops (Fuggles) with Bramling Cross hops to give it more bitterness. I used the Wyeast nutrient additive with 10 minutes left and also used a tablet of Whirloc. I was able to do a full boil on my induction stovetop which made things a lot easier. I used my drill to aerate the heck out of it.

I finished up at 11pm. I woke up for work at 6am and the airlock was going nuts. I am guessing that is a good thing since the yeast took off quickly. BTW-I used a wyeast activator smack pack that I let sit out for 12 hours. It looked like it was about to explode. I took my SG reading and it was 1.045. I think that is where I should be.

I am considering doing a secondary fermentation into a carboy. Is this necessary/recommended?

I appreciate any comments from you all. I was very happy to find this forum!:tank:
 
AnnapolisBrewer said:
So I brewed my first beer. It was an Autumn Amber Ale kit from Midwest. I substituted the first set of hops (Fuggles) with Bramling Cross hops to give it more bitterness. I used the Wyeast nutrient additive with 10 minutes left and also used a tablet of Whirloc. I was able to do a full boil on my induction stovetop which made things a lot easier. I used my drill to aerate the heck out of it.

I finished up at 11pm. I woke up for work at 6am and the airlock was going nuts. I am guessing that is a good thing since the yeast took off quickly. BTW-I used a wyeast activator smack pack that I let sit out for 12 hours. It looked like it was about to explode. I took my SG reading and it was 1.045. I think that is where I should be.

I am considering doing a secondary fermentation into a carboy. Is this necessary/recommended?

I appreciate any comments from you all. I was very happy to find this forum!:tank:
Click to expand...

Congratulations. What temperaature are you fermenting at and with what specific yeast? Most ale yeasts are best at the low to mid 60's so you'll want to keep it cool during fermentation. What temperature did you pitch your yeast? In nearly all cases pitching a little cooler or at your target fermentation temperature, at near the bottom of its ideal range, will give you your best flavor.

As far as secondary, I wouldn't bother. I'd just leave it in primary, check your gravity at 14 days, confirm stability and that it's done by confirming on days 15 and 16, then package if Its finished. Most ales are done at 10-14 days but you can always leave them longer and that's better than rushing them. They'll clean up after themselves and will drop out of suspension without a secondary transfer in my experience. Are you bottling the beer?
 
I like to do secondary ferments even if they don't recommend it because it gets a lot of the gunk out before bottling.
 
I had my first homebrew last night. Midwest amber ale! I used a secondary on advice from a few friends, but I'm. not sure its necessary. It came out great!

Congrats!
:mug:
 
makomachine said:
Congratulations. What temperaature are you fermenting at and with what specific yeast? Most ale yeasts are best at the low to mid 60's so you'll want to keep it cool during fermentation. What temperature did you pitch your yeast? In nearly all cases pitching a little cooler or at your target fermentation temperature, at near the bottom of its ideal range, will give you your best flavor.

As far as secondary, I wouldn't bother. I'd just leave it in primary, check your gravity at 14 days, confirm stability and that it's done by confirming on days 15 and 16, then package if Its finished. Most ales are done at 10-14 days but you can always leave them longer and that's better than rushing them. They'll clean up after themselves and will drop out of suspension without a secondary transfer in my experience. Are you bottling the beer?
Click to expand...


I used the Wyeast 1056 and pitched it at 78 degrees. I am fermenting it in my basement which is 68 degrees.

I am going to bottle the beer. Do you recommend the Grolsch style bottles or should I stick with the 12 ouncers?
 
vp1839 said:
I like to do secondary ferments even if they don't recommend it because it gets a lot of the gunk out before bottling.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I like using a secondary as well for the same reason.
 
waddy36 said:
I had my first homebrew last night. Midwest amber ale! I used a secondary on advice from a few friends, but I'm. not sure its necessary. It came out great!

Congrats!
:mug:
Click to expand...

Waddy- What was the alcohol content of that beer? Just curious.:D I can't wait until mine is done!
 
vp1839 said:
I like to do secondary ferments even if they don't recommend it because it gets a lot of the gunk out before bottling.
Click to expand...

Letting the beer sit in the primary will get most of the gunk to the bottom and have a comparable effect.
 
vp1839 said:
I like to do secondary ferments even if they don't recommend it because it gets a lot of the gunk out before bottling.
Click to expand...

Im still up in the air about it. My brew kettle is a Bayou Classic with the screen filter on the bottom. It filtered out a bunch of gunk as I used the spigot to transfer to the fermenter. Would transferring to a carboy filter out even more?
 
I like the grolsch bottles, but that's just because I hate bottling. Either would work fine if you have a capper and I've done both.

If you can get your fermenter in a water bath a little cooler that would be a good thing. The reason i asked as you had rapid startup on a single pack of yeast - which isnt necessarily a good thing. Keep in mind that fermentation creates heat - and your actual beer temperature can be 8 to 10 degrees warmer than the exterior temp in the heat of fermentation. You pitched very warm, and you needed another pack of yeast or starter (under pitched), for your starting gravity. These things will combine to create some characteristics that won't make your best beer. I'm certain it will be drinkable, just giving advice for your next batch to improve your beers. Fermentation temps and pitching rates are two very important ingredients to great beer.!
 
AnnapolisBrewer said:
Would transferring to a carboy filter out even more?
Click to expand...

No. Gravity does the work. Once fermentation finishes up, the yeast will start to fall out (although there are still billions in suspension) as well as any other suspended particles. It'll all compact down on the bottom as the beer clears, so you can just rack (siphon) from above that trub with good results.

I would recommend NOT using a clearing vessel ("secondary" is a misnomer) due to more risk of oxidation than a benefit of clearing, until you are proficient with racking since there is some technique involved with racking and not splashing. It's not hard, but it is much easier with a lot of practice.

There is nothing magical about moving the beer to make it clear faster- it'll clear just fine where it is.

For your next batch, you definitely want to get it cooler before adding the yeast (under 70 degrees) and keep it under 70 degrees if at all possible. It makes a better "cleaner" tasting beer.
 
makomachine said:
I like the grolsch bottles, but that's just because I hate bottling. Either would work fine if you have a capper and I've done both.

If you can get your fermenter in a water bath a little cooler that would be a good thing. The reason i asked as you had rapid startup on a single pack of yeast - which isnt necessarily a good thing. Keep in mind that fermentation creates heat - and your actual beer temperature can be 8 to 10 degrees warmer than the exterior temp in the heat of fermentation. You pitched very warm, and you needed another pack of yeast or starter (under pitched), for your starting gravity. These things will combine to create some characteristics that won't make your best beer. I'm certain it will be drinkable, just giving advice for your next batch to improve your beers. Fermentation temps and pitching rates are two very important ingredients to great beer.!
Click to expand...

More yeast than the pack I used? Dang! I had no idea! The temp in my basement is 69 degrees and the temp gauge on the fermenter is reading 72. So you recommend I place the entire bucket into a cold water bath? As far as the temp I pitched at it was only because it was taking forever to bring the temperature down from the boil even though I used a wort chiller. Most likely that the air temp in my house was 76 and the temp of the hose water was cold but not as cold as I would have liked. I imagine when I brew in October/November it should be easier and quicker to drop the temp.
 
Yooper said:
No. Gravity does the work. Once fermentation finishes up, the yeast will start to fall out (although there are still billions in suspension) as well as any other suspended particles. It'll all compact down on the bottom as the beer clears, so you can just rack (siphon) from above that trub with good results.

I would recommend NOT using a clearing vessel ("secondary" is a misnomer) due to more risk of oxidation than a benefit of clearing, until you are proficient with racking since there is some technique involved with racking and not splashing. It's not hard, but it is much easier with a lot of practice.

There is nothing magical about moving the beer to make it clear faster- it'll clear just fine where it is.

For your next batch, you definitely want to get it cooler before adding the yeast (under 70 degrees) and keep it under 70 degrees if at all possible. It makes a better "cleaner" tasting beer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. Hopefully as the temps begin to drop here in Maryland over the next few months I will have an easier time getting the wort cooled down. It seemed like forever getting the temps to drop below 80 from 90.
 
AnnapolisBrewer said:
More yeast than the pack I used? Dang! I had no idea! The temp in my basement is 69 degrees and the temp gauge on the fermenter is reading 72. So you recommend I place the entire bucket into a cold water bath? As far as the temp I pitched at it was only because it was taking forever to bring the temperature down from the boil even though I used a wort chiller. Most likely that the air temp in my house was 76 and the temp of the hose water was cold but not as cold as I would have liked. I imagine when I brew in October/November it should be easier and quicker to drop the temp.
Click to expand...

Yes - I'd recommend a starter for future batches. You can take the recipes OG and use the calculator below to tell you how many packs you need or how big of a starter. Slightly over and under is OK - it gets you in the right ballpark.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Groundwater temps make cooling challenging in the summer. I'd put it in a water bath if you can, getting it in the mid 60's next time. The first 48 hours of fermentation are the most critical from what I'm told and from my personal experience.
 
AnnapolisBrewer said:
Waddy- What was the alcohol content of that beer? Just curious.:D I can't wait until mine is done!
Click to expand...

Well...the first mistake I made was playing with the hydrometer while watching the boil. Second mistake was putting it down in a hurry to stop a boilover ..Anyway it shattered so I have no idea!:eek:
 
Yooper said:
No. Gravity does the work. Once fermentation finishes up, the yeast will start to fall out (although there are still billions in suspension) as well as any other suspended particles. It'll all compact down on the bottom as the beer clears, so you can just rack (siphon) from above that trub with good results.

I would recommend NOT using a clearing vessel ("secondary" is a misnomer) due to more risk of oxidation than a benefit of clearing, until you are proficient with racking since there is some technique involved with racking and not splashing. It's not hard, but it is much easier with a lot of practice.

There is nothing magical about moving the beer to make it clear faster- it'll clear just fine where it is.
Click to expand...

While Yooper is dead on, from my experience as a beginner, I was glad I transferred to a secondary/clearing vessel/bright tank. Although tons of gunk fell to the bottom in primary, a fair amount of it got stirred up as I moved my fermenter to the spot where I was going to work. Also, as I was siphoning, I had much more of a problem getting the beer out without also transferring trub than I had with keeping it from splashing.

Basically, when I transferred the first time, I transferred more trub than I would've liked and that would've been a negative if I was going straight into a bottling bucket. I would've ended up with more gunk in the bottles. But luckily, I was transferring to a bright tank which meant I had a second chance to avoid bottling the trub.

So, while transferring to secondary doesn't magically make your beer clearer, and it certainly isn't clearing any faster, it does give you a second chance to avoid bottling all of that gunk.

Also, when you are ready to transfer to either a secondary or a bottling bucket, I would recommend moving your beer into position a day ahead of time. That way, whatever gets stirred up as you jostle it around while moving will have a chance to settle back to the bottom before you do any siphoning.
 
waddy36 said:
Well...the first mistake I made was playing with the hydrometer while watching the boil. Second mistake was putting it down in a hurry to stop a boilover ..Anyway it shattered so I have no idea!:eek:
Click to expand...

Waddy,

Thats funny you mention that yours shattered. Mine was broken right out of the package. I did not realize this until it was almost time to transfer to the fermenter. Luckily my neighbor brews so I was able to run over there and borrow his.
 
signpost said:
While Yooper is dead on, from my experience as a beginner, I was glad I transferred to a secondary/clearing vessel/bright tank. Although tons of gunk fell to the bottom in primary, a fair amount of it got stirred up as I moved my fermenter to the spot where I was going to work. Also, as I was siphoning, I had much more of a problem getting the beer out without also transferring trub than I had with keeping it from splashing.

Basically, when I transferred the first time, I transferred more trub than I would've liked and that would've been a negative if I was going straight into a bottling bucket. I would've ended up with more gunk in the bottles. But luckily, I was transferring to a bright tank which meant I had a second chance to avoid bottling the trub.

So, while transferring to secondary doesn't magically make your beer clearer, and it certainly isn't clearing any faster, it does give you a second chance to avoid bottling all of that gunk.

Also, when you are ready to transfer to either a secondary or a bottling bucket, I would recommend moving your beer into position a day ahead of time. That way, whatever gets stirred up as you jostle it around while moving will have a chance to settle back to the bottom before you do any siphoning.
Click to expand...

Do you know of a good video I can watch that will show me the best way to transfer from a bucket to a glass carboy for secondary without grabbing all of the trub and over-oxidizing the beer?
 

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