probably a dumb question

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Dillinja666

Dillinja666

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so i did my first double ipa last night, and after i dumped my wort into the fermenter i noticed it was at the 5 gallon mark, but i had a gallon and a half of sediment and hops at the bottom. So in my OCD craziness i put another gallon in my fermenter to get 5 gallons of liquid.

Did i just dilute my beer and off set my OG pretty bad? :confused:

Also should i have left my boil hops in there? i strained out my wort then added my dry hops in the ferm.
 
Well you've got a couple of things that are of concern. First, yes you did lower your OG some. If you were looking to offset trub loss, you probably only want to fill your fermenter to 5.25 to 5.5 gals at the most to yield 5 gals after transfers and loss. But, your beer isn't a total loss, just slightly lower abv and maybe a little less body. The other issue is that you shouldn't add your dry hops to your beer until you are within about a week of bottling. Otherwise, you are losing all of the aroma from the hops, and the hops can cause off flavors.
 
All that trub at the bottom will compact down over the fermentation process into a very tight layer, what you did was dilute your beer and lower your OG. next time just let it roll and enjoy the beer unmolested.
 
Ah, didn't know about waiting a week for the dry hops, thanks.

I'll try it again in 2 weeks. Should I wait 2 or 3 weeks to bottle?
 
A gallon & a half of sediment? Wow. I wait till it reaches FG & give it 3-5 days to clean up & settle out more. Then dry hop for 1 week. And use hop sacks to cut down on trub.
 
I've been a little unclear on whether or not I need to strain everything out from the boil kettle when I move it to the carboy for fermentation. We just dump everything in without straining. I don't know if it makes a difference, but so far our beer has been delicious.


joe
 
I don't see why you would have lowered the OG at all. If you're adding your wort to the fermenter, it's all the same gravity. Adding more of it won't change the OG, unless I'm reading the situation wrong. Is this an extract batch? Do you mean you added another gallon of WATER to the fermenter?
 
Speaking of straining,I used my new,ss dual layer fine mesh strainer (from Midwest) on my EB when pouring into the fermenter. Damn floury hop particles went through,for the most part. I got maybe 1 tsp of funk all total.
But I did use hop sacks. Just goes to show how valuable hop sacks are.
 
unionrdr said:
Speaking of straining,I used my new,ss dual layer fine mesh strainer (from Midwest) on my EB when pouring into the fermenter. Damn floury hop particles went through,for the most part.
Click to expand...


Those strainers are worthless for hop pellets--I know cause I have one which only hangs in the closet.

I bought this one at the W-mart. It's fine SS mesh. You do have to sling it out a bit as you go, but it gets all the little stuff.

0007328707859_300X300.jpg
 
ok so basically i messed up adding WATER to the fermenter, and I should have left the dry hops out for another week. Oh well, live and learn.

my last question, how long should i leave this batch in the fermenter, its my first double IPA. The recipe didnt say how long, i was figureing 2 weeks, then 2 weeks in the bottle. Does that sound ok?

Edit: and im hittin up the wal-mart for that strainer, the one i had sucked, was too small and made a huge mess and was a pain to use.
 
My rule of thumb now is to leave it 3-5 days after a stable FG is reached to clean up & settle out more. Then bottle for 3-4 weeks @ room temp to condition. 2 weeks isn't enough.
 
ok probably explains why my first 2 beers didnt taste like much. They both tasted real weak. What does leaving it in the bottle for so long do? I guess i should get myself a wine thief now so i can test my fg instead of testing as im getting pouring it into bottles.

thanks for all the help guys
 
Always get a stable FG 1st. Then time to clean & Clear. Bottle conditioning for 3-4 weeks fore an average gravity beer is the time needed not just to carbonate,but to properly age the beer itself.
It can take me as long as 1.5-2 months kettle to glass for a clear,properly aged/carbonated ale.
 
Thanks, guess im gonna have to scrounge more bottles then :)

Ill probably try and make a single IPA next while im waiting for this one to bottle condition. Beer is way fun
 
Yup! The fun part is experimentin! I used the basic recipe from my Sunset Gold APA for the malt profile. Than came up with a new hop schedule to make it an IPA,thanks to some folks on here,nordeastbrewer among them. The malt profile/color is close to DFH,with late hop additions the last 25 minutes. 1,5oz of 3 hops @ 8min,30sec intervals,then dry hop 1 week with remaining 1.5oz of each hop total. All indications say it'll be darn good in a couple of weeks.
That said,It's right in line with 14A,English IPA with American IPA hops. .006 more on the OG,& it'd be an American IPA,14B.
Scrounging bottles isn't hard with yourself,wife/GF,& son/brother who drink. Getting more bottles is way easier that way. Got so many saved up,it took me some 5-7 weeks to soak them all overnight to clean them up,dry,& store. Now I have a big stash to pull from.
 
RCCOLA said:
Those strainers are worthless for hop pellets--I know cause I have one which only hangs in the closet.
Click to expand...

I have a double mesh from Northern Brewer and it filters out most of my pellet hops. The bottom of the primary is normally a nice creamy cake of just yeast
 
You know what? I needed to remember that I did use hop sacks,& I did use the strainer from Midwest when I drained & squeezed them into the BK. So,when straining again into the fermenter,there wasn't much left to strain.
 
So I just took my first gravity measurement of this double IPA I made. The OG was 1.1 which i was shocked about. This gravity measurement was at 1.017 which come out to 10.5%ish. Tasting it it doesnt really taste like anything. No alcohol burn, no real hops taste even though this recipe had 9oz in boil and then i had 4oz in the ferm when i added the wort and no real body flavor to it. It smells like fruit juice almost. Im gonna add 2oz on tuesday cause thats a week after boil.

here is what the color looks like, kinda strange
IMAG0161-1.jpg
 
Wow, that is one strange color. What was the grain bill for this brew? It is also amzing, with 6 oz of hops in a 5 gal batch that you aren't getting a pretty strong bitterness and some flavor. What kind of hops are in there? The fermenter addition will blow off the aroma but I would think you would still get some flavor. Finally, at 1.017 you must be somewhere close to the FG. WIth 4 oz or so of a nice aromatic hop (simcoe, Amarillo, citra, cascade, etc) you should have an amazing brew. Looks from the opacity like you are going to need a couple weeks of settling before you bottle.
 
this is the recipe:
11# briess light LME

1/2# 20L dark crystal (steeped 30)

1.5oz Galena @60min
3oz Crystal @60min
2.5oz Crystal @15min
2 oz Crystal @1min

Dry Hop with 4oz Crystal
These were all pellets

White Laps California Ale Yeast

i made the mistake of putting the 4oz of hops in at the same time as the cooled wort, im gonna drop another 2ozn tuesday, its only been 4 days since it went into the ferm, and the bubbling of my blow off just stopped today. It was warmer then i wanted, normally where i keep it its 75, but this was at78. I think it was from the yeast though cause it dropped to 75 today once all the activity started. Maybe it hasnt been long enough yet to start making flavors?

adding hops on tuesday too early?


edit:
it looks like this today
IMAG0165.jpg
 
Sounds pretty simple and likely tasty. Based upon my calculations you should have 1.070 OG which would give you 8% at the most. Your yeast are looking like they are flocculating well. Check FG and see if it's stable. Once it is you can secondary or not then start your dry hop for at least 5 days. Your fermentation temp is high so you might want to give it some extra time in the fermenter to clean up off flavors before hops

I'm really pretty new to this but been reading a lot. ;-)
 
Dry hop for the last week before bottling. Not one week after you pitched, unless you're only fermenting for two weeks. Dry hop times are stated as time left before packaging, ie, a 7 day dry hop is for the last 7 days before bottling/kegging.

And yeah, your temps were way high for an ale. Fermenting at those temps could produce a fruit juice type flavor, namely apple cider.
 
It def looks like it needs more time to clean up & settle some more. Looks like a lot of flocculation already. And the dry hop should always be after a stable FG is reached. The hop oils will coat the settling yeast,& go to the bottom if added too soon.
 
I guess I need to find a fridge to brew in then, its too hot here and we don't have ac. Will that apple taste get worked out by the yeast or is this gonna be an "apple cider double ipa"

Thanks for all the responses and help. I read "how to brew" but it left me with more questions then answers.
 
That first pic definitely looked like everything just needed to settle. The second pic looks much better with a color much more like you would expect.

I have had batches that initially separate into 3 or 4 layers right after I put it into primary. It usually settles out after a couple days.

Good luck with this batch.
 
If temp control is an issue you can always make a swamp cooler. Search the forum for ideas. I have a cooler in the garage filled with water and large ice pack. I live in WA so it rarely gets into the 80s. I can usually keep the water temp around 65 - 68 degrees.

My wife says that as soon as I buy us a new refrigerator I can use the old one for brewing.
 
Rogue14 said:
If temp control is an issue you can always make a swamp cooler. Search the forum for ideas. I have a cooler in the garage filled with water and large ice pack. I live in WA so it rarely gets into the 80s. I can usually keep the water temp around 65 - 68 degrees.

My wife says that as soon as I buy us a new refrigerator I can use the old one for brewing.
Click to expand...

^this. And yes, the yeast can clean up SOME of those high temp off flavors. Leave your beer in primary for a month or so, dry hopping for the last week or so. Then let it bottle condition for about a month. You may still have off flavors, but they'll mellow. Being a hoppy brew won't hurt either! :mug:
 
i found a 3/4 fridge on craigslist right now im gonna go look at. 80 bucks. Ill try leaving this in the primary for a few more weeks, gonna screw up my beer flow but i guess that gives me more time to get bottles :)
 
NordeastBrewer77 said:
^this. And yes, the yeast can clean up SOME of those high temp off flavors. Leave your beer in primary for a month or so, dry hopping for the last week or so. Then let it bottle condition for about a month. You may still have off flavors, but they'll mellow. Being a hoppy brew won't hurt either! :mug:
Click to expand...

Well I was bored and took a quick sniff of the primary tonight, the apple cider smell is gone and its starting to smell like an ipa. 1 more week, then 1 dry hop week then bottle. Thanks for the help.
 

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