Sampled My First Brew....

Brewed my first batch three weeks ago, Brewer's Best Micro Style Pale Ale. Bottled it directly from primary after two weeks (FG 1.011) and had to open one up today after only one week in the bottle. It was Very Good! Going to let the rest condition a few more weeks and expect it to be excellent. Everything went well with the help of all the info on this site. Thanks.

My only question, or issue was my final volumn was a little less than 4.5 gallons which threw my cabination off a tad. I did a partial boil (2 gallons) and was careful not to get to much trub in my fermentor. I thought I topped off my fermentor at 5 gallons. When I siphoned from primary to bottling bucket, I tried to avoid the sediment on the bottom of the primary. Thus, the yield of 4.5 gallons. Should I top off at say 5.25 or 5.5 gallons?
Or should I stick with 5 gallons and do a better job of siphoning? I don't want to water down the wort.

Expect some beer loss, it's normal. You really don't want to top off, because it will affect the end product. You could always adjust recipes to be a little larger if it really concerns you. I highly recommend this for carbonation.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

bookmarked...been looking for a carbonation calculator

Thanks for the calculator. Here is a follow up question. What is the best way to add suger to my wort? The instructions with the kit suggested I pour the priming solution into the bottling bucket and then siphon the wort into the bucket. If I do it that way, I don't know what my final volumn is going to be, therfore I may have too much sugar. Can't I add the sugar after the siphon? That way I know what my final volumn is.

Or am I splitting hairs here?

Most recipes you'll find are for 5.5 gallons anyways. I highly recommend that you formulate your recipes for 5.5 gallons. If you're using a kit then just make it according to the directions and take the losses. 4.5 gallons is still a lot of beer.

wzup97 said:

Thanks for the calculator. Here is a follow up question. What is the best way to add suger to my wort? The instructions with the kit suggested I pour the priming solution into the bottling bucket and then siphon the wort into the bucket. If I do it that way, I don't know what my final volumn is going to be, therfore I may have too much sugar. Can't I add the sugar after the siphon? That way I know what my final volumn is.

Or am I splitting hairs here?

Click to expand...

You can add it after racking and stir it up (slowly with a sanitized spoon). I usually just estimate the volume and dump th sugar into the bucket before racking.

wzup97 said:

Thanks for the calculator. Here is a follow up question. What is the best way to add suger to my wort? The instructions with the kit suggested I pour the priming solution into the bottling bucket and then siphon the wort into the bucket. If I do it that way, I don't know what my final volumn is going to be, therfore I may have too much sugar. Can't I add the sugar after the siphon? That way I know what my final volumn is.

Click to expand...

After a little experience, you'll know how much the final yield will be; you can use that knowledge to calculate the amount of sugar for carbonation. I recommend siphoning the wort into the priming solution. If you add the sugar after the siphon you'll have to stir it in, risking infection, oxidation, etc.

Or am I splitting hairs here?

Click to expand...

Yes.

I like to start out with 6 gallons in primary, cuz it fits. I lose some due to trub when I rack to secondary ( I never strain my hops ) and I lose a little more that I leave in the bottling bucket. I still bottle more than 5 gallons. I don't buy kits though. I find recipes on here and go to LHBS. I use my bottling bucket as a secondary. I boil two cups of water in the microwave, add almost a cup of sugar and pour in to bottling bucket and gently swirl. Wait a little for everything to settle and bottle.

Also, I put my bottling bucket on the kitchen counter and open the diswhasher. I use the open dishwasher door as my drip tray. I always spill a little bit. When I am done I just close the door.

Not trying to hijack the thread, but in regard to that carbonation calculator. How do I know what my desired CO2 volume should be? The calculator doesn't work without that information. I know the answer must be completely obvious, but I'm probably missing it do to the unbelievable amount of worrying I'm doing over brewing my first! LOL!

EDIT: Nevermind! I found some charts on the BYO site referring to volumes for particular beer styles! Now I can relax.

If you want to take the time, you can make half gallon marks on your secondary. Just fill it up, a half gallon at a time, and mark with a Sharpie or something. You will have to go back over the marks fairly often, but it's better than nothing. In time, you'll also be able to eyeball it.

If you want to move things along a bit, get a measuring cup that holds at least four cups (one quart) for a few bucks. You'll probably have use for it again down the line.


TL