First brew on now, waiting to pitch yeast. Some ???

Well, after many years, today I finally embarked on brewing my own bear. I wanted to jump right into partial or full grain but I decided to start with the extract to get my feet wet and go through the steps... My grandfather was home brewing in the mid to late 80s in upstate NY and I was interested then but just now getting to it. A lot of college and other things have allowed me the chance.

It's an Irish Stout kit and I use the dry yeast packet, and some dry malt and corn suger in a 3:2 ratio that equaled 2 lbs. The malt extract was 3.75 lbs.

Anyway, like anything I do, I've over studied and analyzed and not that I'm waiting for my wort to cool (now I know why everyone says to get a chiller!!!). The differences I've read from so many sources leave me with a couple questions?

1. The kit I got had some directions from the shop I got from that said to pitch the yeast right after adding the hot wort to the cold water in the fermentor. It follwed that to let it sit on top for 10 minutes before stirring in. This sort of goes against everything I've read from reputable sources and this forum. So I'm wating for it to get under 78 degrees.

2. I put some wort on the hyromter tube and let it get to about 80 degrees for an SG reading and it's at about 1.040 so I think I'm good.

3. I'm concerned about the wort cooling, should I have left it open to cool? Seems that's the right thing to make it cool quicker and limit it's expose to possible contamination. At mixing it was 99 degrees and it's only gone down about 7 in 30 minutes so my patience is wearing thin!

4. I live in Update NY and have a cold basement and the weather here for the next week is looking to be in the 50s. So can I keep this fermentor in the basement or a spare bedroom out of the sunlight to maintain the right temp? I maintain no less than 64 and no more than 70 in the house at all times.

5. I'm using a plstic fermentation bucket with a plastic bottling bucket. I expect to go beyong extract to at least partial so should I get two class carboys instead? My best guess it it allows me to watch the fermentation more closely and I want to do a secondary fermentation.

I'm excited to be doing this and following in my gradfathers footsteps (he owned a brew store he ran out of his basement, the only thing I got was his antique capper but I'm looking forward to using it.)

Thanks in advance.

3. An easier way to chill is to set your hot brewing pot in an ice bath and swirl it around uncovered. (more water, less ice). This should drastically reduce cooling times. But also invest in a wort chiller as soon as possible . It'll still take about 15minutes, but thats a much shorter time than open cooling. You can do it in your sink or bathtub, than after its cooled to about 90, pour it in your fermentor, and filll with water.

4. Fermentation will occur in that range fine, just don't let it get too hot. If your worried about it getting too cold also, put something on the floor to escalate it about 6" off the floor and wrap a towel around it.

5. Plastic vs. Glass is an opinion matter. I prefer plastic for primary, glass for secondary. You do whatever you feel like you want to do. Glass=harder to clean, and easier to break. Plastic= Scratches, which equal bacteria. So you find whichever you feel is good for you and stick with it

1. The kit I got had some directions from the shop I got from that said to pitch the yeast right after adding the hot wort to the cold water in the fermentor. It follwed that to let it sit on top for 10 minutes before stirring in. This sort of goes against everything I've read from reputable sources and this forum. So I'm wating for it to get under 78 degrees.

-you're fine.

2. I put some wort on the hyromter tube and let it get to about 80 degrees for an SG reading and it's at about 1.040 so I think I'm good.

-yup

3. I'm concerned about the wort cooling, should I have left it open to cool? Seems that's the right thing to make it cool quicker and limit it's expose to possible contamination. At mixing it was 99 degrees and it's only gone down about 7 in 30 minutes so my patience is wearing thin!

-try an ice bath around the kettle

4. I live in Update NY and have a cold basement and the weather here for the next week is looking to be in the 50s. So can I keep this fermentor in the basement or a spare bedroom out of the sunlight to maintain the right temp? I maintain no less than 64 and no more than 70 in the house at all times.

-50s too cold, the rest of the house sounds fine.

5. I'm using a plstic fermentation bucket with a plastic bottling bucket. I expect to go beyong extract to at least partial so should I get two class carboys instead? My best guess it it allows me to watch the fermentation more closely and I want to do a secondary fermentation.

-right now before even finishing a single batch? Up to you if you have the cash to burn. Yes..if you want a bright tank/secondary, you will need another vessel. Is it necessary at this point? not really.

I'm excited to be doing this and following in my gradfathers footsteps (he owned a brew store he ran out of his basement, the only thing I got was his antique capper but I'm looking forward to using it.)

-Excellent! Relax, enjoy the process and the eventual fruits of your labor.

Everything went to plan. Before getting a reponse, I put the bucket in an ice bath and had it down quickly. I pitched at 78 degrees.

The next morning (Sunday) I was concerned I had too much water in my airlock and I removed it and empty some to the level marks. It smelled like fermentation to me come out of the hole!! However, I'm not seeing any rapid bubbling in the lock, just seeing the water get uneven like it's about to bubble. It's 36 + hours since I pitched, should I expect an active bubbling or is this slow bubble (and I've yet to see it actually bubble) expected.

I have the bucket in a side room with no light and it's fermenting at about 68 degrees.

The only concern I have is when I was stirring it whle trying to get it cool, I accidently used a spoon that I had on the counter that I didn't sanitize!!! As soon as it hit the wort, I knew but it was too late! I had two out, one I was using and was sanitized, the second I used to scoop ice into the sink to make the ice bath!!

Other than that, things are doing well!

I did the stout I have first because I have an IPA waiting that I want to take to the next step with some hopping. Any suggestions.

Brew on and have fun!:rockin:

Did you aerate the beer at all before pitching the yeast? If not, that could be why you are seeing a slow start. No worries though, it will pick up. Although, you may not see a very vigorous fermentation at all since the OG was relatively low.

I aerated as best I could with a giant wisk! Aeration was one area I wasn't sure about. I've read so much but no one really mentioned much about aeration. If I'm to believe the directions that came with the kit, I basically had to diossolve the extract in water, bring it to boils, turn it off, pour it into 3 gallons of cold water, pitch and walk away. Seemed to simple for an over analytical person like myself!

Anyway, I checked yesterday but putting the airlock and peaking through the hole. Smelled like beer, that's for sure. I'm thinking based on this morning's airlock visual, that it might be done because the water in the lock is level whereas before it was pushing toward the outlet.

It's been 88 hours since I pitched, seems kinda short.

I'd give it a couple more days. Then check the gravity. If you are below 1.020, go ahead and bottle.

BTW - Corn sugar ferments very quickly. Since you used corn sugar as part of your fermentables you would expect that the fermentation would finish quicker than if all malts were used.

This morning it looked pretty dormant.

Quick question: This being a stout, does it make sense to run it to a secondary fermentor if one of the main reasons for that is merely clarity?

I might want to do it to have the experience for future use (I'd doing a red or IPA next).

I like the idea of it not carbonating in the bottle.

Any beer can benefit from a secondary- the "bright tank". The beer needs about the same amount of time to condition, whether in the bottle or secondary. I use the 1-2-3 "rule", more or less. 1 week in primary, 2 in secondary, 3 in the bottle. Usually, it's more like 10 days in primary, though.

I don't understand what you mean about not carbonating in the bottle? You're kegging this batch? If you kegging, you can condition it in the keg and don't need a secondary.

zonabb said:

This morning it looked pretty dormant.

Quick question: This being a stout, does it make sense to run it to a secondary fermentor if one of the main reasons for that is merely clarity?

I might want to do it to have the experience for future use (I'd doing a red or IPA next).

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Don't worry about using a secondary. Your beer needs more time. Let it sit in the primary for 2 weeks, don't bother it, let it relax. After 2 weeks, get ready to bottle it, take a hydrometer reading, it should be quite low 1.010 or so. Bottle it with sugar and let is rest again for 3 more weeks.

zonabb said:

I like the idea of it not carbonating in the bottle.

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Kegs?

It's OK to let it sit there even when fermentation appears to be over, correct? It's basically conditioning at the point?

yup...no worries

Awesome. I'm going to either move it to a secondary or bottle this weekend.

The temp dropped from about 68 to 64 so I think that could be a sign that fermentation is actually dead.