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stealedcircle

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hey folks

i was wondering what it looks like when ur beer losses head in ur primar?

i have 3 pictures

1 is what i think my beer has lost it's foam top

2 is what i found after work yesterday

3 is the foam after i cleaned the lid and airlock and just put the lid back on.

is it time to rack it to the carboy? is really all i want to know.

20160818_121618.jpg


20160817_153713.jpg


20160818_091054.jpg
 
I don't see any pictures, but just leave your beer where it is, no need to rack it to a carboy now or later, just go straight to bottle/keg when it's done
 
stealedcircle said:
hey folks

i was wondering what it looks like when ur beer losses head in ur primar?

i have 3 pictures

1 is what i think my beer has lost it's foam top

2 is what i found after work yesterday

3 is the foam after i cleaned the lid and airlock and just put the lid back on.

is it time to rack it to the carboy? is really all i want to know.
Click to expand...

No photos came across.
 
It looks like it stills in fermentation. When its creates Kraussen it'll settle over time. The only way to really know is to take a gravity/brix reading.
 
All 3 of your photos look like the beer is still fermenting. All, or at least most of the krausen "head" should fall....usually. Generally you will want to leave it in primary a minimum of about a week, but 2-3 is better. Once the krausen drops you should check the gravity with a hydrometer. This is really the only way to tell if it's done and ready to either move to secondary or bottle.
 
That is totally normal and not close to being done. Leave it alone for at least 10 -14 days from brew day then take 2 gravity readings at least 24 hours apart. If they read the same it is safe to bottle your beer.

Next time set up a blow off tube so the wort doesn't ooze through your airlock, or potentially blow the lid off the bucket.
 
Completely normal - that's it fermenting dude. I second kh54s10 - set up a blow off tube next time if this is the kind of action you're getting! No foamy cleanup afterward.

Don't rack that bad boy yet.
 
When you had that lid off would have been an ideal time to take a hydrometer (sanitized is critical) reading and check your gravity. All beers have a "target range" of final gravities you may want to get down to prior to bottling or kegging. Depending on your beer style, a beer that starts at 1.050 (example) may often finish at say 1.008. This is the real way to determine when your fermentation is over. BUT, after you know fermentation is over, it is often advisable to allow the beer to sit idle (a day or two or three) to sort of "smooth" itself out and clean up some unwanted off flavors. This is after you know your beer is done fermenting. As one thread posted, typical average gravity beers usually take around 14 days for all of this to occur to be on the safe side as a beginner. I know it is tough on your first few beers to wait for two weeks, but you'll get the hang soon.

You have a pretty full fermenter of beer on your hands. Actively fermenting beer creates a foamy head called krausen as you found out the hard way. To allow for this, you may want to consider an appropriate sized bucket for your batch sizes. I use a 7.8 gallon fermenter pail for 5.5 gallons of beer. This open headspace (in a primary fermenter) allows the krausen to build and then subside and not blow all over the place as you have seen.
 
Morrey said:
When you had that lid off would have been an ideal time to take a hydrometer (sanitized is critical) reading and check your gravity. All beers have a "target range" of final gravities you may want to get down to prior to bottling or kegging. Depending on your beer style, a beer that starts at 1.050 (example) may often finish at say 1.008. This is the real way to determine when your fermentation is over. BUT, after you know fermentation is over, it is often advisable to allow the beer to sit idle (a day or two or three) to sort of "smooth" itself out and clean up some unwanted off flavors. This is after you know your beer is done fermenting. As one thread posted, typical average gravity beers usually take around 14 days for all of this to occur to be on the safe side as a beginner. I know it is tough on your first few beers to wait for two weeks, but you'll get the hang soon.

You have a pretty full fermenter of beer on your hands. Actively fermenting beer creates a foamy head called krausen as you found out the hard way. To allow for this, you may want to consider an appropriate sized bucket for your batch sizes. I use a 7.8 gallon fermenter pail for 5.5 gallons of beer. This open headspace (in a primary fermenter) allows the krausen to build and then subside and not blow all over the place as you have seen.
Click to expand...

I agree with all of this, except taking a gravity reading. Since the beer is obviously still in very active fermentation the only thing that would tell you is that the beer is fermenting. It would be much more of a risk of contaminating the beer than getting anything useful by taking a gravity reading.
 
kh54s10 said:
I agree with all of this, except taking a gravity reading. Since the beer is obviously still in very active fermentation the only thing that would tell you is that the beer is fermenting. It would be much more of a risk of contaminating the beer than getting anything useful by taking a gravity reading.
Click to expand...

For us as more experienced brewers, we know the visual signs to look for in that the fermentation is active. Based on the OP's post, he has not reached this level yet. I do wholeheartedly agree with your reply, however, the OP should realize his hydrometer is "the truth teller". If in doubt, take a reading.
 
Morrey said:
For us as more experienced brewers, we know the visual signs to look for in that the fermentation is active. Based on the OP's post, he has not reached this level yet. I do wholeheartedly agree with your reply, however, the OP should realize his hydrometer is "the truth teller". If in doubt, take a reading.
Click to expand...

I was talking of the timing on taking the gravity reading. Since the beer was still covered by a thick layer of krausen, to suggest a reading at that time is not good advice. On the other hand to suggest taking one once the krausen has dropped is good advice.
 
kh54s10 said:
I was talking of the timing on taking the gravity reading. Since the beer was still covered by a thick layer of krausen, to suggest a reading at that time is not good advice. On the other hand to suggest taking one once the krausen has dropped is good advice.
Click to expand...

Again, total agreement. If the OP takes the information he received from this post to heart, he will realize that the typical fermentation process takes anywhere from 10-14 days, and anything before that is likely too short to start FG readings. He probably didn't know what to look for, now hopefully he knows that krausen means active fermentation.

A few months ago I pitched my first lacto starter in a non-aerated flask with 1.040 starter. I had no clue what to look for. Was this starter working or not working? Now I know what to look for just as the OP knows what to look for.
 
I think you guys have given the thread starter a good heads up of what to expect during fermentation. Considering he is a new brewer, he has no reference point to compare. With each and every brew he completes, he will have experiences of what to expect....and when to expect it. Like kh said, why take a sample with an inch of krausen on top. With a few experiences under his belt, he/she can say this is what this should look like at this particular stage of the game.
 
Thank you everyone for all the tips it's been awesome.

Just picked up some bottles. How done clean those. Sanatize with a Sanatize then wash with no soap in a dishwasher?
 
I use a bottle rinser. I then add about 1/5 if the normal Star San to the mix, but this is after I've already sanitized them using oxiclean/star san.
 
You want to wash first, then sanitize. Starsan is one of the most popular. The one-step cleaner/sanitizers often supplied with equipment kits do not sanitize as well.

Also with Starsan, do not rinse it. And do not let it dry off before filling the bottles. Sanitize everything that will touch the beer. Starsan will foam some, it is nothing to worry about.
 
Morrey said:
...
You have a pretty full fermenter of beer on your hands. Actively fermenting beer creates a foamy head called krausen as you found out the hard way. To allow for this, you may want to consider an appropriate sized bucket for your batch sizes. I use a 7.8 gallon fermenter pail for 5.5 gallons of beer. This open headspace (in a primary fermenter) allows the krausen to build and then subside and not blow all over the place as you have seen.
Click to expand...

+1 Your bucket was about ready to blow it's top. I also use a 7.8gal for 5.5gal wort, solved many issues!
 

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