A few questions regarding first brew

[dloehrs]

I started my first brew, a Fat Tire knock off called Flat Tyre Too, the other day and I have a few questions about it.

1. Did I take too long to cool the wort? It took 11-12 hours to do this. I didn't think it would take so long without ice baths and wort coolers.

2. Is 80 degrees really too high a temp to pitch and ferment. I live in Tucson and to keep any part of the house below 80 in the summer is ridiculously expensive and basements do not exist here. The yeast was a Nottingham dry pack from Danstar.

3. If it really is a big deal, any suggestions on making a cheap "something" too keep the fermenter more cool.

4. The air coming out of the lock smells of a delicious, hoppy ale. This is good, right?

 

[homebeerbrewer]

I started my first brew, a Fat Tire knock off called Flat Tyre Too, the other day and I have a few questions about it.

1. Did I take too long to cool the wort? It took 11-12 hours to do this. I didn't think it would take so long without ice baths and wort coolers.

As long as you had it covered so no bugs can get in, you should be ok.

2. Is 80 degrees really too high a temp to pitch and ferment. I live in Tucson and to keep any part of the house below 80 in the summer is ridiculously expensive and basements do not exist here. The yeast was a Nottingham dry pack from Danstar.

80 degrees would be too warm to ferment, but pitching, well, it's not recommended, but it can (and has) been done. Fermenting at that high of temp stresses the yeast, giveing you some off flavors.

3. If it really is a big deal, any suggestions on making a cheap "something" too keep the fermenter more cool.

You can try putting your fermentor in the bath tub filled with water, adding ice to keep the temp down to around 65 or so.

4. The air coming out of the lock smells of a delicious, hoppy ale. This is good, right?

I've had smells that were good and bad. I don't even try smelling it anymore, because that really doesn't give me any idea of how the finished product will be.

 

[opengun]

Was this a full boil? Extract? All grain? If you're making beer from extract on the stove use two gallons of water for your wort and cool in an ice bath in the kitchen sink while stirring. If you're make a full boil outside you're are going to need a wort chiller. Getting the temp down as quick as possible in order to pitch the yeast will great reduce your chances of bacteria.

I don't believe 80 is too high to pitch, this is the temp I pitch my yeast.

To make the fermentation cooler I've read on here that you could do a water bath and add frozen water bottles daily to keep the temp down to fermentation temps.

 

[MMW]

First off, welcome! First things, first, RDWHAHB (Or a craft beer or whatever).

1) My beer cools for a day before I pitch yeast. As long as it stays in a sanitary environment, you're fine.

2) Ideally you'll want it a little closer to your ferm temp than that, but again, you're fine.

3) Search for "swamp cooler" and "son of fermentation chiller" for a couple of cheap ideas. The Huge Ice cube coolers with a bit of insulation on top can do wonders, too. You have many, many options.

4) Absolutely.

The single most important thing you can do for your beer is temperature control (especially during the first couple of days). Put your fermenter in the bathtub, fill the bathtub with water, and cover it with a T-shirt or towel, and dump ice from your freezer in the water NOW. If you have a fan, plug it in and point it at the assembly.

Got that done? Good-- congratulations, you've just made a swamp cooler. Now do the searches from #3 and figure out how you want to control your temp in a more permanent fashion. Also, this is required reading. (free)

Again, welcome, RDWHAHB, and congrats on the first batch!