First batch - WLP380

[ajzimme]

http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp380-hefeweizen-iv-ale-yeast

Hi. I am curious, does this batch look infected?
It smells fruity, which I couldn't find anywhere in the page on the yeast.

Thanks for the input. It's still fermenting. It's been about 2 days fermenting. It's been sitting there for 3 days.

 

[Subdivisions]

No, that's krausen. It's fine. Put the lid back on :rockin:

On a side note: I know it's one of your first brews. If you want to watch it ferment then get a clear fermenter. I don't open my buckets until at least 14 days. This will keep oxygen and nasties out of the beer. Good luck with it.

 

[visorbill]

No signs of infection in that picture. Just a nice layer of krausen. Hopefully you didn't have the lid off of your fermenter long, that's a good way to lose the protective blanket of CO2 over the beer.

 

[ajzimme]

No signs of infection in that picture. Just a nice layer of krausen. Hopefully you didn't have the lid off of your fermenter long, that's a good way to lose the protective blanket of CO2 over the beer.

Thanks guys. That's great news...I was worried. :rockin:

 

[javaking]

You could always keep the lid off and experiment with an open fermentation. I'm not brave enough to try it yet.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9xT8DHOZFE[/ame]

Of course this is your first brew so it may be too soon to try. Good luck, it looks great.

Cheers!

 

[javaking]

A

 

[ajzimme]

Those bubbles appeared to develop. Right now it's in secondary.

 

[Subdivisions]

Was this right after racking to secondary? It's probably CO2 off-gassing. Keep an eye on it. I don't see anything too suspicious right now.

 

[ajzimme]

No it wasn't. It's been 48 hrs since racking to secondary. I have a bubbler installed.

 

[Subdivisions]

EDIT: Ok, so I didn't look at the original post since I had already commented a few days ago. You said on 9/10 that it was 2 days in the fermenter. That puts your pitch date at 9/8. Today you say that it's 2 days since racking to secondary. That's only 4 days in the primary. You should leave it in primary for at least a week. I do 2 at least. It's basically still fermenting and just putting up a new krausen. It'll probably be OK but next time I'd leave in in the primary for 2-3 weeks then figure out if you want to bottle it (my choice) or secondary (I personally don't secondary). Of course do the hydrometer readings that are suggested but most beers are done in that time frame.

 

[ajzimme]

EDIT: Ok, so I didn't look at the original post since I had already commented a few days ago. You said on 9/10 that it was 2 days in the fermenter. That puts your pitch date at 9/8. Today you say that it's 2 days since racking to secondary. That's only 4 days in the primary. You should leave it in primary for at least a week. I do 2 at least. It's basically still fermenting and just putting up a new krausen. It'll probably be OK but next time I'd leave in in the primary for 2-3 weeks then figure out if you want to bottle it (my choice) or secondary (I personally don't secondary). Of course do the hydrometer readings that are suggested but most beers are done in that time frame.

You have it right on. Ok. Duly noted.
Yeah I made the same mistake every beginner makes: judging by the amount of bubbles.

 

[okiedog]

So how did this turn out?

 

[ajzimme]

Frankly?
It sucked. In fact, all of my beers sucked. I poured it out. I still have two batches sitting in the closet, but they suck too. I am just letting them sit I guess. None of them were infected AFAIK, but. They just either tasted like or tasted like I put too much hops in. I thought I got the hop thing down, and I did one with the Paulaner yeast, and Schneider yeast. That's one of the two in the closet. It tastes like .

 

[javaking]

Frankly?
It sucked. In fact, all of my beers sucked. I poured it out. I still have two batches sitting in the closet, but they suck too. I am just letting them sit I guess. None of them were infected AFAIK, but. They just either tasted like or tasted like I put too much hops in. I thought I got the hop thing down, and I did one with the Paulaner yeast, and Schneider yeast. That's one of the two in the closet. It tastes like .

Hmm, this sounds like the yeast are not happy when they are fermenting. Probably not infection or anything you are doing directly to the beer. I had similar issues with early batches tasting like bananas/had a chemical taste. What cured it for me was controlling the temperature during fermentation. My house is typically around 70 degrees Fahrenheit which is way too warm for fermentation if you are doing ales. Not to mention that the overall temperature of the wort/beer rises due to fermentation. It does suck to put a lot of time and effort in a beer, only to get 50+ bottles of undrinkable beer. If you can afford it, I recommend that you find a cheap fridge on craigslist and buy a temp controller. You should be able to get both for less than $100 and they will last you a while

If you already do temp control then it could be an issue with your water (if you use your tap water). If you have hard water (high minerals) it may be bringing out that strong hop flavor which is off-putting.

My final thoughts are that until you figure out what the source of the issue is, try small batches. Invest in a 2 gallon bucket and just keep making batches until you get something that you are happy with. This way you don't have to dump 5 gallons and will save you money and blood/sweat/tears. This will also make it easier to do temp control, and you probably could just use a larger bucket with cool water and a few ice packs to get the temperature where you need it. But overall, don't give up. Just keep tweaking whatever you need and you'll eventually get beer that makes you proud.

Cheers

 

[jddevinn]

is a pretty clear indication of too hot of a fermentation (or insufficient yeast, however not likely on this scale). What was the fermentation temperature? Look around in the DIY section for fermentation temp control setups, they range from <$10 swamp coolers, to <$100 cambers using ice to cool to $$$$$$$$$ glycol setups. I started out with a freezer and homebuilt temp controler, I didn't even consider making a batch without fermentation temperature control.... it's as important as mash temperature.

Are you tasting before you have them carbonated? Tastes, especially hops change once the beer is at the right serving temp and carbonated.

 

[ajzimme]

On the Schneider one, I did a swamp cooler. It stayed around 64 degrees during fermentation. I had ice packs in there, as well as water (obviously).

The fermentation went EXTREMELY fast. Like 1 day. So fast that I was skeptical about the temp being too low. I put some more yeast in and nothing happened, and raised the temp, and nothing happened. So I just let it sit for a couple weeks, secondary'ed for 2, than bottled.

It was the first time I'd done strict temp control, so I might have screwed it up. But I'm fairly confident I kept it nice and cool, in the low 60's.

With regard to water, here's my process. I use camden tablets for the majority of the water. I let that sit while I do my wort.
I use part of a camden tablet for the wort water too.
I filter the water I use for my wort too.

 

[javaking]

It sounds like everything you are doing with the water should be fine. I am thinking that even 64 degrees is a little warm. Do you have a temp for inside the bucket? It is likely that the temperature inside could be several degrees higher, putting your fermentation temperature close to or even over 70 degrees. Especially if that bad boy fermented in a day it was probably running pretty warm and not lower. At lower temps you could expect it to get off to a slow start and you would expect a longer fermentation. Did you take gravity readings before and after? What was your FG after the first couple days. If you hit your FG in a day then that is a pretty fast. If you still didn't hit your FG at 2-4 weeks out then that is another issue. Also, do you add yeast packs or culture your own? I am wondering about the pitching rate.

Cheers