First ever brew! Total noob has some questions (pics to come)

[Dionysus12]

Brewed my first batch of beer yesterday after buying a complete homebrew setup on craigslist. I have to say it was quite an enjoyable process if somewhat nerve racking. I was very paranoid about the sanitation of equipment and think I did a pretty good job of that. My recipe is as follows for a 5 gal. batch of pale ale:

5.25 lbs dried light malt extract
1 oz. amarillo hops (boiling)
3/4 oz. Hallertauer (flavoring) 10 min.
1/2 oz. Saaz (aroma) Added after wort removed from heat and allowed to steep for two minutes
English style ale yeast

and 3/4 c. corn sugar for bottling

My O.G. was 1.034 and I was working from a similar recipe that called for an O.G. of 1.046. I think I got the lower specific gravity because I added too much water to the carboy. What will be the result of this snafu? Lower alcohol content? Lighter body? Also when I was straining the wort into my fermenter the wort would clog the strainer and the filter in my funnel and I would have to transfer the clogged wort in the funnel back to the pot, clean the filter, and try again. I had to do this about 20 times until all of the wort was in the fermenter. It was at this point that I added the rest of the water to make it a little over 5 gallons and kicked myself for adding too much water. Alas, after this process was over I pitched the yeast @ about 80 degrees which I know is not ideal but it's summertime in Colorado and it doesn't really get below 80 until midnight and I don't have an air conditioner is this a problem at all? I've read that a higher temperature just leads to more yeast activity and thus a faster fermentation but are there any other problems associated with a slightly higher temperature? The temp in the room right now is 83 degrees. I'm realizing right now that I'm writing a lot so I'll stop. Any help you guys can give is greatly appreciated. BTW I'll be posting pics soon.

 

[logan3825]

Unless you did a full boil there is a good chance that the top off water didn't mix in completely. This is pretty common on extract with top off water.

 

[Dionysus12]

I did a full boil on the wort, is that what you mean? Should I have boiled the top off water?

 

[Gartywood]

He means that when you add top off water to the fermenter if you do not mix it very well you can get inaccurate gravity readings so you might have a higher starting gravity than you measured because it wasn't mixed uniformly.

As for clogging the filter you can use a spoon to agitate the get the liquid through and then dump the hops/trub in the sink rather than back into the kettle. It's not a huge deal if it makes it into the fermenter.

 

[gavball6]

Congrats on your first brew... I am 7 months in and totally hooked! You'll be totally fine. 1.034 seems a bit low for an OG, but I am sure you will wind up with a good summer drinkin' beer.

I recommend a couple of things from your comments. First, get some cheap 5 gallon paint strainer bags from Lowes or Home Depot. They make it real easy to transfer the wort into the fermenter and strain out the cold break and hops. Also, after you add the top off water, make sure you agitate the hell out of the fermenter to mix the water in and add oxygen to the wort to help the yeasties out.

83 ambient temp is a little high (except for a saison). Can you put it somewhere cooler? You should be shooting to get it at least below 70 (65 would be better). If you don't have a cooler spot, a tub with water and some frozen water bottles should do the trick (search for swamp coolers).

RDWHAHB!

 

[logan3825]

If you want to know the gravity it would probably be more accurate to input your fermentables and water volume into a calculator than taking an OG gravity reading for extract.

It is very tough to get your top off water 100% mixed with your wort. So when you take a gravity reading you are likely to get more of one or the other(wort or top off water) and it will throw off your gravity reading.

 

[Dionysus12]

All very good advice and it's much clearer to me what is a problem and what isn't. Though I am concerned still about the ambient temperature in the room. How is it going to affect my beer if the temperature stays at 83ish? I don't have another place where I can put it as of right now. The best option might just be to get a wash tub and fill it with cool water if its going to be detrimental to my finished product. Thanks for the quick replies.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Cool it down, the sooner the better. A tub with some cool water and ice is your best bet. Google "swamp cooler". A blanket around the swamp cooler really helps. You want to keep your standard ales at between 60 and 70 degrees. After several days when fermentation is complete, you can let the temp rise to ambient and forget about it till you bottle.

Too warm of a ferment can lead to off flavors in the final product.

 

[CBXBob]

Just my opinion, but high ferment temps can lead to some off flavors, 83 is pretty hot, most ale recipes 65 to 72 I think. The ferment creates some heat. even a wet towel around the fermenter will help bring down the container temperature trough evaporation. You may not be able to get to the ideal temp, but lower is better than hotter. I wouldn't worry that much about your OG. If your sample was taken before shaking the wort could just have more water than wort in it. I would work on getting the beer cooler, and no mater what, you will end up with beer.

 

[ghall]

Just to throw in something else. Usually the temp of your fermentation vessel is actually two or three degrees hotter than the ambient temp of the room. So if the room is 83 then the beer is like at 86 or 87. Probably too hot and might lead to off flavors. Like someone said before search for "swamp cooler". These work well.

 

[unionrdr]

Also,when your beer gets down to a stable FG,leave it sit for another week. The yeast will clean up off flavors,etc during that time as they settle out after eating there by products. when it's clear or slightly misty,bottle it up & give it 3-4 weeks in a dark place. Or box'em up like I do,& leave at room temp to carb & condition. This should get rid of any off flavors if you don't get a huge load to begin with.

 

[Dionysus12]

Well I woke up this morning and the fermenting froth on my beer had subsided quite a bit which leads me to think that the beginning vigorous fermentation was more or less complete. Meanwhile the temp in the room this morning was about 70. After reading your responses I moved the fermenting beer to the kitchen sink, filled it with cold water, and ran a fan pointed at the carboy with a wet towel on it so I'm hoping these things will help get the temp down. I'm planning on getting a large plastic container and I'm freezing some water bottles today. Is the fact that the froth has subsided mean that I'm too late for all of this? Am I destined to have off flavors in my first batch of beer? Hopefully the beer gods are in my favor on this one. If not, then at least I'll have the knowledge for my next batch. Thanks again all you guys.

 

[unionrdr]

You may be too late since initial fermentation is about done. But I like to mantain temps to the end just to be sure myself. Fermentation slows down to a crawl till FG is reached,but I still think off flavors can be produced. Just in much smaller quantities due to slwer fermentation rate. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Dionysus12]

Well if that's the case then there might be some off flavors because it was definitely too hot in there. At least I'll know for next time. I will post pictures soon and I'll keep ya'll updated on the process all the way through to completion thanks for all of your advice.