I think I bottled my big beer WAY too soon...

[drinkinfool]

So, more advice, more learning--right?

Now that I've got half a tank (12 liters/2.5ish US gallons) worth of beer with one and a half packs of yeast and priming sugar added, how long should I let this stuff sit around? Three weeks, a month?

Also, should I hop again in time, or before bottling (originally a pale ale "recipe"--malt extract kit...)

When should I check gravities? ETC. ETC. ETC....

I've only brewed twice--this being my second and far more blundering time and never had to do so much fixing before, so I dunno if there's anything that should or could be done to salvage this all the better...

Any thoughts on this, as always, greatly appreciated!

 

[fartinmartin]

You are in order now, continue as a normal brew, that is watch for fermentation, that's bubbles and airlock activity, when the airlock appears to be doing nothing wait at least another week or two, only then take an SG test, after a few more days take another SG test, if the readings are not the same wait some more, if the reading are not in the region of 1.010 (better still 1.006) wait, if they are cold crash for a few days to settle out then bottle.

 

[ja09]

So, more advice, more learning--right?

Now that I've got half a tank (12 liters/2.5ish US gallons) worth of beer with one and a half packs of yeast and priming sugar added, how long should I let this stuff sit around? Three weeks, a month?

Also, should I hop again in time, or before bottling (originally a pale ale "recipe"--malt extract kit...)

When should I check gravities? ETC. ETC. ETC....

I've only brewed twice--this being my second and far more blundering time and never had to do so much fixing before, so I dunno if there's anything that should or could be done to salvage this all the better...

Any thoughts on this, as always, greatly appreciated!

Did you uncap and pour the beer back in the fermenter? There's not really any way to do this successfully without introducing too much oxygen into the beer, which will cause a wet cardboard taste when it's finished. If so I would just call it quits on this batch and start fresh.

On a positive note, it sounds like you've learned a lot from this batch, which is a great thing!

 

[drinkinfool]

Did you uncap and pour the beer back in the fermenter? There's not really any way to do this successfully without introducing too much oxygen into the beer, which will cause a wet cardboard taste when it's finished. If so I would just call it quits on this batch and start fresh.

On a positive note, it sounds like you've learned a lot from this batch, which is a great thing!

You ain't kidding... I have learned a lot of valuable and equally annoying lessons, haha.

I have some in bottles... and I am refermenting this half, you don't think it'll work out? I feared it was too much an aerobic respiration yeast trap...

 

[Minky]

Hi drinkinfool,
The beer you left in the bottles may actually be OK. If your gravity was 1.040 to start, and you had an active fermentation, I seriously doubt that it only dropped 10 points. Are you sure that you read 1.030 on your hydrometer and not 1.003? Depending on your ingredients, it could have dropped that much.

Unfortunately, ja09 is right about the oxidation of the other half.