just did my first brew last night

[baddagger]

well i went down to my local brew store and told the guy what i was looking to make and he helped me make a recipie... kinda did a bluemoon/raspberry mix

6lbs wheat dry malt exttract

.75lbs flaked oats
.5lbs pale pale malt
.50 flaked wheat

pitched these grains between two bags for
25mins then took out right before start of boil and squeezed out as much liquid from bag's as possible

oh and im getting 1 bubble about every 3 secs in the air vent

1.25 oz hallertau-- at begging of boil
.75 oz hallertau---- add with 20 mins left to boil
.5oz dried orange peel---- added with 20mins left to boil
.25 corriander seed--- added with 7 mins left to boil

3pounds raspbeer purree add half to primary (before i pitched the yeast and added 1.5lbs of puree

WLP320 AMERICAN Hefeweizen ale for yeast

cool with ice bath ... pitched the yeast when the temp was around 75

took og it was about 1.0070 alot higher then and darker then i was expecting
----------------------------------------------------------------------

so one thing i was wondering is that when i add the other 1.5 lbs of raspbeer puree when i move to secondary do i need to boil the puree to make sure that it is sterile?

also the beer should get lighter right after the yeast finish fermenting the beer and when i add it to the secondary and the beer has time to clear it up ?

right now the beer temp is between 66-68 by what the Fermometer adhesive thermometers said...now that is a good temp right?

 

[1ratdog]

ive read(never tried) that you should never boil fruit.

 

[lextasy23]

Congrats on the first brew. I also started out squeezing the muslin bags, but now i actually hang them off my microwave handle for a few minutes

I haven't done a fruit beer yet, so I'm not too sure the "rules" exactly. But from what I've read (making a strawberry summer ale next weekend), boiling it breaks down the pectins and makes the final product hazy. I was told to freeze it so it kills anything, and also busts up the cells so they release flavor or something better, then put them in the bottom of the secondary.

I plan on adding 2lbs strawberries to the full boil, 2 with :15 left, and freeze 6-8 lbss and put them in the secondary.

To answer your questions directly: Freeze it. Put it in the secondary frozen, and let the sterile beer melt it. Nope. As far as I know (color) what you see is what you get. My cider changed color significantly, but my beers have never done so. Temp is fine. My pumpkin Ale is up to 75 almost 80, but still going (hot as balls this week, haven't replaced the busted AC yet...). Lagers are like 50 degrees though. The colder it is, the slower the yeast acts, and I believe you get a better tasting alcohol from slower yeast activity. But that could be heresay also...

 

[boomtown25]

I haven't even done my first batch yet (starting tonight!) but I have read and sen in videos that it is not recommended to squeeze your muslin bags when you remove them, just let them drip. I too would want to, but supposedly this is a good way to squeeze tannins into your wort which may leave off tastes. Good luck with the beer, it sounds like a yummy recipe!

 

[BradleyBrew]

Your brew will clear up after fermentation and once its bottled. You are using a hefe yeast so they are pretty stubborn about settling out of suspension. Your temperature is good I would change it up at this point. Next time you might be a little bit warmer if you are looking for some more esters from the yeast.

Your wort was dark because of the hop particles and sugars that were suspended after your boil. Good luck!

 

[baddagger]

Your brew will clear up after fermentation and once its bottled. You are using a hefe yeast so they are pretty stubborn about settling out of suspension. Your temperature is good I would change it up at this point. Next time you might be a little bit warmer if you are looking for some more esters from the yeast.

Your wort was dark because of the hop particles and sugars that were suspended after your boil. Good luck!

well right now i have the carboy in a bottling bucket with some water in it ..cause when i finshed making the beer last night i had to go in to work and the temp had to be warmer then 78 cause on the temp gauge on the bottle none of the temp square that light up when it is a temp did not light up... but when i did put the Thermometer said it was at 70 degrees

so should i take it out of the water to let it warm up a bit

 

[arturo7]

That is an ambitious concoction for your first batch.

Not that it is a bad thing, but if there are any issues with fermentation or the finished product you have a slew of variables to deal with.

 

[baddagger]

That is an ambitious concoction for your first batch.

Not that it is a bad thing, but if there are any issues with fermentation or the finished product you have a slew of variables to deal with.

like what.. the only reason i went with this is cause when i told the guy who owns the home brew store what i was looking for for flavor he said this would not be to hard for a frist time brew

 

[BradleyBrew]

I would try to maintain a consistent temperature... in my opinion that is much more important then trying to reach a desired temperature. In my opinion you only get one real chance to get your wort at the correct temperature while the yeast are multiplying. Plus, I'm sure 70 is within range of that yeast strain.

 

[arturo7]

like what..

Well let's see,
you've the brew water,
the extract to be added,
specialty grains to be steeped,
wort to be boiled,
hops to be added,
orange peel to be added,
coriander seed to be added,
raspberry puree to be added,
(assuming that the op, cs, and rp have been pre-prepared and only need to be dumped in)
fermenter to be cleaned and sterilized,
wort the be chilled and aerated,
yeast starter made in advance and dumped in,
fermentation temp to be maintained,
beer transferred to secondary (optional)
beer racked to bottling bucket,
corn sugar measured, boiled and added,
bottles sterilized
beer bottled
+ proper handling of all the equipment

Not saying there will be, but there could be a problem with any one of those actions. As a first time brewer it would be difficult to know where the problem lies.

I'm not predicting doom for your beer. I just think it's a good idea to have a handle on the fundamentals before you dive into the use of adjuncts.

 

[kyle6286]

I haven't made a fruit beer yet, but your OG could have been a bit higher than you anticipated if you didn't properly stir the wort when it was transferred to the primary fermenter. I'm assuming you topped off with a couple gallons of water. If so, you need to stir it for a minute or so. Not stirring will generally give you a higher OG.

 

[baddagger]

well one big thing i made sure that everything was sterile .. i let everything soak for a long time over a hour before i even start to brew up the beer .. cause i know that if stuff is not sterile say hello to a failed beer..

now let me ask u this when the beer is fermenting and gas is bubbling up.. can it have a off smell? cause i gave the bubble gas comming up a smell and i can smell some spice and some other off smell.. idk maybe its just me... but coudl it be releasing sulfur in the aire bubbles?

 

[baddagger]

I haven't made a fruit beer yet, but your OG could have been a bit higher than you anticipated if you didn't properly stir the wort when it was transferred to the primary fermenter. I'm assuming you topped off with a couple gallons of water. If so, you need to stir it for a minute or so. Not stirring will generally give you a higher OG.

well i put in 2.5 gallons of boiled water in the carboy frist.. put the stopper in then shook up the water to get more air mixed in.... then when i put the wort in i just let it pore in really hard then i put the stopper back in... and rocked it and shook i up for a couple mins..... then i threw in 1.5 pounds of raspberry puree and added the yeast... then put the stopper back on ahd shook it up for another couple mins

 

[kyle6286]

well i put in 2.5 gallons of boiled water in the carboy frist.. put the stopper in then shook up the water to get more air mixed in.... then when i put the wort in i just let it pore in really hard then i put the stopper back in... and rocked it and shook i up for a couple mins..... then i threw in 1.5 pounds of raspberry puree and added the yeast... then put the stopper back on ahd shook it up for another couple mins

Ok so you shook everything and then took a hydrometer reading before you pitched the yeast? It should be fine then. Sometimes if you top off with water and take a OG reading it will read a little higher since the wort wasn't thoroughly mixed. Even so, I don't think it's a problem because it will eventually mix in the fermenter by itself. It's only really important to know an exact OG reading if you want to know the ABV when the beer is finished.

 

[Bithead]

well one big thing i made sure that everything was sterile .. i let everything soak for a long time over a hour before i even start to brew up the beer .. cause i know that if stuff is not sterile say hello to a failed beer..

now let me ask u this when the beer is fermenting and gas is bubbling up.. can it have a off smell? cause i gave the bubble gas comming up a smell and i can smell some spice and some other off smell.. idk maybe its just me... but coudl it be releasing sulfur in the aire bubbles?

Yes you can smell the byproducts of fermentation. Sulfury is one of them especially with Hefeweizen yeast.
Bubbles or not just let it go for 2-3 weeks, check gravity a couple days to make sure it's no longer dropping then bottle/keg.

 

[lextasy23]

Keeping things clean is important, but should become routine.

PATIENCE is important...

 

[Ell]

I haven't done a fruit beer yet, so I'm not too sure the "rules" exactly. But from what I've read (making a strawberry summer ale next weekend), boiling it breaks down the pectins and makes the final product hazy. I was told to freeze it so it kills anything, and also busts up the cells so they release flavor or something better, then put them in the bottom of the secondary.

I plan on adding 2lbs strawberries to the full boil, 2 with :15 left, and freeze 6-8 lbss and put them in the secondary.

I brewed a standard extract kit hefe, let it ferment 2 weeks, dropped in 6 lbs of strawberries and let it sit a week. Then I kegged and force carbed. A week later... nice.

The strawberries are not overpowering (but I understand that may only be the case with this particular fruit) and it's a very very drinkable wheat beer. You can certainly taste the berries, but it's not the entire defining characteristic of the beer.

I don't think there's much value from adding fruit to the boil (from my research).