looking for input...on first try at brewing

[SiegIPA]

Okay...so the beer is now fermenting (my first attempt). The recipe ( a supposed clone of Dogfish Head 60 min IPA) was seriously thin on details. I had some grain. several packets of various hops. two 3.3 lb cans of liquid malt syrup and about a half cup of "priming sugar".

I boiled the bag o' grain, removed it, poured 1 3/4 of the 2 cans of malt, added a 1 oz of Warrior hops (all my hops were pelletized) and the sugar,

I let it boil for 30 min, added a couple oz of simcoe and palisade hops, 20 min later I added 2 1/2 oz of some other hops. and finished boiling for another 15 min or so.

I cooled it and strained it through a sanitized kitchen strainer to catch most of the solids (the big stuff anyhow), added some ale yeast, then added enough (brita type filter) filtered water to top off to 5 gal and put the lid on (with the "breather/relief valve").


It looks like a very brown ale at this point, I am hopeful that the color will lighten as it ferments but....time will tell.


Now ....how do I know when it's ready to bottle?

 

[C-Rider]

Let it go 3 weeks and check the SG twice around that time to see if it's finished. Time in the fermenter lets the yeast clean things up and "stuff" to settle to the bottom. Don't worry about the color it ALWAYS looks darker in a 5 gallon bucket than it does in a nice clear beer glass.

 

[RedGuitar]

Well, your recipe is definitely short on a few details...

The short answer to your question is when the beer is done; typically, with a "generic" recipe, 2-3 weeks is long enough for primary fermentation to finish and the yeast to clean up off flavors. You need the priming sugar for bottling, though it sounds like you threw it into the boil. No worries- you can use some regular white sugar when it comes bottling time.

I would recommend that, if you haven't already, you get yourself a beginner brewing book, like John Palmer's "How to Brew". Also, get a hydrometer and learn how to use it (it took me a year or so of brewing before I really understood the importance of my hydrometer).

 

[fimpster]

The grains are meant to be steeped at around 160ºF, not boiled. When boiled you may get an astringent taste from the tannins in the grain. Also it sounds like you added your priming sugar to the boil, which is meant for bottling, so you'll need to get some more to carbonate the bottles.

As for the filtered water, you should still boil it for 10 minutes or so and then let it cool before topping up. Brita filters remove some minerals and chlorine, but they do not sanitize the water. I know my Brita pitcher can get pretty funky around the rim and needs to be washed frequently.

To know for sure that its done fermenting you can test with a hydrometer. Even so, let it sit in the fermenter around 3 weeks or so before bottling.

EDIT: ^^What they said and +1 on How To Brew by John Palmer

 

[unionrdr]

I was also concerned about boiling the bag of grains. I hope you didn't literally do that?

 

[SiegIPA]

No...didn't fully boil 'em....I put 'em in when water was cold...soon as the water began to boil...I pulled 'em out. This was recommended in the directions...one of the clear portions that existed.


No I am awaiting signs of life...48 hrs in and no off gassing that I can tell. Maybe that is normal? Temp for my IPA was holding at 64 degrees but someone opened the garage today and let the afternoon sun (not exactly hot but...) warm the room to 70 degrees. It will cool down tonight I hope. ....or maybe it is beginning to ferment and create heat?????? In that case I might hafta find a a way to cool it just a touch with wet towels and a fan...'cept I am away 11 hours a day and can't change out the towels when they dry.

 

[SiegIPA]

On the hydrometer.... I haven't read the directions on it yet. I know it is used to determine the specific gravity of the beer. That's great but I am still ignorant as to what specific gravity I am looking for. Or am I looking for a lack of change in specific gravity to know that it is done fermenting. I have not measured it on the beginning end yet....no directions to do so...or even when to do so.

 

[GHBWNY]

On the hydrometer.... I haven't read the directions on it yet. I know it is used to determine the specific gravity of the beer. That's great but I am still ignorant as to what specific gravity I am looking for. Or am I looking for a lack of change in specific gravity to know that it is done fermenting. I have not measured it on the beginning end yet....no directions to do so...or even when to do so.

I'm feeling your pain...

Re: hydrometer use, it's too late for this batch, but in the future, you should take a specific gravity reading when the wort gets down to pitching temp and prior to pitching the yeast. This is your benchmark for telling how your fermentation is progressing and when it is done. If you bottle before ferm is done, kaboom! Bottle bombs.

A beginning specific gravity measures the density of the wort as compared to pure water which is 1.000. Obviously, with all those fermentable materials in the wort, your SG reading will start much higher. During fermentation, as the yeast feeds on the sugars in the wort, CO2 and alcohol are produced; increased alcohol production causes the density of the wort to decrease, causing the SG to drop.

To take a sample for your pre-pitch SG, use a sanitized turkey baster or beer thief and fill the tube the hydrometer came in to about an inch from the top. Set the hydrometer in the tube and it will suspend at a particular point on the gauge. Write this number down. Do not return the sample to the wort. Pitch your yeast and lock down your fermenter. After 7 or so days, your wort should be ready to have another reading taken. Same procedure, write that (hopefully lower) number down. Lock 'er down again. In 2-3 days, take another reading. If the last two readings are the same, your fermentation is done and you can safely bottle. If they aren't the same, let it go another couple days and take another reading. Do this until you get the same reading in two consecutive samples.

At this point, without having taken a beginning gravity reading, let it ferm a week or so, take a reading and then another 2-3 days later, etc. as above. The only thing you will have missed by not taking a beginning gravity reading is a comparison to the FG which would tell you the ABV.

 

[unionrdr]

Leaving the grain bag in the water till it boils isn't going to turn out well. Steeping or mashing is done in a particular temp range. Going up to boil temps can lead to astringency & other off-flavors. When steeping the way you did, the bag is usually pulled at 170 or a little lower.

 

[SiegIPA]

The steeping method was the one recommended in the "recipe" if you don't have a thermometer. Definitely didn't let it boil long, I yanked the grains out as soon as it barely came to a boil, hopefully that will be OK. Now my concern is its been a week and very little CO2 coming off. The first day I took off the lid briefly and there was about 3 inches of thick foam. Now there is none and can't tell if it s producing gas or not. Changed over from a one way breather valve to a tube in the top of the fermenter and the other end in a mason jar full of water. but no bubbles just yet...I am thinking this may be a lost batch....??????

 

[SiegIPA]

One thing I can say for certain....next batch will be with a bona fide recipe!!!! Arrrrrgggghhhhhh!

 

[RM-MN]

The steeping method was the one recommended in the "recipe" if you don't have a thermometer. Definitely didn't let it boil long, I yanked the grains out as soon as it barely came to a boil, hopefully that will be OK. Now my concern is its been a week and very little CO2 coming off. The first day I took off the lid briefly and there was about 3 inches of thick foam. Now there is none and can't tell if it s producing gas or not. Changed over from a one way breather valve to a tube in the top of the fermenter and the other end in a mason jar full of water. but no bubbles just yet...I am thinking this may be a lost batch....??????

Your yeast know what they are doing better than you. They are doing just what they should be. Take a good look at this article. http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

 

[covers42]

I would suggest a simpler kit to start with. Lots of good kits around with great instructions. Look for one that tells you step for step what to do.

Doing a grain bag is an intermediate level kit. Look for one with malt extract and hops alone. It takes a couple of batches to be comfortable with getting down the basics like sanitation, hop timing and when to bottle. As indicated you should not bottle too early. I have seen fermentation complete in 3-4 days in one batch and over two weeks in another. Knowing either a target final gravity (ie 1.01) from the kit or testing multiple times is the best approach.

They make tall plastic containers you can put the hydrometer in to take a measurement or it can be sanitized and put in the fermenter. Just read the value of the lowest number you can see. Good luck.

 

[paperairplane]

It'll make some sort of beer - don't worry too much. Definitely do not dump it.

Give it 3 full weeks in the fermenter, 4 weeks wouldn't hurt. Bottle it and then wait another 3-4 weeks. Try it out. Learn something. Try again.

The best way to learn how to brew is to brew. Some things you can mess up and not hurt the beer. Other things, not as much. You'll get there.

 

[fimpster]

Now my concern is its been a week and very little CO2 coming off. The first day I took off the lid briefly and there was about 3 inches of thick foam. Now there is none and can't tell if it s producing gas or not. Changed over from a one way breather valve to a tube in the top of the fermenter and the other end in a mason jar full of water. but no bubbles just yet...I am thinking this may be a lost batch....??????

You're right, there probably is very little CO2 coming off now that the krausen (foam) has fallen. Normal.

It also sounds like you changed from an airlock to a blow off hose. A blow off hose will show far fewer bubbles in the mason jar, than an airlock will show at this point. This is simply because of the greater volume of CO2 needed to fill the hose before it pushes out a bubble. Most folks start with a blow off hose, then switch to an airlock after the krausen has fallen and the risk of a blow off disappears. Or you can just do one or the other and leave it that way the entire time. Either way, you are making beer.

Like others have advised, give it another week or two, then bottle. It will be just fine.

 

[SiegIPA]

thanks all.... if this turns out anywhere near passable flavor wise, I will feel lucky!

 

[ericbw]

Don't open it any more until the 3 week mark. It should be fine. This recipe might even be fine to repeat as your technique improves.

 

[campbellmike]

You had foam on top so there was some fermentation going on. There's a high probability that you will have a decent beer. Just follow the tips on waiting a bit longer and for future reference just steep the grains vs boiling. This stuff isn't rocket science, note that sanitation is key after the boil. Read up on bottling and get some more corn sugar for priming when you're ready. There is a lot of information on this website. Read and make decisions based on your own common sense. There are many ways to get good results and you can improve your process as you go. In the meantime, you will enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

[SiegIPA]

Still in the fermenter...till Sat or Sun afternoon when I intend to bottle it up. Many thanks for all the pointers here. I still have some hope of a passable beer. Any pointers on the priming sugar at this point? Someone said table sugar will do. Some IPA's I have had in the higher Octane ratings....say like Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA is way too sweet...I imagine because they were trying to boost alcohol content. I like the Dogfish line in general but not the 90 or 120 minute IPAs due to the sweetness....I am looking for nice hoppy bitterness in general. So....too much sugar sounds like a bad idea, thing is, I wouldn't know how much is too little or too much except to "guestimate" based on the quantity I screwed up and put in the wort at the early stage (maybe 1/2 - 3/4 cup of who knows what kind of sugar).

 

[SiegIPA]

...Sunday will be 3 weeks to the day since this project started....

 

[eko]

There's some good calculators online that will help you figure out how much priming sugar to use. Try this one: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

If you're using table sugar, follow the suggestion for sucrose. Do you have a scale that is sensitive enough to weigh out 2-5 oz.? The amount you need will vary based on volume of beer, style, temperature. Weight will be more accurate than measuring by volume.

 

[SiegIPA]

That one is great, thanks eko.

beer was too warm initially....danged polar vortex has cooled things down a smidge too far....sitting at 50 degrees for a couple of days now. I am thinking better too cool that too warm but its too late to change it up now.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

All good advice above. Kudos for jumping in the deep end with a kit and ihncluded directions.

Kits are notorious for having bad directions. because after a few batches most people pitch the directions and do what they always do. I would recomment you read the first half of How to Brew by John Palmer. It will walk you through an extract brew session, explaining not only what to do but more importantly why. The first edition is available free online if you're budget constrained. Once you have a few batches in the bottle, you can read the second half of the book which goes into greater detail and decribes all grain, which may or may not interest you.

You have the process, you need to theory behind it.

 

[SiegIPA]

Thanks I may try it

 

[GHBWNY]

Still in the fermenter...till Sat or Sun afternoon when I intend to bottle it up. Many thanks for all the pointers here. I still have some hope of a passable beer. Any pointers on the priming sugar at this point? Someone said table sugar will do. Some IPA's I have had in the higher Octane ratings....say like Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA is way too sweet...I imagine because they were trying to boost alcohol content. I like the Dogfish line in general but not the 90 or 120 minute IPAs due to the sweetness....I am looking for nice hoppy bitterness in general. So....too much sugar sounds like a bad idea, thing is, I wouldn't know how much is too little or too much except to "guestimate" based on the quantity I screwed up and put in the wort at the early stage (maybe 1/2 - 3/4 cup of who knows what kind of sugar).

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the final product. Keep us posted.

 

[SiegIPA]

As suggested by Pete WNY ....it doesn't suck!!!!!!!!!!!! Bottled today and sampled a taste mostly because curiosity was getting the best of me. Now I am anxious to see how it finishes in the bottle.

As far as flavor is concerned....I was not super hoppy but definitely quite bitter...which is ok by me. At the end of the day I got 12 oz shy of two cases (That last 12 oz is accounted for by the trub and my 6 oz sample so the quantity was pretty close.


Next go round I may try a batch with a more explicit recipe but I am not unsatisfied with this lot so far.


Thanks to all those here who posted and are greatly responsible for helping me keep my head through this process.

 

[SiegIPA]

eko...I used the calculator you suggested/posted....it was very easy to use. THANKS!!!!!

 

[eko]

eko...I used the calculator you suggested/posted....it was very easy to use. THANKS!!!!!

You're welcome. Of course it was a couple others on here who first pointed me to that calculator. Just helping to pass the knowledge around.

 

[covers42]

I would check the final gravity and see if it is close to 1.01.
The sugar for bottling is added to boiling water, boiled for 10 minutes and cooled to 70F before adding to bottling bucket and beer.
Priming sugar would require about 5 oz per 5 gallons of beer. Not sure about table sugar. The yeast will eat up the sugar and create CO2 and A little more alcoholic . Takes about 2 weeks for CO2 to build in bottles.

 

[SiegIPA]

So the beer hasn't inproved much...low carbonation, very bitter. However it is almost gone drinking 1 every few days. Some feedback from a family member who has more experience indicates that I shoulda used the entire 2 cans of malts to ensure the fermentation is complete. (I was afraid it would be too malty and only use 1 1/2 - 32oz cans)


Thinking of a new batch to make once temps rise to optimal in my garage...unless someone can recommend a good brew to make at 40 degrees fahrenheit. I like HOPPY but the yeasts seem to be the critical temp sensitive ingredient....maybe a pils???????

 

[fimpster]

So the beer hasn't inproved much...low carbonation, very bitter. However it is almost gone drinking 1 every few days. Some feedback from a family member who has more experience indicates that I shoulda used the entire 2 cans of malts to ensure the fermentation is complete. (I was afraid it would be too malty and only use 1 1/2 - 32oz cans)


Thinking of a new batch to make once temps rise to optimal in my garage...unless someone can recommend a good brew to make at 40 degrees fahrenheit. I like HOPPY but the yeasts seem to be the critical temp sensitive ingredient....maybe a pils???????

A pils would do good at that temp, but you'll need to make sure you can keep that temp stable for at least a month or more.

 

[RM-MN]

So the beer hasn't inproved much...low carbonation, very bitter. However it is almost gone drinking 1 every few days. Some feedback from a family member who has more experience indicates that I shoulda used the entire 2 cans of malts to ensure the fermentation is complete. (I was afraid it would be too malty and only use 1 1/2 - 32oz cans)


Thinking of a new batch to make once temps rise to optimal in my garage...unless someone can recommend a good brew to make at 40 degrees fahrenheit. I like HOPPY but the yeasts seem to be the critical temp sensitive ingredient....maybe a pils???????

If you're willing to spend a few dollars, you can brew lots of different beers in that garage. Get a plastic tub, big enough to hold a fermenter with plenty more room for water. Set your fermenter in there and fill with water to about the level of the beer in the fermenter or a little lower. Add an aquarium heater and a digital controller (stc-1000) and set the temperature where you need it. Tape the probe to the fermenter or just suspend it in the water. The heater will then maintain the temperature you set.

 

[covers42]

Yeast do a lot of the work in making beer and can influence the flavor the most. They do not like wide temperature swings. If you have a craw space, basement or closet that stays constant in temperature between 60 to 75F you can do an IPA or Pale Ale which are forgiving.
If not the garage aquarium heater is a cool idea. If you just go with outside temp and the temp drops too quick yeast can stop working too soon leaving beer too sweet. If you like a dry beer find a yeast with a high attenuation value.
A good starter beer is often one that has one or two hop types and a simple malt approach. The more you add to the brew pot or mash tun the harder it is to figure out what went wrong.

 

[PatrickLS83]

Your first brew experience sounds a lot like mine. I always found that IPA kits were much heavier on crystal malts and lighter on hops than I would consider for a good IPA. Then I realized my preference of IPA was mostly west coast style IPA's like Stone which are super heavy on hops and very light on crystal malts, so that's when I started adjusting recipes to get what I wanted. Dry hopping is something that the kits never seem to include but I religiously dry hop my IPA's.

As far as the boiling grain thing you talked about, folks are right that you shouldn't boil the grains, but if you took the grains out when the water was just showing signs of bubbles then you were probably right around 170-180 F which is the correct time to pull the grains out. Next time just grab a thermometer and once the water reaches 170, pull the grains out.

If your only option is to cold ferment right now, I would suggest you try something like a dry hopped vienna lager, like an IPL. That sounds good actually, I might try it myself

 

[PatrickLS83]

By the way, I've been going back and forth on this with others as far as IPA shelf life and in my experience when you're dealing with IPA's you need to adjust your conditioning time for a reduced shelf life. There are a lot folks out there suggesting you condition your beer on the shelf at room temp for months and months and that it only gets better with age. I've found with IPA's that I get hop fade and a musty flavor if it sits at room temp for longer than 25-30 days. My suggestion, bottle condition long enough to get carbonation and then throw those bad boys in the fridge to preserve them. Maybe scottish ales, stouts, belgians(?) can stand being on the shelf longer but I've had to pour out IPA's that were 2 months old because they were disgusting.

 

[RM-MN]

By the way, I've been going back and forth on this with others as far as IPA shelf life and in my experience when you're dealing with IPA's you need to adjust your conditioning time for a reduced shelf life. There are a lot folks out there suggesting you condition your beer on the shelf at room temp for months and months and that it only gets better with age. I've found with IPA's that I get hop fade and a musty flavor if it sits at room temp for longer than 25-30 days. My suggestion, bottle condition long enough to get carbonation and then throw those bad boys in the fridge to preserve them. Maybe scottish ales, stouts, belgians(?) can stand being on the shelf longer but I've had to pour out IPA's that were 2 months old because they were disgusting.

I'm one to advocate differing times for bottle conditioning. You're right about your IPA's and to me, any beer that is dry hopped is in that same category. Get them carbonated and drink them up before you lose the hop aroma. The beer would benefit from longer conditioning but not the hops. Wheat beers and other light colored beers fit into that short conditioning time too.

As the kind of beer you make gets toward the darker and/or higher alcohol the time in the bottle/keg should go up to let the flavors meld.:rockin:

 

[Onkel_Udo]

One thing I can say for certain....next batch will be with a bona fide recipe!!!! Arrrrrgggghhhhhh!

I am researching geek but at the very least, if you do not want to get the Palmer book, find a comprehensive set of instructions somewhere on this site. The problem with depending on a kit's instructions is that they often, as you learned, have decades old information that no longer is considered best practice.

For example, how did you sanitize your fermentor, airlock, tubing, etc? What temperature does it suggest pitching yeast?

 

[joshesmusica]

man i feel bad for you. those were horrible instructions. glad it came out ok though.
some things i'd like to comment on:
1) although future beers might reach final gravity after 7 days, the reason why so many are recommending at least 2-3 weeks is because the yeast will clean up some off flavors. on my beers i don't even take a gravity reading until at least the 10 day mark (at which point i dry hop in most of my beers).
2) it's ok to keep trying your bottled product every couple of days, because you will get to see how flavors develop as the beer conditions in the bottle. but just remember you'll want to refrigerate them for a couple of days first, 1 day minimum.
3) bitterness is from the hops. so it is a hoppy beer. just not as flavorful from the hops as you expected. this is probably because you didn't add all the malt extract expected to be added for the kit, and instead added the priming sugar into the boil, which will cause a lower FG (aka residual sweetness), which will make your perceived bitterness go up. not to mention that the kit was expecting you to have more malts to account for the IBUs and because you didn't add them all, it probably even made the IBUs go up a few more points. not bad, just explaining why it was more hop-bitter than hop-flavorful.
4) if you want more flavor and aroma from your hops you need to add them in the last 5-10 minutes of the boil. anything past the 15 minute mark (as in 15 minutes left in the boil), and it's contributing mainly to bitterness. for hoppy beers most people usually do one shot at 60 minutes (so if you're doing a 60 minute boil, for the entire boil) for bittering. and then all the rest in the last 5-10 minutes for flavoring and some aroma, and then if you really want that aroma to come through look up dry-hopping.
5) as far as the priming sugar adding sweetness, that shouldn't happen unless you're not letting the yeast eat up all that sugar (aka drinking the bottles before they're finished) which could take up to 2-3 weeks at room temps. the point of the priming sugar isn't to add sweetness, but to add co2.
6) as someone said, when you're doing the steeping grains with the method mentioned in the instructions, they should've said to pull out at about 170F. that bitterness flavor could possibly also be to a little bit of astringency due to the high temp at which you pulled it out.
7) in order to ferment in the winter, find a room or closet that you don't use too often that has an ambient temp of about 60-62, and ferment in there. or just do a lager.
8) congratulations! you made your first beer! now go out there and learn as much as you can possibly take in for your next brew. apply it at that time. then go learn some more to apply to the next time, etc, etc.

 

[cbhxh]

I was also concerned about boiling the bag of grains. I hope you didn't literally do that?

 

[joshesmusica]

By the way, I've been going back and forth on this with others as far as IPA shelf life and in my experience when you're dealing with IPA's you need to adjust your conditioning time for a reduced shelf life. There are a lot folks out there suggesting you condition your beer on the shelf at room temp for months and months and that it only gets better with age. I've found with IPA's that I get hop fade and a musty flavor if it sits at room temp for longer than 25-30 days. My suggestion, bottle condition long enough to get carbonation and then throw those bad boys in the fridge to preserve them. Maybe scottish ales, stouts, belgians(?) can stand being on the shelf longer but I've had to pour out IPA's that were 2 months old because they were disgusting.

i fully agree with you on the freshness of IPAs. but 2 months was disgusting? are you just exaggerating for effect? even Stone (who stresses the importance of freshness) has the lowest date for freshness at 90 days, except for their enjoy by beers. if it was disgusting at two months, especially if it's "musty," i'm wondering if there's another factor going on there.