My First Brew

[Apoxbrew]

New to the forum and to home brew. Thought I'd share and thank everyone for all the info here. Of course, I didn't fine the board until AFTER I did my first batch so hopefully it'll turn out okay!!

I ended up with a Brew Master starter kit for the equipment and a Coopers kit (can only... no additional grains or anything) for the beer. Met a very nice man at the shop who also suggested the addition of some dry malt and hops so I got that too. Anyway, here's my first batch:

- Steeped a handful of Cascade Hops in 4 liters of water for 20 minutes
- Slowly dissolved 3lbs of Coopers Dry Malt into the water
- Added Coopers IPA extract and mixed well
- Added the wort to 16 liters of cool water in the fermenter and mixed well
- Sprinkled yeast packet (from kit) on top and closed everything up.

Pretty crude compared to the experts obviously but hopefully the result will at least be palatable! LOL Checked this morning and temp was 76F and I had active bubbling in the air-stop... so I'm assuming that's good!

Anyway, look forward to reading and learning here and slowly stepping up the game to the more advanced brewing techniques. I already have my first upgrade planned... a glass carboy rather than the plastic bucket. I wanna see what's going on in there!!

 

[slomo]

Welcome to HBT, and the obsession. Sounds like you made beer, and my only suggestion is to lower the temps for your batch. Lowering the temps will help prevent off flavors from developing.

 

[Indyking]

New to the forum and to home brew. Thought I'd share and thank everyone for all the info here. Of course, I didn't fine the board until AFTER I did my first batch so hopefully it'll turn out okay!!

I ended up with a Brew Master starter kit for the equipment and a Coopers kit (can only... no additional grains or anything) for the beer. Met a very nice man at the shop who also suggested the addition of some dry malt and hops so I got that too. Anyway, here's my first batch:

- Steeped a handful of Cascade Hops in 4 liters of water for 20 minutes
- Slowly dissolved 3lbs of Coopers Dry Malt into the water
- Added Coopers IPA extract and mixed well
- Added the wort to 16 liters of cool water in the fermenter and mixed well
- Sprinkled yeast packet (from kit) on top and closed everything up.

Pretty crude compared to the experts obviously but hopefully the result will at least be palatable! LOL Checked this morning and temp was 76F and I had active bubbling in the air-stop... so I'm assuming that's good!

Anyway, look forward to reading and learning here and slowly stepping up the game to the more advanced brewing techniques. I already have my first upgrade planned... a glass carboy rather than the plastic bucket. I wanna see what's going on in there!!

It looks good except your fermentation temperature is too high. Is that the room temperature or wort temp?

I found that the coopers generic dry yeast that comes with their kits result in an odd flavor when fermenting in too high temps, I would say, above 72-74F. 70F or even lower is probably the best. The beer will still be drinkable, but not the best possible. Well, my very first batch didn't taste that great either...

 

[grasshopper1917]

I make coopers kits all the time - everything sounds A-OK - like the other folks suggested I always like to ferment them a little lower - try to keep it between 66-70 if possible. In anycase your going to have a good beer - I like their IPA kits! Cheers

 

[Apoxbrew]

thanks folks!!

it's just in the back corner of my garage. any suggestions for how to cool off? i don't know how long the whole 5gal batch will take to cool completely. the 76 reading was about 12 hours after coming off the stove top. perhaps there was some residual heat? will check again tonight when i get home but if i need to keep it cooler, would love some suggestions. the garage doesn't have AC so i need to figure out some sort of passive system.

thanks again!

 

[Gridlocked]

Welcome to the hobby and congrats on the first batch!!!

I usually keep mine in the corner of my basement in the summer which is the coolest place in my house. If it's too warm, get a rubbermaid tub and 10 water bottles. Throw the water bottles in the freezer and put some tap water in the rubber maid thing. Rotate the water bottles in between the water and the freezer as needed. I've also heard that you can throw a t-shirt over the carboy and the shirt will wick water up and cool it down but I've never done that. If you need to raise or lower the temp, the slower the better. I learned that the hard way and got some off flavors on a few of my first batches.

 

[lumpher]

welcome to the obsession, and don't worry; we all started at 1 time or another, and got better asking our own "noob" questions. ask away; you'll get lots of info

 

[wetzie]

I took a thermometer around the house and found a cool place in the basement, carefully get it to the cool place if it is cool enough. A fan and a wet towel does wonders too. My first couple of batches were fermented at the mid seventies and they tasted good but there was banan flavor to them. I didn't like it but my friends think I am a genius.
:rockin:
Great job and good luck:fro:

 

[Apoxbrew]

update: so i'm at 72 now... which appears to be the ambient room temp so i'm about bottomed out in terms of room temp. looks like i'll need to cool it a bit more somehow. going to drape a damp towel over the bucket to see if that's enough to bring things down some. hopefully it works. otherwise it's off to wally-world tomorrow for a tub for a cool water bath!!

 

[Indyking]

So, it appears that 72F was your wort temp, right? How did you take a sample of wort to measure the temp? If you had to open the fermenter lid, be careful to not introduce contamination. Also, opening the lid during fermentation always add some oxygen to it, which can damage the wort depending how much O2 is incorporated.

Anyway, 72F for the wort is not too bad as long as you don't let it go up again. At this point, you may be through the most vigorous stage of fermentation, so the high temp after tastes are likely already there, but cooling it off always help during the later stages of fermentation and conditioning stage, so your efforts to cool it off are not in vain.

 

[Apoxbrew]

Thanks! Checked again this morning and I'm at 71F so the cool towel I draped over only brought it down one degree. I'll be heading to the wallyworld tonight to pick up a tub for the ol' cold water bath.

Indy: I don't know terminology well yet, by the wort is what you cook in the pot before adding it to the rest of the water in the fermenter no? If so, then no, the 71F is the temp of the wort and the water in the fermenter. I'm getting my temp off of one of those temp strips that's on the outside of my bucket (came with the kit). Haven't opened up the lid at all. I'm hesitant to do so actually until absolutely necessary (I'm thinking after 2 weeks... someone let me know if I should change that timeline).

I still have very active bubbling in the ol' airstop so I'm assuming that things are rockin away as we move into day 2 of the process. lol.

 

[Indyking]

Thanks! Checked again this morning and I'm at 71F so the cool towel I draped over only brought it down one degree. I'll be heading to the wallyworld tonight to pick up a tub for the ol' cold water bath.

Indy: I don't know terminology well yet, by the wort is what you cook in the pot before adding it to the rest of the water in the fermenter no? If so, then no, the 71F is the temp of the wort and the water in the fermenter. I'm getting my temp off of one of those temp strips that's on the outside of my bucket (came with the kit). Haven't opened up the lid at all. I'm hesitant to do so actually until absolutely necessary (I'm thinking after 2 weeks... someone let me know if I should change that timeline).

I still have very active bubbling in the ol' airstop so I'm assuming that things are rockin away as we move into day 2 of the process. lol.

Hi there. Wort is your unfermented beer, in other words, the whole liquid inside the fermenter (liquid from the pot plus water in your case). The strip thermometer is the best option, so you're good! I think you can just leave your fermenter alone at 71F if you can keep it like that until the end. 2 weeks minimum, then in the bottle for 2 more weeks carbonating. I think that's the minimum most people recommend and what I’m doing now. Also, it helps if you put the bottles in the fridge for 5-7 days for cold conditioning before drinking for the best taste overall. Helps clearing the beer and improve taste as well. Waiting is always the most difficult part, sure you can have decent Ale in 3 weeks but you can have much better one in 5-6 weeks. With most of my previous brews (all Ales so far), I found that 2 months was the peak for the best results.

 

[Apoxbrew]

awesome info. thanks a ton for the help!!! i certainly don't mind waiting. while i'm excited, i've plenty of good local beer to drink while i wait for mine to finish. hehehehe.

thanks again!!

 

[Apoxbrew]

sorry to bring this back to life here... but had a question.

approaching the 2 week mark. wanting to start checking for possible bottling.

how do i know what my target FG should be. i had an OG of 1.044 (assuming i read the hygro right. lol. it was my first time ever using one.) my brew recipe is on the first post if that changes things.

thanks for the help!

 

[Bob]

Just leave it alone for now. Another week or two in the fermenter won't hurt it, and odds are it'll actually help.

Calculating an estimated FG is pretty easy. Most yeasts have an attenuation percentage listed somewhere. That's how much of the wort sugar the yeast usually consume. Cooper's dry yeast usually has an apparent attenuation of 75%. 44 - 75% = 11. So your FG will be somewhere around 1.011, if everything goes according to plan. Note, however, that attenuation percentages are averages. You could see 75%, you could see 70%, you could see 68%.

When you get a chance today, take a hydrometer reading. Record that reading. After another week has passed, take and record another hydrometer reading. If those readings are the same, I'm confident you're safe to bottle. If they're different, wait another couple of days and take a third reading.

Really, you're safe to bottle after three consecutive like hydrometer readings. But if you wait a week between the first and second readings, it won't hurt anything.

Practically, this advice will reinforce advice I try to push on every new brewer: Don't rush your beer into your gullet. Let it take its time to become the very best it can be. That means enough time in the fermenter for the yeast to do its thing, enough time in the bottle to fully carbonate and for the flavors to mature.

In the meantime, get another fermenter and GET ANOTHER BEER GOING ASAP. You'll be out of your first batch before you know it! Start building what we call a "pipeline".

Oh, and welcome to the obsession!

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Apoxbrew]

heheheh. thanks!! okay... so i'll plan on skipping bottling this weekend then unless i happen to be at that 1.011 fg.

that means, though, it'll probably be another week and a half to two weeks before i can bottle. 4 weeks in the primary is okay right?

 

[Bob]

Fine. You'll find lots of guys on HBT who leave their beers in primary for 4-6 weeks with excellent results - so good that many don't bother to transfer to secondary.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[DuffManMississippi]

enjoy home brewing is fun!

 

[grasshopper1917]

From my experience doing coopers kits the fermentation (if you brewed it near 70) is usually done in about 5-7 days. If it has been brewing two weeks at room temp you should be more then set to bottle - if you wanna leave it another week or 2 thats fine as well. Either way you will be fine - lets us know how it tastes when its ready to drink. Cheers