Nowhere to go but down?

[Riles_J]

I am new to all of this, but I just finished a Brewers Best kit of India Pale Ale and it turned out beyond my wildest expectations. I also introduced it to some friends to a rousing ovation. I fear I have nowhere to go but down.

My second batch is in my secondary now after fermenting for a week in the primary. I racked to secondary and threw my dry hops direct into the secondary. This is a Hop Head Double IPA kit.

A couple of differences I have noticed between the two batches are the first batch fermented like made for a very short period then stopped because my temps where certainly pushing the limits (75-78 degrees). My second batch fermented much slower and was still going after 6 days, I guess because I used a swamp cooler to get temps down. My first question is do these different temps effect taste, if so how? If any the my original IPA was a little on the hoppy side, but that is just fine with me. Although it has me wondering how my Double Hop is going to turn out.

Second thing I noticed is my second batch has much less trub in the bottom that the first. Not sure if this is just due to the less than violent fermenting or perhabs it is because my first batch used some DME and the Double Hop was all liquid?

I have also read that if my batch is done fermenting then I can quit with the swamp cooler thing. I hope that is true? Can't wait to get this one into the kegerator as well.

Cheers,

Riles

 

[iron_city_ap]

Fermentation temperature definately can have an effect on the flavor of the beer. If you ferment at too high of a temperature, the yeast will produce Esters which will throw the flavor off. It really is based on the type of yeast, how high of a temperature the beer got to, and how long it was there. There really isn't a magic temperature, but for most ales, keeping the temperature under about 70 seems to be the best. Some yeasts are more heat tolerant than others.

The trub issue could be from a multitude of issues. Did you use the same type of yeast? Some yeasts flocculate more than others. Also, I think the amount of fermentables makes a difference there too. What was the difference in the OGs of the two batches?

Hope that helps you out some.

 

[Riles_J]

I used Nottingham for the IPA batch and am using Safale 05 for the Hophead Double IPA. I guess that explains the large amount of flocculants on the first batch. I was looking at the temp range of Nottingham though and I saw a max of 70-degrees. I was around 75-degrees even upwards of 78-degrees. Still turned out a very tasty IPA.

 

[Revvy]

A couple of differences I have noticed between the two batches are the first batch fermented like made for a very short period then stopped because my temps where certainly pushing the limits (75-78 degrees). My second batch fermented much slower and was still going after 6 days, I guess because I used a swamp cooler to get temps down. Riles

How do you know your fermentation stopped, or that one batch fermented faster or slower than the other? I don't see anything about gravities of the beers or anything like that. If you were going by airlock bubbling, then all you know is whether or not excess co2 was being released. NOT how your beer was fermenting or what the yeast were doing.

It really just means that there is no excess co2 that needs to be released right now, or it is venting elsewhere, more than likely the active aspect of fermentation has wound down and it doesn't need to vent any more...it doesn't mean fermentation has stopped or anything like that.

Your airlock is a valve, a vent to bleed off excess co2 to keep from painting your ceiling with beer, nothing else.

That's why you need to take a gravity reading to know how your fermentation is going, NOT go by airlocks. The most important tool you can use is a hydrometer. It's the only way you will truly know when your beer is ready...airlock bubbles and other things are faulty.

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on?

 

[ksbrain]

If you controlled your temperatures on the second batch, it should come out even better than the first. Given the temp control and the different yeast, the Double IPA should be "cleaner" than the IPA made with Nottingham. Expect the hops to really shine in this Hop Head Double IPA.

 

[iron_city_ap]

Do a search on swamp coolers. Its a great/easy/cheap way to keep your fermentation temps lower. The more you can keep the beer cool while its fermenting, the better. No doubt its good, but I think the more you start to refine your process, the better you'll find the beer to be.