Odd looking beer/no krausen

[pmonty5827]

Hello, another newbie post, I've been reading a lot on here and can't seem to find my specific problem of how my beer looks. It's been a week fermenting and half of the carboy has a thick layer of what I suppose is sediment. I haven't seen a krausen layer but there are bubbles in my airlock and some stuff near the top of the carboy. Does this look normal and could the krausen come and gone within the first 24 hours? It's a Brooklyn brew company starter Belgian ale kit. Pitched at 65-70 and shook vigorously. Been keeping it at around 70. Thanks.

 

[maffewl]

That looks like a crazy amount of sediment. My suggestion would be to take a sample out and test the gravity. That should help in trying to figure out the situation.

 

[j1n]

describe in detail your process. idk how you ended up with that. looks like half of it is sediment and the other half beer/wort.

 

[pmonty5827]

http://brooklynbrewshop.com/directions/Brooklyn_Brew_Shop_Bruxelles_Blonde_Instructions.pdf

those are what i followed. My wort ended up really thick and hard to strain out. I basically boiled the grains at 150 for an hour, then strained and poured 170 water over grains into another pot (which was pretty hard) and boiled that while adding in hops at a light boil. Put in a cold bath till it was 70. Im brewing a gallon and ended up with less so put in tap water to fill up to gallon and then added dry yeast and shook aggressively. After a day i looked back and that is pretty much how its been, never really saw any krausen but open it to smell and smells like beer. I dont have anything to sample it with because my kit didnt come with that. Not sure if i will only be able to use the top half.

 

[pmonty5827]

All there is at the top is a cluster of white specks. Do you guys think it is fermenting correctly or do i have to repitch the yeast?

 

[joshesmusica]

this is probably going to sound like a dick comment, but here goes:
stop calling anything under 212F boiling.

on a less ******-baggish note:
holy crap that's a lot of sediment! i would hardly ever suggest this, and i'm serious because most homebrew stores tend to take advantage of the new brewer, but you seriously need to find a local homebrew store and hope that they have some kind of extract kit (maybe even with steeping grains) that they offer. this batch looks super crazy, and i think it's going to be best for you to start with extracts and work your way to all grain.

 

[joshesmusica]

the bottom half of the "trub" looks like proteins, hops and yeast. then the top half looks like yeast that has dropped out. how much yeast did you pitch?

 

[pmonty5827]

I just did what the instructions said, it was at a light boil when i was boiling the wort. Maybe my thermometer was ****ed up. Should the grains be at a light boil or just heating them at 150? I bought the kit and it has two beer making kits with all grains so im probably going to try it again. but im not sure how much yeast it is, just came in a small packet saying to add it to the gallon.

 

[Maxkling]

this is probably going to sound like a dick comment, but here goes:
stop calling anything under 212F boiling.

on a less ******-baggish note:
holy crap that's a lot of sediment! i would hardly ever suggest this, and i'm serious because most homebrew stores tend to take advantage of the new brewer, but you seriously need to find a local homebrew store and hope that they have some kind of extract kit (maybe even with steeping grains) that they offer. this batch looks super crazy, and i think it's going to be best for you to start with extracts and work your way to all grain.

This is prolly going to sound like a dick, but it depends on atmospheric pressure, so stop calling the boiling point 212F.

 

[Maxkling]

I just did what the instructions said, it was at a light boil when i was boiling the wort. Maybe my thermometer was ****ed up. Should the grains be at a light boil or just heating them at 150? I bought the kit and it has two beer making kits with all grains so im probably going to try it again. but im not sure how much yeast it is, just came in a small packet saying to add it to the gallon.

You steep the grain in water around 150 degree then rinse your steeped grains that are in the bag with 170 degree water. Then remove the grains and throw them away. Bring to a boil and start your hop additions. You are using a grain bag correct?

 

[pmonty5827]

Yea it was a grain bag, im really starting to think my thermometer was messed up because when i put the grains in water, it said it was at 150 but it was at a light boil pretty much the whole time so it must have been way higher. Will this still be good or is my beer ruined?

 

[joshesmusica]

You steep the grain in water around 150 degree then rinse your steeped grains that are in the bag with 170 degree water. Then remove the grains and throw them away. Bring to a boil and start your hop additions. You are using a grain bag correct?

good point. i was actually just trying to be sarcastic/funny. you're very correct that boiling point differs by atmospheric pressure, but the generally accepted boiling point in Fahrenheit is 212. All the while, I'm over here in Norway all like, no. No! Boiling point is 100! but you're one smart cookie!

now that we're done comparing dick sizes (aka back to the OP):

if you're not doing an all-grain recipe, then what you're doing is called mashing, with some mash-out steps in there. usually mashing of the grains is done from 147-155F or so and is what is actually taking the sugars from the grain.

if you are using extracts along with some grains, it is called steeping the grains. you want to do that around the 150F mark, but there is no need for that 170F "mash-out" step.

if you explain your entire process (likely per the instructions) we can help you out more than just the off-handed, sarcastic comments that have been made so far.

 

[Maxkling]

Yea it was a grain bag, im really starting to think my thermometer was messed up because when i put the grains in water, it said it was at 150 but it was at a light boil pretty much the whole time so it must have been way higher. Will this still be good or is my beer ruined?

No clue, let it finish and give it a shot, but a light boil is still a boil. It is way to hot and will extract tannins and nastyness.

I honestly think what your are seeing is everything starting to settle and looks more drastic than it really is.

 

[Maxkling]

if you are using extracts along with some grains, it is called steeping the grains. you want to do that around the 150F mark, but there is no need for that 170F "mash-out" step.

Most extract kits ask that your "rinse" the grains with 170 degree water to make sure you get full extraction of the steeping grains. You are picking up color and sugars from the steeping and a rinse of warmer water will make sure you get all of the good stuff out of the bag. Your not mashing out since you are not converting with a mash, but the rise still helps, but is not a deal breaker.

 

[pmonty5827]

Thanks for the help, sorry i suck with the proper terms of beer brewing. I was mashing the grains and im almost certain that it was way to hot so now i have a huge cake of sediment and yeast. Hopefully it will settle but it doesnt seem to be going anywhere. Theres pretty much nothing to do to settle it besides waiting?

 

[joshesmusica]

Thanks for the help, sorry i suck with the proper terms of beer brewing. I was mashing the grains and im almost certain that it was way to hot so now i have a huge cake of sediment and yeast. Hopefully it will settle but it doesnt seem to be going anywhere. Theres pretty much nothing to do to settle it besides waiting?

No prob, my joke was taken totally out of context. I guess I should expect that with sarcasm these days with online interaction, but I still seem to use it.
If you had no extracts, then what you were doing is called mashing. Honestly, from everything I read about kits on here, I think they're the devil. There's so many out there with horrible instructions. That's why I suggested to find a local homebrew shop that might give you better advice.
How long has this one been fermenting? I would probably let it go like 14 days or so, then bottle it just to see what happens. Just be sure to not get any of that sediment.,

 

[Maxkling]

Thanks for the help, sorry i suck with the proper terms of beer brewing. I was mashing the grains and im almost certain that it was way to hot so now i have a huge cake of sediment and yeast. Hopefully it will settle but it doesnt seem to be going anywhere. Theres pretty much nothing to do to settle it besides waiting?

Yea just wait. I thought this was an extract kit not all grain. If you boiled your grain there is no telling how this will turn out, atleast its just a gallon batch, but I expect for FG to be way high and the beer to taste bitter/puckery from the tannin extraction of boiling the grains. Get another kit and let it ride.

 

[pmonty5827]

Yea i know, the instructions were terrible and i was winging it the whole time, i knew something was off when i tried mashing out to 170 and it was really freaking hot and i could barely get it up to that so i just stopped and strained it. Its been a week and has been like this pretty much after the first day. Ill give it a try and see what happens.

 

[Gavin C]

With no extract and without mashing ( ie keeping the grains at 150 ish for 30-90 minutes) there is likely little to no tasty fermentable sugars in this. If the grains were simmered/ boiled all sorts of nasty flavors will likely result.

Did you cool it before pitching the yeast in. Too warm and the yeast will have died. It may be a moot point given the mash you describe.

Sounds like this first attempt may be a miss rather than a hit. Not to worry on to the next and successful brew.

I wouldn't have the patience to complete the process to bottling only to have a foul drink as I suspect is likely here given what you gave described.

Take a sample out and taste it. It should be deliciously sweet. If it's not chuck it. If it us let it ride and see what happens.

 

[hotwatermusic]

http://brooklynbrewshop.com/directions/Brooklyn_Brew_Shop_Bruxelles_Blonde_Instructions.pdf

those are what i followed. My wort ended up really thick and hard to strain out. I basically boiled the grains at 150 for an hour, then strained and poured 170 water over grains into another pot (which was pretty hard) and boiled that while adding in hops at a light boil. Put in a cold bath till it was 70. Im brewing a gallon and ended up with less so put in tap water to fill up to gallon and then added dry yeast and shook aggressively. After a day i looked back and that is pretty much how its been, never really saw any krausen but open it to smell and smells like beer. I dont have anything to sample it with because my kit didnt come with that. Not sure if i will only be able to use the top half.

It sounds like you added tap water to top off after cooling, correct? Was it boiled first? You definitely could be adding bacteria/microorganisms. Any thing you add cold side (after chilling your wort) needs to be boiled before hand. You may want to troll some YouTube stuff on brewing to get a better handle on things before relying on similar direction sheets. They generally are minimal in explanation.

 

[pmonty5827]

I just took a sample and it pretty much taste like watered down Budweiser. Not sweet at all. Im guessing its screwed.

 

[pmonty5827]

Yea it was just tap water, i also thought it was weird but thats what the directions said.

 

[singybrue]

I think your biggest problem is your thermometer is off. 150 is nowhere near boiling, not even a light boil. If your grains were boiled, you are screwed!
But it's only a 1g beer kit-not the end of the world!
Try again with a better thermometer-check it at boiling for accuracy.

 

[pmonty5827]

Yea it is, it was brand new with the kit, but obviously this kit blows!
Thanks everyone for the help, onto the next one.

 

[Ash1616]

My first batch was from BBS and it was certainly a learning experience, that was a year ago this month. Ive kept with all grain recipes but I have switched to BIAB and have used Whirfloc tablets (which BBS doesn't include in their kits) which will help clear up the beer. Good luck with the next batch and don't use the 3 tbsp of honey like the recipe calls for to carbonate the beer. Anything more than 2.5 tbsp and you will get gushers.

 

[joshesmusica]

Yea i know, the instructions were terrible and i was winging it the whole time, i knew something was off when i tried mashing out to 170 and it was really freaking hot and i could barely get it up to that so i just stopped and strained it. Its been a week and has been like this pretty much after the first day. Ill give it a try and see what happens.

yeah after reading this i don't think that it was necessarily your error on this one. if you couldn't get the temp past "170" on a batch so small, and it was boiling as you say, then your thermometer is off. i'm sorry you got such a shotty kit for your first one.

check out this site for some good, basic info. although there are some outdated things for homebrewers on this one, it's still good for a beginner.
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

 

[hikemor]

For this batch: It is fermenting and you are making beer. Let it ferment for another week or two. Check FG with a hydrometer (see below). Bottle it using corn sugar or table sugar to prime: approx. .8 oz (1/8 cup for 1 gallon). Use an online calculator if you want to be more accurate. Don't mess with honey. Let it carb/condition for 3 weeks and then see what you've got.

For the next batch: Test the accuracy of your thermometer in some boiling water. If it is off, toss it and get another at the grocery or department store. Likewise, check that one for accuracy. I use a Cooper kitchen thermometer that I like a lot. Get a hydrometer for checking gravity. Test the hydrometer for accuracy. Should read 1.000 in water at 68F.

Go forth and brew!

 

[fstfrd00]

...don't use the 3 tbsp of honey like the recipe calls for to carbonate the beer. Anything more than 2.5 tbsp and you will get gushers.

I can attest to that

 

[aprichman]

If you never saw any activity it didn't ferment. Even mild fermentation is pretty visible. It sounds like you denatured the amylase enzymes which are required to convert the grain into fermentable wort. Try again with malt extract and you should get better results. Also a whole yeast package is way too much to use. A gallon jug should only be filled with about .75 gallons to account for headspace so you should be using about a quarter of a typical dry yeast packet.