Question on fermentation of first brew

[Coachlight]

Hi all. Just brewed my first beer using Northern Brewers deluxe kit. Irish Red Ale extract kit. My boil went great. Sanitized everything with Starsan, aerated in a glass carboy and pitched yeast. Transferred to the basement and encased in a box to keep it dark. The next day I had good bubbles out of my airlock and a frothy foam on top of my beer. Today after work I checked it and my bubbles are very spaced apart and my frothy foam is gone (still some on the sides of the carboy but the top surface is just wort, no foam).

Is my beer shot? I know it says primary should go 1-2 weeks. At what point should I check the gravity? Is this normal?

Things in the back of my mind:
1. I used water right from the tap to Top of the carboy
2. When I pitched my dry yeast, i kind of dumped it in, not a delicate sprinkle

Thoughts, advise, things to check next?

Thanks all.....

 

[oakbarn]

Litfa

 

[VonBaron]

Give it a bit more time, Its really easy to not see that vigorous activity and think "crap". I only know because I myself am about 6 months into my brew experience. It depends on the gravity, yeast strain, temp and a few other things guys on the forum will probably know.

what your describing is what happens to me about half of the time especially my higher gravity beers and they have came out fine.

 

[codycodycody]

I did the same beer last month. Very rapid fermentation for about 36 hours. After 2 days barely anything. That was with dry yeast. I put to secondary after 5 days. Let sit in secondary for a week. Tasted beautiful. Currently conditioning in the bottles. Check sg. Mine went from 1.042 to 1.012 in 4 days.

 

[peter78]

In the future, preboil your water before topping off. Rehydrate your dry yeast before pitching. Use GoFerm when you do. Get a 6.5 gal carboy and ferment in it for 3-4 weeks without transfering to secondary. Secondary is outdated. Take a gravity reading around the 3rd week. Don't worry if you don't see bubbles. The yeast is working. As of your current batch, RDWHAHB!

 

[Coachlight]

Thanks everyone. Just checked on it again. Only saw one bubble in the minute or so I looked at it. I'll let it sit a couple more days and take a reading.

So should I skip transferring and just let it stay in the primary carboy for a few weeks and then bottle?

I'll certainly use different water methods next batch. Pre boiled and cooled for sure!

 

[Breck09]

Just let it sit in primary for 3-4 weeks and then bottle.

As for the top off water, I never pre-boiled mine and never had any problems. But I do believe I used bottled water when I did it.

 

[peter78]

Yup. Skip the transfer. Leave it in primary 3-4 weeks even if there's no activity. The yeast is still working. Take a reading when you're ready to bottle. Every time you open your carboy and especially taking a reading you introduce bacteria and a chance to at least get off flavors. Get yourself the book Yeast by Jamil Zainasheff. That will answer a lot of your questions. Preboil your water in the future.

 

[fad827]

I used the same kit and let it sit in primary for a little over 2 weeks then bottled it. Let it carbonate in bottles for 2 weeks and it tasted great. As a matter of fact we only have 2 bottles left, the boyfriend and his friends love to suck it down. Everyone says it's hard to leave your first batch alone, although I had no problems doing it. It will be fine. Drink some other beer so you leave this batch alone, then when it is done.....enjoy it!!

 

[TheGrindilow]

Some members of my family have brewed great tasting beer and seen almost no bubbles! It's a mysterious art. If in doubt, take a gravity reading

 

[lowtones84]

If this beer comes out fine after topping up with non boiled tap water, I say keep doing it. I used to do that with extract batches all the time and still do it just a little bit sometimes with all grain batches and it has never once been an issue. If you really want to boil it go ahead. Re-hydrating yeast is also debatable, but if you're very sanitary and make sure the temperatures are close when you pitch, it should help.

 

[Coachlight]

I shall leave it alone. I'll be sure to post back in a few weeks with results. Thanks so much everyone.

 

[Coachlight]

I did the same beer last month. Very rapid fermentation for about 36 hours. After 2 days barely anything. That was with dry yeast. I put to secondary after 5 days. Let sit in secondary for a week. Tasted beautiful. Currently conditioning in the bottles. Check sg. Mine went from 1.042 to 1.012 in 4 days.

Ok. I left it in the primary for 3 weeks. Just took a gravity reading and it's 1.08 (my OG was 1.044). Sounds like you and I were about the same. I'm thinking I'm cool to bottle, anyone disagree?

 

[Yooper]

Ok. I left it in the primary for 3 weeks. Just took a gravity reading and it's 1.08 (my OG was 1.044). Sounds like you and I were about the same. I'm thinking I'm cool to bottle, anyone disagree?

I think it's more likely 1.008 (missing a digit in yours), and that sounds fine.

If it's fairly clear, it's good to bottle.

 

[Coachlight]

Yup. 1.008. Sorry. It looked good. Tasted fine. Bottled it up and stored it on a spare closet. I'll wait two weeks and crack one to see how it's coming along.

 

[Coachlight]

Hello my friends. So, after 3 weeks in the primary I bottled. I let it condition for 2 weeks and just had my first brew. The beer is very clean looking - no fogginess or cloudiness. It had a decent head, not too much - but certainly built up some carbonation. It smells great - but the taste may be off. It could just be that it isn't my favorite style of beer, or not knowing what it is 'supposed' to taste like. It has a fresh start, but the aftertaste is a bit sour/bitter. It is certainly drinkable, but I wonder if something could have been done better? Would bottle conditioning longer help ease what I'm tasting? Any input in general would be great (BTW, if I didn't already say it in this thread - its an extract kit from Northern Brewer for their Irish Red Ale. Followed the directions to a T during the brew, 3 weeks in a glass carboy, 2 weeks bottled with a cane sugar primer). Cheers.

 

[hepcat]

Congrats on your first brew Coachlight. I too am new to home brewing. At least yours is drinkable, lol, even if you are not crazy about it. And, from my limited experience, there is a good chance some more aging will take care of what you taste and don't like. Cheers and good luck with future batches.