Where I am at with a brew;looking for advisement

[amd133mhz]

Hello all! I've been reading through getting ideas and I decided to post a general question based on where I am with a particular brew.

I am making a Irish Stout from brewers best kit.
I steeped grains at rec. temp,added bittering hops gentle boiled for about an hour added aroma hops gentle boiled all accord to kit instruction temps and times. cooled wort to about 75f. poured into fermenter bucket. added a combo of room temp and cold bottled spring water to 5 gallons. let sit for about 3 -5 min. pitched yeast at about 69-70 (nottingham ale yeast) stirred in for about a minute or two. capped lid. attached airlock and checked for a secure seal. let sit for about 5 days at about 68-70f. noticed via airlock hole in lid that the foam had subsided a considerable amount and bubbling had slowed to a halt.

Decided to rack into a carboy secondary. siphoned the beer over. took a reading and it read about 1.020. like a moron i forgot to get a OG reading so this doesn't really help me much. it smells....eh? now its in the carboy with airlock attached and is def bubbling again at a rate closer to when i started to ferment.
I smelt the instead of my primary even after a good rinse and it had a NASTY sour smell. i took a quick sip n spit taste test and initially it was rather bitter and very "alchoholy". my second sip and spit for some reason seemed better and more like a flat stout but still a bit bitter. after reading many of your posts so far what I have gathered is that its still young and needs more time.
My questions to all of you is. How much time should I give it in the carboy. When do you recommend I bottle? is the smells and tastes normal for this early stage in the process. I should also mention I may have accidentally gotten a very small amount of germ-x into the fermenter bucket before pitching yeast(about a table spoon or less) posted about that and the feedback seemed to indicate I might have some off flavors but since it was fermenting I didn't kill the yeast or create some toxic poison.

Please leave me your advice based on what you may have tried or done in the past with irish stouts as far as aging times and the smells and really any advice you have to offer. I would GREATLY appreciate anything you might have for me!

Thank You

 

[beerman0001]

It needs A good 3 weeks before you even mess with it. Since it is a stout you might want to bulk condition it for a few months.

 

[BobC]

It's a stout so it will take longer. My Oatmeal Stout goes from boil to bottle in 2 months, sits in the bottle for a couple of week for carbonation. Aging a beer mellows the flavor out and the darker beers have a lot of flavor. It does take longer but it's worth the wait.

 

[Piratwolf]

Hey, amd!

My first message is that I didn't read a single thing in your post that suggests you need to worry. Infections are rare. If you're worried about the re-started fermentation in your carboy, I've had that happen several times with no problem. As for the nasty smell, fermentation usually stinks; and it's normal to have such an early sip taste rather harsh. As for the germ-x, I assume it's a sanitized like Star-San and therefore shouldn't hurt your beer, especially in small amounts.

If I were to have done something different, it would probably be to delay (if not eliminate) the transfer to secondary in order to let the yeast clean up their by-products and have more drop out of suspension so the "secondary" would be a cleaner aging process. That is just an option, though, and you certainly haven't done anything wrong!

We are/were all super-concerned about the first beer. I think that's why the RDWHAHB motto was developed. But I'm glad you posted this experience b/c it reminds me of my first brews. The only antidote to worrying about my beers was to start planning the next one!

Cheers!

 

[prrriiide]

My questions to all of you is. How much time should I give it in the carboy.

I try to give my stouts 3-4 weeks in primary. What you have to realize is that just because you don't see bubbles in the airlock, does not mean that the yeasties are done wid thier bidness. In addition to eating sugar and pi$$ing alcohol and farting CO2, they also like to clean up after themselves. That takes time, usually a good bit longer than the active fermentation.

When do you recommend I bottle?

I agree with Pirat that waiting longer next time before racking is a good idea (and you certainly don't have to rack to secondary- I never have with a stout). But, since you are already in secondary, let your senses be your guide. The purpose of a secondary is to clear and settle the beer. You should be able to tell when it's done. Just relax and don't rush things. Brewing is not a hobby for the hasty or impetuous. I promise, your patience will be rewarded.

is the smells and tastes normal for this early stage in the process.

I can't say for sure, since I haven't had a taste. BUT... like I said, yeast pi$$ alcohol and fart CO2. You are smelling a microorganism's outhouse. If it doesn't smell, you're doing it wrong. The taste will definitely be harsher than what you expect it to be...it isn't finished yet! My stouts don't ever really come into their own until they have been in the bottles for 3-4 months. They usually hit their peak around 6-8 months. Patience, my friend!

I should also mention I may have accidentally gotten a very small amount of germ-x into the fermenter bucket before pitching yeast(about a table spoon or less) posted about that and the feedback seemed to indicate I might have some off flavors but since it was fermenting I didn't kill the yeast or create some toxic poison.

If you're taking about the hand sanitizer, you're in luck. The active ingredient is ethyl alcohol. So at worst you might have boosted your ABV by a 10th of a point. I wouldn't give it another thought.

 

[unionrdr]

I agree with th above posts. I don't secondary at all unless I'm racking onto something. And while racking to secondary at 5 days isn't recommended procedure,it sounds like it's ok...this time. I leave mine in primary till it reaches a stable FG. Then dry hop for a week if I am at all. If not,then I just give it another 3-7 days if I see that it needs to clean up some off flavors or by products of fermentation. That amount of time will at least give it time to settle out more. When it's clear,or slightly misty,I rack to the bottling bucket.

 

[Yooper]

A lot of extract brews stop at 1.020, and stay there. That's happened to me quite a few times, especially with beers with darker extracts like stouts. The dark extract has more unfermentable sugars in it, so it' not unexpected that it's finished. Nottingham yeast works quickly, and when it's done it forms a pretty tightly compacted yeast cake. The thing is, that yeast starts to taste pretty bad if it gets above 72 degrees, and in a 70 degree room the beer might easily get above 75 degrees or even higher as fermentation itself produces heat. So try to keep it at 65-68 (beer temperature, not room temperature!) and be patient.

I'd plan on bottling about 2-3 weeks from brewday.

 

[unionrdr]

I got that 1.020 curse once,with the Burton ale. Rousing yeast & warming it up got it down to 1.018 from a 1.065 OG. And the darker malts will def effect FG with all the extra un-fermentables that give color & flavor. Had to learn that myself with bigger beers. And I re-hydrated 28g of cooper's ale yeast for that one. The yeast's julian date was from late 2010,brewed last Oct for Christmas. But 2 of the 4-7g packets were in the can's false lids. The other 2 were from the LHBS,kept at cold temps too.
So dark malts & high gravity can def effect the yeast when it gets down close to estimated FG.

 

[amd133mhz]

Alright! Thank you. sounds great. Your advice is most def appreciated Thank you very much.