First brew in bucket

I brewed my first beer today!!!

It took me a good 4 hours to do it. Man that takes alot of time. I must be slow or something. I brewed a stout from a brew shop nearby. Here is how it went:
Place specialty grain in grain bag in 3 gallons of cold water and steep until 170 degrees.
Turned off heat and steeped for 20 minutes
Added my malt extract and stirred until dissolved
Turned heat on and brought to a boil.
Noticed foam on top and added first hops
Sanitized bucket, airlock, hydrometer, thermometer, strainer, spoon.
Boiled wort for 30 minutes then added gypsum and something else I can't remember what it is called.
Boiled wort for 20 more minutes and added last hops.
dumped out bucket and wiped down counter with sanitizer for equipment
Let bucket and equipment air dry with lid on for about 25 minutes (this was during the boil)
Filled sink with water and ice and placed pot of wort in it
Cooled wort for about 30 minutes until down to about 70 degrees.
took hydrometer reading
tasted beer GOOD!
dumped wort through strainer
added about 2.4 gallons of cold water rinsing hops in strainer as I went
placed lid on bucket and rocked back and fourth for about 2 minutes to areate.
shook vial of liquid yeast and pitched, no starter was requiried.
put airlock on bucket and placed in my air conditioned room at about 67 degrees.

The hydrometer reading was 1.080 which is higher than I expected. This beer as an abv of 6.5%.

So thats how it went! How did I do? Should I have done anything differently?

I'm unfamiliar with the addition of gypsum.... but other than that, it sounds like you had a pretty successful brew day. Your method looks pretty solid from my point of view.

Congrats! Let us know how it turns out.

It sounds like you did just fine!
Your brew day will shorten as you get more comfortable brewing. That is until you go all grain!

As far as your gravity reading being high, are you sure you had the correct volume in the fermenter? If you ended up with less than 5 gallons total your gravity will be high. Another possibility could be that the wort wasn't completely mixed with the top off water. Your hydrometer sample may have contained concentrated wort.
List the ingredients of what you made and that will help determine what the gravity should have been.

RichBrewer said:

It sounds like you did just fine!
Your brew day will shorten as you get more comfortable brewing. That is until you go all grain!

As far as your gravity reading being high, are you sure you had the correct volume in the fermenter? If you ended up with less than 5 gallons total your gravity will be high. Another possibility could be that the wort wasn't completely mixed with the top off water. Your hydrometer sample may have contained concentrated wort.
List the ingredients of what you made and that will help determine what the gravity should have been.

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I took the hydrometer reading before I added top of water. Was that a mistake?

Here are the ingredients,
8 lbs. dark malt extract
1/2 lb crystal malt
3/4 lb roasted barley
1/4 lb chocalte malt.
Northern brewer hops 1.5 at 60 minutes, .5 at 10 minutes
white labs yeast ale
1 tsp Irish moss
1 tsp gypsum both at 30 minutes

By the way, I decided not to boil my top off water. I read that alot of people do it this way so that is how I decided to do it. One thing that I should have done but forgot was to sanitize the lid to the bucket. Will this ruin my beer. It was nice and clean I don't think the beer ever touched it.

newbrewr4fun said:

I took the hydrometer reading before I added top of water. Was that a mistake?

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Yes, the hydrometer reading must be taken after you top off with water, but before you pitch the yeast. That's why it was so high, but now you'll know for next time. I always seem to forget to do my OG - finally glad brew day is almost done I guess...

You take the hydrometer reading just before you add the yeast. Even the temp of the wort will have an effect on the hydro reading.

I pitched the yeast last night at about 10:45. Still no signs of frementation. Bucket is sitting in a 69 degree room.

wait at least 72 hours. What type of yeast? What was the Gravity reading?

newbrewr4fun said:

I pitched the yeast last night at about 10:45. Still no signs of frementation. Bucket is sitting in a 69 degree room.

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There really are no "signs of fermentation" if you are using a bucket...i.e. you can't see the krauzen forming and falling...

In other words, bubbling or lack of in the airlock is not a good indication of fermentation occuring...If that's what you mean by "no signs of fermentation," then it could (and probably is happening) and you aren't even aware of it...There's way too many variables that can come into play in terms of airlock bubbling to use that as an indicator.

You could have for example and bad seal between the grommet (or stopper) and the airlock, or the lid on the bucket isn't fully tight and gas is getting out elsewhere besides the airlock, or the stopper and mouth of the carboy and that would appear slow, while fermentaion is actually occuring rapidly... Or the little bubbler in the airlock could be sitting a little crooked, or become weighted down with tiny co2 bubbles and need to build up a good head of gas before blurping again.

Even having the airlock leaning slightly askew affects it.

I've had beers in my fermentor that have had almost no airlock activity, but I saw the liguid in the airlock was saturated with tiny bubbles. But on the other hand, the brown ale I pitched on a yeastcake from a previous batch sounded like a machine gun the way the bubbler was going up and down...I ended up needing a blow off tube once it got going...

So as you can see airlock activity varies, and should not be used a a sign of speed or lack of fermentation.

The hydrometer is the only ture indication of fermentation, and since it has only been a few hours it's waaaayyyy to soon to be taking one.

This is where patience and trust comes in...trusting that the yeast know what they're doing (which they do, they've been doing it for several thousands of years.)

Rev-vy Rev-vy, Rev-vy.

Listen to this guy. He will calm your nerves and steer you in the right direction. He is truly a Jedi.

Hoosierbrewer said:

Rev-vy Rev-vy, Rev-vy.

Listen to this guy. He will calm your nerves and steer you in the right direction. He is truly a Jedi.

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Aw come on.....

Hoosierbrewer said:

wait at least 72 hours. What type of yeast? What was the Gravity reading?

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The gravity reading was 1.080 but was high considering I took a sample of concentrated wort. The yeast is a liquid yeast. White labs ale.

The airlock is sitting a little crooked but I can't seem to get it perfectly straight. The bucket seems to be sealed tightly. I am pretty sure the airlock is sealed tightly. THe plastic part that seals the bucket on the airlock is pushed down as far as it will comfortably go, I can't get it down any farther. I tried pushing it so hard that some of the water went into the beer. Luckily it is sanitized.

I used a liquid yeast on my last batch. I had zero bubbles in my airlock for 72 hours and then all of a sudden, I had 1/16 inch of krausen (using a PET carboy) - Thankfully I had to get something out of that room an hour later because when I went back in, I had krausen coming up the air lock and had to scramble for a blowoff tube.
It'll happen - even though it feels like it never will.

I guess since I did not use a starter that frementation start up can take longer. I have been reading around and have heard that starters are pretty much the way to go with white labs yeast. The guy at the brew shop assured me that the yeast that came with my kit, which is white labs did not need a starter.

newbrewr4fun said:

The gravity reading was 1.080 but was high considering I took a sample of concentrated wort. The yeast is a liquid yeast. White labs ale.

The airlock is sitting a little crooked but I can't seem to get it perfectly straight. The bucket seems to be sealed tightly. I am pretty sure the airlock is sealed tightly. THe plastic part that seals the bucket on the airlock is pushed down as far as it will comfortably go, I can't get it down any farther. I tried pushing it so hard that some of the water went into the beer. Luckily it is sanitized.

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What I was saying was that you can't judge whether or not fermentation is happenning via the bubbling of the airlock...so many new brewers don't get bubbling and panic and want to repitch the yeast...when it turns out that everything is copacetic.

Somewhere along the lines we've come to this idea that the airlock means fermentation is or isn't happenning , when in reality it is purely a pressure release valve, and a somewhat flawed one at that....

A watched pail never bubbles... or something like that.

Spunkmeyer said:

A watched pail never bubbles... or something like that.

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Or this:

Well I will see how it looks in the morning. Right now there looks like a little head on the beer, or maybe just a little foam. Thats all I can see for now. Should I assume that eventually the airlock will start to bubble when frementation is really active?

newbrewr4fun said:

Well I will see how it looks in the morning. Right now there looks like a little head on the beer, or maybe just a little foam. Thats all I can see for now. Should I assume that eventually the airlock will start to bubble when frementation is really active?

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I'll say it again...NO...you can't assume anything with beer...except that the yeast know what they are doing....if you can see that head has formed that means fermentation is occuring regardless of airlock activity....

One more time...you can't judge whether or not fermentation is happenning via the bubbling of the airlock, or lack of bubbling you can tell that only with the hydrometer...

Walk away from wherever your fermenter is sitting and come back in a week and take your hydrometer reading. You beer is fine, it's not a weak newborn baby, it doesn't need to be mother henned.

I have had beers that fermented beacutifully without one bubble in the airlock, and I have had others that sounded like a machine gun from the get go, and I have had others that needed a blow off tube...each beer is different....

the airlock is just to vent out the carbon dioxide to keep the lid from the fermenter, and to prevent stuff from getting it....get out of the mindset of thinking airlock bubbling equals fermentation....

Okay, I will check on it in a week. The only other problem I can think of is that I took my hydrometer reading without adding top off water first, and it was a couple points high. I am not sure what the final gravity of this beer should be, just that the readings should be steady before I bottle. That is all that the instructions said that came with the kit. Should I just look for a substantial decrease from OG before I rack to a secondary? My original reading from concentrated wort was 1.080.

I promise this will be my last dumb question.

Hey, I made an IPA on Sunday with White Labs California Ale yeast.

I guess we'll be drinking them at about the same time.

I just walked by be frementer and the airlock is now bubbling. I also see some foam on top of the beer. That airlock may not be a sign of frementation but it sure is nice to see it bubbling!

BTW does it matter how much water is in the airlock? It seems to only be half full but I had it filled to the top.

newbrewr4fun said:

I just walked by be frementer and the airlock is now bubbling. I also see some foam on top of the beer. That airlock may not be a sign of frementation but it sure is nice to see it bubbling!

BTW does it matter how much water is in the airlock? It seems to only be half full but I had it filled to the top.

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it should only be about half full...mine has a faint line inscribed in it at about the halfway point.

tasted beer GOOD!

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Most important part.

Congrats on a successful first brew day. Don't forget to let us know how it tastes after completed.

Rick

You can go to any number of websites that'll compute a theoretical OG by inputting the ingredients list. According to my copy of ProMash, you're looking at OG 1.066.

Cheers,

Bob

BobNQ3X said:

You can go to any number of websites that'll compute a theoretical OG by inputting the ingredients list. According to my copy of ProMash, you're looking at OG 1.066.

Cheers,

Bob

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Thanks! Now just to figure out what the FG should be.

newbrewr4fun said:

Thanks! Now just to figure out what the FG should be.

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A simple way to estimate FG is to use the yeast's attenuation figures. Or you could just use 1/4 of the OG, since most yeast's attenuate to 75% or so.

FG points = (1 - attenuation) * OG points

16.5 = (1 - 0.75) * 66

So yours would finish approximately at around 1.016 -1.017

Revvy said:

A simple way to estimate FG is to use the yeast's attenuation figures. Or you could just use 1/4 of the OG, since most yeast's attenuate to 75% or so.

FG points = (1 - attenuation) * OG points

16.5 = (1 - 0.75) * 66

So yours would finish approximately at around 1.016 -1.017

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Thanks for the info and all of your help in this thread. Beer is doing well, looks like about 3/4 inch of krausen and a couple bubbles a second in the airlock. No foam ups or anything yet, but I have a blow off tube handy if I need one. :rockin:

The temp here is supposed to get up to the nineties for the next few days. I got a rubbermaid container and filled it with a couple inches of water. I draped a t-shirt around the bucket. How cold will this keep my beer? The room will be at about 72 degrees. I would keep it colder but my room air conditioner is expensive to run and does not keep a steady temp. It is either too cold or a touch to warm. I figure this measure will keep the temp at a frementable level. I also put a fan in front of the bucket.

I just thought of something. When I brewed my beer and added water to the cooled wort, I used a distilled water gallon sized jug to measure how much water to put into the wort. I did not sanitize the container that had been sitting in my cabinet about half full for a few months. Could this ruin my beer?

newbrewr4fun said:

I just thought of something. When I brewed my beer and added water to the cooled wort, I used a distilled water gallon sized jug to measure how much water to put into the wort. I did not sanitize the container that had been sitting in my cabinet about half full for a few months. Could this ruin my beer?

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If it was sealed probably not....Remember it takes a lot to ruin beer...People have dropped stuff into their fermenters and stuck their whole are into it to retrieve it and their beer has survived....Beer is more hardy than we give it credit...just try to be more careful next time.

I just took my second hydrometer reading but it was too late. I had already racked to the secondary. The reading was 1.022 which is way to high.

The og of this beer was 1.065. Is my beer a failure? The brew instructions said to rack after the bubbles had slowed to less than one per minute. the bubbles had ceased and it had been one week so I assumed it was ready to rack. The instructions also said to take a reading after it had been racked and record it, then if it stays close to the same on the third and fourth reading to bottle. It did not mention anything about OG and FG. I tasted the beer and I noticed that it tasted good, but could have been stronger. I mean it did not have a very strong alcohol taste. It may also be worth noting that I was short of 5 gallons, I probably had 4 to 4.5 gallons of beer.\



P.s.

I had all sorts of trouble with the auto siphon, I don't know how many times I pumped it. Is there any tricks I should know? I am also worried that I areated my beer when siphoning. I lost the siphon multiple times and there was air in the tube. I guess it did not have a decent seal or something. What will this do to my beer and should I call my brew shop guy and have him send me a new auto siphon?

newbrewr4fun said:

I just took my second hydrometer reading but it was too late. I had already racked to the secondary. The reading was 1.022 which is way to high.

The og of this beer was 1.065. Is my beer a failure? The brew instructions said to rack after the bubbles had slowed to less than one per minute. the bubbles had ceased and it had been one week so I assumed it was ready to rack. The instructions also said to take a reading after it had been racked and record it, then if it stays close to the same on the third and fourth reading to bottle. It did not mention anything about OG and FG. I tasted the beer and I noticed that it tasted good, but could have been stronger. I mean it did not have a very strong alcohol taste. It may also be worth noting that I was short of 5 gallons, I probably had 4 to 4.5 gallons of beer.\

P.s.

I had all sorts of trouble with the auto siphon, I don't know how many times I pumped it. Is there any tricks I should know? I am also worried that I areated my beer when siphoning. I lost the siphon multiple times and there was air in the tube. I guess it did not have a decent seal or something. What will this do to my beer and should I call my brew shop guy and have him send me a new auto siphon?

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No, it was not done fermenting. No, your beer is not ruined (but it may be if you don't stop worrying about it Your beer will continue to ferment in the secondary and that is ok. You will just need to let it sit in the secondary a little longer. You'll probabbly notice some bubbles or FLOTSOM (KRAUSEN) floating on top in a few days. This will just be fermentation activity starting up again and is expected in this case. Let it sit in your secondary for at least 2 more weeks.

You did not ruin your beer when you siphoned it. I suggest practicing with your auto-siphon. You can fill up your sink to do this. Start with the plunger all the way down in the tube - Gently pull the plunger up approximately 4-6 inches - Gently push the plunger all the way back down. This will start the siphoning process.

This will work out - remember - the more you touch it, the more chances you have of screwing it up (which really is pretty hard).

stpoynter said:

No, it was not done fermenting. No, your beer is not ruined (but it may be if you don't stop worrying about it Your beer will continue to ferment in the secondary and that is ok. You will just need to let it sit in the secondary a little longer. You'll probabbly notice some bubbles or FLOTSOM (KRAUSEN) floating on top in a few days. This will just be fermentation activity starting up again and is expected in this case. Let it sit in your secondary for at least 2 more weeks.

You did not ruin your beer when you siphoned it. I suggest practicing with your auto-siphon. You can fill up your sink to do this. Start with the plunger all the way down in the tube - Gently pull the plunger up approximately 4-6 inches - Gently push the plunger all the way back down. This will start the siphoning process.

This will work out - remember - the more you touch it, the more chances you have of screwing it up (which really is pretty hard).

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Cool, I had planned to let it sit in secondary for 2 weeks anyway. On the plus side of this, the beer tasted good when I drank the sample.

Sure enough it is frementing again. I noticed some krausen and the airlock is bubbling a few bubbles a minute.

We can put up with d!ckheads at work, nagging swmbo's, friends borrowing things and forgetting, but it really sucks when our beer screws with us...

Why is it that the beer is activley frementing again after I transferred it to the secondary. I know I racked to soon by error, but the airlock had stopped bubbling completely before I moved to the secondary. Is there any reasoning behind this?

stpoynter said:

We can put up with d!ckheads at work, nagging swmbo's, friends borrowing things and forgetting, but it really sucks when are beer screws with us...

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God, truer words were never spoken! I had to rig a blow-off tube at midnight last night, and couldn't get to sleep till after 2AM 'cause the "daddy" in me kept getting up to check it was going smoothly.

Today, I had a crappy day at work trying to find out why I don't have the parts I ordered for three clients. Dealing with said 3 now pissed-off clients, a grouchy, gassy boy (my son, not a batch) and one of my best friends taking off for an extended, solo trip through the Baltics.

I'm sitting here worrying about my blow-off tube!

newbrewr4fun said:

Why is it that the beer is activley frementing again after I transferred it to the secondary. I know I racked to soon by error, but the airlock had stopped bubbling completely before I moved to the secondary. Is there any reasoning behind this?

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EDIT: Got to stop typing so fast, corrected.
You may have stirred up the lazy yeasties and put them back to work, also a little air/O2 tends to get mixed in when your rack and kick things off again. Don't worry, its normal.
The secondary will give the beer time to finalize the fermentation and allow the yeast to clean up a little. After 2 weeks bottle/keg, leave it alone for 3 weeks and enjoy. Believe me, if you thought making it took a while, waiting is the real test.
Welcome to homebrewing.

Well the brew has been in secondary now for a week. The krausen that kicked back up after I transferred has fallen and the airlock stopped bubbling about a day and a half after I transferred. One more week then a quick test with my new wine thief, the kind you can take a sample and use your hydrometer at the same time, then bottling time.

I am just going to soak the caps in idopher and run the bottles through the sanitary rinse wash on the dishwasher. The bottles should already be pretty clean and I have heard that this method works. Then sanitize a stirring spoon, auto siphon(if it gets here by then) tubing and bottle filler. I know some people suggest using a sanitizer but that seems like a waste. What would you guys do?

I also have a bottle washer, should I wash the brand new bottles with it before I sanitize, or is the dishwasher enough?