1st Batch Help

[bsm4u]

I made my first batch on Sunday and 48 hrs later there isn't much happening. It was an Irish Red Ale from Midwest that used LME and Muntons dry yeast.

A couple issues that worry me: after receiving the kit it was 3-4 days before I read that I was supposed to refrigerate the yeast (guess I thought only liquid needed to be)
Also during the boil it was difficult to keep a vigorous boil going on my glass top stove. It did boil slowly for an hour and I put the lid on the kettle for while which helped but I've read that is not a good practice so I only left it on for about 10 minutes.

I cracked the lid of the bucket which I'm using as the primary and no foam and no bubbling from the air lock with the exception of a few bubbles yesterday morning. Also, in my haste I forgot to take an OG reading so nothing to add there.

Any thought or suggestions are welcome.

 

[KepowOb]

You don't need (or even want, from what I understand) a vigorous boil, just more of a rolling boil. Having the lid on can lead to DMS, which they say can lead to off-flavors. Maybe next time have a smaller boil and just top off later to reach your total volume?

As for the activity, depending on the temperature and what not, it's possible it's already done with the primary stages of fermentation. If your lid wasn't on perfect, it's possible not to see any airlock activity. Is there a ring of funky looking stuff around the top of the beer in the bucket? When the krausen drops, it'll leave a ring around your fermenter. If there is nothing there at all, I'm not really sure what the best solution is.

As far as leaving the pack of yeast out for a few days, it won't have done it any real harm. For long term storage dry least should be refrigerated, but a couple days won't harm it much... The only real issue would be how old it was in the first place (I think).

 

[Ster]

I brewed that kit. It was very good.

Just relax and wait. It is extract so your OG should be very close to the instructions. Wait a few days and take another reading. You should see a significant drop from the expected OG.

If you do... you know the yeasts are feasting and you are all good.

 

[Mozart]

Patience is tough with the first brew. It sure was with mine (and still is). That said, I think that's what's called for here.

Lack of a strong enough boil could lead to some off flavors as others have noted, but shouldn't impact fermentation.

While it may have been better to store your dry yeast in the refrigerator, it is dry yeast, and my understanding is that it can tolerate warmer temperatures for longer periods of time than its liquid counterparts. I really think you'll be fine here. The kit didn't come refrigerated, did it? So certainly Midwest thinks the yeast can handle a few days of warmer temperatures -- or they'd have a lot of annoyed customers on their hands.

Relax, reseal that lid really well, and give it a couple more days. I think you'll start to see the yeast do their work.

 

[bsm4u]

Temp has been consistent at 68-70 deg. There is a ring from the krausen about an inch or two high so there has been activity at some point. Thanks for the input.

 

[duboman]

While boiling with the lid on is not a great idea I'll chime in and say that DMS is not an issue with extract brew because the DMS precursors are removed in the production of the extract.....

 

[KepowOb]

While boiling with the lid on is not a great idea I'll chime in and say that DMS is not an issue with extract brew because the DMS precursors are removed in the production of the extract.....

I wasn't aware, thanks .

If you see the krausen ring, as you said, there was some activity, so things should be moving along with no problems.

 

[fub4r3d]

I made my first batch on Sunday and 48 hrs later there isn't much happening. It was an Irish Red Ale from Midwest that used LME and Muntons dry yeast

Crazy... I brewed my first batch on Sunday using the same kit as you. It took 6-8 hours to get some activity in the primary and its still got a 1" head of foam going with bubbles every second or two in the blowoff container. Its been sitting in a swamp cooler around 64-66 with ambient temp of the room around 67-68. I wouldn't worry too much about the yeast sitting out as mine accidentally sat at room temperature for a few days since I was away. Did you rehydrate the yeast before pitching or did you pitch it dry?

Can't wait to get it into bottles and into me

 

[bsm4u]

I did rehydrate the yeast before pitching. It worries me hearing how active yours is. Can you tell me if you took a reading what the OG was?

 

[fub4r3d]

Using an online calculator to adjust for reading temperature, I came in at 1.042 (lower end of the recipes 1.041-1.046). I ended up splitting the LME into 2/3 pre boil and 1/3 with 15 mins left based on what I had read on the forum (I was a bit too gun shy to use more LME later in the boil), but besides that, I followed the recipe to the letter.

 

[bsm4u]

Thanks for the reply. I don't think I've read about splitting the malt before. What's the idea behind that?

 

[freisste]

Thanks for the reply. I don't think I've read about splitting the malt before. What's the idea behind that?

Less of a "cooked taste" and fewer Maillard reactions (they cause the wort to darken). Really not that critical, but lots of people complain about the taste. Not as big of a concern if you do a full boil (no top off). I wouldn't worry about it.

Not saying it doesn't help. In fact, I make sure to do it on every batch. But certainly don't fret if you boiled it all the whole hour in a partial boil. You'll make beer.

 

[bsm4u]

One other thing I'm curios about. When I popped open the lid and took a wiff, it had an initial sweet smell followed by a sharp somewhat burning sensation. I assume the latter was probably the CO2? What say you experienced brewers.

 

[freisste]

Likely CO2. It can definitely burn your nose and eyes (burn as in burning sensation, I don't think it is chemically dangerous). I took a really deep whiff a while back because I was so excited about my brew. Damn near brought me to my knees. Reminded me of undergrad working in a chemistry lab.

 

[bsm4u]

Yep burning sensation that was sharp and strong. Hey thanks everyone for all the replies!!!

 

[Dynachrome]

The cracked lid isn't a big deal IMHO. Just don't let it set in the fermentor too long.

Do you have a hydrometer, and do you know what specific gravity it is supposed to finish at?

I'd say no more than 10 days.

How big is the crack?

 

[bsm4u]

I didn't actually crack the lid, just meant I opened it just a little. I am guessing the lid is not sealing 100% even though its snapped down tight.

 

[CBR250]

I'd throw in some more yeast but a I'm not so patient. It has a worked well for me several batches.

 

[bsm4u]

I think I'll pop open the bucket on Sunday and take a hydrometer reading just to see how it's coming along.

 

[fub4r3d]

Just to give you a rough idea where mine is (since we started it on the same day), my krausen dropped down to 0 at some point overnight between Wednesday and Thursday. I changed out my blowoff tube for an airlock and I'm still getting fairly consistent bubbling. I'm planning on taking a hydrometer reading on Sunday as well.

 

[bsm4u]

fub4r3d, Thanks for the update. Still trying to decide if my fermentation is dead or if I have a leak somewhere. Could you post gravity reading when you take it so I can compare. Thanks again!!

 

[fub4r3d]

Just took a gravity reading about 6 days, 20 hrs after it went into the fermenter and I got 1.012 @66.2F (Adjusted to 1.012 @ 68F for hydrometer calibration). It's definitely reach the FG range listed in the instructions (1.010-1.012), but its still pretty cloudy, so I'm going to leave it for another week or so to see if it clears up a bit. Here's a cell picture of what it looks like:

 

[Tobiasosir]

Looks pretty good!
I wouldn't worry about it being cloudy--same thing happened to me with my current (and first) batch. I even have some hops that didn't dissolve and have been steadily dropping day by day.
How's it taste? If you've reached the right FG, you should be ready to rack into a secondary or bottle if you're skipping that bit...but letting it sit for a while won't hurt, unless the yeast starts autolysis (where the yeast eat themselves) which can produce off flavours....though, from what I've read here,that isn't likely with today's yeasts.

 

[fub4r3d]

It smells amazing, tastes pretty good for no carbonation (at least I cant pick out any off flavours), but looks like swamp water in a glass hahaha. If it's not a problem to bottle after only 9-10 days in the fermenter (recipe calls for 14), then I may give it a go this week (gotta take a couple more hydrometer readings tomorrow and Tuesday).

I've been eyeing up my other 2 kits this week wanting to make them, but I wanted to wait until my first round finished carbonation so that I can see what I could do better for the next round.

 

[KepowOb]

It smells amazing, tastes pretty good for no carbonation (at least I cant pick out any off flavours), but looks like swamp water in a glass hahaha. If it's not a problem to bottle after only 9-10 days in the fermenter (recipe calls for 14), then I may give it a go this week (gotta take a couple more hydrometer readings tomorrow and Tuesday).

I've been eyeing up my other 2 kits this week wanting to make them, but I wanted to wait until my first round finished carbonation so that I can see what I could do better for the next round.

You're willing to let it carb up before starting your next one? What patience. I let my first sit in the primary for 3 weeks, but once it was bottled I was brewing the next one right away!

If you let it sit around longer it should keep clearing up (slowly) or you could try co,d crashing it if you've got the setup for it. One thing to note is that, while you can bottle once FG is reached, there is still some stuff that will go on in there, yeasties cleaning up after themselves mostly, which can help with both clarity and flavor from what I understand, though someone else could probably give better info on that. That said, you're prob, safe to bottle at this point. It'll clear up a bit more once it's bottled, but I don't think you'll get it very clear at this point (at least from my own experience).

 

[fub4r3d]

Don't get me wrong, I really want to brew another and I have a total of 5 carboys available, but I want to make sure everything goes well on the first one. I'll probably leave it for another week or so then bottle. We'll see how long after that I get until I start another one

What all is involved in cold crashing it? I've read a few things about it and from what I can find, I need to bring it 10 degrees under fermentation temp for a few days. I've already got the fermenter around 66-67, so icing down my swamp cooler to 55 will take a bunch of ice. Unfortunately, I'm still in the process of getting a freezer setup for them control.

 

[bsm4u]

Well took a hydrometer reading tonight and looks good at about 1.011. Sample looks, smells and tastes about what I expected. Will leave in the primary for another week and bottle. Time to start thinking about the next batch.

 

[bsm4u]

fub, Thanks for sharing your progress its been fun to hear about another version going on at the same time. It is interesting that we are pretty much at the same point but its looked completely different getting here. Please continue to share your progress. Also you mentioned the next two kits, do you mind sharing what they are?

 

[pgordon80]

On my first batch I did everything wrong according to anyone I talked to. You know what I still made beer and it was pretty damn tasty. It's hard on the first one but you have to understand time is your friend and everything you do is a learning process. You will make better beer just stick with it and learn from your mistakes. Happy brewing.

 

[fub4r3d]

fub, Thanks for sharing your progress its been fun to hear about another version going on at the same time. It is interesting that we are pretty much at the same point but its looked completely different getting here. Please continue to share your progress. Also you mentioned the next two kits, do you mind sharing what they are?

Glad to hear yours is working out! As so many people have said, it seems like its hard to screw up beer. My 2 other kits are both from Midwest - one is their Black Dog Ale and the other is their Cherry Wheat. Not sure which ill make first.

I'm also looking at an oak aged stout, an imperial blonde, and a holiday ale from somewhere more local, but that's a little ways off.

 

[bsm4u]

Beer has been in bottles for almost two weeks now. Could not help myself, when home for lunch today I stuck one in the fridge so I could sample and check progress. Had nice hiss when popped cap and good two to three inches of thick head from pour. Aroma and flavor both seem a bit weaker than I expected. Color is dark, I'm sure a product of boiling LME a full hour and no cold crash. Carbonation fizzled quickly but had only been cold for ten hours. I think I'll throw a couple more samples in the fridge and let the rest set for another week.