1st brew in the fermentor...got questions

[hossfly]

Help!

I need advice from some folks who have travelled this road.
This is my first brew, and I have some concerns. I did a lot of lurking and reading before taking the plunge.
Decided to go the full boil route with extract and specialty grains. Got an Irish Red Ale kit from AHS, and added the BrewVint alcohol boost (says it will boost ABV by 1%).

Anyway, here goes....Got the SG steeped @ 155-160 for 25-30 minutes in 2 gal of distilled water, then added 3 more gal DW and got the boil going...added about half of the 7 lbs. LME (decide to late LME addition after reading some about it) and the packet of BrewVint....did the hop additions on schedule (weighed and added per the recipe).
At the last hop addition I added the rest of the LME but didn't think about it bringing the temp down and stopping the boil (also realized I needed to add some more DW to bring volume back up to 5 gal.) Tried to do it in small quantities but it still dropped temp about 15-20 degrees F. Took about 10-15 extra minutes to bring back to boil and hot break the last malt addition. So I totalled about 1 hour + 15-20 minutes boil time instead of 60 minutes called for. cooled to 80F in about 20-25 minutes using IC then put wort into 6.5 gal glass carboy. OG was at 1.064...recipe called for 1.052 OG and 1.012 FG (maybe high OG because of BrewVint addition or late LME addition)????

Kettle has a ball valve, so I used a funnel and tube to let it splatter and aerate into the carboy, then shook the crap out of it off and on for about 10-15 minutes. Pitched one vial of WHiteLabs WL004 Irish Ale yeast per recipe at about 11 PM Mon night. By Tues 6 PM it was starting to ferment a bit, and by 11PM it was rolling with about 2 inches of krausen.
It really rolled for about 36-48 hours then just went to almost nothing, and the krausen dropped to a thin film by Fri evening. As of this evening getting a bubble out of the airlock about every 20-30 seconds, and no noticeable activity in the wort as far as movement.

What I am wondering is if this is a normal dropoff in fermentation, or did I maybe need more yeast since my OG was high?

I have a spare packet of Safale US-05 in another kit I wont be using right away. Other than that I have no options and really dont want to pay shipping for just a pack or two of yeast. (live in AL with no HB shops anywhere closeby).

Should I give it a couple more days and take a gravity reading to see where I am at, or go ahead and pitch more yeast now?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. BTW I tasted the cooled wort out of my OG sample and it tasted basically like a flat Irish Red, so I think I'm on the right track.

 

[freisste]

Leave it alone. Everything is fine.

OG was a little high from your addition. Boiling a little extra will adjust the flavor and aroma of the hops and make it a little more bitter. Nothing to do about it now.

RDWHAHB.

 

[BxBrewer]

Fermentation is still going on. The bulk of it takes about 3 days "what you saw". I wouldn't take a reading until a full 4 weeks from when you pitched it. Leave it alone. In 3-4 weeks your beer should be some what clear with a nice yeast cake on the bottom. If you read and adjusted for the temp when you took your OG. And it is in fact 1.064 i wouldnt take a reading for 5-6 weeks.

BTW what was the temp of the wort during the first 3 days ?

 

[cheesehed007]

+1. As I've been reading anything over 1.060 OG needs more yeast. I've just did my first starter. Read up on it, it's easy to do. You'll be fine. Lets sit a few weeks and take a reading over a few days. If its stable bottle it up! Cheers.

 

[hossfly]

Fermentation is still going on. The bulk of it takes about 3 days "what you saw". I wouldn't take a reading until a full 4 weeks from when you pitched it. Leave it alone. In 3-4 weeks your beer should be some what clear with a nice yeast cake on the bottom. If you read and adjusted for the temp when you took your OG. And it is in fact 1.064 i wouldnt take a reading for 5-6 weeks.

BTW what was the temp of the wort during the first 3 days ?

About 72F first day, then I brought it down and have been holding around 66-68F since using re-usable ice packs around the carboy. WhieLabs info says the Irish Ale yeast should be kept 65-68F ideally.

BTW OG reading is accurate and adjusted for temp. Let it cool to 70F and with temp adjust it still figured out to 1.064. First reading was at 78F

 

[Justintoxicated]

Take a gravity reading if your worried, but you shouldn't be. Just be patient.

 

[ShinyBuddha]

+1 for the "leave it" camp. RDWHAHB.

 

[BxBrewer]

See you in 5 weeks your fine i wouldn't do your first reading until 5 weeks but thats me. Leave it in the primary "no need to do a secondary".

I know its hard to wait that long Your next few batches try doing some fast turn around beers so you have something to practice on and drink while the fermentation is going on. We call this building a pipe line.

 

[DurangoMatt]

Everything sounds good to me. Leave it and in a few weeks you will have beer!

 

[BxBrewer]

Everything sounds good to me. Leave it and in a few weeks you will have beer!

He had beer the moment he pitched the yeast.

 

[hossfly]

See you in 5 weeks your fine i wouldn't do your first reading until 5 weeks but thats me. Leave it in the primary "no need to do a secondary".

I know its hard to wait that long Your next few batches try doing some fast turn around beers so you have something to practice on and drink while the fermentation is going on. We call this building a pipe line.

So will my FG end up 10-12 points higher than the 1.012 it called for, or will the long fermentation time allow it to finish out at 12?

Also wondering why everyone advises leaving it for 4-5 weeks when the recipe calls for approx 2 weeks then bottle? Is this because of the higher OG?

Are there any telltale signs of a stuck fermentation or can you only know by taking a reading? just hate to think of leaving it for that long only to find I'm still way off if my yeast never did it's full thing.

If that happens would I be better off to go ahead and bottle it, or re=pitch and start it fermenting again?

Another question for Bx, what do you mean by fast turn around brews? I assumed that was pretty quick going for 2 weeks like the recipe calls for, or did I drag it out by having a high OG causing it to need a longer fermentation time? I have a IIPA kit ready to go for my 2nd batch, so I know it's going to take a while. What would you suggest for "quicker turnaround" beers?

 

[BxBrewer]

So will my FG end up 10-12 points higher than the 1.012 it called for, or will the long fermentation time allow it to finish out at 12?

Think of the extra time as giving it a better shot at reaching 12. Only time will tell. The more you open it to take a reading the more chance of a infection.

Also wondering why everyone advises leaving it for 4-5 weeks when the recipe calls for approx 2 weeks then bottle? Is this because of the higher OG?

Yes its high. Never go by the directions. Never go by a set time. A direct reading will tell you when its ready. You can check at week 4 if you want to get your hydrometer wet.

Are there any telltale signs of a stuck fermentation or can you only know by taking a reading? just hate to think of leaving it for that long only to find I'm still way off if my yeast never did it's full thing.

Its a common misconception. The yeast can only eat whats there. Even if a reading still shows sugar doesn't mean the sugar is fermentable.

If that happens would I be better off to go ahead and bottle it, or re=pitch and start it fermenting again?

If at 4 or 5 seeks you do a couple of readings spread over a few days and it doesn't change. Bottle it. You can't re boil it to add more sugar

Another question for Bx, what do you mean by fast turn around brews? I assumed that was pretty quick going for 2 weeks like the recipe calls for, or did I drag it out by having a high OG causing it to need a longer fermentation time? I have a IIPA kit ready to go for my 2nd batch, so I know it's going to take a while. What would you suggest for "quicker turnaround" beers?

The high gravity changed it. To me a fast turn around beer is around 4.5% or lower. They don't have a lot of ingredients in them that need a long time to condition. I just kegged a cherry blonde that i brewed 4 weeks ago. the FG was 1.045 4.5% ABV. The beer in the carboy when i racked it was clear. Two weeks ago it was not. Even though the visible fermentation was over after 3 days. It took 3.5 weeks from there for it to be right.

 

[BxBrewer]

Here is 10 beers under 50 cents a beer. The lighter ones "blonde,pale etc" are fast turn around. The beers on this page are where i would start.
The reason for the lighter colored beers and lower gravity is so you don't have to bottle condition that long. Not selling anyone on MoreBeer.

 

[ShinyBuddha]

Hey there Hoss,
Just a heads up...the instructions that come with kits don't usually do that good of a job when it comes to timing. The yeast decide when they're done and they don't pay attention to timeframes.

That being said, the only way to tell if fermentation is done is to take a hydrometer sample then take another one two to three days later. If the gravity is stable then it's finished fermenting. Additional time in the primary fermenter allows the yeast to clean up after themselves and lend to a clearer beer. RDWHAHB!