3rd Brew Day

[ctb1976]

Today was my 3rd attempt at this rather addictive hobby. I am still trying to work out all of the hiccups, but always seem to find new ways of screwing something up. My 1st beer was the NB Chinook IPA that came with the kit. I tried a bottle after a week and a half of bottle conditioning and hope it gets better! I bottled my BB oatmeal stout on Saturday and have higher hopes for that one. I plan on letting it go at least 3 weeks before I try one but impulse control is not s strength. I went to my LHBS and asked for the easiest kit to make and they recommended the BB West Coast IPA.

For my specialty grains, I brought 3.5 gal of water temp up to 160, dialed back the heat and steeped for 20 min. My temp held steady between 158-160. I pulled the the bag and cranked the heat. It took about 20 min to get a nice rolling boil.

I cut the gas off before adding my LME and some corn sugar, stirring the whole time. Lit the stove up again and was back to boiling in about 10 min.

I hit all 4 of my hop additions +\- 1 min and was feeling pretty good. I had to lower the heat as I lost water to evaporation to avoid any boil overs. Cut the heat off again 60 min after the 1st hops were added according to schedule.

Here is where things went a little sideways. I moved the pot to the sink for an ice bath. I stirred the wort and took temp readings every 5 min. Things went great for the first 15 min and I was down to 90 degrees. Unfortunately, all the ice had melted and the water was not much cooler than the wort. In a panic, I grabbed some snow to add to the sink and chill the water back down. I hit 74 degrees at the 25 min mark and decided that was cool enough.

I created a whirlpool to get the hops to the center and began to auto siphon into my primary. The siphon clogged after less than 1 gallon made it in. I then opted for my funnel and was able to keep most of the hops in the pot.

I added 1 gallon of water and took a SG reading. I always struggle to read the hydrometer through the bubbles! Is was above the window called for by the recipe so I added another 1.5 gallons, bringing my total volume to 5.25 gallons. My OG was 1.058. The upper limit for this kit is 1.060 so I was pleased. I gave the carboy a good swirl to help add some oxygen.

Temp was at 72 when I pitched the dry yeast that came with the kit.

Now for the nightmare. I recent picked up an ink bird temp probe to help get a better handle on fermenting temps. I grabbed the airlock, stopper and thermowell from the sanitizer bucket and attempted to cap the fermenter. The silicone stopper kept popping out and wasn't staying in place. I added some vodka to the airlock and figured adding it may help the stopper to hold. To my surprise the stopper slid into the carboy. I was able to rescue the stainless steel tube before it fell, but the stopper dropped into my beer.

I attached the inkbird probe to the side of the glass, under a pice of styrofoam as was suggested somewhere on here. My temps were up around 79 so I moved everything to the basement. It was down to 68 after a few hours.

I plan on racking to a secondary to dry hop as soon as the primary fermentation ends.

The big question is will this batch be safe to drink?

Any advice for improvement. I really enjoy the act of brewing and the science aspect, but would really like to have a final product that I can enjoy!

As always thanks!

 

[Blazinlow86]

It will be ok as long as you sanitized it prior to falling in. Screwing up is all parts of the fun. Gives you something to improve on for the next brew. And don't get discouraged if your first brews are less then you hoped for. Keep brewing and they will get better.

 

[ctb1976]

Thanks! Everything was soaked in starsan. I think the fact that the stopper and carboy were wet was part of the problem.

 

[Renegade Brewer]

Sounds about right for someone new to the hobby. You’ll be fine; just learn for your next batch. I would definitely recommend visiting your local shop again and picking up a kettle big enough to do a full wort boil and a wort chiller. With those two upgrades it will make your brew day much more seamless and you’ll make much better beer.

 

[RM-MN]

Today was my 3rd attempt at this rather addictive hobby. I am still trying to work out all of the hiccups, but always seem to find new ways of screwing something up. My 1st beer was the NB Chinook IPA that came with the kit. I tried a bottle after a week and a half of bottle conditioning and hope it gets better! I bottled my BB oatmeal stout on Saturday and have higher hopes for that one. I plan on letting it go at least 3 weeks before I try one but impulse control is not s strength. I went to my LHBS and asked for the easiest kit to make and they recommended the BB West Coast IPA.

For my specialty grains, I brought 3.5 gal of water temp up to 160, dialed back the heat and steeped for 20 min. My temp held steady between 158-160. I pulled the the bag and cranked the heat. It took about 20 min to get a nice rolling boil.

I cut the gas off before adding my LME and some corn sugar, stirring the whole time. Lit the stove up again and was back to boiling in about 10 min.

I hit all 4 of my hop additions +\- 1 min and was feeling pretty good. I had to lower the heat as I lost water to evaporation to avoid any boil overs. Cut the heat off again 60 min after the 1st hops were added according to schedule.

Here is where things went a little sideways. I moved the pot to the sink for an ice bath. I stirred the wort and took temp readings every 5 min. Things went great for the first 15 min and I was down to 90 degrees. Unfortunately, all the ice had melted and the water was not much cooler than the wort. In a panic, I grabbed some snow to add to the sink and chill the water back down. I hit 74 degrees at the 25 min mark and decided that was cool enough.

I created a whirlpool to get the hops to the center and began to auto siphon into my primary. The siphon clogged after less than 1 gallon made it in. I then opted for my funnel and was able to keep most of the hops in the pot.

I added 1 gallon of water and took a SG reading. I always struggle to read the hydrometer through the bubbles! Is was above the window called for by the recipe so I added another 1.5 gallons, bringing my total volume to 5.25 gallons. My OG was 1.058. The upper limit for this kit is 1.060 so I was pleased. I gave the carboy a good swirl to help add some oxygen.

Temp was at 72 when I pitched the dry yeast that came with the kit.

Now for the nightmare. I recent picked up an ink bird temp probe to help get a better handle on fermenting temps. I grabbed the airlock, stopper and thermowell from the sanitizer bucket and attempted to cap the fermenter. The silicone stopper kept popping out and wasn't staying in place. I added some vodka to the airlock and figured adding it may help the stopper to hold. To my surprise the stopper slid into the carboy. I was able to rescue the stainless steel tube before it fell, but the stopper dropped into my beer.

I attached the inkbird probe to the side of the glass, under a pice of styrofoam as was suggested somewhere on here. My temps were up around 79 so I moved everything to the basement. It was down to 68 after a few hours.

I plan on racking to a secondary to dry hop as soon as the primary fermentation ends.

The big question is will this batch be safe to drink?

Any advice for improvement. I really enjoy the act of brewing and the science aspect, but would really like to have a final product that I can enjoy!

As always thanks!

The major items in chilling are to get it below 170F quickly to keep the hop flavor and aroma instead of letting any late addition hops become bittering hops. The second item is to get the beer cool enough to pitch the yeast. Speed isn't important here, at least not as important as getting the wort cool before pitching the yeast. Next batch you should try to cool the wort to the low to middle 60's before pitching. You get better tasting beer that way.

Are you using the Inkbird to actively control the fermentation temperature or just using it as a thermometer?

Don't move the beer. Dry hop right in the primary fermenter. It's been proven to be unnecessary at the homebrew level and can cause oxidation and infections.

Of course it will be safe to drink. You've done fine.

Thanks! Everything was soaked in starsan. I think the fact that the stopper and carboy were wet was part of the problem.

Not just part of the problem, that was the whole problem. Starsan the stopper and carboy neck, then wipe them dry.

 

[ctb1976]

Thanks for the advice! I plan on getting a wort chiller after I upgrade to a bigger brew kettle. According to my notes, my wort was 142 degrees after 5 min in the ice bath.

I have been using the inkbird purely as a thermometer. My dining room is about 66 degrees so I have not needed to heat. I will be sure to chill a little more before pitching next time.

My beer is actively fermenting now at 70.2 degrees. Should I move it to a cooler location?

 

[Renegade Brewer]

This really depends; is your ambient temp 70.2 or is the inside of your fermenter 70.2? If you are only measuring your ambient temp you only have half the equation. We want to make sure we are getting a good reading on the internal contents of our fermenter. We will often find that especially for the first 3-4 days of fermentation the beer itself will record up to 10* higher than that of our ambient temp.

When using a freezer or fridge I recommend taping the probe to the side of the fermenter to get s more accurate read. You can also use a thermowell to get an exact reading of your beer. I honestly could care less what my ambient temp is so long as my beer temp is within 1 degree of my target.

With all this being said, being a new brewer let’s not put the cart before the horse. If you are making drinkable beer with an ambient temp of 70* then keep that practice going. Focus on your fundamentals such as: clean brewing practices, building your brewhouse to be able to conduct full wort boils and cool rapidly. In the meantime keep an eye out for a used fridge or freezer and snag one up when funds allow.

Off flavors from fermenting too hot include: polyphenols (medicinal), fusel alcohols (hot solvent) and excessive fruity eaters. If these flavors are overpowering your beers I’d say focus on temp as quickly as you can. Coming into the warmer months you can also brew some beers which use yeast strains that do well at higher temps such as: saison, wit, and heffe.

 

[ctb1976]

The 70.2 is what my probe reads. I have it taped to the side of the fermenter under a piece of insulation. Unfortunately, my only stopper with 2 holes is swimming in the carboy.

 

[Renegade Brewer]

So it’s pretty safe to say your beer is sitting comfortably at about 70* which is completely appropriate for most strains and especially for someone just starting out in the hobby. Nice job with the insulation.

It sounds like you are doing everything right with just a few minor oopsies that we all experience even after years of brewing. You will quickly learn that this can be a very humbling hobby.

I think the best advise I could give you at this point is keep brewing. Brew as much as you possibly can and become as consistent as possible. This is tough as a new brewer because as a newcomer to the hobby we will frequently upgrade and change things in our process or equipment. Keep good notes and keep brewing. Brewing is like any other skill; it demands practice to become proficient.

Keep up the good work and keep fighting the good fight against bad beer

 

[ctb1976]

Thanks! I read about that idea somewhere on here. I have three more kits waiting.

 

[ctb1976]

Update...

Primary fermentation went well. Temp was right at 68 for majority of the time. I did have to move beer to the cool basement on day 3 because MD temps got up to 84 degrees outside. Beer went up to 72, but dropped back to 67 with the help of a wet towel and fan (great forum advice). SG held steady at 1.010 for days 7,8 & 9. FG was supposed to be 1.013-1.017. How will this affect the beer?

I sanitized and transferred to secondary (sorry, but I wanted to free up primary for next brew) and was able to get the stuck stopper out with the "bag trick". I'm thinking of investing in a second 6.5 gallon fermenter.

Flat beer tasted hoppy but definitely needs some age. Definitely like this hop profile (citra, Amarillo, Columbus) more than my 1st beer. I am going to do 2 weeks in the secondary and dry hop (lemon drop) on day 7. Any advantages/disadvantages to hop bags?

Thanks again for all the great advice!

 

[Chet Ripley]

Just as an fyi, i just purchased a carboy at my LHBS and when i went to get a stopper they had two choices: a standard stopper and one with a lip so that it can't get pushed into the carboy. Reading this I'm glad I went with the one with the lip.

 

[RM-MN]

Update...

Primary fermentation went well. Temp was right at 68 for majority of the time. I did have to move beer to the cool basement on day 3 because MD temps got up to 84 degrees outside. Beer went up to 72, but dropped back to 67 with the help of a wet towel and fan (great forum advice). SG held steady at 1.010 for days 7,8 & 9. FG was supposed to be 1.013-1.017. How will this affect the beer?

I sanitized and transferred to secondary (sorry, but I wanted to free up primary for next brew) and was able to get the stuck stopper out with the "bag trick". I'm thinking of investing in a second 6.5 gallon fermenter.

Flat beer tasted hoppy but definitely needs some age. Definitely like this hop profile (citra, Amarillo, Columbus) more than my 1st beer. I am going to do 2 weeks in the secondary and dry hop (lemon drop) on day 7. Any advantages/disadvantages to hop bags?

Thanks again for all the great advice!

Final gravity is always an estimate and the real FG will vary a bit from that. Your FG won't really have much effect on the beer.

You might as well buy 2 more plastic bucket fermenters. You're already hooked on this hobby and will soon want more than 2 beers fermenting at once. I think I have 5 now. There are a number of advantages to buckets over carboys. Bucket don't break into razor sharp shards, the have handles to move them, big opening for adding wort and hops and easy cleaning. When empty, they can be stacked to take up less room.

If you put the hops in bags they will be easier to keep out of your bottles of beer but will be much more difficult to remove from a carboy. You will need to add weight to the bag to keep it and the hops submerged.