6 short hours

[poislb]

And I have Krauzen already, looks so yummy...American amber ale OG 1.052

The last 1/2 hour of brew day was kinda a mess, the wort cooled off so quick any movement from my chiller stirred up the hop sludge, it would not settle so i just poured it all in the carboy. I will probably lose a couple bottles but curious if it will be more hoppy than my last batch I ended up straining. Experiment right? Thats what makes good beer

Almost had a boil over to, pays to have a big kettle that right there paid for itself imop....

 

[RugenBrau]

It will be fine. All that mess will end up compacted right in the yeast cake.

 

[sidboswell]

the wort cooled off so quick any movement from my chiller stirred up the hop sludge, it would not settle so i just poured it all in the carboy. I will probably lose a couple bottles but curious if it will be more hoppy than my last batch I ended up straining.

I use an emersion chiller and don't use hop bags. I remove my chiller, give it a hell of a stir with my sanitized spoon, put the lid on and come back in 15 minutes. Hops and cold break settle in a nice cone in middle of my kettle...I syphon from edge. If I feel that I'm losing too much to the trub and hop sludge I just keep syphoning and some goes into the primary. The hops usually float up on krausen and stick to side of fermented (7.5 gal carboy). I haven't noticed any issues or any significant changes in hop character.

 

[PseudoChef]

I think you have krausen because your wort is sitting at 75 degrees. I'd cool it down a good 10 degrees more if you can.

 

[poislb]

I think you have krausen because your wort is sitting at 75 degrees. I'd cool it down a good 10 degrees more if you can.

It takes about 3 days to reach that temp in my basement after brew day...it will sit at 68 for 3.5 weeks consistanly once it hits that temp

 

[PseudoChef]

3 days is about 3 days too late, unfortunately. Yeast produce esters and phenols during the reproductive phase and beginning of fermentation which is generally about the first 48 hours after pitching (assuming a healthy pitch). By pitching warm, you are causing more of these off flavors to be produced.

Ideally, you want to pitch colder than your intended fermentation temperature, and ramp up temperature once fermentation slows.

 

[poislb]

3 days is about 3 days too late, unfortunately. Yeast produce esters and phenols during the reproductive phase and beginning of fermentation which is generally about the first 48 hours after pitching (assuming a healthy pitch). By pitching warm, you are causing more of these off flavors to be produced.

Ideally, you want to pitch colder than your intended fermentation temperature, and ramp up temperature once fermentation slows.

So my next batch i should stick the carboy in my kegerator for a few hours to get it to 65, then pitch, then ferment at 68?

 

[chumpsteak]

Yep. Definately try to pitch low and keep it low. I lost 2 batches to hot alcohol taste due to fermenting in the mid 70's. Now that I pitch and ferment at 65 the beers are clean and almost drinkable right after primary fermentation is done.

 

[poislb]

I guess that would explain my fruity notes in my last batch....Live and learn I guess, and thats why this site is sooooooooo helpful. Thanks guys... I try and read alot of the posts, and even do searches but its alot of information at once. I guess the more I brew, the more I learn...

 

[poislb]

Yup, you were correct. Took off the blow off tube to put an airlock on... damn tube, fermentor, and its contents smells like frickin finger nail polish. Dump or wait it out?

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

Wait it out!! Never dump beer. Once it ages it will probably taste great. Never dump beer for any reason but infection.

 

[Ryush806]

Yup, you were correct. Took off the blow off tube to put an airlock on... damn tube, fermentor, and its contents smells like frickin finger nail polish. Dump or wait it out?

WAIT! If there's one thing I've learned brewing it is just wait everything out. There are way too many posts on this forum where people (including myself) thought their beer was ruined so they dumped it. Then they find a bottle hiding in a closet 6 months later of that "ruined" batch and it's amazing. Also, this beer has barely been fermented so far. Yeasts make all kinds of weird stuff as intermediates during the process. I'm 100% sure they're not done yet and will make a decent brew for you.

 

[sidboswell]

Why does everyone worry so much on batches 1-???. Chill out. Charlie coined the phrase 30something years ago and people still freak out.

RELAX DON'T WORRY....

 

[day_trippr]

Why does everyone worry so much on batches 1-???. Chill out. Charlie coined the phrase 30something years ago and people still freak out.

RELAX DON'T WORRY....

Paranoia Strikes Deep?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5M_Ttstbgs]Buffalo Springfield.

Pretty sure that predates Charlie's Bible

Cheers!

 

[PseudoChef]

Wait it out!! Never dump beer. Once it ages it will probably taste great. Never dump beer for any reason but infection.

Or if it tastes bad. There's really no shame in dumping beer. We shouldn't brew to drink ****ty beer. I'm not saying time won't help, but the truth is that sometimes it won't help.

 

[chumpsteak]

Fingernail polish is an excellent way to describe that smell. Had it on my first 2 all grain batches before I built my ferm chamber. That smell and taste won't go away anytime soon. I have 2 batches in bottles for over a month now that still smell and taste like that. All batches since my ferm chamber have come out smelling and tasting super clean. I'd bottle that batch and just plan on putting it away somewhere for a couple/few/several months. Quick! Brew another batch and keep the beer around 65 this time!

 

[stevedasleeve]

I'd ignore all this - troub in the fermenter is no problem, pitching a little high is no problem. Let it do its thing for 3-5 weeks, don't look at it or smell it or think about it and I bet it will end up fine, if not fantastic. The worst you can do to your beer IMHO is 1. take other peoples advice, particularly those that have read a lot but brewed not so much, and 2. do anything to it after it is in the carboy till you are ready to bottle or keg it. Oh and 3. dump it (that should be #1.)

IMHO and YMMV and WTF,
Steve da sleeve

 

[poislb]

7 days in and it smells like beer, the funk is gone will wait another week to take a reading.

Also, did a pale ale tonight...shes in the kegerator as we speak chilling for the right temp to pitch....thanks for all the advice..