about 1000 follow up q's. my noobness will hurt your head.

[doverox]

attempted to check my gravity today which is day 9. i didn't pull enough liquid
i don't want to expose her any further so i am going to just leave it alone for another 10 days and then i will dry hop in my primary for 3 days. i wasn't going to secondary.

these were my observations and follow up questions:
1. when i first opened, there was a sprinkling of white dots on the surface. not a ton and not big at all, about the size of the head of a pin. is this infection?

2. it did not smell sour or fruity, smelled like bread pretty much.

3. as i said before i screwed up and didn't thieve enough to check gravity. but i did drink my sample. it was pleasant but it tasted a little like an improved version of budweiser which is very confusing as it's an ale. i used 2 row, maris otter and munich. i didn't want too much sweetness. the srm was like a 2 which doesn't give me high hopes for my gravity. is there anything i can do to boost the srm? when i dryhop, do i need to sanitize the hop bag?

4. there were tiny bits of sediment floating in my sample, they looked like the dried yeast did before i pitched it. is that what it was?

i guess my overall question would also be what exactly should you expect out of a 9 or 10 day sample in regards to look (let's just say an apa for the sake of example), mouth feel, etc.

thank you guys. trials and tribulations, man.

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

1-tiny co2 bubbles
2-all good
3-all good
4-yeast rafts
5- RDWHAHB

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

SRM is color btw..IBU is what you are talking about and dry hopping does not really increase ibu

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

10 day old sample should taste like thin flat beer

 

[QuercusMax]

First of all, what was your recipe? What was your starting gravity (before you added the yeast)?

To answer #1, it's probably just yeast rafts. Unless you have a scary bubbly white film, you're fine.

#2 - sounds like beer.

#3 - why do you want to darken it? (SRM refers to the color.) And why do you think that's related to gravity? Once it leaves the brewkettle, the color's not going to change. If you're dry-hopping in the fermenter, you don't really *need* a hop bag, but you may want to cold crash the fermenter after a few days to try to drop everything out. Or put it in a sanitized hop bag.

#4 - probably just yeast, hops, trub. Give it some time and it will settle out.

Don't expect warm, flat beer to taste and feel like finished beer. Temperature and carbonation have HUGE impacts on flavor and mouthfeel. It's probably fine. Give it a few more days to a week before bottling.

 

[McGarnigle]

In the future, if you don't pull enough liquid for a gravity check, you could mix the beer with the same amount of water, then measure that. Double the result.

I don't think the sediment or spots are an infection. You said it tastes OK.

Beer will look a lot lighter in a thief/hydro tube than in a glass. Is that where you're getting the color from? Even if it is too light, who cares? It's usually difficult to brew light colored homebrew.

You don't need to sanitize hops when dry hopping, but I think you are supposed to sanitize the bag (I never use one so I don't know for sure).

 

[doverox]

SRM is color btw..IBU is what you are talking about and dry hopping does not really increase ibu

i know but i was trying to keep it within bjcp guidelines. which i now realize aint happening because it is what it is at this point.

dryhopping will add aroma but will it add color? also, is the ibu at this stage pretty much where it will stay or does that also develop with time in the fermenter? thanks

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

i know but i was trying to keep it within bjcp guidelines. which i now realize aint happening because it is what it is at this point.

dryhopping will add aroma but will it add color? also, is the ibu at this stage pretty much where it will stay or does that also develop with time in the fermenter? thanks

Dry hops will add aroma and flavor but will not add color and IBU go down with time if you age a beer for 6 months you lose about 50% ibus

 

[doverox]

First of all, what was your recipe? What was your starting gravity (before you added the yeast)?

To answer #1, it's probably just yeast rafts. Unless you have a scary bubbly white film, you're fine.

#2 - sounds like beer.

#3 - why do you want to darken it? (SRM refers to the color.) And why do you think that's related to gravity? Once it leaves the brewkettle, the color's not going to change. If you're dry-hopping in the fermenter, you don't really *need* a hop bag, but you may want to cold crash the fermenter after a few days to try to drop everything out. Or put it in a sanitized hop bag.

#4 - probably just yeast, hops, trub. Give it some time and it will settle out.

Don't expect warm, flat beer to taste and feel like finished beer. Temperature and carbonation have HUGE impacts on flavor and mouthfeel. It's probably fine. Give it a few more days to a week before bottling.

get ready to laugh and then mega high five me if it pans out...
this was my first time brewing. ever. did i jump tandem? nope, i insisted on piloting the plane and moonwalking out that fool with a discount parachute. :rockin:
i went straight to all grain (biab) and developed a recipe for my first batch using an app. i'm ambitious/a dumb dumb.
i started with 5.1 gallons of water treated with half a campden tab (i'm in chicago), grain bill was:
3 lbs 2 row
2.25 lbs maris otter
.5 munich
60 min mash, 60 min boil with 30 mins 1/2 oz simcoe, 15 mins 1 oz citra and a whirlfloc. i burn off .77 gallons per hour.
3.75 went into fermenter.
og was 1.032

fermented with us-05 at 70 degrees

 

[TrickyDick]

I typically don't use a hop sack when adding dry hops to primary. But if you want to use one, you can use a sack if you like. It can be sanitized with regular sanitizers or Steam. The flavor should change quite a bit as the beer matures and carbonates and especially after the dry hopping.

TD


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

or rather 50% of the original alphas

 

[QuercusMax]

Ah, that explains a lot. With just 2-row, MO, and a little munich, I'd expect a very pale beer - around 4 SRM is what I get.
Your OG is also very low. For a normal-strength pale ale I'd shoot for more like 1.054. You probably need to either crush finer, use more grain, or both - your efficiency is pretty low, around 60%.

I'd recommend adding your bittering hops at the beginning of the boil, instead of waiting 30 minutes - you'll get better extraction of bitterness that way. That ounce of citra should give you some decent hop flavor, though.

 

[twistr25]

get ready to laugh and then mega high five me if it pans out...
this was my first time brewing. ever. did i jump tandem? nope, i insisted on piloting the plane and moonwalking out that fool with a discount parachute. :rockin:
i went straight to all grain (biab) and developed a recipe for my first batch using an app. i'm ambitious/a dumb dumb.
i started with 5.1 gallons of water treated with half a campden tab (i'm in chicago), grain bill was:
3 lbs 2 row
2.25 lbs maris otter
.5 munich
60 min mash, 60 min boil with 30 mins 1/2 oz simcoe, 15 mins 1 oz citra and a whirlfloc. i burn off .77 gallons per hour.
3.75 went into fermenter.
og was 1.032

fermented with us-05 at 70 degrees

Don't take this the wrong way, but you may have crashed a little on that jump... What batch size were you going for? That sounds like a decent recipe for a 2.5 gallon batch, certainly not enough for a 5. I don't think you'll get a very flavorful beer as the proportions aren't quite right. Most basic beers start above 1.04, so I think you'll keep a pretty thin mouthfeel with this one, could also be a little more bitter without the malt to balance it out, but probably not too bad. US-05 does ok at that temp I think, but prefers lower 60s. Good learning batch and it will only get better, do not get discouraged, we are here to help! :beard:

 

[doverox]

i really wish i had a current gravity read.

definitely a live and learn experience but i am just happy that what i currently have tasted pretty good at this point.

btw, the batch size was originally 3 gallons but i set it for the wrong boil off amount, which is why some of these things occured. i'm not sure if i mentioned before but i did not sparge either. i drained without squeezing but no sparge

 

[doverox]

anything i could do to bump up the potential abv at this point?

 

[eric19312]

nah call it a session beer and get started on your next batch

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

anything i could do to bump up the potential abv at this point?

dont bother dude..just let it go.

 

[burninator]

nah call it a session beer and get started on your next batch

This. You made beer. Drink it. Enjoy it. Make more.

 

[flars]

US-05 ferments the cleanest at 66° to 68°. Below 65°, peachy flavor. Above 68°, fruity flavors.

 

[QuercusMax]

Have you actually experienced this peach flavor? I just brewed a blonde ale with US-05 at 61, no peach to be found...

 

[flars]

Have you actually experienced this peach flavor? I just brewed a blonde ale with US-05 at 61, no peach to be found...

Yes, I brewed a dry Irish stout with US-05 at 63° to 64°. I added a teaspoon of very strong cold brewed coffee to each glass to mask the peach flavor.

 

[Yooper]

Have you actually experienced this peach flavor? I just brewed a blonde ale with US-05 at 61, no peach to be found...

I have, every single time I used S05 below 65 degrees, but worse below 63 degrees. I hate it as a result, since I tend to ferment ales at 62-65 degrees. I like S05 at 66-68 degrees, and that's about it but I've fermented it warmer and the esters produced at 70 degrees are far less noticeable than that odd "peach" from cool temperatures.

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

I have, every single time I used S05 below 65 degrees, but worse below 63 degrees. I hate it as a result, since I tend to ferment ales at 62-65 degrees. I like S05 at 66-68 degrees, and that's about it but I've fermented it warmer and the esters produced at 70 degrees are far less noticeable than that odd "peach" from cool temperatures.

What do you think of heady topper yooper?

 

[Yooper]

What do you think of heady topper yooper?

We don't get that here!

 

[doverox]

follow up follow up question: do you guys have suggestions on how much hops (simcoe and citra blend) i should use to dryhop this batch and for how long?
also, i am using pellets. bag or no bag?

thanks

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

follow up follow up question: do you guys have suggestions on how much hops (simcoe and citra blend) i should use to dryhop this batch and for how long?
also, i am using pellets. bag or no bag?

thanks

I say taste is subjective so there is no real answer but i can say start with an oz of each and add or reduce on future batches

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

i have a DIPA going right now im gonna be dry hopping with 1 oz chinook, 1oz apollo, 1 oz simcoe..then get the beer off the old dry hops then add another round of 1 oz centennial 1 oz simcoe..thats 5 oz of hops .i use pellets loose and cold crash and rack the beer very carefully..the first glass is cloudy and hop bits after its good..its the hop absorbtion thats the killa

 

[ABVIBUSRM]

all together this DIPA has almost 1lb of hops total in 5.5 gallons..gonna be killa