About to brew first batch!!!! Questions of course..

[morticaixavier]

Yup. If it starts to raise at this point I might even just let it go. I'm not familiar with s04 but some British strains have a tendency to drop out if they get cold. And they are nearly impossible to rouse.

 

[unionrdr]

S-04 seemed fine in the mid-60's range when I use it. Very brisk fermenter.

 

[edco76]

Lookin good!

Been 5 days, most of the fermenting seems done. Was down to 64 though so I took off the T-shirt and put him on a jacket

 

[unionrdr]

My ESB with that yeast rehydrated was done & clearing in 10 days flat! So I'm not surprised that it's slowing down already. Great yeast.

 

[SnakeRidge]

Like I said earlier, S-04 is a hoss. Give it a few more days at 64* and let it warm some up to 70 or so to make sure it finishes out

 

[campbellmike]

Good job, you will get beer and you will enjoy it. Love the jacket. For me, I read everything, evaluate it, ignore half of it and make gradual changes as I learn. I've made 10 batches or so over the past year and they've all made good beer. Some have been very good.

 

[edco76]

12 Days in and I think I have beer!

Took a gravity reading, smelled great, tasted like I think a warm, flat nut brown ale should taste lol

Gravity question. My initial reading was 1.053

This is at about 72 degrees and after adding about 3gal of cold spring water to top off/chill the wort.

Someone told me that isnt very acurate.



Now after 12 days I get 1.022 @ 68 degrees.

That comes to 4.3 ABV


My kit said I should have
OG 1.071-1.075
FG 1.016-1.019
ABV 6.75%-7.75%



So, did I screw up? Is fermentation not done? Or are my numbers just not accurate?

BTW the beer actually tastes stronger than 4.3 but I dont have much experience tasting 12 day old, flat, warm beer.

 

[unionrdr]

After 12 days it might still need to finish up. I've had beers take 3 to 3 1/2 weeks to knock off the last few points.

 

[edco76]

After 12 days it might still need to finish up. I've had beers take 3 to 3 1/2 weeks to knock off the last few points.

Yeah, I pulled the blow-off, added a regular airlock and moved it to a warmer place.

It is still bubbling the airlock maybe once every 45-60 seconds, so I guess its not done.

Since it looks like my FG is going to be very close to what it should be, is it safe to assume that my OG reading was just wrong? Due to the top off or something?

 

[unionrdr]

Your OG could be a bit high from not getting chilled wort & top of water mixed well enough to get an accurate reading. Or your mash/steep efficiency was high, giving a higher OG. I get the later quite often. Higher OG can give higher FG, but not always. I've gotten 1.061OG to go down to 1.012FG many times against an OG that should've been 1.050 ot so. It hasn't hurt the beer, just raised ABV% a little bit.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

His OG was low not high.

I'm guessing that you didn't stir the top up enough and the denser sugar was on the bottom when you took your sample.

 

[unionrdr]

I responded to his post #39 where he questioned his OG as compared to what he felt or knew it should've been in relation to FG. A 1.022 FG is a bit high yet & not done.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

maybe read it again, he's working from a kit and his OG sample was low. In post 39

Yeah, I pulled the blow-off, added a regular airlock and moved it to a warmer place.

It is still bubbling the airlock maybe once every 45-60 seconds, so I guess its not done.

Since it looks like my FG is going to be very close to what it should be, is it safe to assume that my OG reading was just wrong? Due to the top off or something?

He asking if his first OG reading was wrong, as in to low. His kit says it should be OG 1.071-1.075 but he got 1.053.

So nowhere in this thread is a high OG even mentioned. Maybe you mixed up the terms?

 

[unionrdr]

OK, looked at it again. the 1.053 was indeed low. but 1.022 was still a bit high for a low end of 1.016.

 

[edco76]

Yea, I didnt stir at all when I added the top off water.

Funny, I watched a bunch of videos and none of them said anything about it. All of them poured the wort said "this is the only time you WANT to agitate and oxidize your beer". Then they just top off and chill.

Oh well. Live and learn.


Also, my FG may stay a tad high because another issue I had is not having any clue where 5gal was on my carboy lol. I just googled some images and guessed.

I thought it tasted ok though so I'm not too concerned if my ABV is a little high o I'm a little short on beer.

Only issue is I have no idea how much beer I have so, dunno how much priming sugar to use.


My plan ATM is to low ball the sugar, Maybe based on 4gal rack to secondary. My bucket has volume markers, when I see what I got Ill do a calc and see if I'm ok or have to add more.


Lot of noob mistakes but I feel a lot better about everything knowing I have a really high chance of having drinkable and possibly even GOOD beer now.

Looking forward to my next run

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

always a good idea to fill your equipment with a known volume of water prior to brew day to know what that volume looks like in your different vessels.

depending on what size carboy you have, people here might be able to guesstimate what the liquid volume inside is. unfortunately, I use buckets so I'm of no help.

 

[burninator]

Will you be bottling directly out of your fermenter, or do you have a bottling bucket? I filled my bottling bucket with water, a half gallon at a time, and marked it with a Sharpie.

 

[Saboral]

I recommend getting a piece of straight copper pipe. 1/2" is perfect. Fill the vessel in one gallon increments and then etch tick marks into the side of the tube. I have one of these for each of my vessels. The HLT has a sight glass, but I'm wary about a site glass on my kettle because I need one more thing to clean like I need a hole in the head.

 

[edco76]

Will you be bottling directly out of your fermenter, or do you have a bottling bucket? I filled my bottling bucket with water, a half gallon at a time, and marked it with a Sharpie.

I have a bucket. The bucket is actually already marked.


Is it fairly risk free to add the priming sugar on top? Then stir VERY GENTLY?


Or should I try and guess conservatively and then add to the top if it absolutely needs it?

 

[edco76]

Just checked on my beer. 14 days in. Still bubbling. I'll take another reading next wednesday and again next saturday. If they are the same, I will bottle then.

Thats 24 days in primary. Should be good right? I may just put off drinking any until Christmas eve.


Yeah, right!

 

[SnakeRidge]

Just checked on my beer. 14 days in. Still bubbling. I'll take another reading next wednesday and again next saturday. If they are the same, I will bottle then.

Thats 24 days in primary. Should be good right? I may just put off drinking any until Christmas eve.


Yeah, right!

That's a good plan. Most of my brews go 20 days unless they are higher gravity, then more like 5-6 weeks.

As to the priming sugar, you could always rack over to the bottling bucket when you're ready to bottle and see what volume you have. Then use a calculator to figure out how much you need. You should boil the priming sugar in a pint or so of water, cool it and add to the bottling bucket. I always give it a little gentle stir and let it sit for a few minutes then bottle

 

[unionrdr]

I boil 2C of spring water for a couple minutes, then add the weighted amount of sugar & stir till the water goes clear again. Then cover to cool while I get everything ready for bottling.

 

[edco76]

Looks like my plan to "finish" the beer off at 70ish has fell through. Thanks to unseasonably cold weather here in Alabama, my ferm temp has actually dropped to about 64-66.

Oh well. Guess temp control will move up my priority list a bit but for now it will just have to be happy at what it is.

 

[edco76]

Well ****, I think I ruined it.

Went in a minute ago to take a FG. Didnt smell the same. Kinda sour smelling, didnt taste the same either. Not quite vinegar but definitely more sour and not near as sweet as last week. The gravity was the same as last week.


Should I bother bottling? Or just dump the whole thing.

 

[metanoia]

Is there any sign of infection on top?

I'd say bottle it and try it after a few weeks, which is the normal time to start tasting. If it's still funky, set the batch aside for a few months and come back to see how it's tasting. It might take a year or more, but you'll probably end up with something drinkable in the end.

 

[edco76]

Is there any sign of infection on top?

I'd say bottle it and try it after a few weeks, which is the normal time to start tasting. If it's still funky, set the batch aside for a few months and come back to see how it's tasting. It might take a year or more, but you'll probably end up with something drinkable in the end.

Nothing on top. And its not like "gag spit it out" sour.

What it is tho, is a completely different taste and smell from 2wk to 3 wk which makes me kinda nervous.

 

[metanoia]

It'll be beer, it just might need some extra aging in the bottle to mellow out. I'd only ever dump a batch if there was some kind of health concern, otherwise time usually helps make all things better.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

best thing now is to give it more time. if it is infected and you bottle it is possible that the infection could make use of the fermentables that were left after your yeast was done. this could drive the fg even lower and create more co2 then your bottles can stand. leave it for a week and see if the fg changes or if a skin or brain starts to grow in it.

 

[edco76]

Dumped it.

Maybe it would have done something but I let my wife smell/taste it and she said it was disgusting.

If it had been like this the first time I would be more optimistic.

 

[Saboral]

Should have aged it more, I've always been told there is nothing that grows in beer that can hurt you.

You might have ended up with a great sour beer.