Back to Brewing Again, but..........

[Yesfan]

......didn't seem to go as well as I planned. Here's the recipe I attempted earlier in the evening (yes, I'm still up because I'm trying to see what I did wrong).

Here's the recipe:

hopville.com/recipe/1684354

Cascading Falls (Smash) 2.5 gallons

4.5lbs of 2Row
4oz of carapils
4oz of crystal 60L

Mash at 153F for 60 minutes
Mash out at 168F for 10 minutes

0.5oz of cascade at 60 min
0.5oz of cascade at 20 min
0.5oz of cascade at 7 min

Safale US-05 dry yeast


* I added a half tablet of whirlflock at the same time as the last hop addition.

I usually brew with my outdoor burner, but decided to try the stove since it was a small batch. I was impressed how well the stove did considering how old it is. Anyways, I was perplexed at what my OGs were as the recipe doesn't list them. At pre-boil I had 12 Brix (160F) before starting my boil. That's, according to the corrections in my brew app, around 1.046 OG

Then after the boil was over I took another reading at the same temp as I was cooling...this time it was 19 Brix or 1.046 (150F). I also noticed I lost around 1.250 gallons. I'm pretty bummed as I think this is going to be a pretty weak beer. It didn't look pretty going into the fermenter either.......

That was after I filtered out all the trub in my funnel. Check out how much in the pic below.

I had to use a (sanitized) spoon to keep the funnel's filter from clogging.

Will this still turn out to be a decent beer? After all that trub was filtered out, it still looks mucky as hell. On another note, two of my Wyeast packs were semi-bloated. I haven't brewed in quite some time, so I have kept the yeast and hops in a very cold and dark fridge (about 40F). Should I replace the Wyeast packs? It's only two and they are both 1056. I thought about just getting two packs of US-05 to be on the safe side. Thoughts?

 

[Odin_Brews]

I think the issue with your OG is measuring at too high a temperature. Just because you can correct for measurements at 160 degrees doesn't mean they're accurate. Try to take a small sample and cool it down to at least 100 before correcting. Your fermenter looks to contain heaps of trub, I would guess it'll be fine

 

[RmikeVT]

As far as the beer is concerned it looks quite normal. I think you are worrying over absolutely nothing. That is what my pales look like going into the fermeter, also I generally don't stress out about trub. It will all settle to the bottom and then the yeast will floc out when it has done its job and create a compact trub/yeast cake on the bottom and you won't have much problem siphoning off the cake.

Personally, without a more sophisticated means of filtering the trub, I would just dump the wort into the fermenter and stop pouring when it looks like the only thing going in is mud.

Did you happen to take a gravity reading at room temp? You chilled the wort before pitching the yeast, right?

 

[harebearva]

I do all grain half batches and the excess trub hasn't been a problem. As others have eluded to, it will settle out. In fact it may even benefit fermentation by providing more FAN. You can in future batches reduce the amount of trub by using hop sacks. You will most likely get about the same hop utilization and have half as much hop material in the fermenter. Hope this helps.

 

[Yesfan]

I pitched the yeast around 70F. Good to know it's nothing to worry about. I just thought it was odd to have that much trub for that small batch. It looks around the same amount I've seen for 5 gallons. I may just forgo filtering through my funnel too. It did seem pointless trying to filter all that crud out when so much of it still got in the fermenter.


It's been a while since I've gotten to brew. These kits I ordered back in July/August. Had some family issues that caused me to sideline the hobby for a while, so I'm going to try to knock these out and get my pipeline going again. Two of the kits I have use Wyeast 1056. I noticed when I was gathering my ingredients last night, that those two smack packs looked a little bloated. Should I replace them, or would they be good enough to use if I make a starter? I've kept them and the hops in the fridge since I bought them.Thought I would ask before I do another batch.

I'll do my next OG readings at cooler temps too. Thanks for the help gang!

 

[MarcusKillion]

Beer looks good to me . Looks like a bunch of hops in that trub . Should be a pale dirty looking yellow green color I would think . OG seems okay . At 160 I would guess it is a bit thin . Should be around 1.052 . Loosing 1+ gallons of water in boil seems okay as long as you still have your 2.5 or close to it . You did not mention what you started with .
I would let it cool and then check the gravity and adjust the water amount . This should make about 5.0 % ABV unless you do have a low gravity and then still would be decent at 1.046 .
want more ABV then add in a pound of rice next time around . No flavor /mouth feel change . just alcohol.

Does look like a good recipe . I think I may try it .

 

[Yesfan]

Beer looks good to me . Looks like a bunch of hops in that trub . Should be a pale dirty looking yellow green color I would think . OG seems okay . At 160 I would guess it is a bit thin . Should be around 1.052 . Loosing 1+ gallons of water in boil seems okay as long as you still have your 2.5 or close to it . You did not mention what you started with .
I would let it cool and then check the gravity and adjust the water amount . This should make about 5.0 % ABV unless you do have a low gravity and then still would be decent at 1.046 .
want more ABV then add in a pound of rice next time around . No flavor /mouth feel change . just alcohol.

Does look like a good recipe . I think I may try it .

Do you mean what did I start with as far as water volume? I started with 2.5 gallons of water for my mash (I BIAB). I probably could have used more water volume, but I was using a stovetop so I was afraid that would be too much water for the stove to try to heat.

The recipe doesn't list a SG, so my post mash readings were around 12 Brix and the post boil was 19 Brix, but they were done at high temps, so no telling what the true gravity was. Next time I'll just take a sample and cool it as suggested.

 

[RmikeVT]

To answer your yeast question, doing a 2.5 or 3 g batches you MIGHT be ok just pitching the yeast, but if it were me and it were convenient, I would make a starter for 6 month old yeast. If it is not convenient to make a starter I would pitch a pack of dry US-05 as they are the same strain. Dry yeast is cheap and has double the cell count of wyeast pack or white labs vile.

 

[eelpout]

Of its he is using brix I assuming he is using a refrac. That drop of wert he put on it would cool to normal temp almost instantly or at least before he got a look at it. So he probably did have 12 and19. Just didn't have to correct them

 

[Yesfan]

To answer your yeast question, doing a 2.5 or 3 g batches you MIGHT be ok just pitching the yeast, but if it were me and it were convenient, I would make a starter for 6 month old yeast. If it is not convenient to make a starter I would pitch a pack of dry US-05 as they are the same strain. Dry yeast is cheap and has double the cell count of wyeast pack or white labs vile.

The kits I have are all 5 gallons. The recipe I done this past weekend was the only 2.5 gallon one I had. I think what I may do is go ahead and buy some dry yeast for insurance. I'm going to try making a yeast starter the day before I brew. If the yeast is dead, then I at least have the dry for back up. If not, then I'll just find a recipe that will use the extra yeast.


I appreciate the help everyone. I love this forum.

 

[Yesfan]

Another question about yeast.


If I made a starter now, stored it in a sanitized pint jar in the fridge, would that still be viable for this weekend when I brew? I see it's preferred to make the starter a day ahead, so what about a week ahead?

 

[Yesfan]

Bump,


Thought I would post an update to this brew. I have to say, I'm really pleased with how this has come out. I'm drinking it now and it is a very drinkable (hate that expression) beer!

I may have to do a 5 gallon version of this.

 

[Kingbogart]

Making a starter is essentially making a mini-batch of beer, but without hops. In the end you have fermented beer, and yeast at the bottom. Many people long term and bulk age beer in bottle, and people also regularly primary for 1-2 weeks. I don't see how making a starter a week in advance and saving it would be an issue. I have read that if you want to save them for extended periods, decanting and putting it under sanitized water is best, but I don't recall why.