Beerwheel gets a puncture?

[beerwheel]

I like Imperial stout style beer so I figured I would start there. Brewing seems to be a bit like welding (my job) where your first few projects may be a bit "rough" but good enough to do the job. I hope my ambition didn't ruin my odds.

I finished my boil Saturday afternoon and likely boiled my LME longer than needed. I didn't skim any hot break either before dumping the cooled into the fermenter.
I did dump it back and forth a couple of times however to get some air involved. My supplier warned me about the level of enthusiasm the yeast would provoke and suggested a blowoff setup. That was helpful and accurate

My OG was 1.135 just prior to pitching the Nottingham yeast which went right to work. It's been a challenge to keep it between 69-75 degrees and it definitely got too warm initially (77) and now a bit too cool while I was at work dipping down to 65 early this morning. It hasn't stopped bubbling for a moment and has kept my 5/8" exit tube pretty busy in the past 48 hours. Yesterday it sounded like someone kick-starting a Sportster but now its at a nice idle.

I decided to take a "whiff" at the top of my blow-off vessel (water jug) and it smells of Banana in a big way. May be placing my snoot in a pile of sanitizer bubbles isn't in the guide book but I did it anyway. I don't really know how to read this but would like to know if I need to act now to make this all work or am I OK. Thanks in advance for your consideration.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

The 70's is definitely too high for Notty. That's likely where the banana aroma is coming from. Keep it in the 60's. If you could include your recipe and process that would help. If your reading was accurate, 1.135 is a HUGE beer.

 

[dkeller12]

Nottingham is great yeast but at high temps will give you those banana off flavors. Find a way to control your Temps better before the next brew. It will make much better beer.

 

[beerwheel]

Thanks for the reply.
Steeping grains
1-1/2 lbs roasted barley
1 lbs caramal malt
1 lbs chocolate malt
8 oz caraamber
4 oz oats
4 oz wheat-white malt
EXTRACT
13 lbs LME
HOP
2 oz warrior 60 min
1 oz targer 60 min
2 oz fuggles 20 min
2 oz fuggles 5 min.

bag grains and place in cold pot
heat 3 gals to 170
cut heat at 20 mins and steep for 10 more (total 30 min)
remove grains
Bring to boil (very brief over boil)
add 60 min hop/20 min/5 min
very active boil
chill wert to 65 degree
mix two tins of powder yeast (Nottingham) with 90 degree pre-boiled water, sit for 15 min, mix and rest for 15 more
transfer to fermenter, back and forth a couple of times to mix in air
take OG reading
pitch yeast
install blow-off

It's bubbling like crazy and the wort starts getting warm. Room temp is 65 degrees but fermenter "sticker" gets up to 76
I open window and place fan in opening. In two hours it's back down to 65

This morning it's back up to 73. I guess Ill leave the window open, it's 68 in the house but that room seems to be warm. It's still bubbling like crazy (60 BPM) so hopefully it will still turn out as beer at least.

Thanks again!

 

[frazier]

Get yourself a big plastic tub at Maynards or Home Despot - put your carboy in that and fill it with water. Now you can keep the water cool by swapping some ice bottles in and out. It may be too late to save this batch from some funky esters, but your next one will be much improved.

Cheers,

 

[joshesmusica]

One critical aspect to fermentation temperature control that a lot of people don't mention is a consistent temperature. A fluctuating temp like that can do just as much damage to the beer as being consistently at 75F. If you can't get a temperature controlled chamber of some sort (freezer, fridge, mini-fridge, styrofoam box, etc.), then the water in the tub is the next best trick. For most ales, but especially an imperial stout with Nottingham, you really don't want the fermentor temps to be much higher than about 68-69. On a big beer like that, and a fast fermenting yeast like Nottingham, I would personally make sure the wort is down to just below the temperature you want to ferment at before pitching the yeast. A big beer like that will be especially tricky to control the temp without a controlled chamber. Also, it's completely ok to brew an 8-9% stout, instead of a 12-13% one. It will be much easier to control, you'll still get your feet wet in all the brewing procedures, it won't need months of conditioning time, and it will still be a stout.

You really want it to be around that 68F range for the vigorous part of the fermentation, and then it's actually not only ok, but recommended to let it warm up into the lower 70s to finish off fermentation. Raising it will encourage the yeast to finish up the fermentation and clean up as much off-flavors as it can before going dormant and flocculating out.

Next, bubbles are not necessarily an indication of how the fermentation is going, especially not an indication of when it's finished. Once the main, vigorous part of the fermentation settles down, you should replace the blow-off tube with an airlock. And even if the beer has reach the Final Gravity, there are still a few factors that can cause it to off gas. The only real way to know if it's done fermenting is checking the FG with your hydrometer at least 2 days apart. If it's the same reading, then it's done. With a beer this big, feel free to wait another few days to another couple of weeks before packaging it. It also won't hurt this one at all to be put in a secondary, although it also won't hurt it to just go ahead and package it and let it sit for a few months at cellar temps.

Lastly, sniffing the off-gassing from the fermentation isn't really a good indicator of the final product, this includes sniffing anything coming out of an airlock, but especially not anything coming from the liquid in the blow-off container. There are all kinds of funky smells coming from the fermentation process, and a lot of the times it's not indication of what the final product will taste or smell like. But another reason that I stopped tasting the beer too early, or smelling it during fermentation is because one can easily start to believe that there's a flaw with the beer, and then because our minds are very tricky things, we can easily convince ourselves throughout the life of the beer that it has an off-flavor to it. I've had this happen on a couple of occasions where I've tasted a flaw, and nobody else can taste it.

Give it some time, be patient, control temps, pitch the proper amount of healthy yeast, and you will be rewarded.

 

[hlmbrwng]

HOP
2 oz warrior 60 min
1 oz targer 60 min
2 oz fuggles 20 min
2 oz fuggles 5 min.

bag grains and place in cold pot
heat 3 gals to 170

Thanks again!

What is the batch size? Did you top off the carboy with water for 5 gal? Or is it a smaller batch?

I calculated the IBU for the following batch sizes, out of curiosity (I calculated for 2.5 as well, with the thought that perhaps you started with 3 gallon and lost half from evaporation and did not top off):

5 gallon - approx 40 IBU
3 gallon - approx 150 IBU
2.5 gallon - approx 200 IBU

I'm guessing you topped it off.

 

[GHBWNY]

Even if OP's batch size is 5 gal (and not 3 gal), 13 lbs. LME?? Along with 4.5 lbs. spec. grains? Thinking this might be good over pancakes!!

 

[beerwheel]

What is the batch size? Did you top off the carboy with water for 5 gal? Or is it a smaller batch?

I calculated the IBU for the following batch sizes, out of curiosity (I calculated for 2.5 as well, with the thought that perhaps you started with 3 gallon and lost half from evaporation and did not top off):

5 gallon - approx 40 IBU
3 gallon - approx 150 IBU
2.5 gallon - approx 200 IBU

I'm guessing you topped it off.

Yes, I did top it off to 5 gallons. I am going to get into a porter while this one gets stashed away for a while. may with less malt it won't make so much of it's own heat? Being a Vermonter I don't need more syrup, beer or maple.


Thank you all very much for your generous helping of knowledge!

 

[BarrelAgedForrest]

What temp did you pitch at? My house stays a balmy cold as could be right now. I pitched at 62ish. OG was 1.084 The highest my ferment got was 70 and then went back down into the mid 60 range. Would definitely have done either the bucket and water trick or even set it outside for a bit as I'm sure it's freezing where you are. Good luck! Curious how it turns out!

 

[beerwheel]

What temp did you pitch at? My house stays a balmy cold as could be right now. I pitched at 62ish. OG was 1.084 The highest my ferment got was 70 and then went back down into the mid 60 range. Would definitely have done either the bucket and water trick or even set it outside for a bit as I'm sure it's freezing where you are. Good luck! Curious how it turns out!

The wort was 70 and the house was 68 and the yeast slurry was about 80. I moved that batch to a glass carboy for secondary and figured out how to keep the room at 69.

I started a new batch of Baltic porter last night. It's at 70 and the room is 69. I'll let the imperial go for a couple weeks and test the remote to see what happens. It smelled like booze when it was transferred. I'll take that as a positive sign. I'll keep you all posted!

 

[joshesmusica]

The wort was 70 and the house was 68 and the yeast slurry was about 80. I moved that batch to a glass carboy for secondary and figured out how to keep the room at 69.

I started a new batch of Baltic porter last night. It's at 70 and the room is 69. I'll let the imperial go for a couple weeks and test the remote to see what happens. It smelled like booze when it was transferred. I'll take that as a positive sign. I'll keep you all posted!

Room temperature is too warm for fermentation. During the active part of fermentation (first 5-7 days), the temperature in the fermentor will be significantly higher than the ambient temperature in the room. You should be aiming for something more like 62F. Here's a thread I started on that subject:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=553916

Beer, for the most part, should not smell boozy. If it does, that's a sign that the ferment temps were too high. So, unfortunately, that's actually not a positive sign.

 

[beerwheel]

Room temperature is too warm for fermentation. During the active part of fermentation (first 5-7 days), the temperature in the fermentor will be significantly higher than the ambient temperature in the room. You should be aiming for something more like 62F. Here's a thread I started on that subject:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=553916

Beer, for the most part, should not smell boozy. If it does, that's a sign that the ferment temps were too high. So, unfortunately, that's actually not a positive sign.

Thanks for your reply. There isn't much I can do about the indoor temp here but by leaving the door open it seemed to keep the ambient temp at 69/70 and the sticker on the side of the fermentation vessel between 70 and 72. I should mention this the second attempt at brewing and a Baltic porter this time. Ill bottle the imperial in two or three weeks and let it sit till next winter.

My primary fermenter will be empty by Tuesday afternoon so I am thinking about what my next attempt should be. 'thinking about changing the hop schedule in the baltic porter kit just to see what happens. Just a little change, not sure.

 

[joshesmusica]

Thanks for your reply. There isn't much I can do about the indoor temp here but by leaving the door open it seemed to keep the ambient temp at 69/70 and the sticker on the side of the fermentation vessel between 70 and 72. I should mention this the second attempt at brewing and a Baltic porter this time. Ill bottle the imperial in two or three weeks and let it sit till next winter.

My primary fermenter will be empty by Tuesday afternoon so I am thinking about what my next attempt should be. 'thinking about changing the hop schedule in the baltic porter kit just to see what happens. Just a little change, not sure.

with those ambient temps i'd be focused on something that allows some flavors from the fermentation - saison, german wheat, sometimes british styles are ok that warm.

 

[beerwheel]

with those ambient temps i'd be focused on something that allows some flavors from the fermentation - saison, german wheat, sometimes british styles are ok that warm.

I used US04 Safeale with the Baltic porter extract+ kit I got. Ill put that up after dinner.

 

[joshesmusica]

I used US04 Safeale with the Baltic porter extract+ kit I got. Ill put that up after dinner.

ok. it will definitely put out some esters, the off-flavors from yeast, but in a lot of british styles a little bit of esters are acceptable. a baltic porter isn't necessarily british, but it's is ok if it gets a bit fruity from esters.

if you like malt-forward styles, I would check out some of the british styles and see if they sound pretty good. they're some of my favorites.

 

[beerwheel]

The beer hadnt moved for a while so I decided to bottle this afternoon. I am happy to report that it smells and tastes pretty darn good. The banana smell is completely gone and it didn't really have any overwhelming odd smells. I drank a little and it tasted pretty good. The only thing I noticed (first time, no point of reference) was that most of the color seemed to be larger particles than I had expected. May be these break down? Anyway, just a quick update.

 

[Chrisbrewbeers]

I would be careful with so-4 at under your temps. I used it once like that and no good. There are entire threads about this here with S0-4.

 

[beerwheel]

Quick update and another couple of questions.

The beer tastes decent but very little carbonation. I left it at 70 after bottling for a couple of weeks then moved it too my shop where I have a little more space but it's closer to 45F. Do I need to store it a little warmer?

Thanks, I just boiled my fourth batch and I am hooked!!!!

 

[joshesmusica]

Quick update and another couple of questions.

The beer tastes decent but very little carbonation. I left it at 70 after bottling for a couple of weeks then moved it too my shop where I have a little more space but it's closer to 45F. Do I need to store it a little warmer?

Thanks, I just boiled my fourth batch and I am hooked!!!!

I usually leave mine for at least three weeks at about 68. Especially if you feel like it's not fully carbonated, room temp is better than cellar temps for getting to that level quicker.