Beginners first brew.... In the primary

[chadm817]

My buddy and I are brewing a midwest supplies Irish red for our first beer. We made it past the wort and put it into the primary ok (well at least for now).

Unfortunately, we did not take a hydrometer reading. We didn't read as much on this as we should have and thought it was just to know our alcohol content. Though we care about that ultimately, we did not care for our first batch.

2 questions.....

1). How do we know when it's done?

2) I've read a lot of mixed reviews on moving to a secondary (we are about a week in currently) or not. I think this means there is "many different ways to skin the cat." Should we move it to a secondary?

 

[E_Marquez]

My buddy and I are brewing a midwest supplies Irish red for our first beer. We made it past the wort and put it into the primary ok (well at least for now).

Unfortunately, we did not take a hydrometer reading. We didn't read as much on this as we should have and thought it was just to know our alcohol content. Though we care about that ultimately, we did not care for our first batch.

2 questions.....

1). How do we know when it's done?

2) I've read a lot of mixed reviews on moving to a secondary (we are about a week in currently) or not. I think this means there is "many different ways to skin the cat." Should we move it to a secondary?

It's done when you get stabile SG readings over a few days (Day 14 reading 1.002---Day 16 reading 1.002--Day 18 reading 1.002)

LIkely your recipe instructions also had a target final gravity to shoot for. Being at or near that number is also a good indication it's done.

Secondary? Sure do it, we all did Every new brewer should at some point , so they can decide for themselves if it is a part of the process they want to use. Sanitize well, transfer with minimal aeration, use a fining agent even (gel for instance) .. then give it another week.

Or skip secondary if you want, give the beer an extra week in the primary.. and .. yup it'll make beer that way as well.

What I have discovered in brewing over a very short time... There are few truly wrong ways or actions in beer making,., there are a ton of different right ways. (For what it is worth.. Pitching / fermentation temps and sanitation being my two things that there are clear and true "wrongs")

 

[duboman]

Being an extract beer the OG or starting gravity will be what the recipe states it should be unless you really screwed up your volumes into primary

I would give the beer at least 10-12 days in the primary to allow the beer to finish and begin to clear and then take a gravity reading to see where it is at. From there you can decide to secondary or not.

 

[NTXBrauer]

The kit appears to have a OG of between 1.042 and 1.046. If you followed the recipe you should fall somewhere within this range. Once you hit a FG between 1.010-1.012, then your beer is ready. I would leave it in the primary for 1-2 more weeks, and then bottle.

 

[freisste]

The kit appears to have a OG of between 1.042 and 1.046. If you followed the recipe you should fall somewhere within this range. Once you hit a FG between 1.010-1.012, then your beer is ready. I would leave it in the primary for 1-2 more weeks, and then bottle.

This is good advice, but I will add the following:

NTXBrauer got the 1.010-1.012 estimation from assuming 75% attenuation - that is, the yeast eat 75% of the available sugar. This is generally a good assumption. (If you are interested in the math, drop the 1 from your gravity and reduce it by 75%: so 1.042-1.046 becomes 42-46 which averages 44, which reduces to 11 or 1.011 or the range 1.010-1.012.)

HOWEVER, extract is notorious for not being as fermentable as is sometimes assumed. So while that is a good target, and I wouldn't be surprised if you got there, I would also not be surprised at all if it stopped at 1.020. Google curse of 1.020 if you want to see the million other people who assumed a target FG and didn't make it because of their extract.

 

[NTXBrauer]

Do keep in mind what freisste has pointed out above. With an extract kit, it is possible for fermentation to stall at a higher FG. A stable SG reading is the true indicator.

As mentioned above, take a reading at 2 weeks, then every couple days afterwards. If your do reach the range of 1.010-1.012, then know that your beer is likely ready.

It is possible that 1.020 is as low as it may get, so don't worry if this is where you end up.

 

[jrgtr42]

What they said.
I personally would advise to NOT use a secondary this time around. Your beer will still be fine (all other things being equal.) and right now your biggest worry is to get your procedures down. Later on you can experiment with secondaries if you want. (For the record, I tried it a couple times early on, and now I only do it if I'm bulk aging for some reason - wood, souring, that sort of thing)
Therefore, I would recommend leaving the beer completely alone for at least another week, then check the gravity. Seal back up, come back in another day or 2, check gravity again. If it's the same, beer is done and you can go ahead and bottle. If it changes, don't worry about it. It's still working, there;s most likely nothing wrong. Give it another couple days and check again. Once the gravities are the same 2 or 3 checks in a row, you're good.

 

[chadm817]

Thanks everyone for their help.

It sounds like the only way is to do a hydrometer reading a few days in a row.

1. Don't I run the risk of contaminating the beer?
2. Do I just need to make sure everything is completely sanitized before doing the hydrometer reading
3. Taking the top off the primary multiple times doesn't ruin your beer?

Sorry for the questions but I'm just a rook!

 

[E_Marquez]

Thanks everyone for their help.

It sounds like the only way is to do a hydrometer reading a few days in a row.

1. Don't I run the risk of contaminating the beer?
2. Do I just need to make sure everything is completely sanitized before doing the hydrometer reading
3. Taking the top off the primary multiple times doesn't ruin your beer?

Sorry for the questions but I'm just a rook!

You can just leave it in the primary for 4-6 weeks and be pretty sure it's done...
But yes, if you want to KNOW it's done, take a SG reading.

Yes, every time you gain access to the sealed container there is risk of infection, and oxidation.. but with just a bit of work it's mitigated risk.
Using buckets,,, do you have the small 3/8 sized hole, grommet for your air lock?
Or the larger hole and stopper for the air lock?
If the larger hole, a Plastic Thief (Fermtech)slides right in that hole.. otherwise yes, the lid has to come off ( waste of time and energy for me,,, drill a larger hole in the bucket , use a larger stopper for the air lock)

Many keep a spray bottle of starsan next to your brewing stuff... get in the habit of spraying anything that will come into contact with the beer, or the bucket, or anything that touches anything...lol

For your readings, if you have to remove the lid, spray the lid latching area well, the tool if used to remove, and your hydrometer ...wait the 90 sec suggested.. then pry off the lid, lay it on a sanitized countertop, or clean town soaked in starsan..., and take your reading. , spray the lid, and snap it back in place.

If you have a large hole in the bucket a thief will fit... spray the stopper and air lock and the thief, remove stopper, dip in thief, remove, spray bucket hole and air lock stopper and reinstall.

Then take your reading.. no need to really stress sanitizing the hydrometer.. as you never return the sample,, so even if contaminated.. no worrys.

You can see the thief though a bucket hole is a lot easier..

Last note... SOME hydrometers are a little too large in diameter for a commonly available beer thief.. they are a tight fit in the tube and will not float freely.

I found this out the hard way last week.. having broken my previous hydrometer that did fit in the thief.. I was surprised when my new one would not read correctly (free float). The larger diameter was just too big for the thief tube.. a Plastic Hydrometer Test Cylinder
fixed that right up.

 

[Abedrinkin]

Take your first FG reading at the two week mark, and then two more over the course of that week. Once the gravity levels stop moving bottle your beer. You can open your fermenter to take the reading without worry, just sanitize your equipment and you'll be fine. Stop over thinking, have fun and cheers.