Completely new to Brewing, your criticism please :)

[rosfrei]

January 25th

January 27th

 

[jackfrost]

On the first 5-7 days I use a bucket with a clean(bleach washed) towel rubberbanded to the top

 

[rosfrei]

Ahh yes, to allow access to oxygen?

After that you transfer to a carboy with an air lock?

 

[jackfrost]

That is correct but I like to.Degas and if. I add fruit its Easyer to clean out...I Degas to the 2/3 sugar break

 

[brewscoe]

Sorry to invade your thread but your problem is close to mine and I can't figure out how to start a thread of my own lol

I boiled about 3 quarts of water and added three 2/3 an ounce of cascade hops, threw in 4 pounds of blue agave. Boiled for about 30 minutes and added 1/3 ounce of hops and cooled to around 80 degrees. Added to a 2 gallon fermenter and pitched white labs 720 yeast ( half a vile of a 5 gallon amount ). How do you think this going to turn out at a 64-68F degree variation in temp? More constantly 66 degrees F.

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

Sorry to invade your thread but your problem is close to mine and I can't figure out how to start a thread of my own lol

I boiled about 3 quarts of water and added three 2/3 an ounce of cascade hops, threw in 4 pounds of blue agave. Boiled for about 30 minutes and added 1/3 ounce of hops and cooled to around 80 degrees. Added to a 2 gallon fermenter and pitched white labs 720 yeast ( half a vile of a 5 gallon amount ). How do you think this going to turn out at a 64-68F degree variation in temp? More constantly 66 degrees F.

fermenting the agave is similar to fermenting honey (alothough it's not called mead). it sounds like you are looking to make a braggot like concoction with all the hops.

First, your wpl 720 optimally likes 70*F-75*F so being just below that you can expect fermentation to be laggy and slow. consider some sort of heat source, wrapping blankets or sweatshirts around your fermemnter, or moving to a warmer location.

Second, I've read (although I cant find the source again) that blue agave is similar to honey in that it's lacking beneficial nutrients that yeast need. Try adding a nutrient blend or some boiled bread yeast in there to give them something to snack on.

otherwise it sounds like you are good to go, you'll likely lose some of the hop flavor in primary fermentation, but you can always dry hop later or in secondary to get some of that back.

 

[brewscoe]

fermenting the agave is similar to fermenting honey (alothough it's not called mead). it sounds like you are looking to make a braggot like concoction with all the hops.

First, your wpl 720 optimally likes 70*F-75*F so being just below that you can expect fermentation to be laggy and slow. consider some sort of heat source, wrapping blankets or sweatshirts around your fermemnter, or moving to a warmer location.

Second, I've read (although I cant find the source again) that blue agave is similar to honey in that it's lacking beneficial nutrients that yeast need. Try adding a nutrient blend or some boiled bread yeast in there to give them something to snack on.

otherwise it sounds like you are good to go, you'll likely lose some of the hop flavor in primary fermentation, but you can always dry hop later or in secondary to get some of that back.

Thanks a lot for responding! That is great news, to hear. I will add some nutrient. I will also dry hop since I wasn't planning on a secondary. Dld be nice 😃

On another note. I am also brewing a cider/apfelwine. Basically added about 4 and a half gallons of apple juice to a 5 gallon carboy, three in 2 pounds of honey, 1 pound brown sugar, 1 pound whit granulated sugar. I dissolved all the sugar and at a room temp of 66 degrees pitched 1 vile of ale yeast and a day later added half a vile of wlp720 mead yeast. Its on it's 4th day of fermentation(vigorous). I am shooting for a 14% abv sparking cider. I intend yo let it fully ferment and than sit for a day or two before bottling in 12oz bottles with a 1/4 tsp of whit granulated sugar. What do you think about that one?

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

that sounds like a decent recipe with good progress, I am a creature of habit, so even on my ciders/apfelwines once fermentation stops (based off hydrometer readings) I still rack into a secondary for some bulk aging before bottling

 

[brewscoe]

that sounds like a decent recipe with good progress, I am a creature of habit, so even on my ciders/apfelwines once fermentation stops (based off hydrometer readings) I still rack into a secondary for some bulk aging before bottling

Sweet. I appreciate your help. I will be dabbling with aging my next few but for these two I wanted to have a sort of baseline to compare versus aged. how long do you typically age for and what does it do for the flavor of your brew?

 

[rosfrei]

Make your own thread . Click this.

As my pictures show, I am using a syranwrap covering with a pinhole in it, as I don't yet have a carboy with an airlock. It would appear fermentation has slowed significantly, I can no longer see the bubbles rising and popping off the surface under my flash light. The pinhole smells very rich with alcohol.

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

Sweet. I appreciate your help. I will be dabbling with aging my next few but for these two I wanted to have a sort of baseline to compare versus aged. how long do you typically age for and what does it do for the flavor of your brew?

I don't really have a set timeframe, every brew acts differently. Aging does a lot of different things for cider/apfelwine/mead. It gives it time to clear completely, the alcohol mellows out so it's not as "hot", the underlying flavors that sometimes seem to be lost right after fermentation slowly come back. In meads the more subtle honey characters become more pronounced, often a little more sweetness comes back. All flavors from any additions like spices marry and provide the depth and layers of flavors you want. That's why a mead that may seem drinkable, even moderately enjoyable after only a couple few months will be good in 6 months, great in a year and if you can cellar some it'll be amazing in a few years.

There are a lot of factors to consider, a lower gravity beverage or ones with fruit additions tend to be drinkable quite a bit sooner that say a sack mead. The type of yeast used will influence it. The storage temperatures. There are just a lot to consider, best method I've found is judge the appearance, flavors, aroma, all of which will tell you when it is ready to be bottled or when it is ready to be enjoyed.

 

[rosfrei]

It has been fermenting for about 15 days now, and the bubbling has come to a slow spot. I do not have a carboy and airlock setup, but more so just my cook pot with some syran wrap pulled over and a pinhole in it. It has done a perfect job of keeping it vented whilst also keeping stuff out of it.

Now, I do believe I am done with primary. Should I taste it? If it desirable.. do I drink it? If not desirable should I secondary it? and maybe add some more ferment-able sugars? I was thinking if I do not secondary it I was going to utilize sterilized pop bottles to store it, as they have an easy to seal cap with an internal seal.

I am fairly confident I understand most of the brewing process, however what to do after the fermentation process is stumping me a bit.

What is the best plan from this point.

 

[saramc]

It has been fermenting for about 15 days now, and the bubbling has come to a slow spot. I do not have a carboy and airlock setup, but more so just my cook pot with some syran wrap pulled over and a pinhole in it. It has done a perfect job of keeping it vented whilst also keeping stuff out of it.

Now, I do believe I am done with primary. Should I taste it? If it desirable.. do I drink it? If not desirable should I secondary it? and maybe add some more ferment-able sugars? I was thinking if I do not secondary it I was going to utilize sterilized pop bottles to store it, as they have an easy to seal cap with an internal seal.

I am fairly confident I understand most of the brewing process, however what to do after the fermentation process is stumping me a bit.

What is the best plan from this point.

Brewing and fermenting are not the same. Definitely taste it and if you like it then drink it. But odds are it may be gassy. If you do plan to age in clean/sterilized pop bottles you cannot seal with bottle lids because the mead will be offgassing and you will be popping lids or exploding bottles...grab some latex balloons and simply fit one over the top, secure with tape, etc. As the gas is released the balloon will fill, when the balloon deflates it can be an indicator that it is no longer producing/releasing gas. Some people poke a pinhole in balloon but I never did that and never lost a balloon (early days before I had stocked up on airlocks). The mead will be clearing during this time also and you may notice sediment, if so, simply transfer to clean/sanitized bottle in about a month for the first time leaving the sediment behind. Consider repeating every 60-90 days as the wine clears if it still drops sediment--otherwise leave it alone. Once clear and no longer dropping sediment then seal your bottles.

 

[Inner10]

It has been fermenting for about 15 days now, and the bubbling has come to a slow spot. I do not have a carboy and airlock setup, but more so just my cook pot with some syran wrap pulled over and a pinhole in it. It has done a perfect job of keeping it vented whilst also keeping stuff out of it.

Now, I do believe I am done with primary. Should I taste it? If it desirable.. do I drink it? If not desirable should I secondary it? and maybe add some more ferment-able sugars? I was thinking if I do not secondary it I was going to utilize sterilized pop bottles to store it, as they have an easy to seal cap with an internal seal.

I am fairly confident I understand most of the brewing process, however what to do after the fermentation process is stumping me a bit.

What is the best plan from this point.

Buy a demijohn or find a jug that you can rack it too and pop an airlock on it so it can settle and degas. You could put it in pop bottles but the residual gas would make it a little bubbly.