First AG...I'm worried...doesn't look right???

[rex]

I have been doing extract kits for the past few years with excellent success. I started kegging last year and will probably never bottle again.

I did my first AG almost two weeks ago.

This is the recipe I used.

http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/detail/205

Everything went well. Boiled...mashed...boiled/hopped...cooled. I used liquid yeast afterwards and it did ferment but not vigorously. I had bubbling through my air lock...and there was signs of krausen on the inside of the bucket. The smack pack did activate.









This is how it's looking now.



It just still seems really cloudy and isn't settling like I'm used to.

Does it look ok?

Suggestions??

 

[Revvy]

It looks like beer being beer, and slowly clearing.

 

[badmajon]

It looks great, you're just not used to having bits of things in your wort since you've been doing extract for awhile. Welcome to the world of all grain, compared to extract its like cooking from scratch vs opening a packet.

When it's all done, cold crash it for a couple of days as close to zero as possible and it'll be crystal clear, hopefully.

 

[Psych]

Looks a lot like my most recent batch, give it time to settle and it'll be fine. Check gravity if it's been at least a few days and you'll probably see it down where you'd expect it to be.

If there was any bubbling at all, then something happened

 

[daksin]

Looks good. Were your gravities where you wanted them?

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

You could try to vourlaf a little more, that may help.....but one thing I noticed...that carboy isn't setting in a place w direct sunlight is it?

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Maybe try a lauter tun with wort swirling (look it up, its simple and you could use a bottling bucket) the swirling causes the sediment to collect in the dead center and you collect the wort from the side so you get less sediment

 

[DaDzBrewery]

Umm did you use the recipe exactly or did you down size. cause that's for a 10 gallon batch... just a shot in the dark,

 

[Petho]

Wrap a towel around that fermenter to keep the sunlight out.

 

[rex]

You could try to vourlaf a little more, that may help.....but one thing I noticed...that carboy isn't setting in a place w direct sunlight is it?

No...it's not in direct sunlight.

 

[rex]

Umm did you use the recipe exactly or did you down size. cause that's for a 10 gallon batch... just a shot in the dark,

I split the recipe in half to make a 5 gallon batch.

 

[statseeker]

Looks like beer to me. Dont let the level of krausen or the airlock tell you if you're fermenting or not. Gravity readings will tell you all you need to know.

 

[RichBenn]

Since you are new to all-grain, clarity of the wort/beer can be improved with one or more of the following:

1. Vorlauf until clear every time you start draining the mash tun. Don't be in too big a hurry to open the drain cock all the way.
2. Use whirlfloc in the boil(mandatory, IMHO).
3. Whirlpooling after cooling can concentrate the trub. Siphon from the edge; the trub will be concentrated in the middle. Someone already mentioned a more advanced whirlpooling technique. Some trub in the fermenter actually helps the yeast, so don't worry.
4. Let it ferment longer. Alot of us just do a primary -- 3 weeks or more. Settling occurs during this time.
5. Cold crash before bottling/kegging.
6. Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew!

Rich

 

[rex]

Ok.

Tonight I racked the beer into a keg and put it in the fridge on about 10lb CO2 to carb slowly.

There was 'something' floating on top. Not sure if it's yeast or an infection.



Am I ok?

 

[jagg]

Ok.

Tonight I racked the beer into a keg and put it in the fridge on about 10lb CO2 to carb slowly.

There was 'something' floating on top. Not sure if it's yeast or an infection.



Am I ok?

Looks like yeast particles to me, I think you are good to go, let us know how it turns out.

 

[MrManifesto]

yeah those are just little yeast islands, no worries. welcome to AG brewing!

 

[doctorRobert]

I would dump the batch. Looks like you royally f'ed up. It could be dangerous.















































JK. RDWHAHB

 

[Hopper450]

Yes, completely ruined, you should bottle that and ship it to me for safe disposal.

 

[turkeyjerky214]

Definitely vorlauf a bunch. I typically will do 4 full gallon vorlaufs for first runnings and for both batch sparges. Ever since I started this, my beer is much clearer.

+1 for whirlfloc tablets. I used to use Irish Moss. I don't see a difference, but I like tossing in a tablet more than measuring out Irish Moss every time.

One thing I do is put a strainer in a funnel into the top of the carboy. This will block most of the trub, hops, etc, and it will help aerate the wort. I like to get every last drop of wort, and before I was doing this, I was leaving behind more wort than I wanted just so I wouldn't get all that junk in my fermentor.