First Attempt: TrueBrew Amber Ale

[chriscarlino]

New home brewer here. Have always wanted to give home brewing a shot and after my first batch, I'm already hooked. I have been reading just about everything I can find and watching videos on home brewing. I have just finished with my first batch and am looking for some feedback / suggestions.

This was TrueBrew Amber Ale extract kit consisting of DME, liquid malt extract, hops pellets, and priming sugar. I followed the instructions in the kit exactly. However, the more I read the more I read I feel like I may have done a few things wrong. Below were my steps and where I am in the process.

1. Everything clean/ sanitized.. And no problems through the boil.

2. Cooled down wort to about 70 degrees before transferring to fermenter. Poured from brew kettle through strainer to catch any muck and to oxygenate. Topped off with tap water to bring to 5 gallons. Poured from a couple of feet above to try and oxygenate more.

Would this be enough oxygenation for the yeast? After some reading and videos, I don't feel like I added enough oxygen back wort before pitching the yeast. Is this a big problem?

3. Per instructions, I pitched dry yeast (no rehydration) directly to the top of wort. There was a good bit of head on the top so I just pushed it down a few times with my spoon.. Didn't really stir. Is pitching the yeast without rehydrating a bad idea? Should I expect any issues?

4. I saw airlock activity within 24 hours. After the second day, I didn't see any more airlock activity. The ferm temp was around 69 degrees so I thought it might be too cool.. Bumped temp up and maintained 70-71 degrees for a week. There was never any airlock activity after the second day. Directions said to rack after a week and the FG was at 1.013 which was on the low end of where the instructions indicated it should be (1.102-1.016). Was 7 days too short of a primary fermentation even though FG was on target?

5. Instructions said to bottle after one week which I did since FG was right. I bottled two weeks ago which is the length of time instructions recommend. Is 2 weeks enough time or should they sit longer to fully carbonate?

I plan on cracking one open tomorrow to try. Any suggestions on improvements are greatly appreciated.

 

[masskrug]

2. Yes
3. it should be fine. I never hydrate.
4. 1 week is too short. I shoot for 2-3.
5. 2 weeks might be okay for carbonation, but 3-4 would be better. Open one and see.

In the future, try to chill you beers at least 5 days in the fridge to clear them up.

 

[JimRausch]

Those are pretty generic instructions, designed to make everything as simple as possible, and to try and crank out a drinkable product asap. Will it be the best ever? No, but based on my 1st Truebrew kit 3 years ago, it'll be pretty darn good- because YOU made it.
My suggestions are to get John Palmer's "How to Brew" in hard copy form and study it- yep read it more than once, use a highlighter, dog ear pages. Also spend way too much time on this forum just browsing from one thread to another. And most importantly, get started on your next batch. Reading is great, youtube videos are fine, but doing it is the best way to learn.
Finally, despite what the kit instructions were, learn patience. Time is a brewers friend. Yeast are our best friend, but patience is a close second.
Really finally now, WELCOME to your next obsession.

 

[kh54s10]

1) Clean and sanitized. Kits often come with something that is supposed to clean AND sanitize. If so use it only for cleaning. Then get Oxyclean or PBW for cleaning and Starsan or Iodaphor for sanitizing.

2) That probably added plenty of oxygen to the wort.

3) Pitching dry should not cause any problems but re-hydrating is best. Less chance of off flavors due to the yeast re-hydrating in the wort. It is said that pitching dry stresses the yeast and possibly kills off up to 50% of the cells. IDK.

4) One week is probably too short. The accepted minimum is reaching final gravity. Then a couple more days to let the yeast clean up things. Final gravity should be checked, wait a day and check again. If the numbers are the same it is done. I usually go 14 - 21 days, check once and if I don't detect a problem I bottle/keg.

5) Again 1 week in primary may be ok but you might not be at final gravity depending on circumstances. If further fermentation takes place in the bottle you risk bottle bombs. They can explode. 2 weeks may or may not be long enough to carbonate the bottles. Bigger beers take longer. I have had some that were carbonated at 2 weeks, ALL of mine tasted better at 3 weeks or longer. One big one did not taste great until about 9 months. I still have a few bottles, past prime but still good at a little more that 4 years old.

BTW welcome, have fun and get another batch going ASAP. You will be surprised how fast they will disappear. Especially if you have any help.

 

[chriscarlino]

masskrug & JimRausch Thanks for the quick replies.

Is it best to use a specific length of time on primary fermentation or best to go by the projected FG? I assume once you get in to All Grain and creating your own recipes, that FG is a moving target on each brew.

I'm definitely ready to start on my next batch. I am eager to move to partial mash and maybe try out the BIAB method. Wanting to do a Hefeweizen or some other wheat beer... Big fan of wheat beers. I found a great recipe on here.. But, I wound up buying a Hefeweizen extract kit. Figured I better get the fundamentals down before I get ahead of myself on all grain.

 

[TennBrewer]

That was the first batch I made after a long hiatus. I followed the instructions as written, but I rehydrated and proofed the yeast. I had a lot of good activity for several days, temperature was always around 66 degrees. I can only offer one piece of advice based on your description: when topping off in the primary, use pre-boiled water (sanitary), not tap water. On brewing day, I usually put a gallon or two of water on the stove and boil it for about 10 to 15 minutes and let it cool. I use this when I need to rinse something or top off the primary. After two weeks in the bottle, I tried one and it wasn't too bad but needed a few more days to build a little more carbonization. After that it was alright, the more it aged, the better it tasted. It's almost all gone now but there is a batch of Nut Brown Ale in the bottle and a batch of American Session Ale I just racked and dry hopped today. I am planning another cook for some Cream Ale in the next couple of days. You see how this goes? I guess I am building inventory now to avoid those dry spells. You know that beer will see you through times of no money better than money will see you through times of no beer. If it tastes good to you, then you're doing fine, keep on brewin'

 

[chriscarlino]

TennBrewer.. Thanks for the advice. BTW.. What part of TN do you live in? Chattanooga here.

 

[TennBrewer]

TennBrewer.. Thanks for the advice. BTW.. What part of TN do you live in? Chattanooga here.

Germantown. Just east of Memphis.