First batch concerns

[whoaru99]

As first batch made the Midwest Autumn Amber Ale extract kit. Made it with full boil (well, starting with 5 gal) then had to add about 3/4 gallon to account for boil off.

OG was ~1.040 (don't know that I read it quite right first time) which was a bit low according to the kit but fermentation was going good 12 hours after the pitch. After a two days short of two weeks in primary it was 1.018. Going to check again tomorrow to see if it's gone down any more.

Any hopes this might go down more or am I stuck with 2.8% brew?

 

[unionrdr]

A 1.040 beer should go down to at least 1.010. Give it more time,don't rush it.

 

[ron,ar]

You didn't mention what your target og and fg were, also did you take your hydrometer readings at what temp? You have to adjust your readings according to the temp and your hydometer could even be out of calibration. Your final gravity is definatly too high, should be down around 1.010.

 

[whoaru99]

Kit instructions say SG 1.042 - 1.046, FG 1.010 - 1.012.

 

[unionrdr]

Huh,that's the same numbers midwest gave for my partial mash cascade pale ale kit. It was my first PM,& my mash & the gold LME gave it a 1.042OG. Not bad for a first time. So you're not off by much. I still say 1.010FG. I've gotten ales with an OG of 1.050 down to 1.010,even 1.009 with regularity using cooper's yeast.

 

[HerbieHowells]

Any time you add top off water and then take a hydrometer sample, it is hard to get an accurate OG reading. There is a good chance that your initial hydro sample was diluted. If you got the extract they gave you in 5 gallons of water, you can't miss the OG by that much. So that may take care of half of your concern.

As for the high SG, as said above, your hydrometer is probably calibrated for 60* F, so make sure it isn't a temperature based problem. The problem there is that your hydrometer will actually give a lower than accurate reading if you are above 60*, so if your hydro sample was at 70*, your actual gravity might be higher than 1.018. So you are probably going to have to give this one some more time.

There are a few things you can do to make your yeast work better on future brews. If you keep your beer at the lower end of your yeast's temperature range, you can see a slow fermentation. If you don't pitch enough yeast, you can get a slower fermentation. A yeast starter will help with that. Also make sure you are adding enough oxygen to your wort at pitching. This beer should be fine with time, but every brew you learn something new.

 

[whoaru99]

Any point moving to secondary at this time or is that just counterproductive to lowering the gravity?

 

[unionrdr]

Leave it in primary & let the yeast finish up.

 

[whoaru99]

Any time you add top off water and then take a hydrometer sample, it is hard to get an accurate OG reading. There is a good chance that your initial hydro sample was diluted. If you got the extract they gave you in 5 gallons of water, you can't miss the OG by that much. So that may take care of half of your concern.

As for the high SG, as said above, your hydrometer is probably calibrated for 60* F, so make sure it isn't a temperature based problem. The problem there is that your hydrometer will actually give a lower than accurate reading if you are above 60*, so if your hydro sample was at 70*, your actual gravity might be higher than 1.018. So you are probably going to have to give this one some more time.

There are a few things you can do to make your yeast work better on future brews. If you keep your beer at the lower end of your yeast's temperature range, you can see a slow fermentation. If you don't pitch enough yeast, you can get a slower fermentation. A yeast starter will help with that. Also make sure you are adding enough oxygen to your wort at pitching. This beer should be fine with time, but every brew you learn something new.

Still at 1.018 so I'll go until next weekend but I think it's pretty much done its thing. Hope I'm wrong.

A few things I noted during this first brewing...

1. Chilled down pretty fast with immersion chiller. From flameout to 70F in 8-10 min. (homemade 3/8" id copper coil, connected to garden hose). Problem here is that I momentarily spaced out adding hot water to wort in primary and pitched into ~85F. Not a total disaster (at least not for a noob), but still. Cold water bathed for several hours to help bring it down faster.

2. Rehydrated and pitched just one small packet 6g(?) of Munton's that the brew shop provided with the kit. Later reading I see that probably 2 packets or 10-12G dry yeast for 5gal is a better pitch. Will either use two next time or perhaps one 11g S-05 or Nottingham.

3. Fermenter in basement, ~68F starting and notable activity 12 hours later. ~64F when I got back a week later from work trip. Thought that might have stalled it so brought it upstairs to the back room where it sits at 67F. No further airlock activity noted but I understand that's not a tell-all.

 

[unionrdr]

Gently swirl the fermenter to stir up some of the settled yeast. That will usually get it going again. then give it a day or two to see if it starts again.

 

[whoaru99]

Gave it a swirl...keeping fingers crossed.

BTW before pitching, for oxygenation, I poured about 1/2 the volume of wort from the primary to a 2nd sanitized bucket then back again. Did that four or five times. Should've been good enough for oxygen, yes?

 

[ncbrewer]

There seem to be a lot of extract kits that stop fermenting at around 1.020 – see this link as an example: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/fg-quite-high-324462/
Some extracts that I use stop in the 1.015 – 1.022 range. Sometimes I add ¾ pound of sugar with the extracts to compensate.

 

[unionrdr]

I only had that problen once...with my extract version of the 1890's #3 Burton ale. 1.065OG against a 1.018 FG. It was great.

 

[whoaru99]

Three days since the swirl, didn't notice any more activity in the airlock, and still looks like 1.018 to me. I think I'll bottle this weekend and free up the primary. That'll be three weeks since brew day.

A little anxious, yeah, but I thought I did pretty good considering my first post wasn't until two weeks, more or less, past brew day.

 

[whoaru99]

Bottled today, 21 Oct 2012. Filled:

13) 12oz
12) 22oz
6) 1L flip-tops

When I racked to the bottling bucket I had for some reason expected to see more stuff in the bottom of the fermenting bucket. There was maybe a 1/4" layer of muck at the bottom. Is that about right, or indicative of why the FG only got to 1.018?

Based on a short glass of the uncarbonated beer, unless I contaminated the bottling, is should be decently drinkable albeit a bit light in the loafers.

BTW, where should I condition it? Basement will be low to mid 60s, main floor will be 68F, give or take 1.

 

[unionrdr]

Keep it in the 68F part of the house. 60 is too cold for most ale yeasts. And that's about right for the amount of trub. I only get about 3/8" with my mid gravity extract ales. And I strain everything into the FV as well.

 

[whoaru99]

First bottle from first batch, one week after bottling. The picture is a bit misleading for color and clarity with the flash and light background.

Certainly drinkable albeit not likely to win any awards.

Bittering hops still fairly forward in the taste, not much hop aroma. Decent malt aroma. Carbonation present but light and dissipated fairly rapidly. Some haze but certainly not real cloudy. All sounds about normal for a week in the bottle, eh?

The glass of beer didn't last very long before it was gone...

 

[ncbrewer]

First bottle from first batch, one week after bottling. The picture is a bit misleading for color and clarity with the flash and light background.

Certainly drinkable albeit not likely to win any awards.

Bittering hops still fairly forward in the taste, not much hop aroma. Decent malt aroma. Carbonation present but light and dissipated fairly rapidly. Some haze but certainly not real cloudy. All sounds about normal for a week in the bottle, eh?

The glass of beer didn't last very long before it was gone...

I'll bet in another 2 or 3 weeks it will taste even better.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,it'll need a couple more weeks at room temp to finish carbing & conditioning. Then into the fridge for a week for good carbonation & thicker head. 2 weeks is even better. It'll clear up nice in that time as well.

 

[ncbrewer]

Yeah,it'll need a couple more weeks at room temp to finish carbing & conditioning. Then into the fridge for a week for good carbonation & thicker head. 2 weeks is even better. It'll clear up nice in that time as well.

I don't have room in the fridge to store beer for two weeks. I put it in the fridge for two days and I'm happy with it. Might be missing the full benefit, but it works. So don't feel like you'll get bad beer just because you don't have lots of refrigerator space.

 

[whoaru99]

I'm single...there's lots of room in the fridge next to the ketchup bottle.