First batch halfway done.

[tahoetavern]

Thanks for the help, checked my temps before I got in bed. Air 68F water in the ice bath. 70F

 

[kh54s10]

it just seems weird that it would be done so soon. But I still have a lot to learn. is there a way to find out if it is messed up now? Or could I pitch more yeast... Just thinking out loud.

With the hot temperatures that you started fermentation I would not be surprised if fermentation did not nearly finish in 12-18 hours. Yeast love warm temperatures but that is not best for brewing great beer. You might get fusel alcohols and off flavors. The fusel alcohols will give a hot bite.

Pitching more yeast will likely do nothing productive. Let this one ride and hope for the best. Make a setup to control the fermentation temperatures and get your next batch going. This beer might not be a goner but if you control your fermentation temperatures your next one will be better.

 

[vinylrooster]

Thanks for the help, checked my temps before I got in bed. Air 68F water in the ice bath. 70F

Check your gravity, that will help us know if the yeast is still working.

 

[tahoetavern]

I thought about taking a reading last night. i Just didn't want to risk screwing it up anymore.

 

[tahoetavern]

Why does it need to be QUIET when fermenting?

 

[Gaviao]

WOOOOO! BEER!!

Welcome to the addiction my friend!

 

[tahoetavern]

do to potential funk that I might have. When should I take my first reading?

 

[boydster]

Check it after a week if you want confirmation that it fermented, then let it bulk condition for a couple more weeks before bottling (still check before bottling to make sure it isn't still dropping lower)

 

[bbohanon]

Freeze some bottles full of water. Toss a couple in the cooler/rubbermaid full of water with the fermenter, change them out twice a day. Your temps should hold pretty steady.

Solid advice here. I use a walmart tub/swamp cooler with frozen water bottles I rotate out to keep the fermentation temp in the mid to high 60's.
I put some of the Star-San water(keeps it from turning into greenish stinky water) that I used to sanitize my equipment/bucket/carboy on brew day into the tub for the fermenter to sit in and toss in 2-3 frozen bottles in the water first thing in the morning/evenings to keep the temps low. Works like a charm and is cheap to maintain. Just freeze 6 bottles and rotate them out.

Also, 100% agree on the "Dont go by airlock activity" comment. I had an American Ale all-grain batch I pitched some 1056 Wyeast into and the airlock was dead the whole time during fermentation. Turns out my fermenter lid is so worn out its leaking air around the edges. It happens as equipment wears out over time.
If you see krausen, you are good and don't worry too much about opening the fermenter to quickly check or pull a gravity reading. I am about 30+ batches in and never had have an infection yet and I am a curious george when my beer is rolling along. You get less timid over time as you realize its pretty hard to screw up beer if you are good in your sanitation/cleaning practices.

 

[tahoetavern]

I got the bottles rotating out. It is holding steady 68-70F

 

[mbbransc]

Solid advice here. I use a walmart tub/swamp cooler with frozen water bottles I rotate out to keep the fermentation temp in the mid to high 60's.
I put some of the Star-San water(keeps it from turning into greenish stinky water) that I used to sanitize my equipment/bucket/carboy on brew day into the tub for the fermenter to sit in and toss in 2-3 frozen bottles in the water first thing in the morning/evenings to keep the temps low. Works like a charm and is cheap to maintain. Just freeze 6 bottles and rotate them out.

Also, 100% agree on the "Dont go by airlock activity" comment. I had an American Ale all-grain batch I pitched some 1056 Wyeast into and the airlock was dead the whole time during fermentation. Turns out my fermenter lid is so worn out its leaking air around the edges. It happens as equipment wears out over time.
If you see krausen, you are good and don't worry too much about opening the fermenter to quickly check or pull a gravity reading. I am about 30+ batches in and never had have an infection yet and I am a curious george when my beer is rolling along. You get less timid over time as you realize its pretty hard to screw up beer if you are good in your sanitation/cleaning practices.

Does your bucket/carboy fit in a cooler with the airlock? I have a 100qt marina cooler but I still don't think a fermenter would fit.

Where are you storing your cooler? I was thinking of doing something like this for a lager in the winter and keep the cooler in the garage. But with an ale in the summer, I think I'd be fighting a losing battle in the garage. Wife probably won't let the cooler come in the house.

 

[tahoetavern]

No, I checked out the HUGE job site cooler home depot has. The bucket will fit, airlock is always the problem. Plus I doesn't leave any room for anything but water. Right now I just have a Rubbermaid

 

[tahoetavern]

Find a beer your wife likes. Tell her you can brew it cheaper. But you would to bring it inside. You can't smell it.

 

[mbbransc]

I'm getting ready to start my 3rd go at homebrewing (and the first two didn't go well). She's fed up with my hobbies. The internet may be the worst thing to ever happen to a marriage. It just feeds into my ADD ways.

She's content with her cheapo Miller Lite and laughs at my beer snobbish ways. She also understands I won't let it go, so we find compromises.

 

[tahoetavern]

Fare enough, do what works for you. What other hobbies?

 

[mbbransc]

Most importantly, trying to pass the last section of the CPA exam. It eats up 4-5 hrs a day to study (leaving her alone with the kids!!).

Then there are tattoos, pistols, guitar playing, guitar building, gardening, cooking, home theater systems, home theater PCs, PC hacking, car mechanics, car detailing, wrist watches, lifting weights, running, real estate, stocks, I'm sure there are more. We are coming up on the 2nd largest time consumer... football season!! I generally go gung-ho on a hobby and flame out, only to revisit it later. But of course, I've usually already spent several hundred/thousand dollars on something already.

 

[tahoetavern]

I know what you mean, I just do all of them at the same time. Tough to decide which one to do when I get free time.

 

[tahoetavern]

Tomorrow makes a week in the primary. when should I take my first gravity reading?

 

[mrphillips]

I always take mine when I move it from the primary to the secondary.

Like someone else said, don't base the quality of your fermentation on the amount of bubbles you see/hear. Sure it's more rewarding, but the 1st one I brewed - a dry stout - had ZERO bubbles...count'em, ZERO! I was reeeeeally upset, but when I took my FG, all was right with the world.

Happy homebrewing! The way you're keeping your beer cold is the exact same way I do it. I also wrap a towel around the carboy so that it wicks the water from the ice bath and evaporates, aiding in keeping the whole thing cool.

 

[boydster]

Tomorrow makes a week in the primary. when should I take my first gravity reading?

Sorry tahoe, I missed this one. Are you going to use a secondary? If so, you'll want to take 2 gravity readings 3 days apart before transferring to make sure it is done. Otherwise you are risking a stuck fermentation by taking the beer off the yeast cake. Also, keeping it on the primary yeast cake will allow the yeast to clean up any off-flavors much quicker and easier than would happen in a secondary.

I'd take a reading tomorrow (2 weeks in primary) and then another one a week later. Drink both of the samples and see if you notice any flavors that you don't like. If so, leave it on the yeast cake longer and keep checking it once per week until you feel like you are ready to bottle it.

If you bottle it and there are still off-flavors, they will continue to age out in the bottle for the most part, but it will be slower than it would be if you left it to bulk condition in the primary.

 

[tahoetavern]

I'm not using a secondary. had plenty of good advice against making my first batch more complicated. do you pour your reading sample back, heard some guys do, just makes me a little nervous...I have been reading about cold crashing as well. if I put my primary in the freezer. (10-15) minutes only would that help clear up the beer before I transfer to my bottling bucket?

 

[mrphillips]

1) It's safer just to drink whatever you pull out just for sanitation sake, but I've done both without anything bad happening...yet.

2)Cold crashing is a real good idea if you have the space/equipment to pull it off, but you'll need more than 10-15 minutes. Something more like a day or two is what I've read most people doing (some people even keep it in for a week or so). Don't worry about your yeast. Once you bottle, there will still be enough yeast in solution to carbonate. They come back to life once the bottles are set at room temperature.

 

[boydster]

Drink the sample. Not only will it keep you from worrying about the sanitation thing, but it will give you the opportunity to check for off-flavors that may have been generated at the beginning of the fermentation.

Cold crashing is nice to help with clearing, but not absolutely necessary. A long primary (4+ weeks) will also clear the beer incredibly well, while at the same time allowing the beer to stay on the yeast cake to help even more with cleaning up off-flavors. Cold crashing will NOT help in that way, it will cause most of the yeast to flocculate.

Since your beer started off on the very warm side of the spectrum, I would go with whatever gives you and your yeast the best chances of A) identifying any off-flavors and B) cleaning up said off-flavors before bottling.

 

[tahoetavern]

So wait 4 weeks to bottle? Freezer or no freezer?

 

[boydster]

The hydrometer samples should give you an idea of whether or not there are flavors you want to condition out. If there are none, and you are at a stable gravity, you can bottle at 2 weeks. If you want to try cold crashing, again wait until you have conditioned as long as necessary and reached stable FG, then toss the fermenter in the cooler for a few days.

If it needs longer conditioning, you will know. You might taste green apple (acetaldehyde) or butter (diacetyl), those are things you would want to leave the beer in primary to condition out.

 

[tahoetavern]

Awesome. I will take a sample tonight, and let you guys know how it goes.

 

[socencounter]

Awesome. I will take a sample tonight, and let you guys know how it goes.

Good luck with your first batch! Just be careful not to over-prime your bottles. Other than that you should be good to go!

 

[kh54s10]

If you cold crash in a freezer you need a temperature controller. At freezing temperatures it will not clear before it freezes and you do not want it to freeze. You could use the swamp cooler and a lot of water bottles to get the temperature maybe into the low 40's

My fermentation schedule: 3 weeks, then check gravity. If done I bottle. Store the bottles at about 70 degrees for two weeks minimum and check one bottle. They almost always take 3 weeks to truly finish.

I don't return samples to the fermenter. It is too big a risk even as minimal as it is, for a couple ounces. I take the minimum amount of samples needed. Often just the OG and FG if the FG is at the predicted number.

 

[mrphillips]

I know that most beers call for 1 oz of priming sugar for every gallon of beer, but for my 5 gallon batches I always play it safe with just 4 oz. priming sugar. I over-carbonated my first batch, so I don't mess around with too much carbonation. I'd rather have a little less than a little more.

 

[boydster]

I find 5oz is almost always too much for my 5 gallon batches. I use the priming calculator in my brewing software (brewtarget) but there are also priming calcs available online that work well. That is the best way to go, I feel.