First batch in the fermenter

[Brimania42]

So I watched quite a few videos, and sought some advice from some forums, and I'm happy to report that I've got 5 gals of a supposed IPA in the fementer.

There were only a couple of glitches.

Believe it or not, I was able to cool my wort in less than 25 minutes. I was busy sanitizing stuff. The rapidity of the cooling took me by surprise, and it actually wound up pitching at a lower temp than I wanted (60), but research indicates that I'll probably be alright.

Pushed my stopper into the carboy. It turns out, you want things kinda dry when you stick it in there. I got a little overzealous trying to get it to stop inching its own way out. Luckily I had also picked up a carboy cap. It's not ideal I guess, but I had it.

Anyone want to interpret my OG (.1062)? If I'm not mistaken, there is a correction I have to make for a temperature difference of some kind.

Anyway, thanks for all your help. I'll keep you all updated.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[flars]

So I watched quite a few videos, and sought some advice from some forums, and I'm happy to report that I've got 5 gals of a supposed IPA in the fementer.

There were only a couple of glitches.

Believe it or not, I was able to cool my wort in less than 25 minutes. I was busy sanitizing stuff. The rapidity of the cooling took me by surprise, and it actually wound up pitching at a lower temp than I wanted (60), but research indicates that I'll probably be alright.

Pushed my stopper into the carboy. It turns out, you want things kinda dry when you stick it in there. I got a little overzealous trying to get it to stop inching its own way out. Luckily I had also picked up a carboy cap. It's not ideal I guess, but I had it.

Anyone want to interpret my OG (.1062)? If I'm not mistaken, there is a correction I have to make for a temperature difference of some kind.

Anyway, thanks for all your help. I'll keep you all updated.

Cheers,
Brian

Your sample for specific gravity was at 60°F? Most hydrometers are calibrated for 60°. The calibration temperature is printed on the card inside the hydrometer. At 60° your OG would be the measured 1.062 if the wort was thoroughly mixed. When doing a partial boil and topping off in the fermentor it is often difficult to get a complete mix. I just use the recipe OG for extract brews with top off water.

Here's a link to Palmer's free on line brew book. It will be worthwhile to pick up the new and updated edition of "How To Brew".
http://howtobrew.com/book/appendices/appendix-a/using-hydrometers

 

[Travis K. Jansen]

I just picked Palmer's book up. It's got a LOT of chemistry (over my head) type stuff, but there's some great info in there. It was 9 bucks on amazon kindle digital.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Good job on getting it into the fermenter! That's a success if you ask me.

In regards to getting your beer to 60*F, you should be ok. What type of yeast did you use and where are you keeping the fermenter? What is the ambient temp of the room you're keeping your fermenter in?

Usually, using a wet stopper isn't an issue for me. I usually pull it right out of the sanitizing bucket and stick it in the carboy neck. Am I understanding correctly that you're using a carboy cap instead of a rubber stopper? Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't pop off. Unless you have some sort of clamp on that holding it tightly on the carboy, it'll probably get popped off during fermentation.

As @flars stated, hydrometers have a stated calibration temperature. Mine is 68*F, just double check what yours is at and use the link below for future to figure out your hydrometer reading. Even if your hydrometer is calibrated to 68 and you got 1.062 @ 60*F, the real read is 1.061, just to give you an idea of the difference.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/

Congrats on first batch and welcome!

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Congrats on the first batch. Out of curiosity, what method did you use for cooling? When I started, that was my biggest concern/worry, was cooling asap. It was not until I was quite a few brews in before I made a copper immersion chiller, which obviously speeds things up. Wish I would have made it sooner...haha.

 

[Brimania42]

Congrats on the first batch. Out of curiosity, what method did you use for cooling? When I started, that was my biggest concern/worry, was cooling asap. It was not until I was quite a few brews in before I made a copper immersion chiller, which obviously speeds things up. Wish I would have made it sooner...haha.

So my cooling method consisted of a large pile of snow with a large cavity cut into the middle. I would poor a gallon of cold water into the cavity every 5 minutes or so. Obviously, it worked way better than I expected.

In regards to getting your beer to 60*F, you should be ok. What type of yeast did you use and where are you keeping the fermenter? What is the ambient temp of the room you're keeping your fermenter in?

I used a dry ale yeast and just sprinkled (no stirring). The current ambient temp in the room is 70 degrees, I'm slowly taking that down a few degrees. We are bubbling pretty nicely after 36 hours.

I am currently starting to get a bit of material in the airlock, so I think I'm going to a blow off tube TODAY.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Brimania42]

 

[ncbrewer]

Welcome.
That looks like a lot of kraeusen for a 1.062 OG beer. I'll bet the beer is substantially warmer than 70F (fermentation is exothermic). I can't read the fermometer from the photo, but that reading would be very close to actual beer temperature. A water bath with ice bottles as required can be used to get it to a good temp range.

 

[GHBWNY]

So my cooling method consisted of a large pile of snow with a large cavity cut into the middle. I would poor a gallon of cold water into the cavity every 5 minutes or so. Obviously, it worked way better than I expected.

Hey, whatever works!

 

[Brimania42]

Welcome.
That looks like a lot of kraeusen for a 1.062 OG beer. I'll bet the beer is substantially warmer than 70F (fermentation is exothermic). I can't read the fermometer from the photo, but that reading would be very close to actual beer temperature. A water bath with ice bottles as required can be used to get it to a good temp range.

Yeah, it's very warm. 76ish. I'm going to take the water bath idea.

 

[Rob2010SS]

76ish is pretty warm for a typical ipa yeast. Definitely aim for a mid to high 60s temp.

 

[Brimania42]

Yeah, so fermenting temp is definitely my first big lesson. When I picked my space I kinda looked around and said "This looks good." Anyway, after a day of fighting to get my temp down and stop a blowout (which I did), I've been in the mid 60s for 2 days. Here's the thing, now I'm getting pretty anemic action in the airlock. It's still bubbling, but barely. I think my yeasties ate most of their feast in 4 days. I'll let it keep gurgling away until it stops. I guess this is how lessons are learned.

Oddly, I'm going to brew the exact same kit next time so I can see the differences made when I correct for the several things I think I could have done better on.

 

[PADave]

Yeah, so fermenting temp is definitely my first big lesson. When I picked my space I kinda looked around and said "This looks good." Anyway, after a day of fighting to get my temp down and stop a blowout (which I did), I've been in the mid 60s for 2 days. Here's the thing, now I'm getting pretty anemic action in the airlock. It's still bubbling, but barely. I think my yeasties ate most of their feast in 4 days. I'll let it keep gurgling away until it stops. I guess this is how lessons are learned.

Oddly, I'm going to brew the exact same kit next time so I can see the differences made when I correct for the several things I think I could have done better on.

Good idea, not odd at all. For your first brew, not bad. Yes, sometimes the only way to learn something is to try it for yourself. Even after almost 40 brews, I'm still figuring new things out.

 

[ncbrewer]

I'll let it keep gurgling away until it stops.

If you're bottling, don't just go by the bubbles stopping. It might still be fermenting slowly - you could get bottle bombs. I give it 16 days - take gravity sample - at 18 days take another gravity sample. If the gravity is stable, I bottle. It's always been stable by that time. There are different methods - just be sure it's finished fermenting before you bottle.