First batch is humming right along!

[MacBruver]

Well, I'm on day 3 of fermentation of my first batch of beer, and everything seems to be going smoothly. I'm brewing a java stout kit from Midwest Supplies. Target OG is 1.042 to 1.046, and I think I ended up right around the middle of that. It's pretty tough to read the hydrometer with such dark wort!!

I directly pitched White Labs WLP002 liquid english ale yeast, and within 24 hours (didn't get a chance to check any sooner) I had very vigorous fermentation. Krausen was huge and I was getting about 1 bubble per second out of the airlock.

After another 24 hours, bubbling was still pretty constant... maybe a little slower, every 2-3 seconds. The following morning (this morning) the bubbling has all but stopped. Of course this worried me a bit, but after some reading here I'm gonna wait a good bit longer before I do any actual worrying.

I pulled a sample, and my SG is now down to 1.020. I'm drinking the sample right now and it's pretty damn good!! Once it ferments out and I get the coffee in there I think it'll be excellent.

The only thing that I'm worried about is the lack of starter, and lack of aeration. I did a "long" pour from the kettle to the fermenter, and then used a sanitized whisk to vigorously stir in some air. Next time I'll do a few more pours to get more air in there, and make a proper starter.

I can't wait to get another batch going, and I think I'll be making my pale ale as soon as I get this stout out of the primary. I'm hooked!!

 

[jacefive]

I wouldn't worry too much about anything since fermentation is going along so fine! The long pour has always worked well for me. Do you have a homebrew shop down there in the OC?

 

[MacBruver]

Cool. I just noticed that in the sample that I pulled, there were actually bubbles forming at the bottom of it... I think the fermentation is still a bit more active than I thought

As for homebrew stores- yeah, there are a couple. I picked up the yeast from Stein Fillers in long beach, which is run by the home brew club up there. They have a pretty decent selection of stuff, and they're helpful. I ended up going there after reading the kind of reviews people were giving the muntons dry yeast. I figured it was worth a couple extra bucks to upgrade.

There's another place a ways south of me that I haven't checked out called O'Shea's that is supposed to have a pretty huge selection of hops... I'll have to make my way down there to check it out at some point.

 

[Myrdhyn]

Congratulations on your first brew. I'm also three days in to my first [non-Mr. Beer] batch. I, unfortunately, pitched my yeast at far too low a temp, and didn't get any action for 36+ hours. Glad to see you had better luck that me.

I'm looking at some sort of stout for my second batch. For aeration, have you considered the fish pump>filter>airstone setup? Pretty sure I'll be going that route next batch since it is a very minimal investment.

 

[MacBruver]

Congratulations on your first brew. I'm also three days in to my first [non-Mr. Beer] batch. I, unfortunately, pitched my yeast at far too low a temp, and didn't get any action for 36+ hours. Glad to see you had better luck that me.

I probably would have totally freaked if that had happened... I think it definitely was luck. It turns out that my apartment stays at a pretty constant 68 degrees, which is the recommended temperature of the yeast. What was yours at? I think the one day where my temps dropped to around 65 caused the fermentation to slow pretty drastically.

I'm looking at some sort of stout for my second batch. For aeration, have you considered the fish pump>filter>airstone setup? Pretty sure I'll be going that route next batch since it is a very minimal investment.

Well... from what I've tasted so far, this is a pretty good stout It's definitely lighter than what I'm used to drinking though- with an OG of only 1.045, it's definitely not going to be a "big" beer. If you're used to drinking bigger stouts, look for something that's around 1.060, at least.

I think I actually have a pump sitting around somewhere, from my aquarium days... I should probably just get the stuff to use it, and cut down on the worrying.

 

[spitfire]

Congrats on the brew! Can't wait to start my first.

 

[Myrdhyn]

I probably would have totally freaked if that had happened... I think it definitely was luck. It turns out that my apartment stays at a pretty constant 68 degrees, which is the recommended temperature of the yeast. What was yours at? I think the one day where my temps dropped to around 65 caused the fermentation to slow pretty drastically.

It got so late on brew day that I finally had to pitch and hope for the best, it was <55deg when I pitched, 20 degrees lower than the recommended pitching temperature of 75* (68-72 recommended fermenting temp). I admit, I just about had to constantly chant RDWHAHB to myself to keep from freaking out that first day. What I did was bring the wort back up to 75-76*, after 24hrs I used a sterilized spoon and vigorously stirred it to make sure the yeast was resuspended. About 12-14hrs later off it went. I have a very small fan-space heater in the closet with it which keeps the temperature very constant at about right at 70*.

 

[MacBruver]

Ok, just checked the gravity again and it's down to 1.016. The recipe says that the expected FG is 1.010 - 1.012, so there's still a little way to go. The krausen has fallen completely, but I'm still getting a bubble out of the airlock every now and then- so there's something still happening in there. I think by wednesday of next week, which will be 10 days, it should be pretty much perfect.

I also sampled it again, and it's getting better and better! It has a bit more hop bitterness than what I would expect for a stout.. but I guess it's hardly even done fermenting, so it's hard to tell what will happen from here.

I also just started a couple batches of cider, which are going absolutely nuts. I'm getting like 100 bubbles per minute out of the airlock on the cherry cider, and about a bubble a minute on the other one. I think the cherry got a bit more yeast in it, which would account for the difference in activity... or it could be that the sugar from the cherries is more fermentable than the corn sugar in the other one.

They sure do stink, though- the apple juice fermenting throws off some real sulfury smells. Hopefully that will calm down a bit, SWMBO is starting to get leery of all my brew projects in the kitchen!