Well, I have done my first batch using a Brewer's Best Pale ale. I wanted to start with a "color in the lines" sort of process, and yet I still seemed to find ways to make mistakes. Everything was going fine in terms of sterilizing and boiling the water. It took awhile to get the water boiling on my stove using a 5 gallon pot for a partial boil, but once it did I added all the LME and DME. The hot break happened in about 5 minutes with no boil over. All was going well until I switched the adding times for the flavoring and aroma hops. (Mistake 1). When the boil was don, I placed it in an ice bath, but rather then leave it alone I stirred the water in a circle to get it to cool faster (Mistake 2) Now I wasn't "rough" when stirring but it wasn't gentle either. Finally, when I added the wort to the carboy I think I had a little under 2 gallons of wort. I added water to fill the carboy to 5 Gallon and I poured a little into my hydrometer jar to get a reading. Sadly the reading was supposed to be at 1.045 but I got around 1.026. The yeast pitch went fine, as I used the cup of warm water to prepare it and poured it in. Now it is on day two of fermenting and there is a thin layer of krausen on top with a la few bubbles here and there. I am trying to be patient but I don't want to waste time on a batch that is just going to suck anyways. Well, we'll see what happens. Any thoughts or advice as to why fermentation could be slow please let me know. Also, I did have fun brewing this and can't wait to make a "right" batch again!
First batch mistakes...
- Thread starter bill_skar
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RIBeer
Well-Known Member
Doesn't sound like a tragedy yet. Switching your aroma and bittering hops will most likely change the hop profile, but stirring the wort while it cools is no big deal. Differing numbers on your OG reading can simply be from not thoroughly mixing the water and wort together, and the fermentation thing may be just getting going - what is the temp of the room you are fermenting in? Cold temps can really slow things down. Different yeasts will behave differently as well. Relax, Don't Worry, and Have a Home Brew (or whatever you may have on hand). As many a wise brewer have said before me, it really wants to be beer - you have to try REALLY hard to make something undrinkable.
Cheers!
Cheers!
mosquitocontrol
Well-Known Member
You likely will have no problems. Its a common mistake with OG readings for partial boils to have lower then expected. It is because the topoff water wasn't mixed all the way in. So your hydrometer reading had more water then wort causing a fake low reading. As its fermenting it will mix together and be fine.
Sounds good. The room I have ther fermantation iin is a closet in the office. Actually I just turned on a heater in the room facing twords the open closet and I am hearing more bubble as we speak, so maybe this will help. Otherwse room temp is probably 65-67 degrees. The heat brings it up to bout 75.
mosquitocontrol
Well-Known Member
75 will be a too hot for fermentation and cause off flavors.. I'd say you were right on target with the 65F.
oms1981
Scum
Sounds like it will be fine to me. I very much doubt that it is going to "suck anyways" as you put it. I dropped my hydrometer a few months ago and never got a new one. I really couldn't care less if I know what the abv on my beer is and I don't stress out about incorrect OG or FG anymore. My beer is still awesome. The hydrometer is a useful tool, but you don't need one to make great beer and having an OG that doesn't match the recipe doesn't mean the beer is bad. And I agree, 75 is too warm.
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Like said before, I seriously doubt that your gravity was 1.026. When using extract, it's very very hard to not hit your numbers because you're not working to convert/extract sugars from grain. I'd let it go. DO NOT DUMP IT! Let it age properly. A lot of new brewers do the 1-2-3 method that's 1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and 3 weeks in bottle. When I used to bottle, I would taste 1 or 2 every week. I no longer do the 1-2-3 method. I simply leave it in the primary for 3 weeks and then either rack to keg or the bottling bucket with my dissolved corn sugar.
About the stirring hot wort issue, hot side aeration is no big deal and many homebrewers believe it to be a myth. Aeration becomes a big deal in your brewing once there is alcohol present such as when the wort has already been fermented.
So remember a couple of things,
1) don't dump your batch
and
2) let your brew condition a minimum of three weeks in the bottle.
If you have any more questions, just let us know,
J
About the stirring hot wort issue, hot side aeration is no big deal and many homebrewers believe it to be a myth. Aeration becomes a big deal in your brewing once there is alcohol present such as when the wort has already been fermented.
So remember a couple of things,
1) don't dump your batch
and
2) let your brew condition a minimum of three weeks in the bottle.
If you have any more questions, just let us know,
J
I have one question. I will be going out of town on the 11th of Feb, which will have been exactly three weeks in the primary. I will be gone until the 16th. I am trying to decide if I should bottle it on the 10th before I leave, leave it in the primary until the 16th, or place it in the secondary at the end of the first week and eave it in there until the 16th. Any thoughts? Would it damage the beer to leave it in until the 16th? There seems to be some debate whether or not seconday is even necessary.
No, it would not damage the beer if you left it in there for four weeks. I'd say if you can bottle on the 10th, do it because you will be out of town for 5 days and won't be tempted to taste any of your brews. I don't move to secondary very often not only because I'm lazy and enjoy skipping a step, but because you also risk contamination. I'd just leave it in the primary if you can't bottle on the tenth, but I'd probably bottle on the tenth if I had the time.
J
1) We all make mistakes in our first (maybe even first few) brew. Don't worry, it will turn out fine.
2) As mentioned, your hop flavor may be somewhat different than expected, but give it a shot and I bet it tastes fine. Considering you said it was a pale ale and looking up the brewer's best recipe (wow, they don't even LABEL the hop types anymore??? wtf!) I doubt you'll be able to notice much of a difference unless the hops were of very different type (but I'm betting they're not).
3) Stirring during cooling is fine. If you don't stir it, only the outside of the wort nearest the ice bath gets cool, the center is still hot. Stirring probably shaved some time off that process. You may want to be careful about hot side aeration (agitating too much while the wort is still hot), but I've heard a lot of homebrewers say that it's really a myth - or at least less drastic for us.
4) Turn the heat off. Let that thing sit at 65 room temp. Yeast activity raises the internal temp of the ferment already, so keeping it up in the mid-high 70s could have your wort sitting at 80s and developing flavors. 60-65 if about perfect for most ferments.
5) You can leave it in primary an extra week. Probably wont hurt anything. You could bottle before you left as well as long as it's finished fermenting (only a hydrometer test of 2-3 days in a row at the same gravity can confirm that). As said above, it will keep you from messing with it for a week so it can start carbing up.
Don't touch it for 3 weeks in the bottles. It's a hard process, but in that time, start another brew so you have something to keep your attention off those bottles.
Welcome to homebrewing. Patience is a key part of this hobby, and you'll learn it in time (by brewing up a big enough pipeline to keep your hands off the fresh batch while you're drinking some properly aged brews).
2) As mentioned, your hop flavor may be somewhat different than expected, but give it a shot and I bet it tastes fine. Considering you said it was a pale ale and looking up the brewer's best recipe (wow, they don't even LABEL the hop types anymore??? wtf!) I doubt you'll be able to notice much of a difference unless the hops were of very different type (but I'm betting they're not).
3) Stirring during cooling is fine. If you don't stir it, only the outside of the wort nearest the ice bath gets cool, the center is still hot. Stirring probably shaved some time off that process. You may want to be careful about hot side aeration (agitating too much while the wort is still hot), but I've heard a lot of homebrewers say that it's really a myth - or at least less drastic for us.
4) Turn the heat off. Let that thing sit at 65 room temp. Yeast activity raises the internal temp of the ferment already, so keeping it up in the mid-high 70s could have your wort sitting at 80s and developing flavors. 60-65 if about perfect for most ferments.
5) You can leave it in primary an extra week. Probably wont hurt anything. You could bottle before you left as well as long as it's finished fermenting (only a hydrometer test of 2-3 days in a row at the same gravity can confirm that). As said above, it will keep you from messing with it for a week so it can start carbing up.
Don't touch it for 3 weeks in the bottles. It's a hard process, but in that time, start another brew so you have something to keep your attention off those bottles.
Welcome to homebrewing. Patience is a key part of this hobby, and you'll learn it in time (by brewing up a big enough pipeline to keep your hands off the fresh batch while you're drinking some properly aged brews).
Good point. I forgot to mention that. During the very vigorous day or two of fermentation, the internal temp of the wort (not ambient) will be around 6-10* F warmer than the room (ambient) temperature. I usually brew all of my beers in an ice chest filled 3/4 up the carboy with water. I keep that water in the ice chest somewhere around 58* F for most of my ales. What this does is creates a cleaner final product. Trust me, after brewing for years without using this method, this is one of the reasons my beer has gotten significantly better.
J
oms1981
Scum
+1 on this. I do this during the warmer months to keep the fermentation temp down. I don't worry about it too much this time of year cuz its fricken freezing here, but during summer it helps a ton.
So I turned the heater off and it is now in a dark closet with the temp consistently at 65 degrees. The heater was only on for a few hours so hopefully that short time didn't do too much damage. If so, live and learn I guess. The good news is that fermentation is definitely happening! There is a lot of Krausen on top and the bubbler is bubbling quite a bit. No matter what, this process has been fun and the hope is that I will only get better at perfecting the craft. Thanks for all the advice. I will keep the thread updated as I move foreward.
Well, I just bottled the beer. The final gravity reading was about 1.014. I did a little taste test and it was not too bad. Maybe a little weak in flavor but certainly not acidic or sour, so that's good. It was definitely in the ballpark of an ale in terms of flavor. The bottle were all rinsed after use so I just sanitized everything and siphoned from primary to bottle bucket and from there to bottle. My pregnant wife had classes cancelled due to snow so she was able to help bottle, thank god, cause that would have been a pain on my own. I am leaving the day after tomorrow for FL so I can't touch the bottles for at least a week. How long should they stand till placing in the fridge?
Well, I finished the brew and I am pretty please with the results. The flavor isn't as full as I would like it to be and there is a little hint of ash taste to it but overall the flavor and color are pretty solid! I am ready to make a second batch.
I just want to add to the gravity reading of partial boils. As it has already been said, it's hard to miss your target using extracts, but it can vary slightly or you may decide you want something a little different during the brew day.
If you take the reading BEFORE adding any water, you can decide what the final product will be.
For example: If your 3 gal of wort measures 1.075, you can decide - Do I want 5 gallons at 1.045? or do I want 4 gallons at 1.056? That way you can cater your brew to your taste. This probably comes into play more with AG on brewing on new (for the particular brewer) equipment where there can be more variation. It took the SWMBO to make me realize I would rather have 4 gallons of a great beer than 5 gallons of an ok one. Just my .02 ...
Cheers
If you take the reading BEFORE adding any water, you can decide what the final product will be.
For example: If your 3 gal of wort measures 1.075, you can decide - Do I want 5 gallons at 1.045? or do I want 4 gallons at 1.056? That way you can cater your brew to your taste. This probably comes into play more with AG on brewing on new (for the particular brewer) equipment where there can be more variation. It took the SWMBO to make me realize I would rather have 4 gallons of a great beer than 5 gallons of an ok one. Just my .02 ...
Cheers
So to change the first reading do you just add a little water at a time (i.E. 1 gallon...then half gallon more...than half gallon more) while measuring at each step to figure out what reading you want to start at? I am a little consfused.
I plan to start doing AG this summer when I can do it outside with a turkey frier! When people sai this could be an expensive hobby...i really didn't beleive them. But it is nice to not have to go to the liquesr stor for beer!
I plan to start doing AG this summer when I can do it outside with a turkey frier! When people sai this could be an expensive hobby...i really didn't beleive them. But it is nice to not have to go to the liquesr stor for beer!
Well, if you add water and then take a reading, you're still going to encounter false readings from a non-thoroughly mixed solution. You can calculate the amount of water needed for a particular OG by using gravity points.
In my example, I used your post-boil wort as 3 gallons of 1.075 OG.
3 gallons x 75 GU's (gravity units) per gallon = 225 GU's Total in your wort
If you add one gallon and dilute the GU's by 4 gallons, you get 225 GU / 4 gallons or 56.25, which is an OG of 1.05625 (1.056 for short). The math almost seems to be too easy, but it works.
So, let's say you target gravity was 1.051...
Given your same original wort of 3 gallons at 1.075, you have 225 GU's. Divide that by the GU's per gallon (in this case 51 GU's from your target 1.051) and you get 4.41 gallons. Since you already have 3 gallons, you would need to add 1.41 gallons to reach your target OG.
So, the basic formula is:
Qty (gallons) x Gravity Units = Total Gravity Units
Hope that helps. You should never miss your target OG when using extracts and partial boils.
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