First Batch, need clarification

[justinthehull]

I just finished brewing my first, and highly anticipated batch of homebrew today. I used the True Brew Amber Ale kit:

One can of hopped amber malt extract
Two pounds of dried malt extract
1 oz hop pellets

I ran into a few unexpected problems, which I expected would happen. I read a decent amount of "How to Brew" and "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" but I was still unprepared in some ways.

The first weird thing, is that I never had a foam up while boiling the wort. I read somewhere to wait until the foam ups stopped to add the hops... but it never happened, so I just added them and boiled for another half an hour. I was puzzled, as everything mentions this happening. Perhaps it's because I raised the temperature slowly and the wort was exposed to heat for longer than normal before it boiled?

I'm very pissed that my "How to brew" book told me to stir in the yeast. In later chapters it says not to stir but to add it, cover, and then wait 15 minutes, Stir gently and then cover again. Would that have been a problem to explain in one addition sentence? Could I have killed the yeast or something by stirring it before it was rehydrated?

... It's also said to wait 15-30 minutes to pitch, but it doesn't say anywhere if it's bad to leave it like this too long... I left mine nearly an hour rehydrating due to poor timing and a longer than expected boil for the reason stated above.

After cooling I poured wort into bucket, back into the pot, and then back into the bucket to aerate. Finally I poured it into the carboy. I didn't see any sludge... But I left a little at the end because I was unsure if I should pour it all in. Should I have poured everything in, or should there have been nasty stuff on the bottom like I've heard others mention?

The last problem was the funnel. I bought it from a homebrew store and it looked appropriate. It doesn't fit in the carboy very well and is a little unstable. The funnel stopped working many times. I thought it was because the screen was clogged with hops, so I stopped to rinse it with tap water. This made sanitizing the funnel seem like a possible waste of time. At one point the screen popped up while I was pouring wort, so a lot of hops made it into the beer.

The funnel continued to be a problem when pouring in the water. I grabbed funnel and lifted it up to allow air to go in. This worked and it was leaking before I did this anyway, so whatever. Is this a common problem, or does my funnel suck?

 

[jaycount]

I use a bucket for primary so I don't have to jack with a funnel. Just my preference.

The amount of time the hops should have been in the boil depends on the recipe/kit. Longer will produce more bitterness. I add the hops as soon as the wort hits a boil, then start my boil timer.

It doesn't matter if you stir in the yeast, you just need to get it into the wort, they will find the sugar on their own. No need to stir. You can rehydrate with sterile water before pitching, but it has been suggested that rehydration is unnecessary (YMMV, do your own research).

If you poured through a screen, there shouldn't have been much trub in the bottom. Ultimately though, its not the end of the world if this cold break and hop material makes it in to the wort, it will fall out after/during fermentation and you'll siphon the beer off the top of it.

 

[kh54s10]

You can relax. Nothing that you have done is bad. In fact most of it was just right.

The slow rise in temperature probably resulted in no foam. Some recipes will foam more than others.

Stirring in the yeast is perfectly acceptable and your re-hydration was also done with acceptable procedure.

Your aeration technique was good but it sound like the funnel has no ridges on the bottom side so there is no gap to release the air as the fermenter fills.

I don't use a screen so you could ditch that and just pour slowly and leave any large amounts of sludge in the brew pot. It would not hurt anything though, if you did pour it all into the fermenter.

So again, you can relax, it sounds to me like you did very well and will get a very good beer.

 

[markmc40]

Sounds like a pretty successful first batch. Congrats! It gets smoother, really. From what you describe, the beer will be just fine, no deal breakers. And yes your funnel sucks. I've got the same one I think. They make better ones that rest sturdy in the neck without sealing off the air. I might just get whirpooling down better and siphon rather than get another funnel though.

 

[markmc40]

Oh, and don't forget the most important step to brew day....

RDWHAHB

 

[justinthehull]

Thanks everyone for responding, I feel a lot better! I've done more research on the funnel thing and it sounds like it's a common problem. It'll be better next time since I will expect it. I'm either going to try using a hop bag next time or have a sanitized spoon ready to clear the screen with. I find it surprising that out of the five or so sets of directions I read, none mentioned the potential for this. I did see a couple of bubbles this morning, so that's making me feel better as well.

 

[GreenDragon]

Is "One can of hopped amber malt extract" similar to Coopers pre-hopped LME? If so I don't think you are supposed to boil pre-hopped LME?? If the instructions said boil you're prolly okay though.

 

[RM-MN]

You probably didn't have your wort foam up because a lot of your fermentables came from the hopped malt extract and the foaming would have happened to the manufacturer of that instead of you. In other words, the part that makes foam was missing for you.

Pouring back an forth was good for aeration. You didn't see much sediment because much of the sediment most of us see is from the cold break and the hops. Your hopped malt extract already went through the cold break and the trub separated out before you got it. If you have a lid with airlock or a grommet to accept an airlock you could leave the wort in the bucket to ferment. There are pluses and minuses to this. It's easier to pour everything into the bucket and you really don't need to filter anything out. The yeast will use any of it that it wants and the rest will just settle to the bottom. The buckets are translucent so they filter out light and UV light can ruin beer but you can cover or put the carboy in a dark place and achieve the same thing. You cannot see the yeast multiplying (voyeurism ) in the bucket so you don't have as much clues about what is going on. The buckets need a little care not to scratch the inside but they are easy to wipe down when you clean them and they won't shatter if you drop one.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,the LME can being pre-hopped should absolutely never be boiled! This darkens the LME & drives off hop profile. Use the 2lb of DME in the boil for the hop addition(s). The DME in the boil won't give much hot break foam at all. Unless it's wheat DME. Boy,that stuff gave a beercano hot break like grains would.
But I still get a lil bit of cold break in the strainer when I pour the wort/top off water through it. The fine mesh strainer aerates the wort well too. But it can't be used on a carboy unless you have one of those huge funnels & some one to hold it. That's why I use the pastic fermenters. Large openings to work with.
And no sense being able to see what you don't understand as a noob anyway. Just my 2c...

 

[justinthehull]

That's the first time I've heard not to boil LME. It says to boil it in both books i mentioned, and even the kit instructions. I just ordered a highly recommended strainer from northern brewer that sits on top of the bucket. The screen is way bigger so it shouldn't clog so easily. It also has a sturdy wooden handle so that I can dump it easily if needed.

 

[unionrdr]

The OP used a pre-hopped can of LME. You never boil those. But Plain LME/DME are fair game.

 

[justinthehull]

So how much of an effect can I expect it to have on my beer that i boiled the prehopped LME?

 

[unionrdr]

The longer you boil it,the less hop profile will remain that was brewed into the LME. It'll also slowly get darker than it was intended to be. That's why you always see on here that the beer came out darker than the person thought. I use DME in the boil,saving the LME for flame out. Cleaner flavor,& lighter color that way.

 

[justinthehull]

So you just add the LME after turning out the flame and stir it for a long time? Does it take long for it to dissolve enough that it won't stick to a wort chiller?

 

[unionrdr]

Yes,I add the LME at flame out. I never timed it,but it doesn't take very long to stir & fold it over to get the LME all mixed in well to the point where you can't scrape anymore off the bottom.

 

[justinthehull]

Ok, cool. Thanks for all of the helpful replies uniondr.

 

[BamaRooster]

The longer you boil it,the less hop profile will remain that was brewed into the LME. It'll also slowly get darker than it was intended to be. That's why you always see on here that the beer came out darker than the person thought. I use DME in the boil,saving the LME for flame out. Cleaner flavor,& lighter color that way.

+1 this works for me too.....the only diff is I save about 1/2 of my DME and add it with 10 minutes left in the boil.

 

[unionrdr]

+1 this works for me too.....the only diff is I save about 1/2 of my DME and add it with 10 minutes left in the boil.

Yeah,as a matter of fact,I think I forgot to mention that bama. I add the DME 1st right at flame out. Then add all the LME. And you're welcome justin.