First Batch Not Enough Wort to Fill Carboy

[earthad1]

Hi Everyone.

I'm new to the forum and this is my first attempt at brewing a batch of anything

So I just finished racking from the primary fermenter over to a clean/sanitized glass carboy, but I did not have enough to fill it.

What are my option? Does this mean Oxygen will be a factor. I had next to no splashing or air bubbles going from the tube into the beer...

Also, the instructions state to keep in a cool, dark place... How about a basement with no windows?

Thanks all for the help. Much appreciated.

Also, the residue in the picture is just the non-rinse sanitizing solution I used

 

[Rockybottom]

No problems there. The oxygen will be displaced eventually with co2. The secondary, if you do one is for clarifying, so it is important to keep any light from penetrating the beer, the basement is awesome. One way to do it is, 2 weeks in secondary, then bottle for three weeks and enjoy.

 

[hammer one]

Don't worry there is still plenty of active yeast in there that will keep eating sugars create co2 and push out the o2. You've probably noticed some bubbles in the air lock allready.

 

[earthad1]

Thanks everyone ... That's a relief!!! :rockin:

Yea, the airlock is full of little bubbles at the moment.

The photo was taken 20 mins after racking.

 

[desertbronze]

That looks perfect. You need some headspace anyway.

 

[david_42]

Right when you pitch, you want oxygen in the wort. The yeast need it to grow.

 

[Rockybottom]

Right when you pitch, you want oxygen in the wort. The yeast need it to grow.

Absolutely correct, however he is talking about racking from primary to secondary, no o2 needed there. (Just don't want to confuse those learning)

 

[Coastarine]

If it makes you feel any better, I was all thrilled to have enough belgian pale to fill my 5gal carboy and then some. There's just something satisfying about utilizing all of the fermenter space that you can. Fast forward 48 hours: blowoff has put the carboy at the same level as most every other beer I've done. Just below the shoulder. Overfilling the carboy will only end up in the beer pushing itself out. Oh well.

 

[JLW1974]

I wouldn't worry about NOT filling the carboy up with wort all the way to the top. As others have said, you will want some 'head space' otherwise it could blow off your blow tube (I have had that happen to me before when the yeast was partying too hard).

Do keep tabs of the temperature in your basement if it varies often. Depending on the yeast, the temperature may be too low and hence you don't see any activity.

Also, I don't know what your OG readings were. It could be possible that you have pushed the yeast to the limits and it will not ferment the sugars any longer, depending on the beer you are brewing and the yeast you are using.

All else being said, from what I see I don't see any problems.

 

[earthad1]

wow, thanks for all the help. This site rocks.

OG was 1.050
FG was 1.019

Range was 1.013 - 1.019. It was constant at 1.019 for 2 days so I racked it.

It is from a Canadian Beer kit called "Baron's Premium" and its Brown Ale

Its been sitting in the basement for 2 days in the dark, but I'm not seeing any activity per se. What should I be looking for? Am I just waiting for the beer to clear or should I still be seeing some type of fermentation going on (bubbles in Airlock ect..)

The Temperature down there is sitting at 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) and should not be fluctuating too much. Should I be concerned with regulating the temperature more?

Here is a photo from about 30 mins ago

 

[histo320]

Just look for bubbles in the airlock. I usually spend way to much time watching the bubbles. It actually makes for a good drinking game. Bubble DRINK, Bubble Bubble, DRINK DRINK.

It can take up to 72 hours for fermentation to begin. After that wait 7-10 days or until it has reached a good final gravity. Check with the hydrometer.

The beer will clear a bit but not significantly. If you want more clarification, use a secondary.

You only worry now would be the temperature. Depending on the strain of yeast it should be anywhere from 68-75, correct me if I am wrong on this.

 

[earthad1]

Just look for bubbles in the airlock. I usually spend way to much time watching the bubbles. It actually makes for a good drinking game. Bubble DRINK, Bubble Bubble, DRINK DRINK.

It can take up to 72 hours for fermentation to begin. After that wait 7-10 days or until it has reached a good final gravity. Check with the hydrometer.

The beer will clear a bit but not significantly. If you want more clarification, use a secondary.

You only worry now would be the temperature. Depending on the strain of yeast it should be anywhere from 68-75, correct me if I am wrong on this.

Thanks for the input. Its already in secondary though... My concern at this point is the lack of any activity and if the temp down there is too low for the yeast.

Should I run the thermostat and get the temp up to around that range? At this stage, does yeast require a good temperature range to continue? The batch is far from any direct source of heat...

Its been down there since Sunday afternoon, so about 55 hours or so, have I done any damage to it by seemingly not having any activity?

 

[ajf]

The purpose of a secondary is to allow the beer to clear, not to continue fermenting which is just about complete. Look at your two pictures, and decide for yourself if the beer is clearing.
The bubbles you saw in the airlock shortly after racking were caused by disturbing the beer while racking. This causes some of the CO2 in the beer to escape, and is perfectly normal after racking.

-a.

 

[earthad1]

The purpose of a secondary is to allow the beer to clear, not to continue fermenting which is just about complete. Look at your two pictures, and decide for yourself if the beer is clearing.
The bubbles you saw in the airlock shortly after racking were caused by disturbing the beer while racking. This causes some of the CO2 in the beer to escape, and is perfectly normal after racking.

-a.

Thanks for the help. So I should not be concerned at this point with the temperature? I know when its cool it will help to clear the beer faster, but I guess I'm not sure between what is "cool" and what is "Cold".

Also, there are tiny little clusters of bubbles at the top of the beer, are those most likely just CO2 bubbles?


Thanks again.

 

[mmb]

At 50* you should start to see the yeast flocculate (clump together) and fall to the bottom. It should clear fairly quickly.

The little bubble clusters would be CO2 bubbles, yeast colonies and particulate held together by hop resin or something similar. If it bugs you too much you can give the carboy a gentle bump and they should fall to the bottom.

 

[Homercidal]

50 is a bit low for good active fermentation. That is closer to clearing temps. I'd take readings from a hydrometer and see if it's finished before bottling.

 

[earthad1]

50 is a bit low for good active fermentation. That is closer to clearing temps. I'd take readings from a hydrometer and see if it's finished before bottling.

I've already racked the batch from my Primary over to the secondary (my glass carboy).

Active fermentation seemed to have finished as my hydrometer reading was at 1.019 for 2 days in a row and fell between the chart for this beer.

I'm presently just letting it clear.

So your saying 50 is good for this stage in the game?

 

[earthad1]

At 50* you should start to see the yeast flocculate (clump together) and fall to the bottom. It should clear fairly quickly.

The little bubble clusters would be CO2 bubbles, yeast colonies and particulate held together by hop resin or something similar. If it bugs you too much you can give the carboy a gentle bump and they should fall to the bottom.

Yup, exactly what's going on, the yeast is slowly making its way to the bottom

I did a light bump/nudge to the carboy which made some fall rather quickly to the bottom.

So 50 should be cool for this stage?

 

[earthad1]

Day 4

All looks well as far as I can tell

So right now, the temperature down there is sitting at about 10C (50F)

I'm thinking this is OK for clearing in Secondary.

I'll leave it in there for a month before going to bottle... I'm thinking, based on other threads, that that's a good period to allow the beer to settle.

 

[blue800]

Just out of curiosity because I ran into the same issue, (or if there is more splashing involved in the transfer to secondary than is ideal) could you just throw in a bit of dextrose water and let the yeasts eat up all the available O2? (and boost the ethanol slightly)