first batch problems please help
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Ok, surgery went well. Everything was thoroughly sanitized, and filled the blow off bucket with some sanitizer and water too. Thanks! Only question now I guess is what do I do when its fill dump jar, add more water and start again? It is important to start with some water and sanitizer with the tube submerged correct? Good thing I bought two air locks, now I can keep one like this. Great quote I read on another thread by @Poolplayer:
jonnyp1980
Well-Known Member
Good on you for the blowoff tube. Looks like a lot of suds there. Also no need for fluid in the lock now that the blow off is connected. And yes the tube needs to be submerged. If water level gets too low just add more.
OK so I figures I'd keep this thread going as it has been very helpful this far.
The new title should be 3rd batch problems!
We brewed a Northern Brewer Imperial IPA last night and sat it out in our garage to ferment.
When I went out this morning and checked I saw no activity in the airlock and the thermometer on the bucket reads 56. Is that too cold for the yeast to preform?
The new title should be 3rd batch problems!
We brewed a Northern Brewer Imperial IPA last night and sat it out in our garage to ferment.
When I went out this morning and checked I saw no activity in the airlock and the thermometer on the bucket reads 56. Is that too cold for the yeast to preform?
stratslinger
Well-Known Member
Most likely it's a bit too cool - but it kind of depends on the yeast strain. What yeast did you use?
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
stratslinger
Well-Known Member
Ok, another lesson: that's not simply "dry ale yeast," that's Safale US-05. Every strain has its own properties, dry ale yeast is not universal, so you need to be specific about what strain you're using to get the best info. If you we're using Nottingham, for instance, which is another strain of dry ale yeast, the temps you're seeing might be on the low end of OK. But for US-05, you're just a few degrees too cool.
Now, if you can get the fermenter somewhere about 10 degrees warmer, just long enough for the fermentation to start off, you should be ok to move it back out to the garage again (remember fermentation creates 5-10 degrees of heat, which should move this beer right into the low range for this yeast, at least while the yeast is really active). But you'll want to watch for the ferment to slow down again - at that point you'll want to bring it back again to someplace about 10 degrees warmer to keep the yeast active so they can finish up completely.
Now, if you can get the fermenter somewhere about 10 degrees warmer, just long enough for the fermentation to start off, you should be ok to move it back out to the garage again (remember fermentation creates 5-10 degrees of heat, which should move this beer right into the low range for this yeast, at least while the yeast is really active). But you'll want to watch for the ferment to slow down again - at that point you'll want to bring it back again to someplace about 10 degrees warmer to keep the yeast active so they can finish up completely.
I think you'd be better off with a more positive method of temperature control. A swamp cooler is a little crude and requires some attention, but it can keep the temperature pretty stable. You control the temperature by adding ice jugs as needed - also by the size of the ice jugs.
Ok so its time to transfer the Imperial IPA into the secondary fermentation jug. I was supposed to do this a week ago but just purchased a glass 6.5 gallon carboy. Will this delay in the transfer effect my bottling date? It really was ready to transfer on the 2nd. Any advice would be appreciated.
why are you transferring to secondary? because the instructions tell you to?
there is some debate about the need for secondary. since this is your first batch, i would recommend skipping secondary altogether. i'm assuming that you will be dry-hopping this beer - just do it directly in primary. one of the reasons to transfer is to aid in clarity. if you're going to dry-hop, clarity shouldn't be a concern anyways (it'll make the beer hazy). another is to aid in the re-use of the yeast, but a hoppy IIPA's yeast isn't a good candidate for re-use.
moving everything to another vessel only increases chances of infection and oxidation (the former being an issue with IPAs/IIPAs - oxygen removes hop aroma). if you're going to use a secondary, it should be a 5-gallon carboy - that way when you siphon into it there will be little to no headspace (a 5.5 gallon batch should ideally fill a 5-gallon carboy almost completely to the top).
you wrote "It really was ready to transfer on the 2nd" - kit instructions of ten provide instructions like "rack after X days", but yeast follows its own schedule. "X days" is usually a conservative guess, there is no harm in going longer.
i would leave your beer in its current container, dry-hop it in there, and rack to bottling bucket or keg it when ready.
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