First Batch Questions

[todumzr2]

Hey guys, I brewed my 1st batch today and I'm a little concerned. I feel like I messed up on a couple of things. I brewed a kit of Brewers Best APA. I pretty much followed the directions verbatim except the following:

-I put the grains through a fine metal strainer to extract the fine flour like pieces, maybe had a cup and 1/2 that I didn't include

-After adding bittering hops, never did come back to a full on boil, only reached about 205

-Cooled wort fairly quickly ~20 min, pitched 1/2 of the yeast before fermenter was full, and stirred quite a bit, put yeast in suspension in 85 degree water 15 min before pitching

-Recommended gravity is 1051 - 1055, mine was about 1057

Questions:

I feel like if I had put the lid on the kettle it would have reached 212. I know they're both important, but in a pinch which is more important, getting wort to 212 or letting sulfur compounds escape?

I was torn here also - I know my fermenting temp needs to be about 65-70. When I took my gravity reading of 1057, I feel like I could have brought it down to 1055 with about 1/4 gallon on water, but I was using spring water and at that point all I had was cold water and my temp was already at 64 degrees. Would it be better to have a lower starting temp or a slightly higher OG?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Brewmiser]

relax don't worry................

I'd crank the heat over using a lid, you need to let some evaporate.

I guess you could always heat the last of the spring water up a bit if you were worried about dropping the temp too much.

 

[Frodo]

Hey guys, I brewed my 1st batch today and I'm a little concerned. I feel like I messed up on a couple of things. I brewed a kit of Brewers Best APA. I pretty much followed the directions verbatim except the following:

-I put the grains through a fine metal strainer to extract the fine flour like pieces, maybe had a cup and 1/2 that I didn't include

-After adding bittering hops, never did come back to a full on boil, only reached about 205

-Cooled wort fairly quickly ~20 min, pitched 1/2 of the yeast before fermenter was full, and stirred quite a bit, put yeast in suspension in 85 degree water 15 min before pitching

-Recommended gravity is 1051 - 1055, mine was about 1057

Questions:

I feel like if I had put the lid on the kettle it would have reached 212. I know they're both important, but in a pinch which is more important, getting wort to 212 or letting sulfur compounds escape?

I was torn here also - I know my fermenting temp needs to be about 65-70. When I took my gravity reading of 1057, I feel like I could have brought it down to 1055 with about 1/4 gallon on water, but I was using spring water and at that point all I had was cold water and my temp was already at 64 degrees. Would it be better to have a lower starting temp or a slightly higher OG?

Thanks for any advice.

Sounds like it went fine - it wouldn't be a 1st batch without some worries right! Congrats!

I'm a little confused about the filtering of the grain - you probably reduced some of what you could've gotten out of it. The flour from the grain will convert to sugar.

Also not sure why you pitched half the yeast when the fermenter was half full. It won't matter to the final product, but it's a curiosity.

IMO you were right to leave the lid off, despite not quite hitting boiling again.

Don't worry about the couple/few gravity pts - you were really close; there could be error anyway depending on if the wort was really well mixed after topping off with water.

 

[tunoffun]

-I put the grains through a fine metal strainer to extract the fine flour like pieces, maybe had a cup and 1/2 that I didn't include

I'm not sure why you did this either. I'm assuming you're working with an extract kit that uses steeping grains, correct? Regardless, you're not supposed to sift out the flour & discard the husks. You want all of the grain material in there. The specialty grain additions are usually added to extract kits to provide color and flavor moreso than fermentables, and the grain husks play an important role in this.

Don't worry... you'll still make beer. Likely good beer. But it won't taste the way the recipe was intended to taste leaving that grain out.

 

[dfc]

My first batch took me over an hour to cool, I had a hole in my steeping bag so a large quantity of oatmeal made it's way into the wort/bottling bucket/bottles, I clogged my bottling wand, i lost about a 6 pack to the kitchen floor due to spigot being left open, I didn't reach a full boil, etc. My first batch was one of if not the best to date. I'm brewing my 8th batch as we speak.

You'll be fine. To answer your questions though, I would have left the lid off, I wouldn't have worried about the grains (will become part of your trub anyway), I never use suspension with dry yeast (I assume this is what you were using) and your SG is fine. .002 points off is not bad at all.

If you want a few tips (I assume you're doing extract) click on the link in my signature.

 

[todumzr2]

Thanks guys for all the feedback.

Yeah, it was an extract kit with steeping grains. I just figured getting all that fine stuff out would help, but if it's gonna end up in the trub, I'll include it next time.

On the early yeast pitch I just got anxious and wanted it to mix well. I'm gonna wait to add this next time too.

My heat was cranked the whole time, only got to 205, I believe a propane burner is in order, the stove just won't cut it.

I am happy to report the airlock is bubbling after about 15 hours of being in the fermenter.

My concern now is the finial gravity. It calls for 1012 - 1015. Since i was 2 points higher on my OG, in order to compensate, what end of the FG would i need to aim for?

Thanks again guys.

 

[Frodo]

My concern now is the finial gravity. It calls for 1012 - 1015. Since i was 2 points higher on my OG, in order to compensate, what end of the FG would i need to aim for?

2 pts difference is really really really negligible, and like I mentioned before the measured OG could be off a bit anyway unless you really mixed/shook well after topping off the fermenter with water. You should still be hoping to get to that range for your FG; be aware though sometimes extract won't attenuate as low as the yeast could potentially go. So the FG could be a bit higher, like closer to 1.016 to 1.020, or maybe it will get closer to 1.012. Either way, it's not worth worrying about.

 

[schwinn]

I agree with Frodo - if this is your first batch don't worry about the gravity targets.
I would just get a feel for the setup and procedures and enjoy the first product.
As you move along you can tweak your techniques and your equipment to hit the right targets.
When I first started I could brew the same recipe 5 times and they would all come out different - but they all tasted great.
You will start to get things dialed in as you keep brewing.

 

[dfc]

I agree with Frodo - if this is your first batch don't worry about the gravity targets.
I would just get a feel for the setup and procedures and enjoy the first product.
As you move along you can tweak your techniques and your equipment to hit the right targets.
When I first started I could brew the same recipe 5 times and they would all come out different - but they all tasted great.
You will start to get things dialed in as you keep brewing.

Agreed. It's the whole "practice makes perfect" cliche that almost always holds true.