First Batch Questions

[Cassius_dog]

Yesterday my friend and I started to brew and had a great time brewing our first batch. Just to get started we use an ingredient kit from Brewer's Best, we use the "Weizembeir". It said it was easy and way drinking. We thought for our first brew that would work.
Now that it has been in the carboy for 20 hours it is bubbling almost to much, and popped off the airlock. So, I transfer the batch to the fermenting bucket with the airlock lid that has the grommet. Should that help? We were not sure why the kit came with a bucket and a carboy. Now I know. Can anybody help us out with a easy recipe for a saison. We want to get away from the kits, but we are beginners. All help is much appreciated.

 

[kombat]

If it's fermenting so vigorously, so soon, you might be fermenting too warm. Is there a temperature strip on the bucket? Can you tell what temperature the beer is at?

Those kits usually expect you to start fermenting in the bucket, and then they'll often instruct you to transfer the beer to the carboy ("secondary") after a week or so. This is bad advice. I would recommend you just leave the beer in the bucket until fermentation is entirely complete, then (gently!) rack it to your bottling bucket with the priming sugar solution and proceed to bottling.

I don't have a good Saison recipe, but if you Google around this site you'll find a trove of them.

 

[ncbrewer]

I don't have a saison recipe, but you need a blow-off tube - a tube from your fermenter with the other end in a container of Star San solution. This functions as an air lock but is more resistant to plugging. But I will warn you, I had one blow out even with the tube set-up, so watch it closely. Check the temperature, too. If you keep it around 65 - 68 F (beer temp, not air), bubbling won't be as strong. Hopefully, you have a stick-on fermometer for the fermenter. If not, you can put it in a tub of water and check water temp - it should be pretty close to beer temp. Also, sufficient head space in the fermenter is important. 5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon fermenter is common. I use 5 gallons in a 7.9 gallon fermenter for even more head space. Good luck.

 

[Sammy86]

Don't want to freak you out but you shouldn't have transferred so early...you may get a stalled fermentation!

If the fermentation is so vigorous I would use a blow off tube (sanitized tubing in the air lock on one end and the other end in a jug with water and StarSan) and when fermentation slows down change back to the air lock!

Cheers!

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Don't want to freak you out but you shouldn't have transferred so early...you may get a stalled fermentation!

If the fermentation is so vigorous I would use a blow off tube (sanitized tubing in the air lock on one end and the other end in a jug with water and StarSan) and when fermentation slows down change back to the air lock!

Cheers!

Yup

 

[Sailingeric]

Here is Saison-ish recipe that I have made a few times and is very tasty

7.20 ABV 25 IBU 6.6 SRM

8 pounds extra light LME
2 pounds wheat LME

Steep
1 pounds Crystal #10
1 pounds of Carapils
.25 pounds of Honey Malt

1 oz Saaz at 60 minutes
1 oz cascade at 30 minutes
.25 oz cascade at 10 minutes

Pitch WLP 565 and let it get warm. I usually kick it up to about 80 for a couple weeks.

 

[Cassius_dog]

Thanks guys for the advice and the recipe. After my transfer I already have bubbling in the bucket airlock. That is good, right? The temp is at 70 degrees. Hope that is cool enough.

 

[Sailingeric]

You may have gotten lucky since you caught it early on but I would get a bigger bucket and use that going forward. I use a 8 gallon Brewcraft bucket and I have never had a blow off issue for my 5 gallon batches

 

[Sammy86]

Thanks guys for the advice and the recipe. After my transfer I already have bubbling in the bucket airlock. That is good, right? The temp is at 70 degrees. Hope that is cool enough.

Is 70 the wort temp or the air temperature??? Air lock activity is a good sign...just make sure you don't move it again! Let those yeast make some alcohol!

:rockin:

 

[Cassius_dog]

Wort temp.

 

[stuknkrvl]

Thanks guys for the advice and the recipe. After my transfer I already have bubbling in the bucket airlock. That is good, right? The temp is at 70 degrees. Hope that is cool enough.

Best advice I can give you about temps is respect the yeast.

Check out the manufacturer's website for proper fermentation temps for the yeast since they can differ (for instance, I bet the yeast you used for that weizen ferments a lot cooler than the yeast for a saison).

Do some experimenting to figure out the cooler spots in your house. Stick a thermometer strip to the outside of ypur carboy, fill it with water, and move it around to different spots till you find your ideal fermentation area.

If you're having trouble keeping it cool enough, do some research on swamp coolers. There's a lot of great info here in this site that will get you started there. Just remember that yeast are fairly sensitive to wide swings in temperature. Plan ahead and do whatever you need to do to get your temps stable, especially during the first three to seven days.

Good luck!

 

[Sammy86]

Wort temp.

What yeast are you using? I know that for many yeasts 70 is pretty high...I would try to find a cooler spot for the bucket and try to get the temps down

Cheers!

 

[Resonator]

Kit recipes vary on where you get them from -- they can be detailed, or more often than not, very generic. Learn the basic process and you should be good. I'd say get a few more brews under your belt before trying recipes with less than detailed descriptions.

If you have the brewing down though, and it's just fermentation then:

-Always make sure you have enough head space for your primary fermentation when using an airlock, or have a blowoff tube in star san solution if you have little head space.

- Don't transfer containers like you did so early. Wait it out co2 will be pushing out most bad things that would fall in.
You open yourself up to oxidation after about 24 hrs of pitching. (Not to mention the risk of infections)