First Batch!!!

[scottmd06]

Flash forward a year later and I finally just made my first batch. It's an American Light by Brewer's Best.. I had some issues getting the wort down in the 60-70 range before pitching the yeast (living in Phoenix, AZ doesn't help), but I ran across a thread speaking of all that happens is you need to let the yeast clean up longer than normal, which I'm okay with. I was a little worried when I didn't have much crud in the bottom of my bowling pot (maybe a teaspoon of hop residue) and some floaties of burnt liquid malt but I hope all of those drops to the bottom of the bucket over time. I took some pics I'll add later. Wish me luck guys!!!

Has anyone ever pitched their yeast at a higher temp and find that waiting a little longer for the yeast to clean up the off flavors not to work??

Thanks!!

 

[Netflyer]

I always pitch my ale yeast at between 70-72 in the summer. Heat of fermentation takes me up to 74-75 and to compensate I have been using Northwest Ale Yeast from Wyeast. Its range is up to about 74. I'm not sure if waiting will help you clean up Esthers that may form at higher temperatures but waiting will clean up the fusal alcohol's produced (that medicine smell). Esthers typically give your beer a buttery flavor that can actually be attractive in some styles. I have heard, but not experienced 1st hand, that if you get an esthery batch you should drink it fairly quick, maybe w/in 2 mos (just guessing here cause my beer has never last much more than a week after it was ready) because it can spoil easier. Again, I've never experienced this but I have read/heard about it.

As far as residue not being thick in your kettle, did you put your hops in a bag or just put them directly into the boil?

This brewer's best kit, was it just liquid malt extract and one hop addition, probably williamette? If true, with no grains and just say an ounce or so of hops in a hop back, I really wouldn't expect much trub (residue).

Hey, I know this guy, lol, he puts trub on bread like butter... maybe he knows something I don't know...

Anyhow to directly answer your question, leave the beer in the primary for 21 days, have patience and it will turn out awesome!

 

[Brewin06111]

.

Hey, I know this guy, lol, he puts trub on bread like butter... maybe he knows something I don't know...

!

That's hardcore.

 

[thebamaking]

you should just dilute the wort in refrigerated water if its that much of a problem (if you are talking about cooling it after the boil to a favorable temp to pitch the yeast). adding 2 or 3 gallons of 38 degree water to 2 or so gallons of 110 degree wort in the primary i've found usually leaves your temp at about 65 degrees and it hasnt had any bad effects on my final product. if you are talking about keeping a steady fermentation temp you can just invest in a large trash can and submerge your bucket/carboy in cool water (you can keep the water around 60 or 65 degrees by adding a frozen 20 ounce coke bottle with water in it to the water. good luck with your first batch....happy times

 

[scottmd06]

Hey thanks guys!! The fermometer on the side isn't showing me the temp so it must be just above 78 degrees... I hope the off flavors the yeast throw off won't kill the brew =(

 

[scottmd06]

We're 16 hours into fermentation and my airlock is bubbling about twice a second so I'm assuming all is well. The temp is still higher than this fermometer will show so I'm guessing we're around 80 degrees fahrenheit. I'm going to have some interesting flavors in this one =( When the bubbles get to being two minutes apart, is this when I should transfer into my secondary fermenter for the remaining time or should I leave it alone as it is for another 20 days? Thanks!

 

[Arpeggiator]

transfer to secondary if you want to free up primary for a new batch, otherwise just leave it.

 

[torque2k]

Use your hydrometer, don't ever go by "bubbles"! After the bubbles stop, wait a couple of days, at least. Take a hydrometer reading, cap everything back up tight. Wait 24-48 hours, then take another reading. If it's lower than the last reading, wait a day or two and do it again, until two consecutive readings are the same.

Racking to secondary is not necessary, unless you wish to add adjuncts or do dry-hopping, OR if you want to clarify the beer. Otherwise, just leave the brew in the primary container for a few weeks and let it "clean up" nicely (that is, clean up off-flavors). You can still move it to secondary after this, if you wish.

Mainly, it's really important that primary fermentation be complete before you bottle. Moving to a secondary moves the beer off the yeast cake, so not much fermentation happens there.

Cue Revvy.

 

[scottmd06]

Thanks. I'm sniffing the airlock and I can't tell if it smells funky or if this is just how fermenting wort smells.. I've got the fermenter in a larger container with cold water so I can bring the temp lower than the 80 degrees I think it's been at =( The differential should have me around 68 degrees now and I'll continue laying in a frozen water bottle in the surrounding water each day to keep the temp down. Are there any comparable smells I can look out for to make sure it won't infect? Thanks!!

 

[scottmd06]

Coming up on 44 hours and I decided to measure the gravity. My temp is at about 66 and my gravity (after calculation) is 1.04. The OG for this kit says it should be between 1.038 to 1.041 so I'm right there near the top.. Theres a few floaties I didn't expect that look like thinly sliced bits of celery (I hope this is some hop leaves). I took a picture so I can show you guys what she looks like..

I wanted to add that my activity hasn't been very active for the last day. Not as active as it was yesterday morning.. Is this at all bad?

 

[GrizlyGarou]

Looks to be going along well.

That scum ring on th ebucket above the beer is what's left of the krausen. The celery looking things are either hops of whales snuck into it in the night. Most likely to be hops, though.

As far as your gravity reading goes, did you take one when you had finished cooling, or is that your first reading?

 

[scottmd06]

I didn't take any initial reading because I wasn't aware that I had a hydrometer.. When I realized what it was (nearly 2 days later, today), I went ahead and took a reading.. I am supposed to do this periodically throughout the process, correct?

I think that ring is just from the massive head with pieces of hops that was in the bucket when I pitched the yeast and has now settled...

For the first day the airlock was "breathing" about once every 1.5 seconds, now it's breathing every 5-6 seconds, does this sound about right for the after 48 hours time frame?

Thanks again for the input!!

 

[GrizlyGarou]

I didn't take any initial reading because I wasn't aware that I had a hydrometer.. When I realized what it was (nearly 2 days later, today), I went ahead and took a reading.. I am supposed to do this periodically throughout the process, correct?

I think that ring is just from the massive head with pieces of hops that was in the bucket when I pitched the yeast and has now settled...

For the first day the airlock was "breathing" about once every 1.5 seconds, now it's breathing every 5-6 seconds, does this sound about right for the after 48 hours time frame?

Thanks again for the input!!

The airlock bubbling or not means very close to nothing. It's just there to keep it sealed in such a way that he CO2 can get out, but nothing gets back in. It's neat if it bubbles, but if there's a leak somewhere it won't bubble at all. A leak isn't bad, unless it's at the bottom of the bucket and all the beer comes out.

I'd leave it for a week before opening it to get another sample to check the gravity. No point in opening it a lot and increasing your chances of getting something nasty in there that will make it taste bad. After a week, you can take a sample if you really want, but most people would tell you to leave it there for three weeks then bottle it. It's your first batch, so I'm sure you're itching to actually drink the finished product, but it will be better if you do that. Personally, I usually leave it a week, check the gravity and if it's where it should be I'll rack it over to my glass carboy so I can get a second batch into the bucket.

What kind of sanitizer are you using?

 

[scottmd06]

I'm using that C-Brite stuff but I want to get the StarSan that I see everyone likes. The Brewer's Best kit came with 5 small packs of the C-Brite and I used it to sanitize EVERYTHING. I sanitized the brand new buckets & lids, my utensils, the airlock, my hydrometer, the floating thermometer, and my brewing pot after moving to buckets.

Unfortunately I broke my floating thermometer when cleaning it afterward and the glass tip busted so I have to get another one of those. I might consider an auto-siphon since I have no clue how to start a siphon when the time comes to bottle my beer..

For this time around I'm not going to rack to my secondary. I will be doing that with my next brew which I hope to be an American Wheat, which I will rack over pre-frozen pineapple, orange and cherry into my secondary to make what I'm calling "California Dream Wheat" based off of the flavor of smoking tobacco used with hookahs..

I'm excited, but I'm going to be patient with this first brew. I plan to bottle somewhere around Nov. 23rd, then I will let it age in the bottle until my birthday, Dec. 23rd =) It will be a Happy Birthday for me!!!

 

[scottmd06]

Alright.. We're a couple hours from 6 full days.

The gravity looks around 1.035 which is lower than the other day unless I'm reading it incorrectly..

I'm adding .02 for the temperature difference against the hydrometer reading.

Also, this was an "american light" kit, so I was expecting a color a bit lighter than what I've got here. It's looking more like an Ale than a Lager to me..

I took a good whiff in the bucket and she smells like good beer but the scent was very strong. Sound normal?

Thanks!!

 

[GoldMiner]

Did you do a partial or full boil?

With extract it'll be a little darker if you did a partial boil.

As for it looking more like an "ale" than a lager, what yeast did you use?

 

[elmetal]

ale and lager. I think what you meant by looking like an ale and not a lager is: It has color and doesn't look like Bud light.

quick look at your hydro pic says it's around 1012. is that correct?

 

[cryptonic84]

I would agree with elmetal... looks like you're sitting at 1.012 maybe 1.014... you said your temp is high for the fermentation so if your at like 74-80 degrees on the fermemetor then your at 1.014-1.016 depending on if thats a 12 or 14

 

[phishfood]

Unfortunately I broke my floating thermometer when cleaning it afterward and the glass tip busted so I have to get another one of those. I might consider an auto-siphon since I have no clue how to start a siphon when the time comes to bottle my beer..

I would pass on the floating thermometer, and get one with a probe and a dial face or something. Just imagine if it broke in your brewpot. This has happened to a lot of people.

As far as starting a siphon, I boil a pot of water before I start sanitizing everything. I sanitize the bottling wand, racking cane, and siphon tubing last. Then I coil the tube up into the cooled pot of water, starting with one end and lowering it into the pot, so that the tube fills with water. After you have the racking cane in place in your brew bucket, you pull the tube out of the water, keeping your thumbs over each end to keep it filled. Put one end of the tube on the racking cane, and lower the other end down into your bottling bucket. Take your thumb off, and you will have a siphon going.

I'm excited, but I'm going to be patient with this first brew. I plan to bottle somewhere around Nov. 23rd, then I will let it age in the bottle until my birthday, Dec. 23rd =) It will be a Happy Birthday for me!!!

You have a lot more patience than I, sir.

 

[torque2k]

Also, this was an "american light" kit, so I was expecting a color a bit lighter than what I've got here. It's looking more like an Ale than a Lager to me..

I took a good whiff in the bucket and she smells like good beer but the scent was very strong. Sound normal?

I looked this kit up on LD Carlson's site. While the description leaves out whether it's an ale or lager kit, reading the directions shows fermentation in the 65-70 degree range, and that's almost definitely an ale (dry yeast, too, so it's not using "steam ale" yeast). You also mentioned smelling it; lager yeasts produce copious amounts of sulfur fumes, and it doesn't smell "like beer."

Ales will rarely be light in color; a kolsch is about as light as they get, and that's still pretty dark in comparison to Bud. Lagers are what you're probably expecting, but they are not considered beginner-level brews, as they require more care in brewing, and colder controlled temps, than what most beginning home brewers can handle.

As for your current reading, 1.014 is what I'm seeing, and that's pretty good for the temps you're fermenting at.

 

[cryptonic84]

OH, a late Welcome to the obsession!

couldn't agree more with what torque said... i just never go around to looking it up. at any rate, you might have some esters but i would bet that the beer still turns out much better than BMC.

 

[scottmd06]

Thanks guys. I followed the boil directions to the T! It was a 55 minute total boil.

The sheet that came with my hydrometer says to add .005 to the reading for every two degrees above 70 degrees that I'm fermenting at to calculate correctly; since I started at 80 degrees, I was still considering that calibration into the equation..

Since then, I've been doing the "swamp cooler" method and the outside of the bucket is reading at 64 degrees so I'm assuming inside is only a few degrees higher.. I was only at 80 degrees for the first day before stumbling across the method of submerging the bucket in ice water all day, covered with a towel..

It's cool to see how much cleaner the brew has gotten in only five days.. As for the smell, it smells identical to Bud Light right now, but stronger.. =)

 

[Netflyer]

Keep that cover on! Don't check it again for 2 weeks! Bud Light?! Eewwwww... You're brew will be WAY better.

 

[torque2k]

Yep, you should walk away from that bucket like it's a swarm of bees at this point. Brewing is only an interactive hobby on brew day, after fermentation has stopped, after racking to secondary, or on bottling/kegging day. Between those days lay weeks of manic depression, as you attempt to forget that beer is even there. See my avatar pic? That's my first batch, which stared at me through the wall of my office until it was finally bottling day. Drove me completely mental!

Think of that bucket as a candy wrapper for your beer. If it stays unopened until "it's time," it'll be fresh and ready to bottle. If you keep opening the wrapper, the sweet goodness inside will eventually stale and molder. The yeast makes CO2 as a byproduct of the sugar-to-ethanol conversion. The CO2 builds a bit of pressure up under the lid. The easiest way for the CO2 to get out of the bucket should be the fermentation airlock, hence the bubbling. CO2 pushing out keeps oxygen from getting in and making a mess of your beer.

Lid on: +10.

 

[bigin31]

I pitched at 140 once. Fermented well.

 

[scottmd06]

Hmmm. Okie dokie. No touchie. Got it.

 

[scottmd06]

3 weeks in. Haven't bottled yet. Going to wait a few more days, and besides I have another batch fermenting in my secondary, so I can't rack to it to get an even mix of my priming sugar before bottling anyway... Need to grab a food grade bucket to do so.. Might just wait until Dec. 4th when I get paid again and then crack a couple open on my B-Day (Dec. 23rd).

 

[Netflyer]

So, you have your 2nd batch in your 2ndary? Is your 2ndary your bottling bucket then? So since it is used you have to wait to get another bucket for priming?

Dude, you have made your 2nd batch before tasting your first batch, CONGRATS! You have beer faith!

 

[scottmd06]

Yeah I do! I bottled 2 gallons of my first batch last Tuesday night after acquiring a food grade bucket from work; so it fermented for 21 days before hitting the bottle.. I'm allowing the remaining 3 gallons to clarify just a couple more weeks.

As for the 22 bottles I bottled from the 2 gallons I bottled, it looks good, with just a couple millimeters of sediment already resting at the bottom of the bottles.

I kept a sample from a gravity test I took about 2 weeks into fermentation and bottled it to foreshadow a tad sooner. I will crack that one open tomorrow and let everyone know how it goes =) I know it won't be amazing but I am a little anxious..

 

[scottmd06]

Wow. It's beer!!! Tasty. The sample I took only fermented 2 weeks and then was bottled for little over a week and was great. The other sample (from my wheat beer) wasn't carbonated when I tried drinking it. I think it's because I forgot to prime it more, being a larger bottle, and that it was not filled within 1.5 inches from the top =( Next Tuesday (the 8th), I can start popping open the bottles I bottled after 3 weeks of fermentation. Excited.