First batch!

[hopwortsbrew]

Hey guys, just did my first batch of beer last Friday the 11th. Thought I would share the ingredients with you guys and get your opinion.

1LB crystal 80 malt
1/2lb dextrin
1/4lb chocolate malt
(all specialty)

8 pounds of a pale malt

added 1 1/2 oz centinial at 60 mins
1/2 centinial oz at 30
1 oz cascade at 10
and 1 oz cascade at the end of boil

and the yeast that was pitched was safale us 05.

OG was 1.065 and for the past 3 days she has been sitting at 1.02. Instructions I got with the ale did not mention racking to the carboy, but I would like to personally just to clear it up. I tasted the gravity reading and they taste good just a lil hoppy. Any thoughts, tips or advice? Thanks!

Oh almost forgot to mention, she has been sitting at a steady 69-70 degrees since last Friday.

 

[DoubleFisted]

Is this a 5 gallon batch? If you use 4 oz of hops it is going to taste hoppy. lol

 

[hopwortsbrew]

yeah, its a 5. I thought so myself that it would taste hoppy, seemed like a lot of hops. But alas, it still tastes good. I think the place I bought it from said the hops would mellow some. He said I could wait 10-14 days. But she has been sitting at 1.02 for a while. Think it will drop more? Oh and the water was not local water, it was natural spring water from the store.

 

[jvlpdillon]

Without seeing it, it is not infected, it is not ruined.

As much as you will want to mess with it. Don't. The yeast know what to do. Try to forget about this for at least 2 weeks. See the first comment above.

Resist the urge to dry hop, add fruit, or sour this batch. It will be beer. Based upon your recipe pretty darn good beer that you can brag to your friends about.

Good luck.

 

[DoubleFisted]

How long has it been sitting in the fermentation already? Usually if you get three days of no change then it will not change anymore. Your alcohol by weight is 4.67 and by volume is 5.84

 

[DanPoch]

Congrats on your first batch!

In my experience if it's sitting at the same gravity for 3 days, it's done. That being said I have heard that raising the temp a few degrees, or racking to secondary can get things going again. I always use a secondary and rack to it when the gravity is almost at the target.

If you want to clear it up, I'd suggest gelatin. There are many threads on this forum about it. Gelatin is no Joke has a wealth of information about how to use it. I've used it for 3 batches now and doubt I'll do another without it. Unless it's a wheat beer that should not be clear that is.

 

[michelson39]

Congrats! It seems like things went well. Nothing sounds out of the ordinary.

For a typical beer, if you can be patient, I'd suggest letting the beer sit in the primary for about 3 weeks. This will give the yest plenty of time to eat up all the sugar, clean its self up, and settle to the bottom. I end with very clear beer this way. After that you could go straight into the bottle. This keeps the process super simple. Why over complicate it?

If you dry hop or add fruit then racking to a carboy could be a good idea although some people still dry hop in the primary after fermentation has stopped.

 

[hopwortsbrew]

Wow so many schools of thought here, it's a bit overwhelming. Think I will try the gelatin though, sounds easy enough. Roughly though, after you bottle, for an ale that is amberish pale, do you need to let it settle in the bottles? How long for carbonation? Funny bit, whenever I have a bbq or party, people are sure to keep the bottles to save it for me for the brew. Even in passing, I have friends come by and bring me empty bottles!

 

[DanPoch]

The time to carbonate in the bottles is variable. If memory serves I kept mine at around fermentation temp for 2-3 weeks before chilling. I think the best advice I ever received with bottling was this 'starting one week after bottling, drink a bottle a week to see how the beer is progressing.' This gave me a good handle on how long the carbonation took for the conditions I was storing my beer at.

 

[hopwortsbrew]

Ok, so here is a picture of plan b. Decided to rack her up to clear it up along with the gelatin technique. I would like to let her sit at room temperature, but alas, electricity is quite expensive when you live in paradise, so the A/C is going to have to go off. So I am going to try and fill this cooler up with water, and try to keep frozen bottles in it. How high should I go with the water level? Could I use one of those aquarium sticky thermometers to try and gage the temperature in the carboy, or is that futile to the true temp in the middle of the carboy? Also think I will device a method to cover it up with some cloth to keep light out. Thanks for any input!

 

[hopwortsbrew]

HOLY CRAP...

This beer is great. Waited patiently and cracked one open and wow! Mouthfeel lingers for a long time, tastes great, bitter is spot on, hops really shine. I just couldnt be happier. Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[DanPoch]

Congratulations

Glad to hear it came out well. It's a great feeling to be drinking an awesome beer that was crafted with your own hands