First Batch

[ZogCity2015]

I finally made the jump! Purchased a starter brewing kit 1 week ago, brewed my first extract beer yesterday. Now I'm just fermenting away. Chose a Russian Imperial Stout from LHBS. I have one question. How do you wait so long to taste the final product????? I'm brewing an American IPA next Sunday, because it was that much fun. I'm hooked, before I even get I to all grain brewing!

 

[Brew-N-Bakery]

It's a fun hobby indeed!!! I'm fermenting my second batch now (a simple extract recipe for a brown ale). My first was a kit for "English Brown Ale". The waiting is the hardest part, but now that it's all done, I have been very much enjoying crackin' open a bottle or two after work. It turned out great! I hope this next batch is as good! Best of luck to you...

 

[1977Brewer]

Patience is the only part if this hobby I can't nail down. It will serve you well. I'm getting better already, I waited a whole for days to open my first bottle of my last batch. The batch I brewed yesterday won't see me again for two weeks, then it gets dry hopped and bottled. My next brew is an RIS, not even planning on drinking one until October. That won't happen.

 

[IDoBleedBrew]

I did a couple of batches at a brew on premise location where they hold your hand and walk you through the process. That was pretty cool, but then I did my first "home" brew batch this weekend without anyone holding my hand and it was so much more fun and rewarding. I had a few friends over and we had some simultaneous batches going (which added a little bit of anxiety but that made it all the more fun). I'm already planning my next batch for the same day I bottle this batch. The beast has been unleashed!

Congrats on your first batch. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[max384]

I finally made the jump! Purchased a starter brewing kit 1 week ago, brewed my first extract beer yesterday. Now I'm just fermenting away. Chose a Russian Imperial Stout from LHBS. I have one question. How do you wait so long to taste the final product????? I'm brewing an American IPA next Sunday, because it was that much fun. I'm hooked, before I even get I to all grain brewing!

Patience is the toughest part about starting this hobby! It's really tough to wait it out. After you do a few though, and get a pipeline going, it gets pretty easy to wait it out.

So, the best thing you can do is to do more batches!!!

 

[HB_in_Subic]

How do you wait so long to taste the final product?????

I usually taste mine when I take a gravity reading sample and when transferring to the bottling bucket. You will find that the longer you let your beer sit in Primary (at least 3 weeks), the better it will taste in the end (less particles in suspension). Do another taste test at 1 week in bottle to test for carbonation. It also gives you a way to gauge how much better it tastes the longer that it sits.

Whatever you do, do not rush your process. It leads to so so beer. Take lots of notes and learn from the mistakes.

Temperature control during ferment is the easiest problem to avoid. Make a fermentation chamber.

I reached my 200 gallon mark this last year and it is very rewarding to see the progress and the appreciation on my friend's faces

Congrats on your first brew and welcome to the obsession.

 

[C-Rider]

Ok, you are doing an RIS. That's a BIG beer. No rush. Wait 3 weeks and then begin taking SG's and when you see no change it's done. Fermenting TEMP is very important the first week for sure. Since this is a BIG beer it's gonna get better in the bottles the longer you wait. I have a few then I did in Oct of 2013 and man they are much better today then a year ago. Time is your friend w/an RIS and or a Barley Wine.

 

[ZogCity2015]

Thank you all for the feedback! Now, if anybody has input on how long to ferment the RIS in primary before moving it to secondary. I have an IPA waiting on me to brew, should I put that straight in my carboy, move the RIS to carboy, or just get another bucket for an additional primary?

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Get another bucket, two would be better and a few more airlocks/stoppers. The more times that you rack the beer, the higher the risk of infection and oxidation.

This way you can brew more frequently and give the beer plenty of time in the fermenter. I have 3 batches at any given time in primary usually (when I am not making a batch of wine).

I would also dry hop your IPA in Primary once it has achieved a stabile gravity (the same over several days).

Now is the time to be collecting bottles...

 

[ZogCity2015]

I realized I only have one air lock but two fermenters. I'm picking up some more tomorrow. I've been collecting bottles for awhile. I have enough to bottle 2.5-3 batches now. The question is how long should the RIS stay in the bucket? If it's a long ferment, shouldn't I get it in the carboy? Doesn't racking help clear out sediment?

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I have not done a RIS yet but am doing a Barleywine (SG of 1.09) and am going to let it sit in Primary for 6-8 weeks. I have let other lower abv beers (6%) sit in primary for 7 weeks before without issue. You don't have to move it to secondary (even if dry hopping). Every time you move your beer you run the risk of infection or oxidation. Racking does help clear sediment but it will settle out quite well within 3-4 weeks without racking to secondary. All of my beers have been clear without sediment (except for the bottom of the bottle).

I never used my glass carboy until I started to make wine and then it cracked during one of the rack offs. Be careful if you do use it. A good thing to get is a carboy carrier http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OF8V5W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 they make it easier and a lot safer to handle. Lots of stuff written on this site about the dangers of the glass carboys (dropped, explode, etc.).

 

[jlinz]

Three weeks in the primary is usually good. There is no real need for a secondary. Just leave it in the primary and give it the three weeks to clean up. After that you can bottle.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Read thru this thread on a RIS https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/best-option-bottling-high-gravity-ris-510566/

The longer that this type of beer sits the better it gets. That doesn't mean that it has to sit in the fermenter (primary or secondary) all of this time. Get a hydrometer and check for a stable gravity over a 3 day period starting on day 21. Once you have a stable gravity bottle it and age it in a bottle. If you are going to be use oak chips or bourbon chips, then I would use the secondary.

Reading about the RIS made me think to check my Barleywine (at day 21 today). I took a sample with my wine thief. It started at 1.090 and is now at 1.008. 10.75%ABV and the yeast I am using (Mangrove Jack M27 Belgian Ale Yeast) can go all the way to 14%. It is probably done but I will let it sit until I have enough bottles available to bottle this for aging. It is still a little cloudy also but that is partially due to me disturbing the yeast cake with the wine thief. The taste was great for a non-carbonated beer.

 

[max384]

I got lazy and left a saison in primary for six months... And it was the best saison I've ever made. But usually I'll leave them in primary for 2-3 weeks after the bubbling in the airlock stops, longer if I'm not doing a secondary.

 

[ZogCity2015]

Apparently I'm figuring the ABV wrong...what's the formula? Also, just finished brewing an IPA. 2-2 on coming in under the OG. I was worse today than the first batch. I'm confused.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

(OG-FG)/131=ABV or go here http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

OG is a result of your sugar/starch extraction process. If you are using an Extract kit (Liquid or Dry) it is pretty hard to miss the OG. Even more so if the kit has specialty grains for steeping prior to the boil. Typically it seems that most people have issues with reaching an FG below 1.02 rather than hitting the recipe's target OG.

Are you doing All Grain, Partial Mash or Extract? If doing AG, what is your mashing process? My bet is something is off there. I am not doing All Grain or Partial Mash yet. I wanted to get the process of understanding everything going on before I made the jump.

 

[brewkinger]

If you are extract brewing then it is pretty difficult to miss your numbers.
More than likely, you have an error due to layering of the wort or calibration issue with hydrometer or refractometer.

 

[ZogCity2015]

I checked my hydrometer in 60 degree water, right on 1.000. If I take an OG in 70 degree wort, do I need to make an adjustment for the temperature? My RIS was supposed to be 1.073, I got 1.069. The IPA was supposed to be 1.065 and I got 1.055

 

[JayDubWill]

The answer to the patience question is to have a pipeline. Don't wait until your first beer is almost gone to brew another one. I do one or two batches every month, some people brew every weekend. Waiting for the next batch still sucks but it's made better with beer you've already brewed.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Does your hydrometer have a calibration card with it? Mine is calibrated for 60 degrees and the card says that at 70, i need to add .001 to the reading.

 

[aprichman]

I checked my hydrometer in 60 degree water, right on 1.000. If I take an OG in 70 degree wort, do I need to make an adjustment for the temperature? My RIS was supposed to be 1.073, I got 1.069. The IPA was supposed to be 1.065 and I got 1.055

Unless you are missing your volumes (i.e. making 6 gallons with a 5 gallon kit) or not adding all of the fermentables (i.e. leaving out corn sugar, malt extract, etc.) it is pretty much impossible to not achieve the proper starting gravity.

Your wort was probably not mixed well enough. It's a common problem - in fact there are probably 4 or 5 posts every week with new brewers thinking they didn't hit proper gravity with extract kits.

To answer your question, the temperature DOES effect the readings. 10F isn't going to make a HUGE difference but it does matter.

Here's a calculator that will adjust gravity if it's taken at a different temperature than your hydrometer is calibrated to: http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/

 

[ZogCity2015]

Are you saying I was probably closer to the OG than I realize? Or that I would have been closer if I had mixed better?

 

[HB_in_Subic]

If your wort has not been thoroughly mixed with your top off water it can skew the results. If you whirlpool your wort while chilling, it will be thoroughly mixed when it is cool enough to take an OG.

 

[aprichman]

Are you saying I was probably closer to the OG than I realize? Or that I would have been closer if I had mixed better?

Yup, you should be very close to your calculated OG assuming you used the right amount of malt extract and made the correct volume of wort. If you control those two variables your calculated OG will probably be within +/- .002 of the actual original gravity.

If you had mixed your wort and top off water a little more your hydrometer reading most likely would have come out to what you were expecting, but again this wont effect the true gravity of the beer. Even if it's not 100% mixed when you take your OG reading fermentation will take care of the rest. During the most active parts of fermentation everything is violently swirling around - it's really fun to watch if you use a carboy for primary.

 

[max384]

Are you saying I was probably closer to the OG than I realize? Or that I would have been closer if I had mixed better?

What we're saying is that it is REALLY hard to not hit your gravity numbers on an extract kit. Unless your volumes are way off, it's simply a matter of mixing together ingredients (okay, I know I'm dumbing it down) to hit your gravity.

The most likely causes are:

That your wort is too hot, thus affecting your readings. However, 10 F isn't going to affect it much. Maybe your thermometer is off, or maybe you have temperature stratification inside your cooled wort, and the temperature you obtain may not be representative of the sample you use.

You did not stir your wort enough, and the sample that you tested gravity on may not have as much dissolved extract as the rest of the kettle.

Or possibly you're not reading your hydrometer correctly. I've seen more than a few threads started on here with strange gravity readings, only to find out they weren't using the hydrometer correctly. It happens.

 

[ZogCity2015]

It sounds like I should RDWAHAHB. (If only I had any to drink). Although the fermenting wort tastes pretty good whenever I take a reading. Thank you to all for the feedback. I am confident in reading the hydrometer. I will make sure I get it mixed well from here on out. Cheers!