First Beer, couple mistkes

[BaldManBrew]

All in all, I am thrilled to one be new to home brewing, and second to be a part of this community. There is a lot of great people on here, and I have learned a lot.

Today I made a Autumn Ale from Midwest (extract) and had a blast. Everything went great, even chilled the wort in the snowbanks really fast. After the cooling is where I made the mistakes. First mistake, I forgot my spring water outside, and it was quite chilled when I filled the fermenter with 2.5 gal. of very cold water. Pitched the yeast and realized mistake number two...didn't take a OG reading. Oh well, lessons learned. Temp at pitch was 62 degrees on my bucket thermometer/sticker. I really hope I didn't shock/kill the yeast. Anyone pitch in cooler water? Any success?

Are OG's typically similar with the kit used? I'll take my measures at second fermentation, and while determining if fermentation is done.


Waiting for bubbles !!

 

[dcp27]

If its an extract kit, its ok to miss the OG reading. It should be nearly exactly what the kit says since the only variable is the volume in your bucket.

As for the temp, 62 is perfect for an ale. Oh, and don't bother with a secondary, just leave it in the primary for 3 weeks and go ahead with bottling.

 

[as1084]

+1 on everything dcp said. Just want to add that seeing bubbles in the airlock isn't the best way to confirm that fermentation is taking place. I have had fermentation take place with zero airlock activity. So if you don't see bubbles in the airlock, it doesn't mean the beer isn't fermenting. So don't freak out if it does happen to you. The only sure ways of confirming fermentation is krausen and your hydrometer. But congrats on your first brew! It will be great!

 

[pikledbill]

yup, good job...no worries. Only need to monitor FG now. No OG just means you can't calculate ABV, and a blank space in your notes...no big deal.

I generally pitch at ferm temp, I try to make sure the starter and wort are at the same temp when pitching...but this isn't absolutely necessary.

Enjoy!!

 

[BaldManBrew]

Thanks guys for the replies.

Great news... thing is bubbling like crazy... one every 3 seconds or so. I'm so pumped.

I used star san to sanitize, and my brother came over to help brew. He comes from a time when beach water was really the only thing to use supposedly. He could not wrap his head around using a no rinse sanatizer. Long story shirt... this Christmas he's getting a custom t-shirt that says "Embrace the foam".

oh any reason for single stage fermentation ? , I'm setup for second stage ... got me curious now

 

[frazier]

If you want to do a secondary fermentation, you need a permit. The application form must include either a very good reason, or two so-so reasons. Better get it filed quickly if you want it back in time.

Seriously though, skip the secondary, just leave it in the primary for 3 weeks (4 is better, but I understand that it is very hard to wait that long until the pipeline is established). Transferring to secondary will only increase oxidation, chances for infection, and losses due to spillage, slippage, lack of suckage, etc etc etc. Don't bother.

 

[robh4413]

Congrats and your first batch! I just finished my first one up, and it's bottled and ready to condition. I used kind of a weird recipe, and it's awfully bitter.

http://recipes.*****************.com/view/21/washington_apple_ale.html

At anyrate, I'm kind of hoping the bottle conditioning helps out, but I'm pretty sure it wont. Oh well. First one is a learning experiences, and with the help of everyone on here... I'm excited to go forward and evolve everything.

My thinking is that I added the hops a little too early, and thus... lost my aromatic benefits, and gained more bitterness. It just kind of goes weird with the apple flavor. Anyone have any stories of how a beer changes in the bottle?

I just tried my first bottle after week 1, and I'm hoping I get a little more change.

 

[RM-MN]

I just tried my first bottle after week 1, and I'm hoping I get a little more change.

Don't worry, it will change quite a bit from that first week's sample. Wait another 3 week to sample it again (if you can wait that long) and it will be a different beer.

 

[BaldManBrew]

I've read that there are things you can add to help with an apple flavor...but as for the bitterness, I've read several posts saying the same thing, and that with time the bitterness mellowed into a wonderful beer. Hoping it turns out good for you.

 

[Frank99]

The 62 F is probably good for almost all ale yeast strains, but you may want to "Google" the yeast you're using to see what it lists as the "happy" temp range for the strain. Fermentation temps along with a million other variables have an effect on the final product, and that's what makes this such a great hobby!

 

[Docjowles]

oh any reason for single stage fermentation ? , I'm setup for second stage ... got me curious now

The short answer is just that there's no benefit to doing one. It's just another chance to introduce oxygen and bacteria.

Back in the day the yeast available to homebrewers, and our understanding of how to care for yeast, was crappy. If you left a beer on unhealthy yeast for a month it would go into "autolysis" and smell like rancid meat. So people would rack to a secondary vessel to get it off the big yeast cake.

Nowadays we have access to awesome yeast that doesn't do that. I know people who have left a beer in the primary for 4 months and it still tastes great. So take that extra carboy or bucket and use it to get another beer going

 

[BaldManBrew]

Used Safale US-05

Looked up the yeast, and the company says to pitch at above 68F (oops). The wort was initially very low 60s, but warmed up to room temp fairly quickly...not going to worry bout it, it's bubbling so it's working.

Fermentation temp is 59-75, all set there.

Thanks guys, I think I might pick up another kit and brew another one if I'm going to go single stage route.

 

[RM-MN]

Getting another kit is a good idea. It will be something to keep you busy while your first one has a chance to complete its fermentation. I've been in a hurry and bottled too soon and it really didn't help. I just had to wait longer with the beer in the bottles for the fermentation to complete, clean up after itself, and mature before the beer started tasting good. Get yourself a pipeline going so you have good beer to drink while you wait for the next batch to mature.

 

[BaldManBrew]

bubbles are down to one every 45-54 seconds at day 3, going to research this...

 

[dcp27]

nothing to research, that's normal for a brew of that size, esp with S-05 ... now the tough part begins (ignoring it for a few weeks)