First Beer - Newb (comments?)

[DFDub]

I decided to give homebrewing a whirl. I wasn't sure I would like it so I tried to do it as economically as possible in terms of hardware - long and short of it, I got a six gallon bucket, an airlock, a hose, and bottle filler/wand. I read that a hydometer was optional, so I did not get one (kinda regretting now...).

I poked around on some recipes and came up with my own without going too far off of the trail. Also, decided to make a 2.5 gal batch in the event I screwed something up and made a bad batch.

Steep: .75lbs 2-row; .25 Carapils (1-hr @ 150-155)

3.75lbs Pilsner (DME)

0.25oz Mosaic @ 30'
0.25oz Mosaic @ 15'
1.0oz Mosaic @ 10'
0.75oz Mosaic @5'
0.25oz Citra @5'
0.75oz Mosaic @0'
0.25oz Citra @0'

Dry hop: 1.0 oz Mosaic; 0.25oz Citra

Gigayeast Vermont IPA

(also, distilled water with 3/8 tsp gypsum added)

Experience/Issues encountered:

1. Had a hard time maintaining the steep at the desired temp range. I'd say I was good 75% of the time but farted around 10-15' total either above or below.

2. When I was cooling the wort, I was packing additional ice around the bucket in ice water. As I reached for the towel to dry my hand, I saw a drop (slow motion like) fall from my hand into the bucket (via a slight opening as the top wasn't on square). The wort was at about 120F at the time, so hopefully.... Everything was cleaned prior, but lesson is to be even more careful (I'm a bit OCD already so this error is going to do wonders for that!)

3. I bougt the yeast online and it showed up warm to the touch with the ice pack having no hint of coldness. I read on here about people having an issue with this and the suggestions to do a starter. I intended to do a starter, but decided to just roll with the instructions on the bag. I still have 1/2 the bag left in a mason jar in the fridge. I would do this differently. I will always do a starter now if not for anything but peace of mind.

4. Smell was amazing - all that special mosaic smell. Left over syrup on the spoon was delicious.

5. Wish I would have got a hydrometer. I was just going to go by bubbles in the airlock and time those to determine when fermentation was done. Since I have remaining concerns about they yeast, this might provide better insight/comfort.

6. Kids and wife were less than impressed with the smell. Bread and pungent (to them) hops.

7. No bubbles in the airlock at ~24h. This is slightly concerning given what I have read about this particular yeast. Still early and I know it is a common newbie freakout thing, but I'm there... haha. Right of passage, I suppose. It is a big bucket relative to the volume of beer in there, so there's that too.

8. I pitched at 68F-ish. And am keeping it at 69-70F. Not sure if I should have went cooler on the former. The latter is within the range provided by Giga for the yeast.

So, some lessons learned but I will definitely do a few more. I am also inclined to do even smaller batches so I can fail faster and learn more (as well as try different recipes, techniques, etc.).


*Also, I will be going directly from the fermenter into 22oz bottles. I will add 4g of dextrose to each for further conditioning.


Any comments, insights, tips appreciated.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I don't have experience with that yeast, just know that some are slow to take off. If it doesn't, you can re-pitch if you have something on hand. ( I generally have some dry yeast tucked away in the fridge. You are making beer!

 

[crynski]

If you made a 2.5 gallon batch and put it in a 6 gallon bucket you have a pretty good amount of head space to overcome before any gas gets pushed out of the air lock. Even with moderate head space (one gallon in a 2 gallon bucket) I may miss the really active time. I also ferment cooler, have been told low to mid 60s because the outside temp will be quite a bit cooler than the vigorous yeasty environment when it is rock and rolling.
Live and learn and make the next batch better.

 

[RM-MN]

I decided to give homebrewing a whirl. I wasn't sure I would like it so I tried to do it as economically as possible in terms of hardware - long and short of it, I got a six gallon bucket, an airlock, a hose, and bottle filler/wand. I read that a hydometer was optional, so I did not get one (kinda regretting now...).

I poked around on some recipes and came up with my own without going too far off of the trail. Also, decided to make a 2.5 gal batch in the event I screwed something up and made a bad batch.

Steep: .75lbs 2-row; .25 Carapils (1-hr @ 150-155)

3.75lbs Pilsner (DME)

0.25oz Mosaic @ 30'
0.25oz Mosaic @ 15'
1.0oz Mosaic @ 10'
0.75oz Mosaic @5'
0.25oz Citra @5'
0.75oz Mosaic @0'
0.25oz Citra @0'

Dry hop: 1.0 oz Mosaic; 0.25oz Citra

Gigayeast Vermont IPA

(also, distilled water with 3/8 tsp gypsum added)

Experience/Issues encountered:

1. Had a hard time maintaining the steep at the desired temp range. I'd say I was good 75% of the time but farted around 10-15' total either above or below.

2. When I was cooling the wort, I was packing additional ice around the bucket in ice water. As I reached for the towel to dry my hand, I saw a drop (slow motion like) fall from my hand into the bucket (via a slight opening as the top wasn't on square). The wort was at about 120F at the time, so hopefully.... Everything was cleaned prior, but lesson is to be even more careful (I'm a bit OCD already so this error is going to do wonders for that!)

3. I bougt the yeast online and it showed up warm to the touch with the ice pack having no hint of coldness. I read on here about people having an issue with this and the suggestions to do a starter. I intended to do a starter, but decided to just roll with the instructions on the bag. I still have 1/2 the bag left in a mason jar in the fridge. I would do this differently. I will always do a starter now if not for anything but peace of mind.

4. Smell was amazing - all that special mosaic smell. Left over syrup on the spoon was delicious.

5. Wish I would have got a hydrometer. I was just going to go by bubbles in the airlock and time those to determine when fermentation was done. Since I have remaining concerns about they yeast, this might provide better insight/comfort.

6. Kids and wife were less than impressed with the smell. Bread and pungent (to them) hops.

7. No bubbles in the airlock at ~24h. This is slightly concerning given what I have read about this particular yeast. Still early and I know it is a common newbie freakout thing, but I'm there... haha. Right of passage, I suppose. It is a big bucket relative to the volume of beer in there, so there's that too.

8. I pitched at 68F-ish. And am keeping it at 69-70F. Not sure if I should have went cooler on the former. The latter is within the range provided by Giga for the yeast.

So, some lessons learned but I will definitely do a few more. I am also inclined to do even smaller batches so I can fail faster and learn more (as well as try different recipes, techniques, etc.).


*Also, I will be going directly from the fermenter into 22oz bottles. I will add 4g of dextrose to each for further conditioning.


Any comments, insights, tips appreciated.

Bubbles in the airlock are not an indicator of fermentation, only an exchange of gasses. They can be caused by the action of the yeast but they also can be from temperature changes or changes in atmospheric pressure. The hydrometer is the only sure way to tell if fermentation is complete so go get one. Your beer will wait for you, there isn't a rush to get it into bottles. I've let one of mine sit in the fermenter for 9 weeks and it came out really good with almost no sediment in the bottles.

Many of the beers I brew have no visible signs of fermentation for 30 to 36 hours from when i pitched the yeast. I have gotten beer from every one of them.

Being within the temperature range for the yeast isn't quite the same as being in the optimal range. I like to ferment most of my beers at the low end of the range because with the yeast I usually use, that gives the cleanest ferment. Higher temperatures can allow the yeast to produce fruity esters and higher temperatures yet will produce fusel alcohols.

 

[kombat]

Didn't see any mention of sanitization, hopefully you picked up some Star San?

Yeast are probably taking a while to get going because you underpitched considerably. 70 is warmer than I'd be comfortable with, but I'm not familiar with that yeast.

 

[h22lude]

Steeping grains don't need to be exact like a mash does.

A drip won't hurt anything. Like others have said, hopefully you sanitize everything post boil.

If your yeast came warm with no ice left, I'd contact the seller and let them know. If it is a good shop, they will help you out.

Absolutely need a hydrometer. That is the only way to tell if your beer is done.

Your bucket is pretty large for the batch size. You may not get much in terms of airlock bubbling but like rm-mn stated, no bubbles aren't an indication that fermentation hasn't started.

Keeping it at 70° room temp or beer temp. There will be a big difference. If you are measuring room temp, your beer could be at 80° which is too high.

Not sure how much reading or research you did prior to brewing but I'd suggest reading How To Brew.

 

[DFDub]

Thanks, yall.

I sanitized everything with an iodine solution per bottle instructions.

I'll pick up a hydrometer to at least measure relative change.

 

[DFDub]

I've also emailed the supplier I about the yeast.


In any event, I guess I'll get another shot at this shortly!

 

[DFDub]

Supplier is sending more yeast. Impressive customer service to say the least!

 

[DrunkPoetry]

Doubt you will get much in the way of bubbling due to the head space in that big a vessel with that amount of beer. When I started out I used Safale US05 (American) and Safale 04 (English) yeast since they are pretty bullet proof and only need to be rehydrated to work well. Also get some Starsan - I started out with iodine and find StarSan to be much easier too use.

 

[DFDub]

Brief update:

Before I left this morning, I added the coldest tap water I could to the tub I am keeping the pale in. 68-69F is the best I could do (Texas is getting warm). It was to the same or slightly higher level than the wort in the pale.

Checked it this evening. There were some air bubbles in the air lock (not vigorous bubbling though). The top seems slightly bowed out. The room smells like citrus.

The water in the tub measured at 69F.

 

[MaryB]

Sounds like fermentation has taken off. Sometimes yeast needs to build up enough cells to do its job before it will show active fermentation.

 

[RM-MN]

Get a water bottle and throw it in the freezer. You can put that in the water bath to keep the fermenter cooler than your tap water. You might need more than one water bottle.

 

[hartlesj]

"I still have 1/2 the bag left in a mason jar in the fridge"

Who was the manufacture of the yeast. I'm not familiar with that specific brand.

Most yeast calculators show that a vial/package of wet yeast is only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the yeast you "should" use for the absolute best performance in a 5 gallon batch of beer. Meaning a starter should be made. So, depending on what type of yeast it is, you could have used a full vial or pack. If it's dry yeast, then I'd recommend reading about re-hydrating it before pitching. If this is the case, then you may have under pitched the yeast and you may want to give it another week before bottling just to make sure.

The thing I've learned about brewing beer, is even if you don't follow the instructions, it's pretty hard to screw up. Underpitch, and your yeast may take a bit longer. If your temps are a bit high, it might not turn out exactly as you wanted it. Many members of this forum have been brewing for years and never even thought about a hydrometer. ( I recommend one) But as long as you stay within a margin of error that borders on common sense, your beer will be quite tasty!

Advice I have for you moving forward, read up on priming sugar amounts. This is one area you will want to be careful with. (my brewing arch nemesis). Also, if you do start to get instruments, (recommended) read up on how to calibrate them, and how temperature affects them. These are simple checks that you can do that will prevent errors.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[h22lude]

White labs vials say they have 75 to 150 billion cells. For his 2.5 gallon batch, he would need roughly 88 billion. Half a vial would be ok.

However, he used gigayeast which has 200 billion cells so half that pouch would be plenty for 2.5 gallon batch.

 

[kombat]

^^ Depends on the manufacturing date and storage/shipping conditions.

 

[boydster]

Also, just to throw it out there, "steeping" .75lb of 2-row is actually doing a small partial mash - assuming you were reasonably close to the 150-155 ballpark you mentioned, you should have gotten some conversion in the 2-row.

Your pitch rate is anyone's guess. Without knowing when it was manufactured and how long it was kept warm, there's no way to even make a reasonable estimate. The good news is that GigaYeast packets start out with a higher cell count than other liquid yeasts, so you're better off already than if you had used a Wyeast packet or White labs vial under similar circumstances.

Sounds like things are underway now, so try to mind the fermentation temp and let it roll. Congrats on your first brew!

 

[DFDub]

Sitting for a week. I noticed the temp in the water bath the bucket is sitting in was staying cool longer. So I thought I would check it with the hydrometer.





1.028. As a reminder, I didn't have the hydrometer on brew day. Will test again next weekend.

I'm guessing I might read on the higher end for an IPA since I steeped at the beginning, used DME, and who knows what else. We'll see. Sitting for a week so I don't blow tops off my bottles (one will likely make a trip to SE Asia).

Tasted great - very Yellow Rose-ish. I could feel it on a half-empty gut Saturday AM, too!

 

[DFDub]

BTW thanks for all of the tips and comments. You've helped me for sure and made my first beer better than it would have been otherwise!

 

[MaryB]

Upon opening the bucket the minute you saw the krausen(foam) you might as well of closed it up again. It means it is actively fermenting still in most cases(very rare it doesn't fall...)

 

[h22lude]

My first beer I checked the gravity probably every other day. That was what my instructions told me to do. That was the last time I did that. Now I let it go for 2 weeks then check it.

 

[DFDub]

Awesome. Thanks for the tips. It is a small batch, so the more that makes it to the bottles, the better!

 

[MaryB]

I don't bother testing 1 gallon batches, let it ferment 2 week the bottle.

 

[DFDub]

Bottled on Friday. So almost 3 weeks fermenting.

Noticed that krausen had dropped.

Tested gravity. Dry hopped 4 days. Tested gravity again (no change). Bottled.

I went straight from the bucket to the bottle. It seemed pretty flat when I tested the gravity - *maybe*less carbonation than when I prematurely tested after 1-week (above)....or just another newb freak out thing.

I played with the amount of dextrose or conditioning tabs for the bottles. Most have about 4g dextrose. I did 1x with 3g and 1x with 5g. Also 1x with 5 tabs and 1x with 6 tabs. 9 bombers total. Could have probably squeezed a 12oz out. Maybe.

As far as taste, could have used a little more bitterness on the front end. Pretty fruity but overall lighter than expected.

Hopefully, it turns out.

I enjoyed the process and experimenting with the recipe so I did another one last night and added more hops and used a slightly darker DME rather than Pilsner (because it was at the home...no other real reason).

 

[boydster]

Nice! You'll probably be surprised how different it will taste once it's carbed up. Congrats

 

[DFDub]

2 weeks since bottling.

Carbonation level is about perfect for me. Thought for sure I jacked that up.

Light and fruity. A tad sweet. Consistent for what I expect from Conan.

Tons of stuff going on at the nose. Very slight bitterness. Consistent with expectations from the recipe.

Maybe some diacetyl - moreso hiding at the nose than anything.

If it is possible to be too fruity-tropical at the expense of hop bitterness for an IPA, this is close to that. I'd call it a pale ale....except for that color! Lol

 

[CU_tony]

Congrats! Nothing more rewarding than taking that first sip and loving it!

I would imagine that over the next few weeks the flavors will develop slightly and the fruity flavors may fade a little bit.