First Brew Alert! (And A Question...)

[rustybrew]

Well I brewed up my first ale a few days ago, but I went slightly unconventional.
I decided to only brew a 2.5 gallon batch in case it didn't turn out (ie I messed it up).

Anyway, my OG was 1.039, it hasn't been bubbling for about 24hrs so I pulled it out and took another reading at 1.009. It's only been fermenting for about 4 days.

I should also add I tasted it and was very impressed! It is pretty cloudy however so I'm going to wait a couple of days for clearing... Is it possible it'll be ready to bottle in a couple of days??

Thanks!
~Rusty

 

[Nurmey]

I would never bottle a beer that's under three weeks old. Actually, I don't bottle my beer until it's much older than that but that's me. The yeast might be done fermenting but it's not done with the work yet. It will clean up it's own waste and give you cleaning, better tasting beer if you let it sit there a while longer.

Your beer is going to taste great if you give it time, and you will be very sorry you only made 2.5 gallons.

 

[DUCCCC]

My calc says that's 76.3% apparent attenuation. While that's perfectly acceptable, many here see 80 or better based on the yeast you used. If you used either Nottingham or US-05 and your batch was an extract recipe I think you've got a couple more points to go.

Many brewers here, myself included, are skipping secondary all together and going with a longer primary fermentation. By leaving the beer on the yeast for a little bit longer we're giving the yeast a while to "clean up" after itself. You may read many of the older posts that talk about the 1-2-3 method of one week in primary, two weeks in secondary, and three weeks in the bottle conditioning before drinking. For many beers a secondary isn't really necessary, and you run a small risk of contamination racking to a secondary vessel. Just leaving the beer in the primary for 3 weeks, longer if you like, and then bottling works great.

Bottling after only a week in primary is usually not going to be a problem, but you really need to be sure that your fermentation is done, and that means getting a couple identical SG readings a couple days in a row. Bottling this soon is really cheating yourself of what your brew might be though. The clarity can suffer, and some of the off flavors that come from fermentation won't have a chance to settle out.

Congrats on your first brew! That 2.5 gal batch won't last long. What did you make?

 

[rustybrew]

Sounds odd but I did 3.5lbs of German Pilsner LME, White Labs Pacific Ale yeast, and Kent Goldings hops. Simple... but the sample tasted great! I have already ordered a more conventional recipe to try next. What do you think bout bottling 1/2 of a batch? =) Thanks for all the advice!
~Rusty the n00b

 

[rustybrew]

Woohoo! I Cracked open a bottle a few of days ago and it was pretty good! A little lacking on flavor, but the one I had last night was better... with a little more conditioning it will probably be decent!

Starting my second batch right now (Cherry Wheat). Thanks for all the advice and help!
~Rusty

 

[Rick_R]

Woohoo!

Glad it was a Woohoo beer; now, do you not already wish you'd made five gallons of it?

Got the next one peculating yet?

Rick