First Brew Baby

[Wrey]

O.K. so my roommates and I love good beer so we wanted to try to brew our own.

We went to the local brew shop and picked up a standard equipment kit ($60) and a Scotch Ale ingredients kit. We followed the directions that came with the kit. After cooling the wort to 73ºF we measured the SG at 1.040 (range on kit said 1.045-1.050).

After pitching the yeast, (just tossing the yeast in and stirring it up) we capped it and put on the burper (with water in it ).

We didn't see any activity 10 hours so being curious we opened it up and took a look and saw a nice looking head.

By 24 hours we still didn't see any bubbles so we took another peak and the head was gone and there was a little stuff around the edges where the foam had been. (it looked pretty dead in there). We took another SG reading and it measured 1.012 (final SG from recipe was 1.010-1.012).

So what happened? Can it ferment in 24 hours like that and is that bad? I thought we had a good seal on the bucket so I don't know where the gas went.

Also, should we still wait a 7 days before bottling?


BTW, first post

 

[Rhoobarb]

Yes, it can ferment that quickly. And if it is at 1.012, it probably did!

If it measures 1.012 consecutively for 2-3 days in a row, then bottle it or rack to secondary to clear!

Congrats on your first brew!

 

[FlyGuy]

Welcome to HBT!

First off -- commendations and praise to first time homebrewers that actually use their hydrometer! Well done -- always trust your hydrometer.

It sounds like you got about 75% attenuation on your beer, so yes, it is probably very close to being done. You must not have got a good seal on the lid if there was no airlock activity. I am sure it is fine, but now that fermentation is subsiding, you do want to try to get it sealed as best you can.

And yes, give it some more time in the fermenter before you bottle. It will probably ferment down another couple of points yet (depends on yeast). Just keep checking your hydrometer readings to see if it is done. You never want to bottle prematurely or you will over-carbonate your beer (perhaps even make bottle bombs -- bad).

Cheers!

 

[Blender]

Patience is very hard on the first brew but I would wait at least 7 days if not more. Your lid probably had some form of leak if the airlock was not showing any activity. What the temperature of the wort during fermentation?

 

[Wrey]

The thermometer on the outside was reading between 70-72ºF all the times that I checked. We kept it in the basement to get a steadier atmosphere and it was pretty hot upstairs (Ohio).

Also, we are all engineers so taking the readings and stuff was no problem. We also documented the time for each step and made Spreadsheets and such. God we are such nerds (that love beer).

BTW, thanks for the quick responses, I am looking for some new boards to read since quitting WOW (online role playing game for those of you that have no idea what that is). Maybe I will make this my new home.

 

[Blender]

Temperature seems good. You don't want to go higher than that with ale yeast. I would still leave it in the primary for 7-10 days to let the yeast clean up. Plan and make another brew as the first batch tends to be gone very quickly and then you are back to waiting again and people tend to rush things a bit.

 

[FlyGuy]

Also, we are all engineers so taking the readings and stuff was no problem. We also documented the time for each step and made Spreadsheets and such. God we are such nerds (that love beer).

Nerds make the best beer!

 

[PseudoChef]

The thermometer on the outside was reading between 70-72ºF all the times that I checked. We kept it in the basement to get a steadier atmosphere and it was pretty hot upstairs (Ohio).

Also, we are all engineers so taking the readings and stuff was no problem. We also documented the time for each step and made Spreadsheets and such. God we are such nerds (that love beer).

BTW, thanks for the quick responses, I am looking for some new boards to read since quitting WOW (online role playing game for those of you that have no idea what that is). Maybe I will make this my new home.

I'm an engineer and a biochemist, so I pass off brewing as "research," haha.

This place makes a great home. After joining here, the time I spent in another forum that "used" to be my home (been there 7+ years) quickly dwindling to back seat status. ADDICTING.

 

[Wrey]

Well we just bottled our first brew after 13 days in the primary.

We tasted the wort (or is it called beer now) and it tasted pretty damn bland. Will it devolop more flavor as it conditions for a few weeks.

Also it had a OG of 1.040 and a FG or 1.011. What is the ABV?

 

[RichBrewer]

The alcohol will be 3.1% ABV but are you sure you stirred the wort enough before you measured the OG? Extract kits should be pretty close unless you added too much water.
If you don't stir enough when you mix the top off water, the thicker wort settles to the bottom giving you a low reading.
The beer should improve once it is carbonated.

 

[Wrey]

The alcohol will be 3.1% ABV but are you sure you stirred the wort enough before you measured the OG? Extract kits should be pretty close unless you added too much water.
If you don't stir enough when you mix the top off water, the thicker wort settles to the bottom giving you a low reading.
The beer should improve once it is carbonated.

Didn't stir at all, just plopped it right in.

 

[jowens]

Bland? I thought 'green' beer tasted cidery. None of my first bottled beer (all 1 of them, and one in secondary) have a taste that I would describe as 'bland'. They mellow nicely and loose some of the bad flavor generally.

Did you taste it as it went along? I usually sample my hydrometer sample to see how the flavor is evolving.

 

[SoCalBrewing]

I am looking for some new boards to read since quitting WOW .

70 horde lock on dethecus here.

As someone else quoted, nerds brew the best beer:rockin:

 

[Wrey]

I had a undead priest on Draneor with over 100 days (2400 hours) in 2 years.

I graduated college and quit Wow and am so glad I did.

 

[homebrewer_99]

As someone else quoted, nerds brew the best beer:rockin:

I would never say that...of course they probably make the best spreadsheets...