First brew day tomorrow

[acarter5251]

Temperature is most important during the first few days. You brewed this on Tuesday, right? You're probably largely out of the woods at this point. After 5-7 days, you can safely let it rise to ambient temperature, even if that ends up being in the 70's. In fact, allowing it to warm up a little bit toward the end of fermentation can contribute to improved attenuation and encourage the yeast to clean up a little more.

Yes it was Tuesday night. I plan to move it to a smaller cooler that doesn't hold temperature quite as well next week. I just wanted to make sure I don't need to keep it in the 60s like I have been doing. I think I'll still need to use an ice pack to keep it cooler than ambient though as it gets up to 80 degrees in my apartment during the day when nobody is home. Am I correct about this?

 

[kombat]

Yup, that'll be fine.

 

[robertus]

I have a notebook ready to go. I actually work in a chemistry lab, so I'll probably end up with a lab notebook of my brewing activities haha

A friend and sometime-collaborator is a Ph.D. chemist. He's actually less anal about note-taking and process-following than I am. Our most recent collaboration was basically "I have all these assorted bags and cans of stuff, let's see what happens!"

The answer was "a somewhat reddish hefe with an unknown alcohol content." Not really something I found enjoyable (not my style to begin with), but totally in his wheelhouse.

I need to brew again soon. Been almost a year (life getting in the way). Jonesing for it these last couple of months.

 

[acarter5251]

Update on my first batch: I took gravity readings yesterday and today, and the gravity is sitting steady at 1.012 for an ABV of about 4.2%. There is still some krausen on the top though. I tasted the sample, and it tastes like beer! I will allow the fermenter to come to room temperature and let sit for another 2 weeks or so to settle. I may also cold crash the beer for a few days before bottling to clear it up even more.

I will be making my second batch tomorrow. It's going to be a light blueberry ale with a slightly higher ABV for the girlfriend. Hopefully it turns out good!

 

[GHBWNY]

Update on my first batch: I took gravity readings yesterday and today, and the gravity is sitting steady at 1.012 for an ABV of about 4.2%. There is still some krausen on the top though. I tasted the sample, and it tastes like beer! I will allow the fermenter to come to room temperature and let sit for another 2 weeks or so to settle. I may also cold crash the beer for a few days before bottling to clear it up even more.

I will be making my second batch tomorrow. It's going to be a light blueberry ale with a slightly higher ABV for the girlfriend. Hopefully it turns out good!

It's likely it will, considering your attention to temp control and patience, and being willing to work with what Nature dictates in the process. Nature has a way of responding most favorably (e.g., better beer) when we pay attention to the things it likes, even if it might seem odd to us at the time.

I fish a lot, and have noticed over the years how air and water temp, wind, cloud cover, etc. affect the bite. And conditions that might be favorable to me, like a bright, sunny summer day with a mild breeze, might not be favorable to fish activity. There has been many a time when I've caught the best and most fish just before or at the start of a storm. Lesson here... if you want the best outcome, let Nature call the shots.

Barring any sudden or unusual change in the conditions that Nature has already determined is best for your beer, it will be great and the blueberry will be, too.

 

[cosmatics]

Just a quick thought, some yeasts and brews will have krausen that never drops, so just use the appearance or not as another tool in the brewing toolbox. Nice job.

 

[acarter5251]

Just took a look at my batch after 2 weeks. The krausen has cleared up very nicely. The specific gravity came in as 1.010 giving an ABV of about 4.4%. Tasted my sample and it tastes pretty good. It also had pretty nice clarity. I plan to cold crash the batch from this Friday until I bottle on either Monday or Tuesday.

 

[acarter5251]

I popped my fermenter into the fridge to cold crash a day earlier than planned. Will probably bottle on Sunday!

 

[acarter5251]

Tasted my brew after 2 weeks in bottles and it was pretty good. I'm currently drinking one after 3 weeks in the bottle and it is even better! The only concern I have is that the beer seems to be lacking in the foam department when I pour it.

 

[cheddarhed3]

Hey, if it tastes good you've won the war. The battle will always continue for the "perfect" beer but it's a damn fine battle to fight!! Cheers.


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