first brew....how'd i do?

[ryangws]

ok so a friend let me borrow his equipment so i researched on the internet, recipies, vids, forums...

so i went the store and got some ingredents (going for a blue moon belgin white), so here is what i did...

boiled water 2 gal filtered
3.3# of coopers wheat LME
3.3# of extra light LME
added off heat

turned heat on too low, took 15 min to start boiling again (added 1 oz of hallertau pellets), turnd up heat at 20 min in, rapid boil started at this point.

rappid boil for 25 min (now 45min in from adding LME), added 2 teaspoons of irish moss

added 1# of belgian candi sugar boiled for another 5 min for sugar to disolve.
knock out
added in bag
1 oz of orange zest
1 oz of crushed corriander
1 oz of whole hallertau hopps

covered, cooled down in ice bath, took out hops/spice bag while cooling (about 150-160F),

poured into sterilized (sanistar) carboy along with 3 gal of filtered water.
here is where i think i messed up...i did not sterilize the bottle i used to transfer the water from the water dispenser on the fridge to the carboy. i also started adding the water before the wort.

added liquid wyeast am ale II 1272
(this was the closest number to 1214, they didnt have any 1214)

agitated
SG was 1.040
had trouble getting sterilized stopper on, kept slipping off, one stopper fell in, lucky i had a back up, that worked and got it to stay after it dried a little, got the lock on, and now i wait.

critique recipie?
did i do ok?
i dont have a secondary, should i just use a primary? if so how long do you estimate?

thanks for any help

 

[fifelee]

I think you are fine. Sanitizing your transfer bottle would be a good idea, but I doubt it will ruin your beer. Was the wort cooled to nearer room temp before you added the yeast? Don't worry about a secondary. It should ferment out in less than a week. I would then leave it at least another week to allow the junk to settle. Congrats.

 

[ryangws]

the wort was about 80f when i added the yeast.

so 1-1.5 weeks, ill keep posted with bubbling and SG if i have a question.

thanks

 

[planenut]

Besides the transfer bottle, did you boil the other 3 gallons of water from the dispenser on the fridge?

I haven't done my first brew yet but I thought you should boil all the water?

 

[Yooper]

Besides the transfer bottle, did you boil the other 3 gallons of water from the dispenser on the fridge?

I haven't done my first brew yet but I thought you should boil all the water?

Many people do boil their water, then let it cool before using it. I have never boiled my water- but I do have very good city water.

 

[Special Hops]

I never boiled my top off water when doing extract. Turned out just fine everytime.

 

[HOOTER]

Don't expect it to be anywhere near the color of Blue Moon. Using DME and doing a late addition will get you closer to the real thing.
The yeast you used isn't really a typical strain used in a witbier, but you did what you had to.
Also, I'm not sure if candi sugar is typically used in a wit, but I could be wrong.
In the future, sterilize everything that comes into contact with your wort (I'm referring to that bottle you spoke of). I'm sure that won't be an issue though.

All in all, you did fine, and in about 1 1/2 months you have some good brew.

Cheers!

 

[ryangws]

thanks

i will sterilize it next time for sure...

i know its not going to be an exact clone, had to work with what the store had on a labor day weekend, the regular brew store was closed.

i saw a few recipies with the candi belgian sugar so i subsituted it for honey as im not a big honey fan.

one recipe called for DME and one for LME, going to the store the first time i had no idea what the difference was i thought one was light and one dark, then i bumped into a homebrewer and he educated me on dry vs liquid, so he recomended i try liquid for now since i already had the extra light LME, so i got some wheat LME because they were out of ext light LME and i like wheat beers, so i did 50/50...we will see.

whats considered a late addition?

12 hours and still no bubbles

 

[hopsalot]

12 hours and still no bubbles

Bubbles are not necessarily a sign of fermentation, it can take place without a bubbles, RDWHAHB, brew some more to get your mind off it

 

[HOOTER]

whats considered a late addition?

Putting a portion of your extract in at the beginning of the boil, then the remaining in the last 5-10 minutes to reduce caramelization, thus making the color lighter. For example, if I were to use 6 lbs. of light DME, I'd put 1 lb. in at the beginning of the boil, then the remaining 5 lbs. in the last 5 minutes.

 

[ryangws]

thanks. that makes sense. i will have to try that next time....its a really dark amber color in the primary.

24 hours still no bubbling

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

I'm not familiar with that yeast strain for a Hefe I use WLP300 and for wits I use WLP400. I know basic but they work for me. Ensure you have your fermenter lid on solid, and also make sure you have water/sanitized water/vodka in your air lock.
As long as you did not forget to smack your yeast if it was a smack pack, you will be fine. Next time you may want to make certain you air ate your wort well before pitching the yeast, or at least air ate the heck out of your yeast around 30 minutes before pitching.

 

[ryangws]

i am using a carboy for my fermenting, its 72F and in a dark room
everything has settled a nice trub layer has formed on the bottom, the air lock is on really well with sanitized water in the air lock.
still no action

im thinking i did something wrong with the yeast or didnt airate enough

i shook the carboy for a few minutes before just like the video from austin home brew. i then took my liquid yeast from the sterilizer water bucket, it was in there for about 5 min
i punched the package, opened and poured it directly in the carboy. i didnt rinse out the inside of the package so some yeast may not have gotten into the carboy.

should i re-pitch more yeast or
should i airate the carboy again
or both?

 

[ryangws]

so to update, nothing was happening on the 3rd day so i went to the LHBS and got some dry yeast and pitched it, and it started fermenting in about 3 hours. going strong now. and boy does it smell good, can really smell the orange, it does smell like blue moon in a way.

so i guess i killed the yeast, by either the wort was too warm or i shocked the yeast by putting it in the wort too quickly.

good learning experience though

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Hey, congratulations on your patience, and realizing there was a problem and resolving it quickly. I wish the majority of the new posters were as calm and mellow as you are.
I use a lot of White Labs, but I bring them to room temp or pitching temp for around two hours prior to pitching. Never had a problem yet, but who knows.
Now just take your time in fermentation, let it condition well and I'm sure your have some tasty beer.

 

[ryangws]

ok so it has been 8 days in the primary, the bubbling is about every 3 min

the og is 1.040 and i just took one tonight and its 1.014 which according to the book i have "how to brew" its 3.3%.

the color is a nice amber on top, pretty clear, the bottom half is still a little cloudy.

question:
should i leave it in the primary or switch to a secondary (i just got another carboy)

also how long does a batch of sani star solution stay usable in an open bucket? closed?

 

[ArcaneXor]

question:
should i leave it in the primary or switch to a secondary (i just got another carboy)

I wouldn't bother with a secondary at all for this beer. Just let it sit on the yeast in the primary for 2-3 weeks and you should be in great shape for bottling. Sounds like you've got about three or four more gravity points to go (depending on what yeast strain you added when you re-pitched) until the fermentation is complete anyway.

 

[Nurmey]

Using a secondary or primary only is a personal preference and both ways are good. If you're going to leave it in primary, keep it in there a few more weeks.

Star San should be stored closed but how long it's good for depends on the water you use. If you used distilled, it's supposedly good for months.

 

[ryangws]

k thanks

i dont want to move it but want a clear-er beer.

i would like to wait till the FG hits 1.000

 

[ryangws]

Star San should be stored closed but how long it's good for depends on the water you use. If you used distilled, it's supposedly good for months.

and using tap water?

 

[ArcaneXor]

k thanks

i dont want to move it but want a clear-er beer.

i would like to wait till the FG hits 1.000

Wit beers tend to be opaque (or at least hazy) by style. I haven't brewed one myself yet, but I would think that it would be very difficult to get this style of beer to clear entirely, and then it might well not taste appropriately.

If the final gravity does hit 1.000, you'll have a major problem. Beer yeasts cannot "digest" all the sugars in your wort, leaving some behind that are important for the flavor and mouthfeel in the final beer. It would take a wild yeast or bacteria to digest the rest of the sugars to hit 1.000, in which case you will have a watery, alcoholic, unpleasant end result.

Depending on the yeast strain, the apparent attenuation is usually somewhere around 65-80%. Since FG = OG (1 - AA), you would be expected to reach something between 1.014 and 1.008, depending on the dry yeast strain you used.

 

[ryangws]

ok, thanks

ill keep measuring for that FG