First brew in fermenter

[TWilson]

I started my first batch of homebrew last night. It is a Brewer's Best India Pale Ale kit. It is an unhopped extract kit with additional grains for steeping. It smelled great when I put it in the fermenter last night. I rehydrated the Muntons yeast according to the package instructions even though the recipe instructions said to just pitch the dry yeast. There wasn't any bubbling in the airlock this morning, approximately 7.5 hours after pitching. I will check it this evening when I get home from work. I will update this thread as the batch progresses.

 

[malkore]

not uncommon. the yeast is lagging, as its growing in population before it begins true fermentation. i bet its bubbling no later than tomorrow morning, if not this evening.

pitching at ideal temps and aerating the cooled wort helps minimize lag.

 

[TWilson]

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't worried about the yeast. I was relaxing and having a microbrew IPA. I have read enough "Is my yeast dead" and "Is my batch ruined" threads on here to know to not worry about it. Just got to give it time to do its thing. I might try a yeast starter next time to decrease lag time.

I poured all five gallons through a strainer, in addition to some vigorous stirring to aerate my wort. I was able to cool my 2 gallon boil to 68* F in about 20 minutes. I pitched at 68* and when I went to bed last night it was still at 68*. This morning it was at about 71-72* with no bubbling. When I got home this evening, the temp had risen to 78* with vigorous bubbling in my airlock. I set my primary in a cooler, added water and ice, and draped a wet towel around it. It is now bubbling away at 68* again. I can smell the hops through the airlock. So far so good. I think I will relax with another microbrew tonight.

 

[malkore]

how did you cool it to 68F for pitching? cold water bath? wort chiller?

cuz you don't want to pour wort hotter than 90f or you'll aerate at the wrong time, causing oxidation and stability problems down the road.

of course, a first batch never lingers long enough for stability to matter much

 

[TWilson]

I used a cold/ice water bath in my kitchen sink. I used all the ice in my icemaker and added a few blue-ice packs. I dropped 100* in about 10 minutes. I didn't pour the wort until the temp was about 75*. I had a couple gallons of chilled water plus a gallon+ at room temp. When it all was poured into the fermenter the ending temp was around 68*.

 

[TWilson]

The recipe called for a O.G. of 1.050-1.055, and a F.G. of 1.012-1.015. This batch had an O.G. of 1.051. It spent 7 days in the primary with a steady S.G. of 1.019 for the last couple of days. The first day of active fermentation the temp reached 78*F, but I quickly dropped it to 68*F. The temp for the rest of the time was 68*-72*F. I racked it to the secondary and noticed a little bit of airlock activity. It spent a total of 22 days in the secondary, getting the occasional swirling to try and help suspend more yeast so they could finish the job. No such luck. It had maintained a F.G. of 1.018 for the last 5 days. In hindsight, I probably should have pitched more yeast onto it in the secondary. I went ahead and primed it and bottled it last night. It was extremely clear when I sampled it last night before bottling. When I say clear, I mean pretty much crystal clear. I am not sure if I have created 2+ cases worth of bottle bombs, or if there was even enough yeast left to carb the bottles. Oh well, only time will tell. I will let them age for another 3 weeks and see what the finished product is like. After cleaning up last night I decided to start a batch of EdWort's Apfelwein. I hope to get another batch of it going to give out as presents. I will post the recipe for the IPA this evening when I get home.

 

[TWilson]

Oh, by the way it tastes pretty good. It is not exactly what I was expecting for an IPA. The color looks fine, and the aroma is nice and hoppy. However, it doesn't have enough bitterness or hop flavor for my taste. I think that I might have slight underutilization of my bittering hops due to my boil not being vigorous enough. That will be corrected on the next batch. Also, the sweetness from the malt is coming through a little too much, might be due to the higher than expected F.G. I also think that might be masking the hop flavors a little as well.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Nothing like starting off your homebrewing career with an IPA. :rockin:

 

[Yooper]

Oh, by the way it tastes pretty good. It is not exactly what I was expecting for an IPA. The color looks fine, and the aroma is nice and hoppy. However, it doesn't have enough bitterness or hop flavor for my taste. I think that I might have slight underutilization of my bittering hops due to my boil not being vigorous enough. That will be corrected on the next batch. Also, the sweetness from the malt is coming through a little too much, might be due to the higher than expected F.G. I also think that might be masking the hop flavors a little as well.

I think in three weeks, it'll be quite a bit different and you'll love it! Your fg would leave just a little residual sweetness, and since it's not quite bitter enough, it might have a little sweetness to it. But it'll still be so much better than so many other brews, you'll be pleased, I promise!