First brew in the fermenter - questions!

[ch1719]

Ok so just brewed my first batch (Brewer's Best English Pale Ale), and had some questions:
1. This "hot break" that's supposed to happen during the beginning of the brew never seemed to come. I had to pretty much watch the pot the entire hour and keep lifting it off the flat-top burner every few minutes to keep it from boiling over. I had the heat between medium high and high. Is this normal?

2. I put the pot in an ice bath in my sink and covered with the lid after the brewing. When I use the spoon to stir it in order for it to cool down faster, where do I place the spoon in between stirrings? I know it's kind of a silly question, but I don't want to put it back in the bucket with the sanitizer, because then the sanitizer will get wort mixed in it from the spoon, and I'm afraid of just sitting the spoon down somewhere else because it won't be sanitized then. Should I just try to wash the spoon every time I'm done stirring?

3. I sprinkled the yeast (Nottingham I think it was called) onto the top of the wort after siphoning from the pot into the Ale Pale, and, following the directions, stirred. The yeast started to clump up instead of dissolving into the wort. Is this bad? The temperature of the wort was 70F.

4. I checked on the fermenter this morning (9 hours into the fermentation), and did not see any bubbling in the airlock. Should I be worried?

5. How on earth do I clean the auto-siphon and the tubing??

Thanks!

 

[ArcaneXor]

1.) With extract, you don't get much of a hot break. With respect to the boil-over, many brewers boil much more intensively than they need to. Use the lowest possible temperature to maintain a very gentle, rolling boil.

2.) Either rinse it and re-sanitize it each time, or place it on a sanitized plate that's still wet with sanitizer.

3.) Nothing to worry about.

4.) Nothing to worry about. It may take a couple of days for you to see anything.

5.) Soak in PBW, B-Brite or similar cleanser, rinse with water, soak in Star San.

 

[unionrdr]

Ok so just brewed my first batch (Brewer's Best English Pale Ale), and had some questions:
1. This "hot break" that's supposed to happen during the beginning of the brew never seemed to come. I had to pretty much watch the pot the entire hour and keep lifting it off the flat-top burner every few minutes to keep it from boiling over. I had the heat between medium high and high. Is this normal?

2. I put the pot in an ice bath in my sink and covered with the lid after the brewing. When I use the spoon to stir it in order for it to cool down faster, where do I place the spoon in between stirrings? I know it's kind of a silly question, but I don't want to put it back in the bucket with the sanitizer, because then the sanitizer will get wort mixed in it from the spoon, and I'm afraid of just sitting the spoon down somewhere else because it won't be sanitized then. Should I just try to wash the spoon every time I'm done stirring?

3. I sprinkled the yeast (Nottingham I think it was called) onto the top of the wort after siphoning from the pot into the Ale Pale, and, following the directions, stirred. The yeast started to clump up instead of dissolving into the wort. Is this bad? The temperature of the wort was 70F.

4. I checked on the fermenter this morning (9 hours into the fermentation), and did not see any bubbling in the airlock. Should I be worried?

5. How on earth do I clean the auto-siphon and the tubing??

Thanks!

1) The hot break is the wild,fast foaming up of the wort right before it boils,usually lasting no more than about 3 minutes. I turn ther boil up higher to get a good hot break so the wort will precipitate dissolved protiens & leave the beer clearer later. When the rapid boil has gone a couple minutes,turn it down a hair to a even,gently rolling boil to get less boil off.
2) With ice baths,I fill the space in the sink around the kettle to the top with ice. Then top that off with water. More cooling power. I use Starsan in a spray bottle to sanitize things on the fly,like spoons & paddles. Set it on a sanitized salad plate between uses.
3) Be careful that you sprinkle the yeast on top of the wort evenly. Clumped up yeast can sink to the bottom. You may have to swirl it back up after it hydrates for 30 minutes or so.
4) It can take up to 72 hours (3 days) for the yeast to get through the reproductive phase & visibly start fermenting. No worries yet,m8.
5) Make some PBW solution & suck it D) through the auto siphone & tubing into a bucket or something. do it while it's still fresh & wet,or it'll be tougher to get out. Then you'll have to soak it clean. I have a vid on my youtube channel that shows a long brush for cleaning keg lines & where to get it. And some other handy gadgets you'll find usefull.

 

[Eman24dx]

Also, no need to siphon into the ale pale if you can just pour it in. I pour the wort into the pail from a good 2-3 above it to get tons of air into the wort. This could be why I usually see airlock activity just hours into fermentation.

You sound like your off to a good start. Have a few beers this evening to celebrate your first airlock activity. Its like celebrating your first born...

 

[ch1719]

5.) Soak in PBW, B-Brite or similar cleanser, rinse with water, soak in Star San.

My kit came with a powder called Easy Clean. Will that work?

 

[ch1719]

Also, no need to siphon into the ale pale if you can just pour it in. I pour the wort into the pail from a good 2-3 above it to get tons of air into the wort. This could be why I usually see airlock activity just hours into fermentation.

You sound like your off to a good start. Have a few beers this evening to celebrate your first airlock activity. Its like celebrating your first born...

The reason I siphoned is because I wanted to leave behind as much gunk as possible, since I don't plan on transferring to a secondary.

 

[unionrdr]

Easy clean is a no-rinse bleaching compound for cleaning all your equipment & bottles. Many seem to like it. so go ahead & use it. But most of us prefer PBW cleaner,or Oxy-free. And Starsan sanitizer is the most popular,no-rinse,easy to use one out there.

 

[J187]

The reason I siphoned is because I wanted to leave behind as much gunk as possible, since I don't plan on transferring to a secondary.

You have to aerate the wort before pitching your yeast - it's important. Don't siphon it. If you want to pour from the kettle to the fermenter and not include all the break material, simply use a collander or a strainer. here's what I do - sanitize my fermenting bucket and my bottling bucket. Sanitize a strainer, I have a big one! I have a large strainer too. I then pour my wort into the fermenter through the strainer - depending on recipe, I might have to stop halfway through, rinse and resanitize the strainer. Once I pour all 5 gallons in (or whatever brew volume you have then add top off water), I pour the entire contents back and forth 4 or 5 times between the fermenter and bottling bucket to aerate, then pitch the yeast. If you used dry yeast, it should have been rehydrated by the way.

Next time you make up a few gallons of star san to sanitize your bucket or whatever, fill up a spray bottle full of star san for quick sanitizing projects - like the spoon again or the strainer between pourings.. 30 seconds will be enough contact time to sanitize while 2 to 3 min is ideal - I often cheat on resanitizing and allow 1 min or a little less.

 

[Eman24dx]

Two notes:

1. You will have to clean the "gunk" out at one point, I do when its time to bottle/keg as I like to keep everything from the pot together for the full fermentation.

2. I usually do not hydrate dry yeast, I usually just sprinkle it on. I hydrated 2x and didnt notice a difference but someone else may have a better response.

 

[J187]

Two notes:

1. You will have to clean the "gunk" out at one point, I do when its time to bottle/keg as I like to keep everything from the pot together for the full fermentation.

2. I usually do not hydrate dry yeast, I usually just sprinkle it on. I hydrated 2x and didnt notice a difference but someone else may have a better response.

You really should rehydrate.

 

[ch1719]

You really should rehydrate.

How come the instructions that came with the kit tell me to just sprinkle it on, instead of rehydrating first?

 

[unionrdr]

Because it's the easiest & quickest way for the uninitiated to proceed. Rehydrating comes from manufacturer's PDF's. It cuts lag time if done right temp-wise. Get the rehydrate within 10 degrees of wort temp & you're golden.

 

[ch1719]

4. I checked on the fermenter this morning (9 hours into the fermentation), and did not see any bubbling in the airlock. Should I be worried?

Pleased to announce that 18 hours into fermentation, the airlock is bubbling at about 1-2 bubbles per second.

 

[J187]

How come the instructions that came with the kit tell me to just sprinkle it on, instead of rehydrating first?

Unfortunately, kit instructions, although occasionally good, usually range from incomplete to just plain awful! The prevailing theory is that they simplify it as much as is humanly possible, so as to not scare people off from brewing and buying more kits! The reason why this site can exist and thrive so strongly is that there is a whole lot more to brewing than they might lead you to believe! Those instructions are aimed to help you make beer, we are aiming to help you make great beer. Dry yeast should be rehydrated for reasons mentioned by Union, and liquid yeasts should be made into starters.

Another reason to rehydrate is that yeast have lower tolerance when dehydrated... hydrating them for the first time in a large batch of beer, results in cell death to many yeast. Gradually reydrating them in a ziplock bag prepares them to be thrown into the wort!

 

[J187]

Pleased to announce that 18 hours into fermentation, the airlock is bubbling at about 1-2 bubbles per second.

This is your extended lag time not rehydrating . Seriously though, one of the benefits of reydrating is that you'd likely have seen plenty of activity in less than 9 hours.