First brew: Irish red ale.

[sixstringsgareth]

Hello from Ireland!

So I started with extract and steeping grains, og 1038 current gravity 1012 after 3 days in primary.
It's a little weaker than the estimated og but I'm happy with the drop to 1012 in three days. I had a taste from the tap and tasted like beer so so far so good everything is going well.
After sealing up with the airlock I've read more about secondary fermentation and bottling and I have a few questions...

1. I like the idea of a beer with good clarity so bought a plastic 5gal carboy for secondary fermentation. I've read there's no point in secondary unless you want clarity or additives, also that plastic carboys are no use for secondary due to O2 leak. Should I just stick with the primary in that case?

2. Is it safe to assume that if I'm bottling beer after no change in gravity and allowing time to mellow and clear, that any carbonation will come from priming sugar alone and that the required measurements depending on batch size will be accurate and won't cause bottle boom boom?

I could literally talk about brewing and drinking beer all day.

Glad to meet you all!

 

[Trollheim]

Hey sixstrings,

Welcome! I am sure others will chime in with similar or differing opinions. You shouldn't need to do a secondary at all, feel free to let your ale sit an extra couple of weeks in your primary, 3-5 weeks won't hurt anything in total.

As far as bottling, you should have already hit your FG, mellowing and clearing won't really effect that for your priming calculations.

Let me know how it goes, I currently have an Irish Red sitting in its primary now, 3 weeks in, one more to go.

 

[Subdivisions]

I usually leave it in the primary for 2 weeks for a beer of that type. The beer will still condition in the bottle and you'll be carbonating sooner. Secondary isn't necessary for your beer. You can cold crash for a couple days before bottling if you want any material to drop out of suspension.

 

[sixstringsgareth]

Yeah I think I'll stick to primary for this batch and leave in for two weeks before bottle conditioning for two weeks. The way I see it it's my first and therefore the only thing I can compare future batches to to try and improve.

I'll check my gravity tomorrow and see if it's still 1012.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated and I'll keep you all updated!

 

[whiskeyjack]

Just make sure the wort is at final gravity before bottling. Take a few gravity readings a few days apart then bottle.

 

[PJM]

Sounds like you are on the right track. I would let it sit for another week or two before taking another gravity reading. I'm sure it will be fully fermented by then.

Also, you will probably find that the beer will taste better the longer you let it condition in the bottle. The first beer I did tasted great after 8 weeks in the bottle. The only problem was that I only had 1 or 2 left by that time because I had been tasting them along the way.

Good luck

 

[sixstringsgareth]

Someday I'm sure I'll be able to part wisdom on home brewing but for now I have another question for the crew...

I have 5 gallons (or 23 litres in Ireland) of an Irish red in a primary (not going to secondary) and I plan on bottling after 10 days, then 7 days at temp and 7 days cold crashing. This is purely so I can share a drink of my first home brew with my da at xmas.

I was concerned that this may not be long enough in the primary so my question is...

After syphoning out some from the fermenter, can I leave half to mature a little longer before bottling?

Thank you all in advance!

 

[Subdivisions]

If you take half of it out you'll leave half of the bucket full of air and probably oxidize your beer. Take a gravity reading at 10 days. If it's still at 1.012 then it's done fermenting and you can bottle the whole batch. It will condition in the bottle just as well as in the fermenter. I prefer to let it go 2 weeks minimum but that's up to you. Take a taste of your gravity sample and decide for yourself.

As far as the bottling, you'll probably need to let it sit at room temp for 2 weeks before it carbs up. You only need to chill it for a day or two before drinking so that can come out of your "cold crashing" time.

Good luck from a fellow Irishman (well, Irish/American i suppose)

P.S. When I said cold crashing in my previous message it meant putting the entire fermenter in a refrigerator/cold storage in the 30s (farenheit). That will clear the beer before bottling.

 

[eadavis80]

A few things:

Many, maybe even most on here, don't do secondary and discourage it for fear of infection/oxidation. Whether you rack to secondary is totally a matter of personal preference. I rack all my beers - even if I'm not dry hopping or adding fruit - simply because I have only one primary fermenter. So, after I reach my FG (usually 10-14 days after brewing), I can then begin the next batch. As you are already learning, it's hard to wait for that first taste of your creations, so getting a new batch going is an easy fix.

Secondly, I'd say while I've had a couple of extract kits carb up nicely in a week's time, the vast majority of them take at least 2 weeks before they're carbed up. And, even if they're carbed, they'll taste even better a week or two later. But, believe me, everyone on here was equally anxious to taste their first brew.

That being said, like another post said, I would NOT try to split your 5 gallons between some being bottled and some waiting to be bottled later.

I know it sucks, but there's a decent chance your beer might not be ready to be enjoyed by Dec. 25. I've been brewing a lot this fall and some of the beers I'll be be giving away in my holiday 6-packs will not be drinkable 'till mid-January. I'll just have bottled them days before and tell people to hold off a week or two before they crack 'em open.

Weclome to the addiction that is home brewing!

Ask Santa for a 2nd primary fermenter. That's what I've finally decided to do and it helps a lot with my lack of patience.

Also, as for plastic carboys for secondary, I have a 5-gallon glass and a 5-gallon Better Bottle. I've not noticed any difference in beer taste between the two. Some will say you should not age beers more than 3-4 week in plastic, but that's all the longer I've ever aged a beer. But, I don't make real high gravity stuff like barley wines, etc. Personally, the glass is really heavy and you have to be very careful while cleaning. If both of my secondaries are empty, I always use my Better Bottle now.

 

[wtaylor3]

Sounds like you are on the right track. I would let it sit for another week or two before taking another gravity reading. I'm sure it will be fully fermented by then.

Also, you will probably find that the beer will taste better the longer you let it condition in the bottle. The first beer I did tasted great after 8 weeks in the bottle. The only problem was that I only had 1 or 2 left by that time because I had been tasting them along the way.

Good luck

Try starting with one gallon batches and only getting 10 beers...never had a one gallon batch hit 3 weeks until my 4th try

 

[sixstringsgareth]

If you take half of it out you'll leave half of the bucket full of air and probably oxidize your beer. Take a gravity reading at 10 days. If it's still at 1.012 then it's done fermenting and you can bottle the whole batch. It will condition in the bottle just as well as in the fermenter. I prefer to let it go 2 weeks minimum but that's up to you. Take a taste of your gravity sample and decide for yourself.

As far as the bottling, you'll probably need to let it sit at room temp for 2 weeks before it carbs up. You only need to chill it for a day or two before drinking so that can come out of your "cold crashing" time.

Good luck from a fellow Irishman (well, Irish/American i suppose)

P.S. When I said cold crashing in my previous message it meant putting the entire fermenter in a refrigerator/cold storage in the 30s (farenheit). That will clear the beer before bottling.

It's only natural us Irish will someday find home brewing.

Thanks yeah I should have come to that conclusion about oxidation myself. I thought I was onto something...

It's Winter here so I think I could probably leave the fermenter outside for 2 days to cold crash as it's around 0-6C at the moment and I don't have a spare fridge or freezer. More chance of getting infected outside though?

A few things:

Many, maybe even most on here, don't do secondary and discourage it for fear of infection/oxidation. Whether you rack to secondary is totally a matter of personal preference. I rack all my beers - even if I'm not dry hopping or adding fruit - simply because I have only one primary fermenter. So, after I reach my FG (usually 10-14 days after brewing), I can then begin the next batch. As you are already learning, it's hard to wait for that first taste of your creations, so getting a new batch going is an easy fix.

Secondly, I'd say while I've had a couple of extract kits carb up nicely in a week's time, the vast majority of them take at least 2 weeks before they're carbed up. And, even if they're carbed, they'll taste even better a week or two later. But, believe me, everyone on here was equally anxious to taste their first brew.

That being said, like another post said, I would NOT try to split your 5 gallons between some being bottled and some waiting to be bottled later.

I know it sucks, but there's a decent chance your beer might not be ready to be enjoyed by Dec. 25. I've been brewing a lot this fall and some of the beers I'll be be giving away in my holiday 6-packs will not be drinkable 'till mid-January. I'll just have bottled them days before and tell people to hold off a week or two before they crack 'em open.

Weclome to the addiction that is home brewing!

Ask Santa for a 2nd primary fermenter. That's what I've finally decided to do and it helps a lot with my lack of patience.

Also, as for plastic carboys for secondary, I have a 5-gallon glass and a 5-gallon Better Bottle. I've not noticed any difference in beer taste between the two. Some will say you should not age beers more than 3-4 week in plastic, but that's all the longer I've ever aged a beer. But, I don't make real high gravity stuff like barley wines, etc. Personally, the glass is really heavy and you have to be very careful while cleaning. If both of my secondaries are empty, I always use my Better Bottle now.

I'll try it on the 25th. I'll have 46 bottles so I'm keen to see the difference between the first and last bottle.

This time I'll not be racking but next time I will. It's all learning and experience at this early stage. I've read a lot of different methods and opinions on here and want to try variations of them all until I find what works for me.

I feel like I'll suffer abuse when I tell you all that I bought Coopers carbonation drops to carbonate (my bottling bucket is also my primary fermenter and the only way of adding corn sugar would be syphoning into my 5gal carboy and then syphoning from there to the bottles and I might as well use these drops) but it says 1 drop per 345-375ml bottle or 2 drops per 740-750ml bottle and my bottles are glass 500ml so is 1 too little and 2 too much? Should I break some up so I can put in 1 and 1/3?

 

[Subdivisions]

It's Winter here so I think I could probably leave the fermenter outside for 2 days to cold crash as it's around 0-6C at the moment and I don't have a spare fridge or freezer. More chance of getting infected outside though?

I'd just make sure the yeast dropped out of suspension and rack it at room temperature instead of putting it outside. I'd be more worried about someone taking it . Like was said above, it'll probably not be at its best by Christmas. It'll probably be much better in a month or 2. You can still open a bottle or 2 earlier and try it but it may not be that impressive and you'll have 2 less bottles of it when it is.

 

[sixstringsgareth]

Thanks guys now just to sit patiently and wait.

I'll post back here when I've had my first taste.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

You have to be careful about fermenting in a bottling bucket. The problem is that the spigot can leak air into the solution and then you are screwed. Since this is your first time you are probably OK. I would get a Primary Fermenting bucket with a plastic bucket opener as a minimum. I always carbonate with Priming Sugar at bottling time and never had any issues. Wait 3 weeks and I am good.

Irish Red Ale is one of my favorite recipes. I use DME and Muntons Premium Gold Yeast.

 

[sixstringsgareth]

Turned out great! Very drinkable! The carbonation was just under but actually enjoyable that way. Was pretty clear but much darker than expected. Not much head retention but when poured from a height it was fine.