First Brew not so good.

[joesixpack]

He is the deal, I bought a homebrew kit, co2 keg kit and a German Altbier.

After steeping the grains I was to bring the water to a boil before adding the malt extract and then boil for 60 minutes. I could not get the water to boil after about 50 minutes I put a lid on the pot and then it started boiling so I added the malt extract at that point and boiled for 60 minutes. I wanted to get a Fat Tire flavor so it was suggested to add 1oz of Fuggle hops to the last five minutes of the boil which I did. I also added the priming sugar to the boil since I’ll be kegging the beer and carbonating it with co2.

I cooled to 80 added additional water and brewer’s yeast and put in fermentation bucket. Put the lid on with airlock and let sit 5 days. Siphoned into secondary fermentation bucket and let sit 7 days. After 7 days I siphoned beer into keg, hooked up co2 and set pressure to 25 psi and was going to let sit a couple days and turn down to 10 psi. I checked the pressure after about 20 hours and the co2 tank was empty due to a leaky release valve on the keg lid. Although a couple hour before it was still at 25 psi. Got a new lid, more co2 and hooked everything back with no leaks and I let it sit 28 hours or so and turned down to 10 psi.

Tried the beer and it’s not the best tasting beer I’ve ever had but drinkable.

My questions are, could waiting the 50 minutes for the water to boil before putting the lid on the pot caused any problems. Second question is, did the first 18 hours of carbonating the beer count even though it was leaking at the time.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Joe

 

[cfonnes]

Did you leave the lid on during the boil?

If you just had the lid on to get the water boiling that is not a problem, leaving the lid on during the boil is.

A constant fermentation temperature seems to have a huge effect on quality. What temp did you ferment at? Was it a steady temp?

 

[IffyG]

Couple of ideas. Did you check the gravity before moving from primary to secondary? When kegging? How long has it been in the keg.

My guess if you have beer that isn't quite done or ready (green).

 

[joesixpack]

I had the lid on during the boil but left space to vent and I steeped the grains at 155 - 160 degrees for 30 minutes.

 

[joesixpack]

No i did not check the gravity before moving from primary to secondary. It's been in the keg four days. I put it in on Monday night found the leak Tuesday night got everything fixed Wednesday afternoon.

 

[cfonnes]

It will taste much better in 2 - 3 weeks.

 

[joesixpack]

Couple of ideas. Did you check the gravity before moving from primary to secondary? When kegging? How long has it been in the keg.

My guess if you have beer that isn't quite done or ready (green).

If it's not quite done or ready (green) what can i do?

 

[joesixpack]

It will taste much better in 2 - 3 weeks.

So, just keep the co2 presure at 10psi and wait a couple weeks? Does it hurt anythin to taste the beer over that two week period?

 

[IffyG]

If it's not quite done or ready (green) what can i do?

If it didn't finish fermenting, there isn't much you can do. If it's green, give it time. I don't touch a keg for at least three weeks to let it condition a bit (aside from a taster every few days to see how it's progressing).

 

[joesixpack]

If it didn't finish fermenting, there isn't much you can do. If it's green, give it time. I don't touch a keg for at least three weeks to let it condition a bit (aside from a taster every few days to see how it's progressing).

I tried to carbonate it quickly from some suggestions i got. I think from here on out i'll keg it, set to 10 psi and wait the few weeks it takes to carbonate.

Thanks!

 

[IffyG]

Who did you get the suggestions from? At one LHBS I use, I listen to whatever they have to say, but take it all with a grain of salt. They are more interested in selling you stuff than having you make great beer.

 

[joesixpack]

The suggestion came from the homebrew store i got everything from and the Fuggle was only a couple of bucks.