First brew, not sure what to expect

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henkelbrau

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So I started my first brew on Sunday night. It's the Northern Brewer Bavarian Hefeweizen kit with Danstar Munich dry yeast. It is fermenting well and I have it set up with a blow-off tube. I just want to make sure that it doesn't look infected. I honestly have no idea what it should look like. I pitched on Sunday night. It's in a 6 gallon better bottle. in a chest freezer with an STC-1000 temp controller on it set at 17.8 degrees celsius (about 64 degrees farenheit). I have a 5 gallon better bottle with approximately 5 gallons of water in it that has the temp probe in it to simulate the temp of the wort. I know the wort is producing internal heat from the yeast metabolism but the fermometer on the side says it's about 68 degrees.

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A couple of other things. I think I may need to change the blowoff water but don't want to make more star san. Can I just use regular water or should I boil some? I know the carboy might be a little overfilled. I forgot to mark where 5 gallons was. The OG came out to 1.046. The kit specificed 1.049 though so I'm within 3 points.

Thanks
 
Healthy fermentation there. I usually wait to change the water until fermentation slows down some and won't immediately gunk the water back up.

Also, a cup of water should work pretty much as well for your temp probe (less space/carboy used).

Edit: I always use starsan for my blowoff (takes like 20 seconds to dump a little in a gallon jug and fill halfway up with water). Others on the forum just use water so it's up to you--im a bit obsessive with sanitation :D
 
It looks happy and healthy! Don't worry about all the junk on top, that will eventually clear up as fermentation continues. In my experience, regular tap water is just fine for the blow off bucket. Some people insist on using sanitizer, but I've always used plain ol water and I've never had an infection. If you think about it, CO2 fills up that tube, and is constantly being pushed out. Makes it pretty difficult for airborne bacteria to get in. Anyway, I highly recommend you check out this thread so you know what a real infection looks like: www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/post-your-infection-71400/
 
I love hefes! That is going to be an excellent beer...

It's not infected, just the yeast doing their thing.

As far as the blow off tube...I use the cheapest vodka I can find. Helps prevent infection and if you get any suckback there's no worries...
 
Yep, that's a sign of a healthy fermentation.

I don't mix up Star-San for the blow-off container, but I take the sanitizing solution I used to prep, dump it in a small (2 qt) cooler and run the line into that.
 
So sorry that im so worried but its has been burping pretty continuously since Monday (sometime) I was gone all day. Today I could hear the gas all day but then I went to a class at 5:30 and just got home and the burping has stopped. Its been two full days since I pitched. Is it just slowing down? Should I switch to an airlock or wait? The foam on top is the same. I checked the temp and the fermometer says its 64 degrees.
 
dont sweat it man - Everything looks good by my fairly inexperienced standards. Aggressive fermentation means you can see the beastie yeasties are working!
 
It sounds like it's finishing initial fermentation. I use half gallon plastic cheap vodka jugs 1/3 full of water with a splash of Starsan for the blow off jug. When it stops the heavy gurgling,switch to a sanitized airlock filled with cheap vodka. & use a spray bottle of Starsan to clean the grommet real quick beforehand.
 
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