first brew started

[abweatherley]

Well it was a little hairy but my nut brown ale is in my fermentor in my basement. No airlock activity yet but it's only been 3 hours since I dumped it into the bucket.

wasn't a total cluster, Managed to avoid a boilover but definitely will be investing in a turkey fry setup.

airlock sucked water into the fermenter then sucked sanitizer solution. "liquid" level in airlock is still the same after filling it twice, and who doesn't like starsan in their beer LOL.

 

[northernlad]

My guess is you have something other than glass for your fermentor. Put it in place before adding your airlock and you won't get suck-back. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
One batch is all it took for me. Just like the first play I ever did.
Have fun and make good use of the search function. Hardly a question you could think of that hasn't been answered here.

 

[Hex23]

Also sucked back a whole airlock's worth of water on my first brew. It was because I filled the airlock first, then pushed it into the grommet. The flexing of the lid caused a vacuum. Then I learned to attach the airlock first, then fill. But the beer turned out very good. I'm sure you'll be OK.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Congrats on your first batch. I bet it will turn out just fine, with a little added 'touch' from the starsan.

On early batches, I've even had the blowoff tube suck back water into the batch; turned out fine.

 

[sslandry]

I just kegged a batch of Nut Brown from an extract kit. I normally do all-grain, but was lazy with this one. It tasted awesome un-carbonated. Can't wait to taste the final product. Welcome to the hobby.

 

[abweatherley]

Will starsan affect the final product. I know it's "no-rinse" but it is still poisionous when ingested correct

 

[Skaggz]

The small amount that may or may not fall into the fermentor wont hurt you. I'd be more worried about it killing off some yeast. (Still wouldn't be a big deal unless you dumped a lot in there)

I've even heard of the owner of Five-Star drinking a glass of sanitizer just to prove its safe.

 

[sslandry]

It turns into food for the yeast. It does not kill yeast from what I have read. I Put my fermenting beer into the Carboy or from Carboy to keg with tons of Starsan foam and it has not affected taste. I never rinse starsan. It is pretty acidic though. I found it eats my countertop if I don't wipe it off after working with my beer. That's the only downside I have seen.

 

[abweatherley]

So Re-read the instructions last night, and apparently I am supposed to transfer this brew to a secondary fermenter.

So do I need too. For anyone interested i did the Nut brown 20 minute boil kit from MWS.

I honestly don't see the point, the beer was pretty clear in the sample I took (hydrometer readings and such).

 

[eon]

I have only brewed about 5 batches of beer. So far in my beer brewing adventures I have only used a secondary fermenter....ONCE! I honestly don't see any use for them now. I have a pale ale in primary right now and I'm gonna just Dry hop it in there at the 2 week mark.

from what I have learned on this forum, 3-4 week primary results in nice clean brew. I agree with this all the way. No need for secondary.

The great thing about brewing is that you can do whatever you want (for the most part). If you wanna go secondary--go for it!

Cheers my friend!

 

[sslandry]

Have never tried just doing a primary. Maybe I'll give it a try and see If it is as clear. I like my Ales to be crystal clear. Just my personal preference.

 

[northernlad]

If youaren't adding something to your beer, there really isn't any reason to secondary. You need one of two things toget clear beer: patience or a filter.

 

[abweatherley]

So today I noticed the airlock wasn't bubbling, check the SG and it's dropped from 1.045 to around 1.020. broke my hydrometer in the process. tasted the sample it tastes a bit watery. not sure if this will change over the next two weeks.