First Brew

[Mellow52]

This is my first brew and post. Thank you for a fantastic forum! Just have a few questions.

I did hit all the temperatures and timing for the ingredients spot on and had a perfect OG (fist pump).

1) I have a brand new Polar SS pot and after a good clean used it for the first time. Should I have boiled water in it first for a hour or so and then dumped it before using it for the brew? Hope it does nor spoil things.

2) After the brew I placed the primary fermenter in our basement (a nice steady 58f) and just noticed that the water in the airlock dropped well below the fill line indicated on it. I am just wondering where did the water go? The bucket might have been bumped, could that have done it. The airlock is the plastic three piece one.

3) Will water from the airlock dripping into the fermenter ruin anything. (just a few drops)

Thanks for any help.

 

[jaycount]

1) No, you dont have to condition SS, just aluminum.

2 and 3) Since the basement is chilly, the wort dropping in temperature created a small vacuum that sucked the water from the airlock in to the fermenter (called suck-back). Assuming you used sanitized water (you used sanitized water, RIGHT?) in your airlock, its not a problem at all.

 

[kh54s10]

With stainless you do not really have to condition the pot. Aluminum may give off some metallic flavors, so boiling will create an oxidized layer and seal in the metals. (probably).

You probably got some of the liquid in the airlock sucked into the fermenter. The amounts are negligible. Nothing to worry about.

I move my fermenters first, then install the airlock.

 

[xjmox14x]

With stainless you do not really have to condition the pot. Aluminum may give off some metallic flavors, so boiling will create an oxidized layer and seal in the metals. (probably).

You probably got some of the liquid in the airlock sucked into the fermenter. The amounts are negligible. Nothing to worry about.

I move my fermenters first, then install the airlock.

This. There's an insanely small possibility the water from your airlock will have any effect on your beer, including infection.

 

[saintdog327]

Congrats amigo!

I just bottled my first brew today so I'm just as eager to taste it once it has some good carbonation in a few weeks. Keep it up!

Best,
Saintdog

 

[Mellow52]

Thank you all for the fast responses. CRAP! I did not sanitize (boil or sanitizing powder) the water used in the airlock and I did see 1 drop go in. I will pull it out, place a sanitized plug in, sanitize the airlock and replace it with sanitized water asap.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[GallonJugs]

I've heard of people using vodka too.

 

[Unibrow]

3) Will water from the airlock dripping into the fermenter ruin anything. (just a few drops)

That's not a problem. It'll be fine. I always try to fill my airlock with vodka or diluted sanitizer in case it happens.

 

[jaycount]

Thank you all for the fast responses. CRAP! I did not sanitize (boil or sanitizing powder) the water used in the airlock and I did see 1 drop go in. I will pull it out, place a sanitized plug in, sanitize the airlock and replace it with sanitized water asap.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Yep, you got it. Always use a sanitized solution in the airlock. I normally just pour in some sanitized water (starsan solution). Vodka is another alternative, as mentioned on this thread. Either way it won't harm the beer.

A little suckback of tap water probably didn't hurt the beer in this case so no need to panic, just prepare for next time .

Also, great picture! You look like a well equipped bunch! :rockin:

 

[Mellow52]

OK it happened again. Last night I cleaned and filled the airlock with sanitized water. On inspection this morning it is again well below the fill line on the airlock.

It looks to me like the lid on the airlock should come off otherwise how does the gasses escape. It seems that the gasses are trapped after leaving the water and pushing down (and out) the water.

 

[mlyday]

The cap on the airlock should have a bunch of tiny holes.

 

[Mellow52]

Oh, yes i see the small holes after closer inspection. OK so the cap stays on. Is this back-vacuum normal? I filled it twice now, I would guess a tablespoon at a time.

Also I am now wondering about this. The brew was 2.5 gal and then after the boil I added another 2.5 gal filtered tap water. Is this 2.5 gal tap water not a problem since it was never boiled?

 

[Unibrow]

Is this back-vacuum normal?

It's not abnormal. The suck back is usually due to a drop in temperature, causing a pressure change inside the bucket.

 

[mlyday]

If you moved the bucket after putting in the air lock the flexing of the bucket with do that. Also changes is temp will cause changes in pressure witch will do that.

 

[BrewMU]

If you look closely there are little holes in the cap. I always figure if there's a substantial amount of liquid in there, I'm good.
Is that the head brewer in the middle? It's gonna break his heart when you tell him how long he has to wait for a beer.

 

[Mellow52]

Is that the head brewer in the middle? It's gonna break his heart when you tell him how long he has to wait for a beer.

Jip that is the only brew master among us. It is my boy of 14 months, Niko. (named after Nikola Tesla)

 

[Mellow52]

More questions coming up:

1) The brew was 2.5 gal and then after the boil I added another 2.5 gal filtered tap water. Is this 2.5 gal tap water not a problem since it was never boiled?

2) I only used LD Carlson 'easy clean' to clean everything with. Is this also a sanitizer or just a cleaner? It came with my kit.

3) Is the strip stick on thermometer on my 6.5gal bucket accurate enough for temperature readings?

 

[mlyday]

1) tap water should be fine, people use it all the time. Although, depending on your water supplier it may or may not add odd flavors to your beer.

2) That is just a cleaner, you need sanitzer also. Starsan or idophor are good ones. But your probably fine with sanitizing this batch.

3) Strip is ok it will give you a close reading.

 

[mlyday]

So what Brewers best kit did you brew?

 

[Mellow52]

So what Brewers best kit did you brew?

Thank you for the help. My first brew was the continental Pilsner

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1008_Continental_Pilsner.pdf

I am hoping to lager it if I can find a chest freezer on Craigslist soon. I already have the RANCO ETC-111000 Digital Cold Temperature Control but think I am going to exchange it for the dual zone version to hookup a light bulb for heating.

 

[Mellow52]

That is just a cleaner, you need sanitzer also. Starsan or idophor are good ones.

I am a bit pissed off with Brewers Best kit for not including sanitizer and not being clear that LD Carlson is just a cleaner. Here I am thinking everything is getting sanitized. I am starting to doubt that my first brew is going to be a success.

I already ordered Star San.

 

[mlyday]

I wouldnt worry about it. Whats done is done. If you cleaned well you should be all right. I ran into the same thing when I bought my homebrew equipment kit from Midwest supplies. It contained the same cleaner I think. I used that for my first beer and had no issues.

 

[Mellow52]

OK it has been almost 4 days now and still no real activity in the airlock. Time to start panicking?

I brewed a brewers kit: continental Pilsner

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1008_Continental_Pilsner.pdf

It has been in the basement with a constant 58 - 60 degrees. About 4 inches off the floor. The yeast was cast dry and then vigorously stirred and the bucket was also shaken for about a minute.

 

[ACbrewer]

OK it has been almost 4 days now and still no real activity in the airlock. Time to start panicking?

I brewed a brewers kit: continental Pilsner

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1008_Continental_Pilsner.pdf

It has been in the basement with a constant 58 - 60 degrees. About 4 inches off the floor. The yeast was cast dry and then vigorously stirred and the bucket was also shaken for about a minute.

I doubt it is time to start panicing. If your bucket doubles as a bottleing bucket (aka has a spicket on it) take a small sample out and taste it. You should taste the alcohol, in fact after 4 days, close to 90% of the conversion will be done, but leave it tehre for like 4 weeks - basically after fermeneting, yeast do cleanup.

As to your tap water - that is what I use. It is 'city water' granted different state than you. It should be ok.

On the 'easy clean' that you used. If left to sit for 10 mins, it will sanatize things... usually (that's to long to wait plus it isn't as good as other stuff).... Since your gear is new, the levels of bacteria on it that eat grains will be low. NEXT TIME you will be at more risk. I used one step for a long time wthout problems, I now use Iodophor (mostly random choice for me v star san).

If you do take some to sample, don't pour it back, just drink it or dump it (some people find the taste of young beer off putting). I like to sample this way to get an idea of what is going on in the process all the way along.

The only 2 methods of telling if your beer is fermenting are taste and hydrometer. Taste is less scientific it is pretty much a 'this tastes different/more alcoholic then start/before' Hydrometer tellls you more of where along the way conversion is. Airlock activity is sometimes missed.

Also you can put an incandecent lamp on near the beer for up to +5 F (depending on wattage) and put a tee shirt on the bucket to help hold in heat.

 

[Mellow52]

Also you can put an incandecent lamp on near the beer for up to +5 F (depending on wattage) and put a tee shirt on the bucket to help hold in heat.

Thanks for the reply it is much appreciated. The brewing instructions calls for primary fermenting to be at 53º - 59ºF and I am at the top end of that.

I can occasionally coaxes a bubble out the airlock if I tap the bucket with my finger but it is not actively bubbling by itself as I have seen on several YouTube videos.

 

[cooper]

I would go to the local home brew store and pick up a hydrometer if you haven't got one already and take a reading to see exactly where the final gravity is. Sometimes fermentation happens so fast that it'll be over with and you've missed it all. Watch some youtube videos on taking hydrometer readings and ask lots of questions on here, your first brew should be fine and only get better from here.

 

[mlyday]

Any small leak in the lid of the bucket and you wont see much in the way of bubbles. The only real way to tell if fermentation has happened is to use a hydrometer and sample some. With this being a lager the lower temps and not using a yeast starter could be causing a delay in the start of fermentation.

Sometimes you can pull the airlock out and look through the hole and see if you see any krausen.

 

[Mellow52]

Also you can put an incandecent lamp on near the beer for up to +5 F (depending on wattage) and put a tee shirt on the bucket to help hold in heat.

Right so I moved the fermenter closer to the furnace area, wrapped it in a towel and lifted it about 3 foot off the floor and that up'ed the temp by a degree or two and now I have about 4 big bubbles escaping every minute. It's alive! I resisted the temptation to open the lid or pull out the airlock to peek. Looks like it did need just a little more heat.

I do have a hydrometer that I will use later on. I am now on day 5 with a slow starting fermentation. Next time I am going to make a yeast starter and not pitch dry.

Thank you guys!

 

[mlyday]

Once it fermenting you might want to move it back to a cooler temp range that the yeast like. The act of fermentation will raise the temp 5 to 10 degrees inside the fermentor.

 

[Mellow52]

Right it is time to move it to the secondary fermenter (glass carboy) and I just want to check what is the best way of cleaning/sanitizing the lines from the siphon? I am thinking to siphon it full of star san and let it sit for a bit.