First Brew

[amandley]

Hello all,
I'm in the middle of my first beer brew. I picked up everything I needed to brew earlier this summer but chose to do a cider first. It came out OK, not great but OK. As my first beer I chose a kit at the LHBS called rockin red. Ive been following the directions in the kit to almost to a T ( any modifications came from "the joy of homebrewing" or the instructional DVD from the LHBS) but now find myself slightly in the wind. I have transferred over to my secondary after 3 days and a reading of 1.020 (O.G. was 1.056). The instructions say to let it sit until "bubbling" ceasing or slows to less than 1 every 3 minutes or more. Then bottle and let age for another week or 2.
Thats where I differ. I am planning on kegging and "force carbonating" with the CO2 bottle. In order to get the right taste does this mean I need to bulk age in the 2ndary for longer? Or transfer to keg after a couple weeks and fridge it? Any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks fellas
Andy

 

[amandley]

well of course after posting this I found a crap load of posts regarding similar things. Suggestions are still welcome but I think I found what I should do. Let it age for 3-4 weeks in the secondary. Take readings at that point a day apart and make sure its stable. Then transfer to keg. Force carbonate. taste. If it needs more time, wait. What do you think? Did I figure it out?

 

[unionrdr]

Once again,mis-leading instructions. Never rack out of primary till beer is at FG. Many of us don't even use secondary unless oaking,adding fruit,etc. Racking early can cause it to stall from lower yeast count in solution. At this point,I'd leave it till it hits FG at all,& settles out clear or slightly misty before kegging. Less trub means clearer pours.

 

[amandley]

I just saw that in a couple other posts. Both the instructions and joy of homebrewing talk about racking it over to the 2ndary in order to clarify and avoid "off" flavors. Does having it sit in the primary that whole time not impart off flavors from the trub?

 

[menerdari]

I just saw that in a couple other posts. Both the instructions and joy of homebrewing talk about racking it over to the 2ndary in order to clarify and avoid "off" flavors. Does having it sit in the primary that whole time not impart off flavors from the trub?

Not any more, in the old days yeast strains were pretty weak and cells bursting in the bottom of the bucket was more of a concern, along with big brewery practice of racking to secondary off of 100s of pounds of yeast cake. we just don't have that problem in modern home brewing. Yeast strains are stronger and the small yeast cakes in our buckets really have no effect on the final product unles stored for months in the primary.

 

[beerman0001]

I just saw that in a couple other posts. Both the instructions and joy of homebrewing talk about racking it over to the 2ndary in order to clarify and avoid "off" flavors. Does having it sit in the primary that whole time not impart off flavors from the trub?

That is outdated info. It has now changed over to leave in primary fermenter for 3 to 4 weeks.

 

[amandley]

So have I jacked my beer by switching it over? Will it just be less flavorful or weaker?

 

[DocScott]

No. You'll be fine. As stated previously, just less yeast to finish the fermentation and clean up the flavor. Next time give it more time in primary or skip the secondary all together. This is the learning process

 

[BigBlueDog]

One other point not previously mentioned, don't rely on activity in the air lock to determine when fermentation is complete. Better to take a couple of SG readings with your hydrometer 2-3 days apart. When the readings are the same, you're good to proceed with kegging/bottling if you choose. Of course, you can bulk age longer as well.

 

[Aschecte]

Another suggestion and believe me papazain had brought more of us up in home brewing and 99.9% have read some if not all of his books. I would strongly recommend picking up how to brew by John Palmer it's a bit newer and a bit more in depth. I think you are on the right track with your brewing and we all have done these exact same things its all about learning from previous batches and getting a little better each time. Best I luck in your brewing !!!

 

[amandley]

I went out and picked up "how to brew" Really good book.
However this first batch was already started and can't go back and change things now. Time to roll with the punches. Wierd things are happening. I transferred over to the secondary, as stated above, after 3 days and had a reading of 1.020. It has been 2 weeks so I went to take a sample. It has been in dark conditions and 60-65* the whole time. Just to see, I watched the airlock for a few. It is still (or maybe again?) bubbling every 30 seconds or so. The reading is at 1.018 This doesn't seem right to me. There was kinda a wierd taste to the sample, almost like disinfectant? Is that the "hot taste some people talk about? I cooled to 75 before adding the yeast. However, I was following the kit instructions at the time and did not rehydrate first, just sprinkled it on top. I plan on waiting another week and taking another reading. Anything else I should do?

 

[Aschecte]

That's great that you picked up how to brew I found that book very informative. By taking the beer off of the cake after only 3 days you have decreased the amount of yeast in secondary and will slow the ferment if not stall it completely. The taste your describing are phenols which can be caused by a number of factors. Like most have said this is your first beer and you did a great job but learn from this batch and know where changes need to be made. And first lesson do not follow a kits instructions most here will tell you they are not the way to go. The rule of 3 - 3 weeks in primary 3 weeks to bottle condition. Btw this is a very general rule and sometime more or less time is required but its a god jump off point.