I got a NB essential kit with caribou slobber ingredient kit. I brewed it last night I followed the directions exactly, I got a hydrometer reading of 1.058. pitched the dry yeast and sealed the bucket and installed the airlock. I didn't expect the ferment to start for at least a day, it started within 2-3 hours. I got up at 6am this morning and the bubbles were coming out of the airlock so fast I couldn't keep enough star san in it. I ended up sanitizing a piece of tubing, put one end in the bucket where the airlock goes and the other end in a jug full of star san. Now the tube is the whole way in the bottom of the star san and it is still bubbling pretty fast, actually a constant stream of bubbles no more than 1/4" apart. Ok, the question is did I do something wrong or something right?
first "real" brew
- Thread starter PAmike
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Yes, or maybe no. You have some really active yeast and pitched enough of it to get them past the replication stage and into the alcohol making stage pretty quickly. That's a good thing and the continued fast bubbling may or may not be so good. You may simply be fermenting your beer too warm which causes the yeast to go wild and eat the sugars really fast. This fast sugar eating isn't the best as the yeast get pretty crazy and throw off esters (fruity, banana odors) and/or fusel alcohols (gives your beer a "hot alcohol" bite). The ferment will slow down over the next 24 hours and it will look like it is finished but those looks are deceiving as the yeast continue to work, breaking down some of the byproducts they created. This take some time, a much slower process so give your beer plenty of time for the yeast to complete this phase too, something on the order of 2 to 4 weeks depending on the amount of alcohol expected to be produced. Use your hydrometer to determine when the beer is done, then rack to keg or bottle it.
dadshomebrewing
Well-Known Member
good work on improvising the blow-off tube.
sounds to me like you are on the right road
sounds to me like you are on the right road
The only concern I have is that maybe the wort was too warm when the yeast was added, and that maybe it's too warm still.
If you have a stick-on thermometer so you can see the temperature, that's great. It should be less than 72 degrees.
Next time, make sure you don't add the yeast until the wort is under 70 degrees (or even lower) even if the instructions say "under 80 degrees".
If it's under 70 degrees, then never mind what I just said!
If you have a stick-on thermometer so you can see the temperature, that's great. It should be less than 72 degrees.
Next time, make sure you don't add the yeast until the wort is under 70 degrees (or even lower) even if the instructions say "under 80 degrees".
If it's under 70 degrees, then never mind what I just said!
Or, an "aquarium thermometer" at Wal-Mart, if the LHBS is closed for Christmas. Just make sure you have a strip that has 60-75 degrees on it.
I have a non-contact infrared thermometer that works well measuring the temperature on the outside of the plastic bucket. It may not be totally accurate but what I am looking for is a temperature range. It said that my bucket was 64 degrees when in a 62 degree room at the height of the ferment. Had the wort been up to 65 or 66 it still would have made good beer. Accuracy isn't nearly as critical here.
Sure, that works fine.
