First time homebrewer!

[Cauwels02]

Hi everyone, well i finally got my first home brew kit from True Brew. I have my first batch fermenting as i write this. I followed the recipe for the cincinnati pale ale that is in the book 'How to Brew'. great book by the way. It called for 2.5lbs of dry extract as were i used 3.0lbs of plain amber and called for a 3.3lb can of pale malt extract but used a 4lb can(all i could find). iI used half an oz of nothern brewer hops for bittering and added my cascade hops a full oz the last 15mins of my boil. I also used a liquid yeast for my first batch as suggested by the people at my local home brew store. I used the Whitelabs ' california pale ale' yeast. the liquid seems as though it is much easier to use rather than having rehydrate thr dry. all in all i think it went very well. I did however forget to write down some valuble info. I forget to write down the attenuation of the yeast anf forgot to take a pre specific gravity reading. I pitched the yeast right t 70degrees and started to get a lot of action in my air-lock at the 24hr mark. In the book it says to let it ferment for 2 weeks, Should i stick with this? When should i take the specific gravity reading? I thought maybe i bit off a bit more than i could chew chew not using a kit to start but i felt it went great. Any advice or tips for this batch would be greatly appreciated. Oh, i also was feeling creative torward the end of my boil and added about a 1/2 cup of honey. any effects from this? Thanks

 

[mickle79]

First off, congrats on the first brew! I've typically ferment for 7-10 days and then transfer to a secondary for dry hopping/conditioning. You'll get all kinds of arguments as to whether or not you should use a secondary fermenter. Either way you should notice the airlock will be bubbling less within a few days and eventually stop. By day 7 you probably will notice little not no bubbling in your airlock. This would be a good time to grab a gravity reading. My first few batches I checked the gravity for a few days in a row to make sure it leveled off but if you're at or close to your final gravity then you should be good to go. About the honey, the only thing it probably did was up your OG. Any concerns about it being too high will be answered when you take your FG. Hope that helps!

 

[J187]

I've read John's book too. Great read. It's not that big a deal you didn't take the OG, whereas the recipe tells you what the FG should be and you can approximate. I'd plan on letting it ferment for at least the two weeks, but checking the FG to make sure it's stable before you rack to the the bottling bucket. When I did my first batch, I left it for about 5 days til the airlock stopped bubbling before I took my first gravity reading.

I'm still learning too, and I'm interested in seeing what others will say, but I'm wondering if maybe you will want to take the OG reading now BEFORE fermentation starts to have that comparison.

 

[h22lude]

With extract, you can use the estimated SG. Extract gravity readings are usually close.

Any info about the yeast can be found on their website.

2 weeks is good. Make sure your beer temp is close to 63 - 65. After 10 days take a gravity reading. If it is steady 3 days in a row then it is done. Don't use your airlock as a hydrometer. It may not bubble for every beer. And if it does bubble, just because it stops bubbling doesn't mean fermentation is complete.

 

[unionrdr]

One should always look for a stable FG before doing anything. Not mearly time tables,as the yeast has a time table of it's own. Wait for a stable FG,however long that takes. Then give it 3-7 days to clean up & settle out more.
Or if you really want to secondary just for clearing,do it at the point you get a stable FG. Not just because the bubbling has slowed or stopped. That just means initial,vigorous fermentation is done. But it doesn't mean you're at FG yet.

 

[FensterBos]

Depending on your fermentation temperatures, primary fermentation can probably finish between 5 to 10 days; the best method to determine completion is using a hydrometer. I usually wait to take a hydro reading until the krassen has been suspended. Just remember that a lack of airlock activity doesn't mean fermentation is halted or completed. Personally, I generally let my brews stay in the fermentor between two to three weeks depending on the style and if I have a specific deadline like a competition approaching.
In regards to attenuation, you can find that information here: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_strains.html; the original gravity you can probably estimate by using software like BeerSmith or Hopville.
As mentioned about the honey, it will just "up" your ABV%, but it also might give it a different flavor characteristic.

 

[Cauwels02]

Thanks for the input. The problem is that i dont know what FG should be. Plus i dont have a secondary fermenter. My kit came with the food grade primary fermenter and a second bucket with a spigot that they say is for bottleing. Can i use taht as a secondary?

 

[BamaRooster]

Thanks for the input. The problem is that i dont know what FG should be. Plus i dont have a secondary fermenter. My kit came with the food grade primary fermenter and a second bucket with a spigot that they say is for bottleing. Can i use taht as a secondary?

If you post your complete recipe here, I am sure someone will plug it into a calculator and tell you what the target FG is supposed to be. Or, you could go to Hopville . the free online community for homebrewers and enter it yourself and see how it comes out. It may not be perfect but it will be close.

 

[unionrdr]

Thanks for the input. The problem is that i dont know what FG should be. Plus i dont have a secondary fermenter. My kit came with the food grade primary fermenter and a second bucket with a spigot that they say is for bottleing. Can i use taht as a secondary?

Did you not get a printed recipe? And unless you're adding fruit,oak,etc,you really don't need to worry about racking to secondary.

 

[J187]

Thanks for the input. The problem is that i dont know what FG should be. Plus i dont have a secondary fermenter. My kit came with the food grade primary fermenter and a second bucket with a spigot that they say is for bottleing. Can i use taht as a secondary?

Most of the prevailing intelligence on here is that racking to a secondary is completely unnecessary unless there are other additions as Union told you. I have your exact equipment kit and I love it! That bottling bucket and bottling cane will be your best friend in a few weeks.

 

[Cauwels02]

thanks everyone for the input. Im glad to finally be part of the home brewing community. The Hopville website is awesome. I input my ingredients and projected that my FG should be around 1.033 and projected 11.6 ABV, Yikes i hope it isnt that strong lol. What is my +/- on the 1.033? Should i be worried if it is way higher or lower than that?