First timer

[reiters]

I am extremely new to all this. My brother gave me a bunch of ABC kits. I'm a "techie" and very much into the fine details. I have made 2 batches and the bubbler vent (I promise I'll learn the terminology) stopped about day 5. I then bottled and other than over tightening the caps the first time all went well. So I thought. When I started opening bottle I noticed it wasn't just right. I think I made non-alcoholic beer. I ordered a hydrometer but the Big A online messed up the order so no readings. Bear with me. I did a bunch of searching and think I found the issue. I used very pure water (0 TDS). I wasn't aware that the water NEEDED to be a little "dirty." My tap water here tastes like you mixed bleach with lake sludge so I don't plan to use it. It's around 120 TDS from the tap but tastes awful. I have a saltwater tank so I already have a very expensive RO/DI filter. So my question is... what should I amend my "distilled" water with to make a fairly generic brewing water. I'm not into it enough to make custom water by beer type but if there is a generic recipe that would work "good" for most brews then that is where I am now. Keep in mind I'm using ABC kits.

As a side note, I don't even like beer but I'm having fun playing. I have a neighbor that does like beer (a lot) and telling me how it's turning out.

-Keith

 

[Rish]

Hey, @reiters . Welcome to HBT and the hobby! Are you using extract kits or all grain? Extract kits don't really need anything added to your RO water since the wort that was concentrated to make the extract contained the minerals from the manufacturer's brewing water.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Welcome!

The bubbles can't be trusted. You can get bubbles when nothing is happening, and you can have fermentation without bubbles. Stick with gravity readings.

If your beer bubbled and made a layer of stuff after you put it in the fermenter, it's not non-alcoholic. It could be weak, though. Beers quit fermenting sometimes.

I don't know what the big A online is.

I also don't know what TDS is. I have managed to make beer anyway.

You can get your water tested by Ward Labs. Look it up. I forget which of their tests is the minimum for brewing, but someone here will tell you. You can also get distilled water or whatever and use software to tell you what to put in it. I think Brewer's Friend has a page that does mineral calculations.

I had to look ABC kits up. It all seems a little weird. You can get kits from sites like Northern Brewer to get you closer to the mainstream.

If you stick with this, you might consider kegging. Bottling is a real ordeal.

If you're making beer but you don't like beer, you will be popular with forum members who are looking for other people's beer to drink. I think that means all of us.

 

[reiters]

Big A is Amazon. Didn't want to promote or dis any place. Zero TDS (total dissolved solids) means basically distilled water. Water is run through particulate filter, 2 carbon filters, 2 RO filters (different but saves water and increases production) and then 2 DI filters. Extremely pure. Too pure from what I'm reading. The little bit of reading I've done on sites with charts and spreadsheets assume you are starting from grain etc and adjust for all that. The kits are supposed to be good... Maybe not great but good. Some of the things talked about is epsom salt, baking soda, salt etc. I am hoping for a generic enough recipe to make pure distilled water work better for "most" beers. I may get more into it in the future but want to get something drinkable with what I have first. Everyone said my first beer was flavored fine but no alcohol detected (mouthfeel). Not knowing how to bottle, I crimped the lids hard enough to leave a ring. Some reading tells me that it might have made a leaky seal doing that. It never really carbonated much at all. Almost completely flat.

During the process of making my first batch I sampled along the way. Curiosity about what was happening. By the time it made it to the end and the bottle aged a couple weeks I could drink one without scrunching my face. Progress? LOL.

Second was a stout. It tastes awful to me but that's fine. It foamed a lot for 6 days then settled out by day 10. It is completely flat now and I can't detect alcohol in it either. Only been bottled a few days.

I just ordered another hydrometer. Maybe I'll get this one.

Thanks for the input Clint and Rish!

 

[Skeeter686]

First off, welcome to the hobby!

A friend of mine brewed for a while even though she didn't drink beer. She enjoyed the process and her husband drank the beer. So, it's not super weird to be brewing beer that you don't intend to drink. On the other hand, there are so many varieties of beer, that you could find yourself enjoying beer eventually.

I'm curious why you feel "it wasn't just right" or that there's a lack of alcohol. Depending on the style of beer, the alcohol content won't necessarily jump out at you.

Also, it sounds like you're getting low carbonation, which will affect the beer and maybe that's the thing that's throwing you off.

Are you adding an appropriate amount of priming sugar when you bottle? Are you possibly storing it in too cool a location, which is slowing the carbonation process?

The best test would be to have a gravity reading before and after fermentation, so once the Big A comes through, you'll be able to get good measurements on a subsequent batch.

 

[oakbarn]

Bubbles? We don't need no stinking bubbles! The "Fermentation Lock" or more common "Air Lock" are used to keep air out of the fermentation chambers as there are wild yeast and other "nasties" that can get in your beer. The liquid (I use vodka) in the "lock" allows CO2 (a by product of the conversion of sugar to alcohol) to escape.

Since you are a "techie", there is a whole science related to getting the "perfect brew water" by adding stuff to RO water. You control the TDS that way.

 

[Broken Crow]

stopped about day 5. I then bottled

Since no one else has mentioned it; Time is your friend...Even beers that have sat 2 weeks in a fermenter and taste 'OK' can usually taste better with at least a bit more time, especially if you're not using temperature control. Stouts in particular rarely taste decent without at least a month in the fermenter (at least in my experience). Read a bit more on here about fermentation times. Even cheap kits that tell you you can bottle in a week or 2, often taste better if you wait longer before bottling.
In the meantime: Welcome to the Fun! I hope you can stick with it and be rewarded with a beer you can enjoy.

 

[Langerz]

Similar to skeeter - why do you think it doesn't have alcohol? I agree with a previous poster bubbles don't necessarily mean fermentation, but most likely if you through yeast in a kit and got bubbles you made some alcohol. What was the expected ABV for the beer? Unless it was really high I wouldn't expect that you would notice just from taste. (Maybe you drank the whole batch and could still walk a straight line)

Also like skeeter I'm thinking this is more about carbonation. Tell us about your conditioning/bottling process.

 

[hotbeer]

You don't bottle just because it stops bubbling or even if fermentation is finished and it's reached it's FG (final gravity). Other things happen in the FV (fermentation vessel) after FG is reach. Yeast clean up some of the off flavors they make during fermentation. Also the longer you leave your beer after reaching FG, then more yeast and other stuff will fall out of suspension and go to the bottom leaving you a cleaner beer so you get less sediment in the bottles.

You can bottle when it's reached FG if you want, but you have to do other things first before you bottle. I don't do them. I'd mess up badly if I tried to describe the things you need to do. So another will have to tell you about that stuff. I just wait it out till the beer is clear before bottling.

Distilled water is fine for extract kits. Or so I've read. However for all grain, you need to use a water that has some mineral content. The light and pale beers I tend to brew do well with just bottled water that has some minerals add back after going through their filtering or RO processes. However that water didn't work well for stouts that I tried to do. So learning to adjust the mineral content will help all your beers that are made from all grain. But again, I think distilled or RO is fine for extract kits.

If you know the water's analysis, then you can plug that info into one of the many water tools out there for beer brewing. At the top of this page, you can get to one. Look on the bar at the top for Brewing Software. There's a calculator there for water chemistry.

Don't just toss all your currently bad beer. If you don't need the bottles, save them and store somewhere out of light and in stable temperatures. Cool is better. But not refrigerator temps yet. Try some every two or three weeks and see if it has gotten better. If all you did is just bottled too soon, it might get better over time.

 

[reiters]

Someone check me please to see if I'm doing this right. First lets assume that the kit doesn't include the needed minerals.

6 Gallon batch
100% dilute because using distilled water
Choosing "ballanced profile" for arguments sake

Baking Soda NaHCO3 = 3
Gypsum CaSO4 = 3.5
Calcium Chloride CaCl2 = 3.5

And I would be using a scale and not a teaspoon to measure. Am I using the calculator correctly?

As for the temperature controls. I have equipment in my garage that needs a steady temperature. For that I installed a mini split and closed in the garage. When making the beer I set the temp then check twice a day and control the room in order to keep the beer in the center of the acceptable range measured using the temperature sticker on the jug. I know it's not perfectly accurate but should be close enough when kept in the middle.

My first batch was a pale ale and I used 1/2 teaspoon dextrose to bottle. Someone preached "bottle bombs" and scared me so I think that was a bit on the light side. That and capping incorrect probably kept it from carbonating well. Basically when the bottle is opened I would get very quiet psst and no foam on the beer.

I am going to wait on the SG tester to make next batch. The nice part is all this has cost me under $100. I had to buy dextrose and thermometer and stuff. Everything else was given to me including the kits. I have several more. Would it be good or bad to unbottle the stout back in the jug or let it live in the bottles to see what happens?

 

[hotbeer]

SG tester? A simple hydrometer is the most inexpensive thing. Generally around $10 USD. They measure actual specific gravity and don't rely on things that estimate specific gravity based on other things such as light refraction which does seem to produce a lot of errors for those that don't realize when they need to apply certain corrections.

Thermometers can be expensive. But I get by with the same instant read thermometer from ThermoWorks that I've been using for cooking.

I wouldn't unbottle what you've bottled. Just wait and see what it becomes if you don't need the bottles for your next batch. Unbottling them will just expose them to more O2 and be a risk for infection. Both of those factors are something you always want to minimize for beer.

 

[reiters]

I mean hydrometer when I put SG tester. I'm working and not focusing or looking up the right words when I reply. I ordered a thermometer and hydrometer together from Amazon and it only came with the thermometer. I had already started the batch assuming it would arrive on time and not understanding the initial read part. I now know better and have ordered another hydrometer and won't start the next batch until it arrives. I actually have a refractometer for my fish tank water but i'm not sure about any conversions I might have to make and don't want beer contaminants in my tank.

 

[hotbeer]

When you make another Amazon order you should also get this. How To Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Great Beer Every Time

It's a very easy read. And he writes in very understandable language.

He has a free version posted online of his first edition. But I believe that he has stated that back when the first edition was printed, he made some mistakes that 24 years later are held by some as dogma.

I think the link is the current 4th edition. Views about some things have changed since 2000.

 

[Rish]

unbottle the stout back in the jug

I agree with @hotbeer ; leave it in the bottles. If you think your caps are not seated well, go back and try to get cap sides to be vertical like this:

If you're using a wing capper, they sometimes don't work well with certain types of bottles so I recommend a bench capper. Cost more but mine was definitely worth the few extra dollars to me.

 

[Skeeter686]

If you're using a wing capper, they sometimes don't work well with certain types of bottles so I recommend a bench capper. Cost more but mine was definitely worth the few extra dollars to me.

Or just use bottles that are compatible with the wing capper. I've found that it's usually the shorter bottles that don't work well with the wing capper. Any new empty beer bottles (i.e., purchased from a brewing shop) should be compatible.

At least, I find the wing capper very easy and efficient to use. I actually own a bench capper (inherited) but I've never bothered with it... maybe I should try it sometime.

 

[oakbarn]

I mean hydrometer when I put SG tester. I'm working and not focusing or looking up the right words when I reply. I ordered a thermometer and hydrometer together from Amazon and it only came with the thermometer. I had already started the batch assuming it would arrive on time and not understanding the initial read part. I now know better and have ordered another hydrometer and won't start the next batch until it arrives. I actually have a refractometer for my fish tank water but i'm not sure about any conversions I might have to make and don't want beer contaminants in my tank.

It is good to have an extra hydrometer. I don't know how many we have broken over the years but more than one. You need to get the "O.G" {Original Gravity} after the Boil (Extract or ALL Grain} at the beginning of Fermentation, We always take a sample right before I put in the Yeast. Your fermentation is done when the specific gravity stops changing (about 14 days for an Ale or 30 days for a Lager) . You can generally use the 14 or 30 days and check the "F.G" (Final Gravity) then, You can see if you made beer. Unless the Yeast was trash, it most likely worked. Kits sometimes have old yeast and a "fresh" yeast is cheap insurance. There is all kinds of "science" and calculators to tell you the "expected" FG. Generally you may be slightly higher. Generally from an OG of 1.052- 1.048 will yield a FG of 1.014 to 1.008 or thereabouts. These are general BALLPARK figures. If you have little carbonation in your bottles, the next time you open one to taste, test the gravity from the hydrometer and post it.

 

[fluketamer]

do you mean these abc kits:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/no-boil-prehopped-beer-kits.727519/#post-10270534https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/20-for-6-gal-cider-kits.727468/page-2https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/tweaking-kit-advice-please.727304/

yeah these no boil kits dont need much other than water but not distilled water, spring water at least . especially the yeast in those kits.
as others have said give it time.

im pretty sure this is how to brew pdf free
https://www.academia.edu/38440206/How_To_Brew_By_John_Palmer

 

[oakbarn]

The "How to Brew" is the primer for brewing beer. Some of it is outdated (hot side aeration _DON"T Stir the WORT!) but a really good book and FREE!