Firt all-grain brew

[armymedic942]

I did my first all-grain brew Friday night, and everything went fantastic , before I post my questions, here are a few details:

I Have a 3 vessel electric HERMS setup. My Grain bill was just under 27 pounds for a 10 gal American IPA brew. It was a 60 min boil and I used Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra and Nelson Sauvin Hops. I had a few pump issues, so I ended up losing a couple of gallons during the wort chill (I may end up upgrading to a plate chiller), so I had a final volume of approx 7 gal. My OG was 1.055 (target was 1.060) to which I added Wyeast American Ale II in a 10 gal primary.

My fermentaion temp has been between 67-71 F with a high of 74 for a couple of hours, but it is still chugging along. Smells fantastic!!

Here are my questions.

1. I intend on dry hopping with Citra and Nelson Sauvin, should I do it in the primary or secondary? (I have a Sankey Keg with a thermowell and airlock for a secondary)

2. When should I transfer to the secondary?

Thanks in advance, I wouldn't have gotten this far without all the awesome people at HBT

Cheers

 

[h-bar]

For dry hopping, I've heard two things. One is that you can dry hop in the primary, but wait for the fermentation the settle down first. Or, just dry hop in the secondary. The large volume of CO2 leaving the beer in the beginning could carry out some more volatile hop aroma compounds. I typically add dry hops to the secondary, that way I'm not opening the primary and risking infection - then again, I'm probably being overly cautious.


I usually transfer my beers after two weeks, unless the yeast still hasn't flocc'd enough to my liking. Then again, I'm working with 5 gallon batches and I'm not sure if the timeline is different for a 10 gallon batch.

 

[daksin]

I prefer not to use a secondary as it really doesn't do anything for the beer unless I'm either:

1)Harvesting the yeast out of primary
2)Adding fruit or oak
3)Using a HUGE amount of dry hops

So for me, dry hopping in primary is where it's at. Then I rack to the keg directly out of the primary. Simple as possible.

Re: your fermentation temps- cool that sucker down! At 74F I'd expect a bit of fusel from 1272. You need to control the temp of the fermenting beer, not just the ambient temp, especially if you haven't pitched enough yeast. Did you make a starter or pitch enough packets of yeast?

 

[armymedic942]

I built a fermentation chamber, but this is the first time using it.

I removed the door from a bar fridge, built a box around it, insulated it with reflective styrofoam insulation, and pink fibreglass. I then spray foamed all the joints. I use a dual stage temp controller with a carboy heater. When I noticed the temps rising last night, I added a window fan in front of the fridge opening to move some of the cool air around. I was wondering if the rising temp is a by-product of the fermentation.

As for the yeast. It was Wyeast activator pack. I activated it about 3 hours before pitching, and had good expansion. Unfortunately i only had 1 pack, which is for 5 gal (i guess i should have read the directions first) but so far so good. I had about 1 inch of foam within 12 hours and now it is about 8-10 inches, with about 2-3 inches of sedimentation at the bottom of the bucket..

I have my temp probe directly in the wort, maybe i should check if it has risen out with the foam, giving me false temp readings. otherwise I cant explain the rise in temps

should I consider adding more yeast or check the gravity?>

 

[daksin]

Wyeast and White Labs both report their packages are good for 5gal, but that's just demonstrably false and I wish they would stop doing it. Unless your 5 gallon batch has an OG of 1.030, 1 brand new package just isn't enough yeast. You need a pack for about every 30 gravity points, so a 1.060 beer should get two packages, 1.090 gets three etc. unless you can make a starter.

 

[armymedic942]

Is it too late to add more?

 

[BackAlley]

Wyeast and White Labs both report their packages are good for 5gal, but that's just demonstrably false and I wish they would stop doing it. Unless your 5 gallon batch has an OG of 1.030, 1 brand new package just isn't enough yeast. You need a pack for about every 30 gravity points, so a 1.060 beer should get two packages, 1.090 gets three etc. unless you can make a starter.

I've made a ton of batches of the same 1.055 APA with 1056, some with a starter some without. I can't tell the difference. My Beehive Hefe is just the way I want it with no starter and I wouldn't change a thing. The OP probably should have done a starter since he thought he'd have 10g of wort but to say that one smack pack isn't enough unless your OG is <1.030 is, to quote you, demonstrably false.

 

[armymedic942]

But is it too late to add more?

 

[daksin]

Yea, probably- the yeast are out of their growth stage and are now fermenting. It will still probably be fine! Just something to know for next time. It's all about the small improvements.