Hello. My first brew..

[whitelightnin]

Hello Everyone,

I've just begun my first home brew. I used liquid Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast. Brew Kit was Liberty Cream Ale from Midwest. After the boil, I slowly got the temp down to around 85 degrees and slowly stirred in yeast with a sterilized ladle. The next day, I saw alot of activity in the airlock. There was a steady stream of co2 bubbles for about 24hrs. Shortly thereafter activity stopped. I waited a week and transfered batch to a sterilized better bottle using a sterilized syphon. I saw a healthy amount of carbonation as i pumped the brew through the sterilized strainer into the better bottle. When i added the airlock to the better bottle i saw some co2 bubbling from the airlock. This also quickly tapered off after a few hours. I tasted a bit of the brew at the end of me syphoning into the better bottle and it tasted a bit like weak, stale beer. My question is basically if this sounds about right? This is my first time brewing and didn't quite know what to expect. I understand that carbonating sugar will be added at bottling.. but will the alcohol become more pronounced with more fermentation and then bottling.. Im worried that maybe the yeast didn't work so well as the beer didnt taste very strong(alcohol) and is not bubbling any longer and therefore not producing any new alcohol either...

Any input is greatly appreciated!!

Rob

 

[Calder]

One of the goals of making a good beer is to not be able to taste the alcohol.

A cream ale really doesn't have much flavor to it.

Pitching high with 1056, it might have been done in 24 hours, or you could have had a leak in your bucket. Most probably you have a leak at the seal and when fermentation slowed, it just went through the leak and quit going through the airlock which offers more restriction.

Taking an hydrometer sample is the only way to know what has happened.

Carbonating will brighten up the beer when it gets to the bottle.

 

[Ferminator]

Hello Everyone,

I've just begun my first home brew. I used liquid Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast. Brew Kit was Liberty Cream Ale from Midwest. After the boil, I slowly got the temp down to around 85 degrees and slowly stirred in yeast with a sterilized ladle. The next day, I saw alot of activity in the airlock. There was a steady stream of co2 bubbles for about 24hrs. Shortly thereafter activity stopped. I waited a week and transfered batch to a sterilized better bottle using a sterilized syphon. I saw a healthy amount of carbonation as i pumped the brew through the sterilized strainer into the better bottle. When i added the airlock to the better bottle i saw some co2 bubbling from the airlock. This also quickly tapered off after a few hours. I tasted a bit of the brew at the end of me syphoning into the better bottle and it tasted a bit like weak, stale beer. My question is basically if this sounds about right? This is my first time brewing and didn't quite know what to expect. I understand that carbonating sugar will be added at bottling.. but will the alcohol become more pronounced with more fermentation and then bottling.. Im worried that maybe the yeast didn't work so well as the beer didnt taste very strong(alcohol) and is not bubbling any longer and therefore not producing any new alcohol either...

Any input is greatly appreciated!!

Rob

It's fine, but next time let it cool a bit more before pitching this yeast. Now go grab a beer and relax

 

[whitelightnin]

Thank you for the responses. Its nice to know everything is going to be ok. I'm definitely going to purchase a wort chiller as I seriously underestimated the time it would take to cool 3-4 gallons with just ice and ice bath.

How might I check the lid for an air leak? I assume that during fermentation positive pressure would be escaping the pail, but I assume there is still the possibility of contamination leaking in. Can I just fill with water after fermentation is complete and check for leaks?..

Also, when I transferred/siphoned/strained into the secondary fermenter, I was careful to not suck up any of the sludge in the pail. I notice a good bit of in the secondary fermenter now? What exactly is this at the bottom, and is the same thing in the primary and secondary fermenter?

Thank again

 

[tesilential]

It's the yeast settling out. Chico strain is a good flocculator in my experience.

You should try to cool the wort to your fermenting temp before pitching from now on. You must have had cool ambient temps to get the yeast cool after an 85* pitch. Fermenting that yeast above 70* gives a harsh fusel alcohol character (think rubbing alcohol). If the beer tastes plain I'd say you came out lucky!

 

[whitelightnin]

Thank you for the reply, tesilential.

The fermenter is currently at about 68* in my basement. Beer was in primary fermenter for one week and is now in the secondary fermenter for going on 5 days. Any recommendation on when to bottle? Is it more beneficial to leave the beer in secondary fermenter for quite a while or to leave it in the bottles longer before they are consumed?

Or (as someone else told me)..do i simply wait about a week, take hydrometer readings 3 days apart to confirm that fermentation is complete, and bottle..

Will the beers taste change from the time it is bottled, after one week of bottling, 2 weeks of bottling?etc,....

Thanks again everyone. Great Forum!

 

[TopherM]

Alot of that sludge is yeast, and you need them, so it isn't always advisable to filter everything out!

I also wouldn't worry about the current flavor of the beer. You are only a few weeks in right now, so the beer isn't nearly what the final product will be. You still have falvors that are going to intensify and flavors that are going to diminish. Also, the carbonation and just chilling of the beer are going to add to the quality of the final product.

Do you think Budman drinks a room temperature Bud Light with no carbonation and says MMMMMMMMMMM......Tasty!!!!

Anyway, you are on the right track. You are going to learn that the #1 ingredient in making good beer is patience. Don't rush anything and don't sweat little mistakes. Time heals most mistakes in home brewing, and it is rather difficult to actually ruin a batch of beer.

 

[whitelightnin]

Thank you guys for all of the tips. I'll definitely keep all of this in mind during future brews!