Sween
Active Member
--Noob disclaimer--
I signed up for this forum a few days ago, and have already learned a laundry list of mistakes I made... I realize that. This was my first homebrew. It is a learning batch, but hopefully will still turn out tasty. I will not make the same mistakes again. But in an effort to save this batch, I'm going to ask "what would you do?"...
--Summary of mistakes--
Lesson Learned #1 - Don't just "follow the instructions" on the the kit especially regarding fermenting and bottling times...
Lesson Learned #2 - B Brite is not a sanitizer, it is just a cleaner.
Lesson Learned #3 - Always have enough ice on hand to chill properly.
Lesson Learned #4 - If using a wired digital thermometer don't let the entire wand dunk in the wort (past the end of the probe)... it kills them.
Lesson Learned #5 - Patience is a virtue.
Lesson Learned #6 - RDWHAHB
--The situation--
90 min DFH IPA clone (extract w/ steeping grains) kit from my LHBS. I realize that this probably was not the easiest kit to start with, but it seemed like the tastiest. This is perhaps my favorite beer of all time.
My HB starter kit came with B-Brite, and no Star San... The kit came with no descriptions, so I assumed (wrongly) that it was a sanitizer. So long story short, I did not sanitize any of my fermenting equipment. Maybe not a big issue since this was the first time it was used. (I'm relaxed... and no I don't think I have any infection)
Steeped my Thomas Fawcett Amber at 155. Brought to boil (3 gallon boil). Added extract (8 lb LME Alexander's Pale, and 3 lb DME Muntons Light I think). Hopped every 10 mins for 90 mins. Used Centennial (they subbed this for Simcoe I think), Amarillo, and Warrior. Chilled the wort but ran out of ice, so I ended up putting the pot in the snow outside...
Got it down to about 85 before I pitched... Yes, I think that was too high. But I also brewed this on New Years Eve, and it took muuuuch longer than I thought it would... and it was getting late, and I was going to a party. The yeast package (Wyeast American Ale) said it was okay at 90... so I pitched. No starter. OG came in at 1.085. (Target was 1.081, I now think I didn't add quite enough water to hit the target OG exactly).
(I now realize that I may have done a job on my yeast by throwing it in at high temperature, high gravity, and no starter)
Fermenting took place in a 6.5 gal Truebrew bucket in a closet at about 60 to 65 degrees... (I now realize this temp is a little low) After 2 days it was going crazy. Foam bubbling out of airlock... Cleaned it a few times.
Excited to brew a different kit, I rushed back to my LHBS and bought a glass carboy, bottles, and star san. After a week I racked the 90IPA to the carboy leaving the trub behind. FG was 1.050 at this time.
The kit said to ferment for 2 weeks... So I checked FG at 2nd week... 1.035. I opened up the door and turned the heat up to almost 70 and wobbled the carboy to stir things up. Let it sit for another week. Krausen weakened but did not fully drop. After 3 weeks FG was 1.031...
So I bottled. (3 weeks total ferment) Target FG was supposed to be 1.015 or 1.018 or something like that... I was impatient, because I wanted the carboy empty to make yet another kit...
I'm not worrying. A little concerned maybe, but it tasted good at bottling. Really good... although a little sweet maybe. The bottles are currently sitting in the same closet at 60-65. (Put some in a growler too).
Now... what would you do? I was thinking about popping a bottle after a week just to make sure I don't have bombs... I would rather not dump the batch back into a carboy (especially since the carboy contains a Belgian Wit now). How would I even know if I did have bombs? Could I just pop them open, release the pressure, and then re-cap? OR of course I could just RDWHAMB and do nothing...
Like I said, I won't start worrying until bottles start exploding... but I'd also rather not have that happen. What would you do?
Thanks for listening...
I signed up for this forum a few days ago, and have already learned a laundry list of mistakes I made... I realize that. This was my first homebrew. It is a learning batch, but hopefully will still turn out tasty. I will not make the same mistakes again. But in an effort to save this batch, I'm going to ask "what would you do?"...
--Summary of mistakes--
Lesson Learned #1 - Don't just "follow the instructions" on the the kit especially regarding fermenting and bottling times...
Lesson Learned #2 - B Brite is not a sanitizer, it is just a cleaner.
Lesson Learned #3 - Always have enough ice on hand to chill properly.
Lesson Learned #4 - If using a wired digital thermometer don't let the entire wand dunk in the wort (past the end of the probe)... it kills them.
Lesson Learned #5 - Patience is a virtue.
Lesson Learned #6 - RDWHAHB
--The situation--
90 min DFH IPA clone (extract w/ steeping grains) kit from my LHBS. I realize that this probably was not the easiest kit to start with, but it seemed like the tastiest. This is perhaps my favorite beer of all time.
My HB starter kit came with B-Brite, and no Star San... The kit came with no descriptions, so I assumed (wrongly) that it was a sanitizer. So long story short, I did not sanitize any of my fermenting equipment. Maybe not a big issue since this was the first time it was used. (I'm relaxed... and no I don't think I have any infection)
Steeped my Thomas Fawcett Amber at 155. Brought to boil (3 gallon boil). Added extract (8 lb LME Alexander's Pale, and 3 lb DME Muntons Light I think). Hopped every 10 mins for 90 mins. Used Centennial (they subbed this for Simcoe I think), Amarillo, and Warrior. Chilled the wort but ran out of ice, so I ended up putting the pot in the snow outside...
Got it down to about 85 before I pitched... Yes, I think that was too high. But I also brewed this on New Years Eve, and it took muuuuch longer than I thought it would... and it was getting late, and I was going to a party. The yeast package (Wyeast American Ale) said it was okay at 90... so I pitched. No starter. OG came in at 1.085. (Target was 1.081, I now think I didn't add quite enough water to hit the target OG exactly).
(I now realize that I may have done a job on my yeast by throwing it in at high temperature, high gravity, and no starter)
Fermenting took place in a 6.5 gal Truebrew bucket in a closet at about 60 to 65 degrees... (I now realize this temp is a little low) After 2 days it was going crazy. Foam bubbling out of airlock... Cleaned it a few times.
Excited to brew a different kit, I rushed back to my LHBS and bought a glass carboy, bottles, and star san. After a week I racked the 90IPA to the carboy leaving the trub behind. FG was 1.050 at this time.
The kit said to ferment for 2 weeks... So I checked FG at 2nd week... 1.035. I opened up the door and turned the heat up to almost 70 and wobbled the carboy to stir things up. Let it sit for another week. Krausen weakened but did not fully drop. After 3 weeks FG was 1.031...
So I bottled. (3 weeks total ferment) Target FG was supposed to be 1.015 or 1.018 or something like that... I was impatient, because I wanted the carboy empty to make yet another kit...
I'm not worrying. A little concerned maybe, but it tasted good at bottling. Really good... although a little sweet maybe. The bottles are currently sitting in the same closet at 60-65. (Put some in a growler too).
Now... what would you do? I was thinking about popping a bottle after a week just to make sure I don't have bombs... I would rather not dump the batch back into a carboy (especially since the carboy contains a Belgian Wit now). How would I even know if I did have bombs? Could I just pop them open, release the pressure, and then re-cap? OR of course I could just RDWHAMB and do nothing...
Like I said, I won't start worrying until bottles start exploding... but I'd also rather not have that happen. What would you do?
Thanks for listening...