Help with my first brew

[mymbtheduke]

Here are all of the details for my first brew. I have a couple of questions though.

1. I had to leave the wort sit after steeping for another 15 to help SWMBO. Will this hurt anything?
2. I tried to boil after extract addition on the grill side burner but it couldn't get hot enough so it near boiled for 45 minutes until I took it inside and then boiled it for 60. Is this bad?
3. Does adding filtered ice from my freezer and .25 gallon of cold tap water cause any infections?
4. The fermentation has slowed down considerably after 60+ hours. Problem?


Thanks much. I couldn't have done this without this forum.

AUTUMN AMBER ALE – MIDWEST HB
STARTED WITH 2.25 GALLONS OF FILTERED WATER

Specialty grains
2 oz. Special B
8 oz. Crystal 80°L
2 oz. Roasted Barley

1 oz. of Hallertau hops
1 oz. Traditional German hops
Wyeast Activator -American 1059
Priming sugar, and a grain bag.

1. Steeped at 155 for 30 minutes. Poked and squeezed the bag with the tube thermo. Sat for 15 minutes at 150 degrees

2. Poured Extract into pot at 45 minutes at 150 degrees.

3. Tried to boil outside on grill side burner but after 45 minutes the heat stopped at 205 and wouldn’t boil. Took inside to electric stove and boil started after 5 minutes on the stove.

4. Hallertau addition at 60mins

5. Traditional German hops at 2 minutes.

6. Moved to sink and added half gallon of ice. Placed sanitized lid and stirred while in the sink.

7. Cooled wort in sink for 32 minutes with ice and ice packs in the water.

8. Poured into the ale pale and added previously boiled water and some more ice.

9. Only filled up to 4.75 gallons. Added cold tap water to get to 5 gallons.

10. Checked gravity SG=1.045 at 70 degrees

11. Added Wyeast Activator American 1059 and put lid on at 11pm Friday 8/22/08

12. Ferment count

a. 12 hours (73deg) = 32 bubbles/min
b. 36 hours (73 deg)= 38 bubbles/min
c. 60 hours (73deg)= 9 bubbles/min

 

[bob1852]

before you get "Revvied" -- you don't need to (and shouldn't) rely on airlock activity as a sign of fermentation. Looks like you did your homework and adjusted on the fly as you needed to.

Now, RDWHAHB

as for your questions
1) it shouldn't
2) no
3) it can, but it sounds like it's rare
4) nope - your beer is just doing it's thing. Let it sit for another week before you take another hydro reading.

sounds like it will be a good 1st brew, if you're patient enough to let it ferment long enough, and then to let it sit in the bottles long enough to properly age.

 

[mymbtheduke]

Thanks for the reply. I plan on racking it to a glass carboy on Saturday or Sunday. I will let it sit there for at least a week before it is bottling time.

I hope all goes well. It would be nice to have a successful first brew. We shall see. An Alt Bier from Northern or Midwest is next (not sure which recipe is best). If that goes well, Schwartzbier time. Loving it.

 

[Tankard]

1. I had to leave the wort sit after steeping for another 15 to help SWMBO. Will this hurt anything?
2. I tried to boil after extract addition on the grill side burner but it couldn't get hot enough so it near boiled for 45 minutes until I took it inside and then boiled it for 60. Is this bad?
3. Does adding filtered ice from my freezer and .25 gallon of cold tap water cause any infections?
4. The fermentation has slowed down considerably after 60+ hours. Problem?

1. Nope.
2. You probably lost some extra volume, your beer will probably be a bit more bitter due to the extra utilization of the hops, and your beer will be darker due to the extract being boiled (or near boiled) for a longer period of time. Nothing that will keep your batch from being great though.
3. I'm assuming this was used for cooling the wort down prior to pitching the yeast. To answer your question.....it could. There's no way to say one way or another at this point, you just have to wait and see.
4. Sounds perfectly normal. I don't secondary unless I have to, so let your beer sit for about 3-4 weeks in the primary and then bottle. If you want to secondary, give it at least a week, and take hydrometer readings afterwards. After 3 days of hitting the same gravity, it is ready to secondary. Leave for 2 weeks and then bottle.

 

[mymbtheduke]

Thanks.

"You probably lost some extra volume, your beer will probably be a bit more bitter due to the extra utilization of the hops, and your beer will be darker due to the extract being boiled (or near boiled) for a longer period of time. Nothing that will keep your batch from being great though."

Will it be more bitter even if I didn't add any hops until it finally started to boil?

 

[Tankard]

I was assuming you already added the hops when you had it on the side burner.

In that case, no, it won't make it more bitter. You can expect a little darker brew though, and maybe a little less volume. Sounds like you're in good shape.

 

[ksuflash]

Sounds like your well on your way to having a nice cold brew!!!

 

[mmb]

My only concern is that the ferment might have been a tad bit warm. I try to target between 65 - 68 for most ale ferments. Fermenting warm may impart hotter alcohol and some higher fusel alcohols that could make your beer taste "off".

It should still be fine, but if you detect "something" in the beer, you could try fermenting cooler next time.

GREAT brewlog notes, BTW. Very impressive record keeping.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Great job on the notes. Keep it up, good notes are a key to improving your process.

Assuming the ice is fresh and hasn't been in the freezer too long you are probably OK. You should consider using a water bath to cool next time, and/or sanitized ice packs (place ice packs in gallon zip bags and soak in no-rinse sanitizer such as Star-san for one minute before adding to the pot). I never add anything to my wort that hasn't been boiled for 15 minutes or sanitized... well, except for the water that sprays into the pot when my immersion chiller gets a leak, which seems to happen a lot, I'm still working on that piece of equipment as I was grumbling on another thread.

A water bath (big tote or trash can) works well for maintaining ferment temps. Consider using one next time. You can add a few ice packs 2-3x a day to maintain temps in the mid-upper 60s which is best for ales of all sorts. At 73 you will probably have some fruitiness from the warm fermentation but it won't be bad since you pitched your yeast at a good temp.

Most of my ales attenuate in 72 hours (bubbling slows to 1-2 a minute). Proper aeration and pitching plenty of yeast (starter or dry yeast) will result in a quick fermentation and full attenuation. I've had ales attenuate in as little as 36 hours after pitching when pitching a BIG starter and aerating the snot out of the wort.