Hey - Just Joined

[edie]

was hoping i'd find a forum to ask / read about concerns and low and behold! one batch botteled and waiting another to be botteled this weekend. have already read a post regarding temp when adding yeast. from what i gather i'll just have to wait and see if i've ruined the first batch. who knows?

just using the premade mixes currently. see how it goes before moving on.

anywho just happy to have a place to find answers and see that i'm not the only one that isn't sure what their doing!

cheers

 

[arturo7]

Hey edie, welcome to HBT!

Lotsa good info here. Good luck on your brewing.

 

[SoonerDoc]

Always good to see another Oklahoman on here!

 

[LaurieGator]

Welcome to a fun, addicting hobby.

Not sure if you have had a chance to read the thread about "The things we have done to our beer but it still tastes good" that Revvy started, but it is a really good read to help see that our beer is tougher than we think.

I think we all learn more with each beer we brew! Reading the experience on this board will help you not make some of the same mistakes we have made, LOL!

 

[Justibone]

Rule #1: sanitation is quality

Rule #2: temperature control is quality

Rule #3: re-read rules 1 & 2

Welcome!!

 

[edie]

from reading this for an hour or so i can see why newbies get panicked! we got almost zero instruction from the place we bought our first mix and equipment from. we walked in and said we wanted to give this a try. he recommended a pre made mix. we bought a can of wheat mix / a can of something else he said we would need / 2 buckets / some hose / a thing to move get the beer in the bottles / some sanitizer / some caps /a capper / and probably something more that i can't remember. all this came with a one page sheet of "instructions." sanitize all the equipment / set the cans in hot water / empty the cans in the buckets / we boiled some water for something / sitrred it up / put the lid on / and stuck that one thing, that we put some water into the fill line and put that in the hole in the bucket lid. put it in the other room. one week later move to another bucket. one week later botteled it. now we're waiting 2 weeks until we refrig and then we'll taste it.

followed the directions to a "T" but may have added the yeast (which i didn't mention but we did have) before the whole mixture was cool enough.

how am i going to know if A) we killed the yeast B) i may possibly be killing my friends by giving them "infected" beer?

i told you i was new to all this. all i is know i like beer and thought making my own would be fun.

 

[DrawTap88]

Welcome to the boards.

To answer the questions asked above. You'll know if your beer is done fermenting by taking a hydrometer reading. If you're most recent reading is lower than the reading you took before adding the yeast, you'll know that the yeast is alive and kicking; and unless you put lead or bleach into your beer, it'll be pretty hard to kill your friends with beer.

Happy brewing.

 

[edie]

ok - didn't know anything about a hydrometer much less when i should have taken a reading. at what point should i have done this the first time? so during fermination(?) i take the lid off the bucket and take a second reading?

not knowing what the first reading was is there any way to tell by taking a reading now if i killed the yeast?

i seldom ask the same question twice so if you can help me through this initial "what the he11 am i doing" phase i would really appreciate your input.

 

[DrawTap88]

No worries. There is a way to figure it out, but I don't know it off the top of my head. Hopefully some other very nice poster will help you out with that one. Sorry.

As for the process, once the wort is cooled to around 70 degrees (60 is better) and before you pitch your yeast you should take your first hydrometer reading to get your Original Gravity (referred to on the boards as "OG.")

After it ferments for about 2 weeks, you should pop the lid off again and take another reading. If that reading is lower than your OG, and in the target range of where you instruction sheet says it should be, then your beer is done. That second reading you took would then be your Final Gravity (referred to on the boards as "FG.")

I hope I didn't just tell you a whole bunch of stuff you already know.

 

[edie]

ha - i figured you could tell from my posts - I KNOW NOTHING! the more i read the more afraid i am that my yeast never had a chance!

 

[frazier]

You seem fairly certain you killed your yeast - how hot was the wort when you added it?

There are numerous books on the topic of brewing, I'd strongly suggest picking one up and browsing in it. How To Brew by Palmer, and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Papazian are often recommended. People will tell you that Joy is outdated, which may be true. But long before the outdated parts hinder you, you'll have picked up a wealth of knowledge and familiarity with a complex subject.

In my opinion.

 

[BigB]

at what point should i have done this the first time? so during fermination(?) i take the lid off the bucket and take a second reading?

not knowing what the first reading was is there any way to tell by taking a reading now if i killed the yeast?

First off, never be embarrassed about asking a question on this site. Sure you will run into the occasional jerk, but the Mods are very quick to shut those idiots down... This site is for all brewers, new and old. So ask away. However, that being said, lots of questions can answered very quickly by checking out the sticky threads. I personally don't mind responding to the same question over and over again, but you will run into the occasional smart alec "just read the sticky or wiki" reply.

Ok, second. Considering you have a pre-packaged kit, you are almost assuredly going to have the OG stated on the package unless: A) you completely missed the water volume, B) you didn't add all of the ingredients, or C) you had an all grain kit and had poor efficiency.

Third, you can tell if you have fermentation by: A) not always reliable, but airlock activity is a sign. b) a hydrometer reading approximately one week after should show a significantly lower gravity than the advertised OG. C) a krausen still present is dead give away.

Fourth, you probably only killed your yeast if you pitched way too warm... IOW if you pitched when the wort was hot to the touch(not just warm), you likely assassinated the little critters.

Finally, you will know if you have an infecton (just look at examples on the "Post your infection" thread). As far as killing your friends, like the other poster said, unless you're adding poison to your wort, there is nothing that can survive in beer that can hurt a person (obviously assuming you had some fermentation).

 

[JimmyH]

Welcome to the site lots of useful info here. I have only brewed 3 batches in the past 3 years. Relax & Have a Homebrew

 

[Justibone]

+1 to what BigB said. All of it!

 

[edie]

i'll wait & see what i end up with

thanks for the input

 

[DrawTap88]

+1 on grabbing a book or two. John Palmer has one of the older editions available on line for free. That'll at least give you a good base for figuring things out and coming up with more questions.

How to Brew-John Palmer