How bad did I just mess up?

[mattn]

Hello all. Brewing my first batch, which is a Sweetwater 420 clone. Tonight was end of the third day since it was put into the primary fermenter. Fermenting had slowed drastically. I pulled a gravity reading and it was 1.011. Final gravity for this brew is 1.008-1.009.

My mistake was pouring it from the primary through a screened funnel into the secondary (glass carboy). I didnt realize until after that I was supposed to siphon it over to cut down on oxygen exposure.

I added the drop hops to the secondary as directed anyway.

Did i just ruin my brew?

 

[jmprdood]

Relax - you should be fine. We've all done much worse and still had beer. You want to minimize exposure to oxidation after you pitch the yeast, but beer is much more resilient than some give it credit for.

It'll be beer - no worries.

 

[two_hearted]

Yeah, but it will most likely be oxidized beer. Drink it fast if you taste oxidation (wet cardboard) as it won't get better.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Yeah. I agree with jmprdood, though it may not be the best beer you've ever drank. But it'll be beer. I bet the hops will cover up any flavor that was caused by any oxidation that occurred.

 

[allanmac00]

You will make far worse mistakes in your brewing career and still make great beer. Don't sweat it. I once (for some ungodly reason) decided to reach my arm into the bottling bucket with beer in it to retrieve a rubber band that fell into it, among many other blunders. Beer always turns out well.

 

[Krane]

Maxam is right, it will be better to drink this one as soon as it is carbonated. Oxidation seems to get worse over time. Won't be the best beer but it could be worse. At least you won't make the same mistake again.

 

[TumulousErmine]

Just to reiterate the above- it may not be amazing, but don't count your losses until it's bottled/kegged and conditioned. Good luck!

 

[Alucard1983]

ive done that befor when i was starting my dad told me to add about 1/2 cup of sugar to ferment it again and the yeast will re eat the air and sugar

 

[mattn]

Really? Anyone else have experience with adding sugar to do this?

 

[Alucard1983]

It will increase your wobbly pop strength too but it may also thin I down a little bit

 

[djfriesen]

I haven't heard of it, but I bet it would work. You could also consider putting some DME in there, along the same lines. Might not thin your beer out as much. I'd be interested in hearing how effective it would be. Will the renewed yeast activity actually scrub the oxygen out, and get rid of the off flavors? If that's the case, why doesn't priming sugar do much the same thing? Is it a scale thing? Not enough activity due to relatively little amount of fermentables in the priming sugar?

 

[BrewMU]

Down to 1.01 in 3 days? I can see why they call it 420 - sounds like your yeast has the munchies. I'm out - gotta check the 'twinkie in the mash' thread for updates.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Isn't oxygen good pre pitch? The yeast need oxygen to function. I believe you'll come out with a good beer. Just minimize oxygen from now on (which isn't hard just don't shlosh it lol). What yeast did you use? Some yeasts make quick work and ferment out in a week, especially with a good pitching rate.

Basically RDWHAHB!

Edit: totally missed the part about going from primary to secondary. Yeah, you should have waited atleast 2 weeks to transfer. And you probably shouldn't have used a funnel or a screen, but it's your first beer! Lesson learned. I know I made tons of mistakes on my first brew, they only get better from here.

 

[unionrdr]

Adding sugar to eat the excess o2 sounds intrguing. I say give it a shot. Better to save a slightly drier beer that chuck it.

 

[pojobrown]

Yea I've accidentally put seamen in one of my batches. The hops covered up the seamen smell and taste. It was good beer. Happy brewing. If you did mess it up you can drink it real fast and get real drunk so you can start again

 

[unionrdr]

Yea I've accidentally put seamen in one of my batches. The hops covered up the seamen smell and taste. It was good beer. Happy brewing. If you did mess it up you can drink it real fast and get real drunk so you can start again

I'm not even going to ask how it got in there...:fro:

 

[mattn]

What is the reason for two weeks in the primary? Im going by a recipe and it says in 3 days or when fermentation slows to transfer.

Its pretty cloudy, and I don't have any DME left. I suppose sugar is my best available bet at this point.

My directions say when fermentation is complete (1.008-1.009) to bottle with priming sugar. Should I leave it in the secondary for a longer period?

 

[unionrdr]

What is the reason for two weeks in the primary? Im going by a recipe and it says in 3 days or when fermentation slows to transfer.

Its pretty cloudy, and I don't have any DME left. I suppose sugar is my best available bet at this point.

My directions say when fermentation is complete (1.008-1.009) to bottle with priming sugar. Should I leave it in the secondary for a longer period?

The 1st line says it all. When bubbling slows or stops,it's not done yet,usually. That just signifies the end of initial,vigorous fermentation. It would then slowly ferment down to FG. The fact that it's still really cloudy tells me it wasn't done yet. All numbers aside. The yeasts know when they're done.

 

[mattn]

Gotcha. Will it not continue to ferment to final in the secondary? Is fermentation supposed to reach final gravity before moving to the secondary? Sorry if i am repeating myself. Just trying to burn this into brain now. haha

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,never rack to secondary till you have a stable FG. And even then only if you're racking onto fruit,oak chios,or the like. Secondary really isn't needed beyond that. And my beers come out clear without one.

 

[JonM]

Here's a fun read- sell about mistakes we've made and still got good beer.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

 

[BrewMU]

I'm not even going to ask how it got in there...:fro:

No, I wouldn't - he might tell us. So is it safe to say nobody is going to be exchanging beers with Pojo anytime soon?

 

[pojobrown]

Why not?

 

[mattn]

Haha

 

[djfriesen]

Oh, my mind went strange places there. I would elaborate, except I want to keep it PG. No "swapping" with pojo, ever.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Yea I've accidentally put seamen in one of my batches. The hops covered up the seamen smell and taste. It was good beer. Happy brewing. If you did mess it up you can drink it real fast and get real drunk so you can start again

The weirdest post I've ever seen.

Two weeks in the primary is a general standard minimum. Some people do less and turn out with great beer. I generally do 3-4 week primaries, to help it clear the beer and let the yeast try and work out any off flavors. You can rack at the earliest when the hydrometer has 3-days of consistant readings. Air locks are not a great indicator of fermentation. Pulling too early can cause it to be "buttery". It's all about practice. I'm sure your beer will turn out tasty!

 

[mattn]

With that in consideration, being that im reinvigorating fermentation with the 1/2 cup of sugar, should I let it in the secondary a few weeks to clear? Would it be overly hoppy since I've already added dry hops? Trying to compensate as much as possible. Thanks for all the help.

 

[unionrdr]

With only 1/2C of sugar,it might only take a week-week & a half. Keep an eye on it. you don't want it to sit too long. gotta keep that hop profile young for bottling.

 

[mattn]

sounds like a plan.

 

[Alucard1983]

The only this is that it gonna go cloudy again cause of the yeast eating again and it will have to sit longer

 

[Alucard1983]

Only thing is if your gonna add dme or sugar get it in ASAP befor it gets to the point where you can stop the oxidation. When I make wine instead of campden tablets I add 1/2 cup of sugar the wine. I have never had problems with oxidation. I learned this off my father. He ran out of campden tablets and asked my grand father and he told him to do it. He kepted using sugar instead and 15 years later we opened a bottle and it was great and was not oxidized.