I just racked my first beer. Questions.

[BrewN00b]

I just racked my first brew, which is a kit made Pale Ale from Brewer's Best. My question is do I have too much air in the carboy? It seems like there is still a lot of space in there, and I don't want to oxidize my beer.




Man, I hope not. Everything else seems spot on. Good FG, good smell, slightly metallic taste, but I hope that fades, a little cloudier than I'd like, but thats ok for a beer 8 days old.

I racked to a secondary because I figured that I may as well get more experience out of my first beer, and I wanted to age it a little bit more to clarify and condition before I bottle in a week or two. Well, that and I am waiting for some more equipment to get shipped to me.

I racked it,air locked it, than put it in the garage, covered it with blankets. What do you think? Am I just a n00b that is being to worrisome?

Any suggestions on a better image host than ImageShack?

 

[brewmasterpa]

i think since you had such a short primary time, youll be fine with that much head space. if thats a 5-gallon carboy, youve cut yourself short on brew man. the metallic taste youre referring to is that twang that you get with extract brews. condition it for a while (4-8 weeks) after bottling, and that should subside considerably. i would let that beer go for atleast another 17-20 days in the carboy before you even think about bottling it. the cloudiness will mostly settle in the carboy and should just about completely settle in the bottle for that beer type. for future reference, if you primary for the proper amount of time on future brews, and you go to the carboy and have that much headspace, you might be in trouble. try to get your water amounts right in the future to prevent troubles. happy brewing.

 

[Clonefarmer]

No need to worry. It will be fine as long as you don't slosh it around.

 

[BrewN00b]

Cool guys, thank you. I was following the directions when it said to bottle it 3 days after FG stabilized. I Left some beer in the primary because it was so close to the yeast cake, I probably should have siphoned it all down. I should have drank all it's milkshake.

Like I said, I am such a n00b at this, but I am going to learn each time, and brew up some killer beer one of these days. Being a n00b is exhausting, all this worry, and no home brew to drink and relax to!

 

[Clonefarmer]

Gently put a phone book under the edge of the primary so it is tilted. That way when you are siphoning you can get more wort.

 

[BrewN00b]

Thank you for the good info clonefarmer. Like I said, each batch will get better with more knowledge gained. I admit, I am being exactly what I didn't want to be; impatient.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

The act of transferring itself should release more than enough co2 to fill that headspace.

 

[BrewN00b]

I guess my next question is how long do you think is a good time to sit in the secondary? I now have my primary empty, cleaned, and ready to be filled, so it can sit for a goodly amount of time before I consider bottling. I keep hearing the 1.2.3 rule, and if that's legit than I will let it go for two weeks before bottling time. That works too because it gives me time to "find" some nice empty 22oz bottles.

I have found timing is handy when you want to start running lines of batches. It's nice to be able to have one in the primary while another is in the secondary, and even better yet when some is conditioning in the bottles. Man, I will be a happy camper when I have all three AND beer ready to be drank.

This is a great hobby! However, please pardon my ignorance in all of this, I'm still learning.

 

[jacketsfans]

The 1, 2, 3 rule is legit. Until you hit the 2 week mark in the secondary, RDWHAHB.

 

[Clonefarmer]

Time spent in secondary is more open to personal preference. Two weeks is a good start time for an average ABV beer. As you brew more you will be able to get a feel for how long to let it sit.