Is my beer ok so far?

[DonutHands]

Hey all, looks like a great community.

First brew. Purchased kit from local brew supply. I guess its a simple 2 bucket setup.

OG measured around 1.054 or 55. Recipe did not include info on what OG should be, so no idea if i'm doing something wrong right out the gate. Its a Belgian blonde ale, well, its supposed to be, time will tell.

Racked to secondary fermenter after 7 days, today. This was done according to generic brew supply instructions, not based on anything else. Im including a pic of what it looked like after opening the bucket for first time after sealing it. To me, looks totally gross, but theres tons of little bubbles coming to the surface so I didn't kill the yeast i guess (not temperature controlled).

first bew

• DonutHands
• Feb 25, 2018

Took another gravity reading when racking, 1.012. No adjusting for temperature, didnt realize hydrometers were calibrated for certain temperatures, but both temperature readings were about the same and the rest will be too.

Adding in another pic of the trub that i left behind. Basically racked all beer except maybe half centimeter above the gunk at the bottom. Most i could get before the siphon started to pull it up.

first trub

• DonutHands
• Feb 25, 2018

Drank the sample i took, very lightly carbonated, tasted like beer but bitter, not hoppy bitter, just plain bitter. This will change after further fermentation?

So i guess my real questions are, is this an expected change in gravity after 1 week of time? If fermentation is still ongoing, did I do any harm in racking to secondary too soon? Did i leave active yeast behind in the trub that i should not have (but i believe racking to secondary is to leave the trub behind so the beer does not pickup off flavors from it)? Is the desirable yeast still suspended in the beer that was racked?

Next step, wait 2 weeks, take gravity readings 2 days apart, if no change, bottle time?

Thanks for reading the same questions that have probably been posted a hundred times!

 

[bpgreen]

Looks good to me.

 

[tgolanos]

If you don't have temperature control, and things got too warm, it's possible your yeast went apesh*t and fermented that sucker down in a week.

The bitterness you're tasting is probably just 'green' beer. It's too young for you to get a 100% accurate taste. Give it a week or 2 and taste again when you have to pull your next sample.

As far as risks go, there really is no need for secondary. Next time consider whether you actually need to transfer to limit your chances of infection. More often than not, leaving your beer in primary is the safest option. And although you did transfer, you'll have plenty of yeast still in suspension come bottling time.

The only danger I see here is the potential for fusal alcohol off-flavors if your beer fermented too warm. Look up 'swamp cooler' for a cheap temp control method.

 

[eadavis80]

Your OG and FG numbers are very acceptable. You did a nice job on your first beer thus far. You're learning brewing practices. With each brew you'll learn more. Think about everything you already learned though: how much water you'll need, the temp of the water, how to steep grains (assuming there were steeping grains), how to avoid boil overs (hopefully), how to add hops, how to cool wort, transfer to primary, take gravity readings, rack to secondary, etc. Yup - just let it sit in secondary a couple of weeks. It should clear a little more there. As for the bitterness, it should probably mellow some with time. Bottom line is - you created a place for the yeast to consume sugars. Next step is learning how to make that yeast place a better place for yeast next time. (i.e. swamp cooler mentioned above). Congrats on your debut brew!

 

[porter1974]

If you don't have temperature control, and things got too warm, it's possible your yeast went apesh*t and fermented that sucker down in a week.

The bitterness you're tasting is probably just 'green' beer. It's too young for you to get a 100% accurate taste. Give it a week or 2 and taste again when you have to pull your next sample.

As far as risks go, there really is no need for secondary. Next time consider whether you actually need to transfer to limit your chances of infection. More often than not, leaving your beer in primary is the safest option. And although you did transfer, you'll have plenty of yeast still in suspension come bottling time.

The only danger I see here is the potential for fusal alcohol off-flavors if your beer fermented too warm. Look up 'swamp cooler' for a cheap temp control method.

I second the swamp cooler. I just set one up for the first time. It seems very effective. What was your ambient temperature when you fermented?

 

[RM-MN]

It isn't uncommon for ales to ferment to FG in less than a week. However, there will be a lot of "gunk" in suspension so waiting another week or 2 will improve the beer. Just off the top of my head, based on experience it looks like you'll have a 5.5% alcohol beer.

 

[DonutHands]

Thanks for the comments and reassurances. The recipe states this can be brewed at higher temps, i think Belgian yeast does well at higher temps (above 65). Im in santa monica and the weather stays pretty moderate, its stored indoors, around 70 degrees most of the time, again not temp controlled, but probably not more than 5 degrees fluctuation in either direction.