Just brewed my first batch!

[elcapitan10]

Hello all!

I just finished up brewing my first batch of beer on Saturday, a Nut Brown from Northern Brewer. I made it pretty late on Saturday, and came home from work today to see bubbles coming out of the fermentor, which made me feel good. At least I didn't mess that part up! I just checked it a few hours later, and now the bubbles have stopped and it smells a little like bananas. Is that normal? Does the fermenting come in waves? The closet it's in is around 70 degrees which I think might be a little warm? I had it in a closet before that's about low 60s but I thought that might have been a little to cold. Any suggestions or should I just wait it out? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Dutchbier]

Wait, wait, and then enjoy. Welcome to homebrewtalk your beer will be fine!

 

[elcapitan10]

Wait, wait, and then enjoy. Welcome to homebrewtalk your beer will be fine!

Thank you! I wasn't sure if I should try and move it back to the cooler closet or just leave it where it is.

 

[C-Rider]

Low 60's better than 70. But should be fine if not great.

 

[Conan]

Definitely move it back to the cooler closet. The banana smell is esters produced by the yeast from a too-hot fermentation. Your airlock will stop bubbling in a couple days- don't worry about that, either, as it's still working. just move it to the other closet and brew another batch. It'll take your mind off this one, plus give you a nice aging on the second batch! Nut browns are pretty good, and NB's kits are pretty good, so your beer should be pretty good, too. The esters will clean up a bit if you leave it on yeast for an extra couple weeks. Kyle

 

[masskrug]

Are you using the yeast that came with the kit (Danstar Nottigham)? If so, you are on the top end of your fermentation temps. I'd try to cool it a bit:

The recommended fermentation temperature range of this strain is 14° to 21°C (57° to 70°F) with good tolerance to low fermentation temperatures (12°C/54°F) that allow this strain to be used in lager-style beer. With a relatively high alcohol tolerance, Nottingham is a great choice for creation of higher-alcohol specialty beers!

http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/nottingham-ale-beer-yeast

 

[unionrdr]

Low to mid 60's would definitely be a better temp range. If you don't have one,get a stick on temp strip for your fermenters. They give a fairly accurate internal temp,which is what you should be concerned with.

 

[dstranger99]

I keep all my ales in a cooler in the low 60's........But don't worry, it'll be fine.

 

[Ster]

You will be fine.

Most malty beers hide and off flavors very well.

15 years ago I had a short brewing hobby for a few months. I knew nothing about temp control. I fermented at 78 without any cooling. I remember loving my beer.

Early this year I started the same way, and made 2 good beers and one not so good. Then I got an industrial freezer with temp control... all brews have been excellent, except when I try to appease the BMC people, and that's still not bad.

 

[elcapitan10]

Thanks all for the replies, makes me feel better! I moved it to the cooler closet this morning. I noticed that it was not bubbling any more, and the liquid in the S lock had evened out. I take it that means there is no more gas being produced, is that bad? Or are the yeast still doing their thing?

To answer one of the questions, yes I was using the Danstar Nottingham yeast. I probably should have looked at the optimal temps before storing it, newbie mistake.

In regards to the stick on thermometer, I have a bunch of extra from my fish tank. I never even thought about using that. Would they work well on plastic buckets or should they only be used on glass carboys? I don't know how well of a conductor plastic is.

Thanks again all for the comments!

 

[dstranger99]

^

Regarding your first sentence, fermentation is still active, It's just slowed down now, so you no longer "see" airlock activity, I'd leave it for a month, plenty of time for the yeast to finish their ferment and clean up after themselves...

 

[elcapitan10]

So it's been about a week since I put my beer in the primary. When should I start testing for the final gravity? Around 2 weeks?

 

[HopHead_32]

I check my gravity after the first week of fermentation and compare to my original gravity.... To see if it's done fermenting.... A week after the fermentation has started is a good time to check IMO

Then after about three weeks check the gravity again.... If it's done fermenting,which it should be anyways at week four.... I use the gravity taking before I add the corn sugar right before I bottle. That is my final gravity reading.

Example my second batch made was a ESB using WLP002

-OG of 1.064

-Gravity after week 1 of the first fermentation was 1.014

-Bottled week 5.... Checked gravity before racking into the bottling bucket with corn sugar.... The final gravity was 1.012...

Still new at this... Hope this helps man have a good one!

 

[unionrdr]

Those fish tank temp strips will work on bothe plastic & glass fermenters. I've used the ones from Petsmart before & they work fine.
I wait till the 2 week mark to take an FG reading to see how close it is to done. Then again at week three & it's usually stable & ready to bottle by then. But you results may vary. This is the usual time frame for my average gravity beers.

 

[elcapitan10]

I just checked the FG last night and it looks like I'm at about 1.008, I'm going to check again on Wednesday and if there hasn't been any change, it will be time to bottle!

 

[elcapitan10]

So in the process of getting ready to bottle today, I realized that Northern Brewer forgot to add the inside piece of the auto siphon to my kit Not a very happy camper right now. I don't really want to mouth siphon anything, especially since I don't even have a piece of tubing that would be long enough to reach from the bottom of the primary to the bottom of the bottling bucket. Does anyone have any other ideas for getting the beer into the bottling bucket, or should I just contact Northern Brewer and wait for them to send me the missing piece? It's been about 2.5 weeks in the primary, so I'm sure a little longer won't hurt it.

 

[elcapitan10]

No one with any ideas?

 

[YeastFeast]

Everything I've read on this forum says let it sit in the primary for 3-4 weeks.

I wouldn't use your mouth. If you need to do it before you get the missing part, fill the tube with water, pinch it off at the bottom end, release to start the flow into a empty bowl. When beer flows all the way through, pinch off again and move to your bottling bucket.