Just finished my first beer...need a bit of help with the second

[Intrevix]

Well, I just siphoned my first batch from primary to secondary and hopefully (with a little help from the beer Gods) it'll be OK.

For my second beer, I really wanted to do something that was as fool proof (taste-wise) as possible. So, I headed over to Northern Brewer and found their Cream Ale, however, they don't ship to Canada.

I looked up the ingredients that go into it and called my local Homebrew Shop. They had never heard of a malt/sugar/grain called "Pilsen".

Any suggestions on what to substitute for it? All I'm really looking for is a beer that's neutral enough to be a crowd pleaser and it seamed like the Cream Ale was very well reviewed.

Thanks!

 

[passedpawn]

Pilsen is pilsener malt. If your LHBS doesn't have it, substitute 2-row or pale malt, the lightest (color) you can find.

If you are looking for extract (LME or DME), I can't help... just look for something very light.

BTW, malt is grain. It's grain that has been malted, which just means it's been wetted until close to germination, then dried again. Developes enzymes needed for mashing.

Good luck with #2.

[edit... just followed your link... ]

the recipe calls for pilsen syrup, which is LME. Look for the lightest possible LME (liquid malt extract). there should be a pilsener extract, but I'm not sure. I guarantee an extract brewer will chime in here soon with the answers...

 

[unionrdr]

Briesse makes a pilsen light LME. LD Carlson has pilsen DME. Lacking those,LD Carlson & Munton's both have plain extra light DME as well. That should get you started. My wife's 1st brew used the Breisse pilsen light LME & Carlson's plain pilsen DME. Gave a light golden orange color wuth the zest/spices she used. Lacking that,it should be a light yellow,maybe a touch of gold.

 

[birvine]

If you're looking for an extract kit, give thought to Brew House. For broad appeal try the Pilsner, Blond, Wheat, IPA or Pale. I have brewed a number of their kits and find hem very flavourful.

Enjoy!

B

 

[Yooper]

I like cream ales, but believe it or not they are trickier to brew than you'd think. You really have no place for any off-flavors to hide, since it's clean and clear and crisp. It's like an ale version of LaBatt's.

That's fine if you want to do it, but you may consider making some beer just as good but a bit more forgiving. Amber ales tend to be a bit more flavorful, and some esters wouldn't be as noticeable. Or a dark beer, like an English brown, porter, stout, etc. If you want to make a lighter colored beer, an American wheat or a German hefeweizen is very simple.

 

[osagedr]

I have three of NB's jugs of Pilsen LME that I have kept frozen for maybe 18 months that I will probably never use. I guess I could mail them to you. If you're interested I'll box them up and take them down to Canada Post for a shipping estimate.

Edit: just looked at the jugs and they are 3.15 lbs each. So you need 2 for your recipe. However if you have trouble getting them where you are you might have a use for the third one sometime.

 

[Intrevix]

Amber ales tend to be a bit more flavorful, and some esters wouldn't be as noticeable. Or a dark beer, like an English brown, porter, stout, etc. If you want to make a lighter colored beer, an American wheat or a German hefeweizen is very simple.

That's exactly what I'm looking for- a forgivable ale. I'm fairly sure the recipe I just brewed was something that my local shop made up (and may not have gotten a lot of feedback on yet).
Do you, by chance, have a link to a few ales that are usually a crowd pleaser?

I have three of NB's jugs of Pilsen LME that I have kept frozen for maybe 18 months that I will probably never use. I guess I could mail them to you. If you're interested I'll box them up and take them down to Canada Post for a shipping estimate.

I'll take all 3, just let me know how much you'd like + shipping and I can Paypal it to you. Just out of curiosity, how long do they keep when they've been frozen?

Thanks!

 

[osagedr]

I'll take all 3, just let me know how much you'd like + shipping and I can Paypal it to you. Just out of curiosity, how long do they keep when they've been frozen?

Thanks!

I actually don't know how long they would keep frozen but I can think of no reason why they would spoil under those storage conditions. I can open one and smell/taste it before shipping if you like, but I don't want to do that unless you instruct me to. I'll PM you later today with shipping costs.

 

[Yooper]

That's exactly what I'm looking for- a forgivable ale. I'm fairly sure the recipe I just brewed was something that my local shop made up (and may not have gotten a lot of feedback on yet).
Do you, by chance, have a link to a few ales that are usually a crowd pleaser?

Well, Northern Brewer has some I'm sure, as well as austinhomebrew.com. I think they ship to Canada, but I'm not certain.

I think something like a Fat Tire clone would be good, as most people tend to like that. NB and AHS have that.

It's darker colored, so that might put people off, but a beer like Newcastle is easy to make and it's very drinkable. I have a link to a super easy English Brown recipe in my recipe pull-down under my avatar. It was one of my first recipes as a beginner, and it was really good! Another one of my recipes that is a huge crowd pleaser is the "Dead Guy" clone. It's a malty beer, with little to no hops flavor, so people who aren't exposed to tons of craft beer will favor it over a hoppy beer usually. It's a bit richer than many macro-brews, though, and it might be a bit heavier for some people.

 

[unionrdr]

Pale ales are easy & quick. And I've made a few variations already,from straw gold/amber to dark amber. OG's of 1.044-1.050 that have plenty of flavor,4.8%-5.33% as well. I'm finding you don't have to have a big,heavy 14% brew to have a good ale period. The kind where you can drink a few of & enjoy.
Just had to hone in a good process. I'll list a couple if you want?...

 

[PCBrewski]

I also did a first batch yesterday and had similar questions, thanks for the info guys. My concern now is that after a little over 12 hours I've seen no bubbling in the airlock. I used liquid California ale yeast instead of the Nottingham included with the kit. I shook the hell out of it before cracking and pitching and a little foamed out and onto my hands before falling into the primary. My hands were clean but I'm still concerned about the yeast. Any thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

I also did a first batch yesterday and had similar questions, thanks for the info guys. My concern now is that after a little over 12 hours I've seen no bubbling in the airlock. I used liquid California ale yeast instead of the Nottingham included with the kit. I shook the hell out of it before cracking and pitching and a little foamed out and onto my hands before falling into the primary. My hands were clean but I'm still concerned about the yeast. Any thoughts?

It might take up to 72 hours to see signs of fermentation with liquid yeast. Don't worry about! Just keep it at 70 degrees (or ideally, a bit below) and wait it out.

 

[PCBrewski]

Thanks, it's a brewers best APA kit which I followed to the T. Aside from not getting an OG reading. Will I still be able to move it to a secondary within 5-7 days, with changing the yeast?

 

[PIGMAN]

Thanks, it's a brewers best APA kit which I followed to the T. Aside from not getting an OG reading. Will I still be able to move it to a secondary within 5-7 days, with changing the yeast?

Brewers Best encourages racking to secondary, but a lot of experienced brewers are advocating leaving it in primary for 3 - 4 weeks. If you do decide to rack, wait a little longer than 5 - 7 days, and take hydrometer readings to see when fermentation is complete.

 

[PCBrewski]

Brewers Best encourages racking to secondary, but a lot of experienced brewers are advocating leaving it in primary for 3 - 4 weeks. If you do decide to rack, wait a little longer than 5 - 7 days, and take hydrometer readings to see when fermentation is complete.

So if the fermentation is complete I can leave it for another couple of weeks and then rack to a secondary or just go ahead and bottle?

 

[PIGMAN]

So if the fermentation is complete I can leave it for another couple of weeks and then rack to a secondary or just go ahead and bottle?

Personally, I would leave it for a total of four weeks in primary, and allow the yeast to clean up after itself, then I would bottle. Why risk infection/oxidation by racking to secondary? Prior to bottling take at least two hydrometer readings to make sure that the FG stays the same, although by that time fermentation should be complete.

 

[PCBrewski]

Thanks for the feedback, my next concern then would be trub. I used a 6 gallon ale pail bottling bucket as my primary and planned on the secondary for that reason.

 

[PIGMAN]

Thanks for the feedback, my next concern then would be trub. I used a 6 gallon ale pail bottling bucket as my primary and planned on the secondary for that reason.

In four weeks, everything will settle into a cake at the bottom. Don't worry about off-flavors from the cake, as a matter of fact, current wisdom seems to be that after fermentation, the yeast continues to work and clean up after itself. I would utilize the time it would have taken you to rack, and brew another batch. It's funny, but when I received my homebrew kit last Christmas, it included a 5 gallon glass carboy, which is still in the box. I had assumed I would rack to secondary, but after reading all the posts from experienced brewers on this site, such as Revvy, I decided to forego secondaries, and so far, so good. By the way, did you use the bottling bucket with the spigot to ferment, or just a regular plastic fermenter without a spigot?

 

[PCBrewski]

With spigot, I hope that doesn't cause trouble for me

 

[PIGMAN]

With spigot, I hope that doesn't cause trouble for me

Do you have a second bottling bucket, or can you get one? Also, do you have an autosiphon?

 

[PCBrewski]

I don't have another bottling bucket w spigot but do have another 6.5 gallon bucket. I have one of those bottle filling siphoning kits not an actual autosiphon. That's why I wanted to rack into the Carboy then clean my bucket for bottling.

 

[PIGMAN]

I don't have another bottling bucket w spigot but do have another 6.5 gallon bucket. I have one of those bottle filling siphoning kits not an actual autosiphon. That's why I wanted to rack into the Carboy then clean my bucket for bottling.

Here's what I would do. Continue to leave it in the bottling bucket for the four weeks, so that you don't lose the benefit of the yeast cleaning up the beer. Then when it's time to bottle, you are going to have to rack twice, once into the six gallon fermenter, and then back into the bottling bucket after you clean and sanitize the hell out of it, and of course add the priming sugar. I would get an autosiphon and the proper tubing so that your life is easier on bottling day. When you clean and sanitize the bottling bucket, remove the spigot, and sanitize it inside and out,(you probably knew that already). Another useful tool if you don't already have one is a bottling wand. In the future, you should not ferment in the bottling bucket, but I wouldn't worry about this batch, I'm sure it's fine. What style of beer is it?

 

[Yooper]

I don't leave beer in the fermenter for four weeks- I know some have but that's a long time. I usually go two-three weeks, or until the beer as been finished for a week or so, and it's clear. No reason to keep the beer in the fermenter for 4 weeks, in my opinion. A well made beer can be bottled in 2 weeks, three at the outside.

I think a long primary is not harmful (usually), but I can see no benefit to going as long as four weeks. Two weeks? Certainly. But I don't see any reason to go longer if the beer has been at FG for at least a few days and has cleared.

 

[unionrdr]

since I've been more thorough in mixing wort & top off water,combined with small starters,it's getting to where I can chop off the 4th week. This dark ale has been in primary 11 days,& with the 2 things mentioned,(& better temps),the brew went from 1.050 down to 1.011. Needs to settle more,but if it's still 1.011 Wednesday,& a lil clearer,into secondary it goes with the bourbon soaked oak.
Just tightening up processes seems to help in regard to time needed for completion.

 

[PIGMAN]

since I've been more thorough in mixing wort & top off water,combined with small starters,it's getting to where I can chop off the 4th week. This dark ale has been in primary 11 days,& with the 2 things mentioned,(& better temps),the brew went from 1.050 down to 1.011. Needs to settle more,but if it's still 1.011 Wednesday,& a lil clearer,into secondary it goes with the bourbon soaked oak.
Just tightening up processes seems to help in regard to time needed for completion.

So you're averaging 3 weeks now instead of 4? I'd love to speed up the process. Actually, my first beer, an IPA was in primary 3 weeks and it came out great, but since then, after reading a lot of the posts on this forum, I've been going 4. 2 seems short, but Yooper is a lot more experienced than me.

 

[Yooper]

So you're averaging 3 weeks now instead of 4? I'd love to speed up the process. Actually, my first beer, an IPA was in primary 3 weeks and it came out great, but since then, after reading a lot of the posts on this forum, I've been going 4. 2 seems short, but Yooper is a lot more experienced than me.

Me? I don't think I've ever left a beer in the primary more than 3 weeks, unless I've had a family emergency or something.

Usually two weeks, including dryhopping, is for me.

A well made beer doesn't need weeks and weeks of aging to smooth out, although I have an oatmeal stout that tastes best after 5 weeks or so. No harm will usually come to a beer left in the primary for a long time, but I see no benefit after two weeks or so.

 

[passedpawn]

I'd like to point out that sour beers require months, not weeks, to complete. Otherwise, I'm in agreement with everything.

 

[Intrevix]

I really wish I had found this forum before I visited my homebrew store.
They gave me some instructions and a timeline for my beer which had me racking it to secondary in 3 days and bottling at 7 days and nothing about a hydrometer reading.

So, I guess my updated question is: I waited 7 days before racking to secondary and never took a hydrometer reading. Is there a chance I could've ruined the beer?

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[bottlebomber]

Me? I don't think I've ever left a beer in the primary more than 3 weeks, unless I've had a family emergency or something.

Usually two weeks, including dryhopping, is for me.

A well made beer doesn't need weeks and weeks of agin+g to smooth out, although I have an oatmeal stout that tastes best after 5 weeks or so. No harm will usually come to a beer left in the primary for a long time, but I see no benefit after two weeks or so.

+1 on this... I've really been noticing, especially with IPAs and beers where the hops are the main feature, that longer fermentations are not better. In fact I just did an IPA that I used the hopbursting technique on, it had a pound of hops in a five gallon batch. I let it go 4 weeks in primary, and it lost a MASSIVE amount of hop aroma compared to the sample I drank at 2 weeks. In fact I actually did move it to a secondary for another week to dry hop it, which I hadn't been planning to do. IPAs get 2 weeks from now on as long as they're done fermenting.

 

[passedpawn]

I really wish I had found this forum before I visited my homebrew store.
They gave me some instructions and a timeline for my beer which had me racking it to secondary in 3 days and bottling at 7 days and nothing about a hydrometer reading.

So, I guess my updated question is: I waited 7 days before racking to secondary and never took a hydrometer reading. Is there a chance I could've ruined the beer?

Thanks for all the replies.

Nope, not a chance. 1st, althouth a hydrometer reading is very useful, it won't change the taste of your beer.

Using a secondary has gone the way of the dodo. While a secondary is nearly useless (might marginally improve clarity), it is also completely harmless if you don't sneeze while transferring.