Looking for advice on my first two AG batches

[Orion85]

A week and a half ago I started a batch of chocolate porter using all grain for the first time after a lot of youtube and reading. I made a bunch of mistakes, the biggest being that I sparged at 148 instead of 155 and I didn't aerate before pitching the yeast (or after). I think I'm at the end of my fermentation. I started at 1.072 and am now at 1.016. It seems like there is quite a bit of diacytle. I'm planing on letting it ferment a couple more days at a higher temperature and then kegging. It's not going to be great but I would at least like for my first batch to become beer (I'm setting achievable goals here). Any tips are appreciated. Also my beer has a lot of co2 without being under any pressure. I pulled the sample to check the gravity from the spigot on the fermenting bucket and the beer in my test tube had a head and was giving off bubbles.

My second batch is a California Common that went a little bit better but I again didn't aerate before pitching yeast. That started a week ago at 1.062. At day six it was 1.032 and it is still 1.032 on day eight. I'm thinking I should repitch. I only took in that I had to transfer carefully and avoid oxygenating anything and missed that I had to add as much oxygen as physically possible before pitching. Again any tips are welcome. I'm going to keg this one as well. I started a Belgian Dark Strong Ale on Friday that has gone much better. I learned a lot from the first two (I shook the heck out of it) and fermentation seems to be going along nicely.

 

[giraffe]

Are you making starters? The cali common and the belgian strong, would be underpitched. If you dont want to deal with starters yet, keep to non-lager 1.055 or under beers. at first, they are easier to succeed with.

The cali common yeast is tempermental. Id give it a good shake as well, it tends to fall out of suspension early, and stop fermenting.

If it is actively fermenting, it will be off gassing co2 at a large rate, I never got what I would call a carbonated sample from a carboy, and ive done hundreds of batches. So Im not sure whats going on there.

Diacetyl will clean up if you get the beer, on the yeast still, to the high 60s, low seventies for a few days. Its likely to be perfectly fine. (If it is not caused by infection)

 

[Orion85]

Thank you, I made a starter for the Belgian and aerated it pretty well. The OG is 1.096 and I took a sample and it's now at 1.055 after 72 hours of fermenting. It seems to be going along nicely. I took the Porter out of the temp controlled fridge and brought it inside. I'm going to check the airlock when I get home though. There hasn't been any activity in the airlock for the entire fermentation, I'm thinking it might have been clogged and I didn't realize it and maybe that's the cause of the co2.

I stirred the Cali a few days back but the gravity hasn't changed. I had also brought the fermentation temp up a few degrees to the upper 60s. The beer is actually pretty clear with most of the yeast flocculated out already. Should I stir again or repitch?

 

[giraffe]

Id stir again, and raise the temp to the high 60s. -- you can repitch, frankly, I havent had much luck with repitching the same strain, though others have. You may try a more attenuative strain, such as a clean ale yeast, like cal ale/us-05/wlp001, but it may overly dry it out.

 

[Orion85]

Thanks for your input. I think I'm just going to keg both batches pretty soon and see what beginner beer tastes like. I stopped by the LHBS today and he suggested first, follow my gut and repitch if that was what I was feeling or second, don't worry so much about attenuation and just drink it. I think I'll stir and see if anything changes but I'll probably keg it in a few days. Thanks again!