Mid First Brew -- Question!

[kyoun1e]

So steeping went fine. 1/2 malt fine. Halfway through boiling. So I'm doing some sanitizing of the carboy and I'm finding that my bung/airlock doesn't want to stick in the carboy.

Is that normal?

Don't want the thing to pop off during fermenting.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[ProblemChild]

If it has not been allowed to dry, it will not stick.

Spray with starsan and allow to dry.

If it still slips, tape it in. Electrical tape works really well.

 

[brewshki]

Same as above. mine always kinda sits until it dries.

 

[kyoun1e]

Ok. Sprayed and drying. Boil almost done, but don't need it for a while.

I'm finding that tin foil with starsan is my friend.

 

[kyoun1e]

One more: If using a funnel to pour wort into carboy, do you use the strainer or no? Lot of aroma hops floating around. Thinking yes.

15 minutes into cool, temp down to 100.

 

[TungstenBeer]

One more: If using a funnel to pour wort into carboy, do you use the strainer or no? Lot of aroma hops floating around. Thinking yes.

15 minutes into cool, temp down to 100.

I think most people would tell you yes.

 

[kyoun1e]

Is cooling to 65 degrees enough? It's been 40 minutes. Stubborn.

 

[Konadog]

Is cooling to 65 degrees enough? It's been 40 minutes. Stubborn.

Could be, what Yeast are you using?

 

[kyoun1e]

Could be, what Yeast are you using?

Safale US-05

 

[eadavis80]

65 should be fine. Be sure funnel and strainer are sanitized.

 

[Konadog]

Then your fine!

One more: If using a funnel to pour wort into carboy, do you use the strainer or no? Lot of aroma hops floating around. Thinking yes.

I say no, toss it all in the fermenter, it will all compact down after fermentation. Are you able to cold crash?

 

[kyoun1e]

Major issue: Poured wort into funnel with strainer and strainer got too mucked up. I sterilized a spoon and tried to dislodge. No good. Had to take funnel off, pour back into a sterilized bucket, then pour back into carboy.

Fear major issue here.

God damn it.

 

[Nokie]

No need to worry. As long as what you were pouring stuff back and forth into was sanitized you'll be fine. Just think of it as extra aeration before pitching your yeast.

 

[kyoun1e]

Ok another problem: Topping off with water and there is so much foam it's backing up into funnel.

Any way to get that foam down? Wait? Spray?

 

[jerbrew]

you'll be fine. Learn from it and make an adjustment for next time. I find pouring into a strainer and into a funnel to be difficult, as you observed. If I use a funnel (as a final screw it moment) I dump it all in. It'll settle and you might lose an extra beer or two. I use nylon bags for my hops so I don't have to worry too much about filtering those out anyway.

Do a good whirpool, let it settle, and try siphoning next time.

Also 65 degrees what? If Fahrenheit then you're good. I wouldn't classify that as stubborn. You got down to pitching temps within 45 minutes. Not bad on the first go.

 

[TungstenBeer]

Eh, just wait it out a bit. Cover it with a piece of sanitized foil if it gives you a piece of mind (can you see why a spray bottle of star san is a vital piece of equipment now?).

 

[kyoun1e]

Eh, just wait it out a bit. Cover it with a piece of sanitized foil if it gives you a piece of mind (can you see why a spray bottle of star san is a vital piece of equipment now?).

Crud is that all you can do is wait?

Wouldn't spraying starsan cause more foam?

 

[kyoun1e]

I'm putting the sanitized tin foil on it. Shaking it. That reduces the foam a bit. Then adding water a little at a time. This could take a while. May have to grab a beer.

Is there any risk in waiting at this point?

Two things left to do:

1. Gravity reading
2. Add yeast...and I'm not adding rehydrated yeast. Just dumping in the dried yeast. F it.

 

[brewshki]

I'm putting the sanitized tin foil on it. Shaking it. That reduces the foam a bit. Then adding water a little at a time. This could take a while. May have to grab a beer.

Is there any risk in waiting at this point?

Two things left to do:

1. Gravity reading
2. Add yeast...and I'm not adding rehydrated yeast. Just dumping in the dried yeast. F it.

as long as everything is sanitized, there is no harm in waiting. I can never get to pitching temps just using my wprt chiller. I always have to let it sit in the fermentation chamber for a while. you should be fine. keep it covered with sanitized foil.

 

[Konadog]

Major issue: Poured wort into funnel with strainer and strainer got too mucked up. I sterilized a spoon and tried to dislodge. No good. Had to take funnel off, pour back into a sterilized bucket, then pour back into carboy.

Fear major issue here.

God damn it.

Don't worry, this is what a few of my brews start out looking like:

 

[kev211]

I never strain, beer is always a nasty cloudy hoppy mess when it goes into the fermenter. It all settles out eventually

 

[kyoun1e]

Well, gravity reading done. 1.051

Added the dry yeast. Delicate job in the carboy. Some of it I see on the inside opening of the carboy. Ugh. Stuck there. I shook it up a little bit to see if I could knock it down. It's just sitting there kinda clumpy. If it's supposed to do anything now uh oh.

Here's a pick in my swamp cooler. Water is at 60 and the room is about 64.

 

[kev211]

The yeast will figure it out. Dont worry if they sit on top. Yeast are hungry little mothers and they will find the sugar, no doubt about that. One thing to watch out for... Luckily at 1.051 (bravo on taking a gravity reading on your first brew by the way) its not a huge beer, but you didnt leave a ton of headspace for the krausen. IMO you're at the upper edge of where you want the beer to be. Next time I'd go a little lower. Either way, looks like you had a pretty good experience overall on your first brew. Congrats!

 

[kyoun1e]

The yeast will figure it out. Dont worry if they sit on top. Yeast are hungry little mothers and they will find the sugar, no doubt about that. One thing to watch out for... Luckily at 1.051 (bravo on taking a gravity reading on your first brew by the way) its not a huge beer, but you didnt leave a ton of headspace for the krausen. IMO you're at the upper edge of where you want the beer to be. Next time I'd go a little lower. Either way, looks like you had a pretty good experience overall on your first brew. Congrats!

Thanks much! Hope you're right.

When you say I'm at the upper edge, you mean there's just too much liquid in there? I did a 2.5 gallon brew (although added a little water for straining grains) and then just topped off the carboy to 5 gallons with distilled water. I actually came up a little short of 5 gallons due to my foam issue. Got impatient and just ended it.

So maybe go 4.5 gallons total or something?

 

[kev211]

Thanks much! Hope you're right.

When you say I'm at the upper edge, you mean there's just too much liquid in there? I did a 2.5 gallon brew (although added a little water for straining grains) and then just topped off the carboy to 5 gallons with distilled water. I actually came up a little short of 5 gallons due to my foam issue. Got impatient and just ended it.

So maybe go 4.5 gallons total or something?

See where theres that embossed ring at the top of the carboy where it starts to curve into the neck? Maybe an inch lower than weher you have it now. Thats where I would shoot for. It probably wont be an issue for this beer, but if you did a bigger ipa or dipa then you would likely either need a blowoff tube, or you might risk geysering your beer out of the carboy. But dont worry about it for this one. You should be fine

 

[bleme]

If that is a 5 gallon carboy, you are never going to get 5 full gallons in it. You might consider adding some Fermcap to it. I have one 5 gallon carboy but it only sees cider and wine.

 

[kyoun1e]

If that is a 5 gallon carboy, you are never going to get 5 full gallons in it. You might consider adding some Fermcap to it. I have one 5 gallon carboy but it only sees cider and wine.

What's fermcap?

Should I just get a bigger carboy?

 

[bleme]

FermCap S is an anti-foaming agent. You can use it in a cramped kettle to avoid boil-over or in a cramped carboy to avoid excessive blow-off.

 

[brewshki]

What's fermcap?

Should I just get a bigger carboy?

a bigger carboy is not a bad idea. It helps a lot and it gives you more options. I use a 6.5 gallon PET carboy and still get someone blow off issues depending on the beer (this is the issue others have mentioned above about too little headspace. The beer will develop what is called a krausen and will be very foamy. One way to combat the risk of this krausen from coming out of your carboy is too have a good amount of headspace/big enough carboy so the krausen cannot get out. There are other ways to deal with it such as a blow off tube, but we aren't really talking about that. Fermcap is a really cool product. You add a certain amount of drops in your fermentation and it helps to control foam. It settles out after fermentation.

 

[kyoun1e]

a bigger carboy is not a bad idea. It helps a lot and it gives you more options. I use a 6.5 gallon PET carboy and still get someone blow off issues depending on the beer (this is the issue others have mentioned above about too little headspace. The beer will develop what is called a krausen and will be very foamy. One way to combat the risk of this krausen from coming out of your carboy is too have a good amount of headspace/big enough carboy so the krausen cannot get out. There are other ways to deal with it such as a blow off tube, but we aren't really talking about that. Fermcap is a really cool product. You add a certain amount of drops in your fermentation and it helps to control foam. It settles out after fermentation.

Is this something I should get like...asap?

I can hit the homebrew store tmrw.

This would mean taking off the airlock...which I'm thinking you want to leave alone no?