My brew has taken on a life of it's own!

[Time-Travelers]

Brewed my first batch yesterday afternoon and after 12-hrs it is bubbling away like crazy!

I chose to use a 6-gal carboy as my primary, attached a blow-off tube and covered it in one of my brewery shirts inside of an old milk crate - my efforts seem to have paid off because 'he' seems happy as can be!

My plan is to leave it 'as is' for a month then rack to the bottling bucket and bottle. If all goes well I'm hoping to enjoy my first home-brewed beer with my darling husband on Christmas Eve

 

[dfc]

Sweet. What temp is it fermenting at?

 

[nordoe]

Awesome, congrats. This will become an addiction.

 

[geer537]

Awesome, congrats. This will become an addiction.

Agreed- it is a staple around my house now and SWMBO has even let me use her side of the closet to store the Carboys during fermentation. I am only on # 5 but keep checking this site as I have learned as much from the people on here (and been humbled by them too) as I have from reading books. And don't forget:

RDWHAHB

 

[cheezydemon3]

Awesome!

Just remember, vigorous fermentation can be a sign that temps are too high, which may result in off flavors.....like banana.

What style?

Most shouldn't go too far over 70F

Don't lose sleep over it, just check it.

My basement floor seems to do a great job of keeping my fermentations cool.

 

[slantedbolt]

Congrats and welcome to the forum! I started my first home brew last week and I am already to start another batch.

 

[Time-Travelers]

It's a Brewer's Best English Brown Ale.

I have it in the kitchen as it's a bit warmer than the basement, however our heat does automatically dial down overnight... I also have a chart recorder sitting next to the batch. It started out at 72 (residual heat from brewing ?) and dropped as low as 66 and has worked it way back up to 70 (what our thermostat is set at during the day).

I was thinking during the first week it was better to be a little warmer for fermentation, then move downstairs once it slows? Our basement (for last week) was between 65-67...

Do you think the fluctuations in the kitchen are going to be too much for it?

 

[SnallygasterBrewery]

Those bubbles are its way of saying, "herro"! Dog may be man's best friend, but yeast is a close second. Congrats and have fun with it!

 

[chrispykid]

I was thinking during the first week it was better to be a little warmer for fermentation, then move downstairs once it slows? Our basement (for last week) was between 65-67...

Do you think the fluctuations in the kitchen are going to be too much for it?

The basement sounds like a pretty ideal environment for future batches, but I'd leave this one where it is. Once fermentation gets going you generally want to avoid dropping the temperature. If anything you'll want to kick it up a degree or two after 2-4 days. Yeast are fickle once they start getting cold they don't know how much the temperature will change and their activity can slow or stop. By warming up just a bit at the end you encourage greater activity and they re-uptake any bad flavors they excreted earlier in the process leaving you with a cleaner tasting beer.

But in the future I'd definitely start it in your basement if you typically maintain 65-67.

 

[Time-Travelers]

But in the future I'd definitely start it in your basement if you typically maintain 65-67.

Thanks! Time will tell as the seasons are a change'n...

Although I'm new to winemaking as well (4-batches currently bulk aging) the wine seems to like a slightly warmer fermentation. So as I'm learning, although some things are similar, doesn't necessarly mean they are the same...

 

[cappy]

I'd go with the basement next time. From what I understand, you don't want large temperature swings during fermentation. Nice and steady in the basement.

 

[Justibone]

Yes, wine doesn't care about temps as much (until you get into the high 80's - low 90's).

+1 on starting in the basement, then warming from there. I use a swamp cooler and frozen water bottles for the first week only (to keep by-products to a minimum) and then allow the beer to warm after a week so the yeast can clean up any byproducts they've made. My beer is pretty good, fairly clear and no ester-y flavors.

Oxidation flavors, though... I'm working on that.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Unless you are talking low 50's F, I would NEVER warm an ale. A long slow ferment of 64F or so is IDEAL.

If it gets stuck (I've never seen it) warm it a little and rouse the yeast.