My first batch (Brewers Best American Light)

[jkpenrod]

First, please do not hate on my for doing a brewers best kit. My logic is that by buying a kit I am removing any variable relating to ingredients and recipe from the equation. I expect that the ingredient kit they have is tried and true even if a little boring. What this meant is that I could really focus on my process and any environmental variables. so yes it is a kit and I am not expecting miracles from it nor am I expecting to stick to kits.

All that being said I brewed up the batch a week ago (last Monday) using bottled drinking water from the local store (we are on well and at $0.94 per gallon it makes more sence to buy the water than introduce any paticulates, minerals or unknowns from the well.I followed the instructtions, cooled the wort and pitched the yeast. Everything seemed to be going along well as I sealed up the bucket and placed the airlock. 24 hours passed and no airlock activity. 48 hourspass then 72 hours pass and still no airlock activity. I begin to wonder If I screwed something up, maybe didn't cool the wort enough and killed the yeast. I do so research and through some forums here determing I am probably fine, the room is a little cool at about 60 degrees so it is probably just a little slow to start.

By friday I am still seeing no activity so I decide to take a peak and make sure I do not need to pitch more yeast. I crack the top (that was tight so definitely a good seal)and peak, there is a good krausen head so all seems good. I seal it back up (hear the click) and forget about it. I went to look last night and still no activity in the airlock. At this point it will be this weekend before I could do anything with it anyway so I am going to be leaving it alone until then anyway, plus with the cooler temp and the krausen I saw on friday I do not think it will be ready before this weekend anyway.

So my questions are:

1. Is it uncommon to have no airlock activity but have a fermenting beer (note the krausen)?

2. At this stage should I just pop the top this weekend when I think I am ready to bottle and see if the krausen has subsided and take SG readings if it has?

3. Anything I should be on the lookout for with this batch for signs of potential problems?

 

[flars]

Quote"So my questions are:

1. Is it uncommon to have no airlock activity but have a fermenting beer (note the krausen)?
Even though the lid was hard to remove, it does not mean there was a tight seal. Most buckets do not seal well. It is not a problem. The CO2 was escaping around the rim of the bucket.

2. At this stage should I just pop the top this weekend when I think I am ready to bottle and see if the krausen has subsided and take SG readings if it has?
Three weeks in the primary is ideal for most ales. The fermentation will finish in 4 to 8 days, depending upon the yeast used and the temperature the wort rose to during active fermentation. After the active fermentation slows the specific gravity will drop another point or two as the yeast clean up natural off flavors produced by the fermentation. In the next few days the CO2 produced will begin to off gas. The CO2 holds particles in suspension. As the CO2 leaves solution, the particles will drop into the yeast/trub layer. Normally by the end of three weeks the beer will be clear and ready to bottle.
You still need to confirm fermentation is complete to avoid exploding bottles. I take a specific gravity reading about day 12 and then another a few days later. You may see CO2 in the first sample, and none in the second. The second sample will also be more clear.

3. Anything I should be on the lookout for with this batch for signs of potential problems?"

Greatest potential problem is following generic recipes instructions. The instructions you have are in every one of their kits, no matter what the beer style is.
CO2 bubbles in the first sample can float the hydrometer high. Spin the hydrometer to release the bubbles or let the sample off gas.
Don't infect your beer by returning the sample, it is for taste testing.
Keep your siphon above the trub layer.

Kits can make great beer. Water used, under pitching yeast, fermenting at to high of temperature, oxidation, and a few other things can ruin even the greatest recipe. What happens is up to the brewer.

 

[jkpenrod]

Quote"So my questions are:

1. Is it uncommon to have no airlock activity but have a fermenting beer (note the krausen)?
Even though the lid was hard to remove, it does not mean there was a tight seal. Most buckets do not seal well. It is not a problem. The CO2 was escaping around the rim of the bucket.

Well Let me say I am confident I had the lid sealed as well as it is going to, if it did not create a perfect seal due to the buck I am not sure what I can do about that. I am certain I had the lid fully in place though.

2. At this stage should I just pop the top this weekend when I think I am ready to bottle and see if the krausen has subsided and take SG readings if it has?
Three weeks in the primary is ideal for most ales. The fermentation will finish in 4 to 8 days, depending upon the yeast used and the temperature the wort rose to during active fermentation. After the active fermentation slows the specific gravity will drop another point or two as the yeast clean up natural off flavors produced by the fermentation. In the next few days the CO2 produced will begin to off gas. The CO2 holds particles in suspension. As the CO2 leaves solution, the particles will drop into the yeast/trub layer. Normally by the end of three weeks the beer will be clear and ready to bottle.
You still need to confirm fermentation is complete to avoid exploding bottles. I take a specific gravity reading about day 12 and then another a few days later. You may see CO2 in the first sample, and none in the second. The second sample will also be more clear.

Well this seems about what I was trying to say. I should leave it alone until this weekend when I am ready to bottle, meaning I have the time. At that point I can check to make certain the Krausen has subsided and take a SG reading correct? assuming the SG is in the expected range I should be good. I may leave it longer before bottling, but the instructions with the kit actually recommend bottling after 7 days when fermentation is complete and you SG is correct. If all of that is true this weekend (12-14 days) I would think it would be safe to bottle if I wanted correct?

3. Anything I should be on the lookout for with this batch for signs of potential problems?"

Greatest potential problem is following generic recipes instructions. The instructions you have are in every one of their kits, no matter what the beer style is.
CO2 bubbles in the first sample can float the hydrometer high. Spin the hydrometer to release the bubbles or let the sample off gas.
Don't infect your beer by returning the sample, it is for taste testing.
Keep your siphon above the trub layer.

Well I am not certain what other instructions to follow.... I will take your advice on the minute details that the instructions do not cover, but if they give me a recommended brew time (the instructions were actually pretty specific as for timing and such) and SG reading I would think I would be best trying to follow them right? you do bring up a good question, when I take a sample to take the SG is it safe to taste that sample (meaning that fermentation is complete) and will it be a fair representation of what the finished product may tast like?

Kits can make great beer. Water used, under pitching yeast, fermenting at to high of temperature, oxidation, and a few other things can ruin even the greatest recipe. What happens is up to the brewer.

This is why I wanted to use a kit, I expect most variation to come from my process and I can eliminate the idea that it was just a bad recipe or bad ingredients if things don't work.

 

[doug293cz]

You can't really trust expected FG (final SG.) Depending on the specific fermentation conditions, the yeast may attenuate more or less than typical, and the time to finish may be shorter or longer. The risk with bottling before fermentation has completely finished is that there will be more than the expected amount of fermentable sugar in the bottles. Too much sugar in the bottles can lead to excessive CO2 production, and bottle bombs can result.

The only way to know that fermentation is really done is to have two identical SG readings taken 2 to 3 days apart.

Brew on

 

[jkpenrod]

The only way to know that fermentation is really done is to have two identical SG readings taken 2 to 3 days apart.

Brew on

Great tip!

Seeing no activity on the airlock my only choice is to open her up to take a look. As such i will plan to look Saturday morning, if the krausen has subsided i will take a SG reading and log it. I will then take another reading on Monday morning for comparison. If the krausen is still present or the SG readings differ I will close her back up and let her sit for another week. Does this sound like a good plan?

 

[Psylocide]

Yep.

 

[RM-MN]

The Brewers Best Kit instructions always say to bottle at day 7 but when you pitch the yeast, you are no longer in charge, the yeast are and they work on their schedule, not yours nor Brewers Best. Always use at least 2 hydrometer readings to determine if the yeast are done. If they don't match exactly, take another sample a few days later. There is no reason to rush except that you want to have beer. You can leave the beer on the yeast for quite a while without problems. I typically wait 3 to 4 weeks before I bottle but I have gone 9 weeks. With the longer time, more yeast settles out so you get less sediment in the bottles.

 

[jkpenrod]

So I bottled my first brew today. Nice fruity aroma, light flavor with a nice finishing hopiness. Here are the vitals:

Brew date: 12/29/14
Racked:1/22/15
Bottled: 1/25/15
O.G. : 1.040
F.G. : 1.012
ABV: 3.7%
44 bottles