My first batch - what can I do better in batch 2?

[Tenaka]

Like what seems like many peoples' starts, I received a kit as a gift and have finished brewing my first batch and bottled it a week ago. Its something I had been interested in for a while but I was never sure what was involved. Now that I know, I'm all in and am ready to start batch 2. Found a great recipe for an irish red ale (or it looks great, what do I know?). But before I get started I was hoping to find out if there are any improvements I can make to what I am doing outside of the mistakes I already know I made. I'll spell everything I did out, so please comment on anything that you think is noteworthy.

My first batch was from a pre-hopped extract, so this will be my first time steeping grains and boiling hops into the wort. The steps for each seem simple enough that I think even I can follow along.

When I started batch 1, of course I sanitized first. But after everything dried off I noticed all these spots that look like hard water spots on my equipment. Makes me feel like everything was dirtier after sanitation than before. Is this normal, is it a result of a poor/cheap sanitizer or is there something I may have done wrong that caused this?

Had a little spillage when transferring the wort to the fermenter. I poured too fast and some of it was running down the side of the pot. Maybe 1/2-1 cup was spilled. I feel confident I can correct that.

I know I was probably fermenting a little hot for the first 9 days. It didnt occur to me that I was supposed to focus on the liquid temperature instead of the room temperature. As a result I had it in a 72 degree room, and underneath a towel to keep sunlight out to boot. The kit didnt come with a fermentometer (I have added one as part of my supplies from now on) so i dont know the exact temperature I was at. But eventually I started searching for brewing tips, found out what I was doing wrong, and moved the fermenter to inside of an old cooler. Several search results indicated this was an easy way to regulate temperatures.

The kit also did not include a hydrometer (another tool I have added since) and so even though it recommended I ferment for 2 weeks I let it go 3 just to be safe. The cooler smells yeasty/bready now. But there were no strange odors before when it was outside the cooler so I am hoping this is just a result of the stale air trapped in there and not a problem. I took a taste and it was much better than I was expecting. That is probably mostly because I was expecting a kit with a basic american lager to mean I was brewing Bud or Coors and so really treated this like a test run before making some quality beer.

The other thing that had me concerned was that there was still "stuff" floating on top after 3 weeks. Not a thick head like a few days into fermenting but some here and there. I googled mold in beer brewing and everyone seemed to be talking about green, fuzzy mold and this was just more like foam that never went away. Does that sound normal, or is there cause for concern?

And then I bottled. The kit came with carbonation drops so I added one to each bottle, per instructions (500ml bottles) first and then added the beer to each and capped them. I found the quantities strange... one tablet for 500ml but 2 for 750ml. That doesn't sound proportional to me, but maybe it isnt supposed to be? I have enough left for another batch so I'll use them at least one more time before I consider priming with sugar.

Along with the ingredients for my next batch, I've also decided that I want everything I use to be for beer and beer only and have gotten a separate stock pot, thermometer, spoon, wisk, and measuring cup.


Thoughts?

 

[GHBWNY]

Nothing wrong with sanitizer spots on equipment. What are you using?
A little spillage will not significantly affect your beer.
You may want to pitch on the low end of the ferm range as per exothermic reaction.
Cooler odor is normal - plastic absorbs odors from off-gassing.
A little "stuff" on top is normal as long as it doesn't look like infection, which you say it doesn't.
You may find carbing with priming sugar to be both easier and add some carb consistency to your beer.
Basic equipment dedicated only to brewing is a good idea. You know where it's been and what it's been used for.

Brew on!

 

[Ski12568]

I my phone right now so can't answer everything, but I will say don't give up. You already learned a lot from the first batch so even if it doesn't turn out so well you will have better and better batches. The yeast being really warm isn't good but you have a plan for that. Your beer might be dark because you boiled it and it sort of carmalized some.

First step would be temperature control.

 

[titansvol]

4 years ago I poured my first 4 or 5 batches out and kept reading and listing to POD cast on brewing. The more educated I became the better the beer turned out. I agree that pitching yeast at the correct temperature and maintaining the correct temperature is one of the main keys to making good beer. I would also suggest making sure you pitch enough yeast. Check out the pitching rate calculator on Mrmalty.com. Don't give up, every batch gets better and better.

 

[Tenaka]

Thanks everyone, being new I wasn't sure what to be concerned with and what not to be. Glad to know that there at least werent any major problems that I wasn't already aware of.

Pete - the kit had an unlabeled white powder sanitizer so I can't say exactly what it was. But I've purchased some star san that I'll be using for batch 2 this weekend so I'll know by tomorrow if that also gives me spots.

Titansvol - I checked out the calculator and it if I understand correctly I do have the right amount of yeast for my next batch, though I'll admit I don't really understand most of the rest of what it is telling me yet.

 

[mfgann]

...the kit had an unlabeled white powder sanitizer so I can't say exactly what it was. But I've purchased some star san that I'll be using for batch 2 this weekend so I'll know by tomorrow if that also gives me spots.

My kit I got from Midwest had an oxygen wash powdered CLEANER. I was niave enough to think this was also my sanitizer. My first batch was infected as a result. Be sure you have a cleaner, like PBW or Oxyclean Free, and a sanitizer as well, like star san. One gets gunk off, the other kills any surface bacteria a few minutes before it contacts cooled wort. Be sure to sanitize everything that will touch the cooled wort.. Fermenter bucket, siphon, hydrometer, bottling bucket, disassembled spigot to the bottling bucket, bottles and bottle caps!

It is no fun looking at 48 bottles of cider vinegar tasting brew and thinking about pouring them.

I checked out the calculator and it if I understand correctly I do have the right amount of yeast for my next batch, though I'll admit I don't really understand most of the rest of what it is telling me yet.

If you stick to the dry yeasts, and rehydrate it in (sanitized) warm water with foil over the top prior to pitching it, you will have plenty of yeast. Everything I've seen has said dry yeasts have more than enough (if the packet is fresh from a high volume distributor and not something that has sat in heat too long). Liquid yeasts, on the other hand, are billed as being a direct pitch, but according to the experienced members here, they barely have enough yeast cells to take off well, and you should make a starter for them. I'm going to put of liquid yeasts until I have several batches under my belt..

Good luck

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

I have posted this before. If the ezclean does not sanitize, then sanitation is way over rated. I have always used it and never had an infection. I wash with good old hot water and sanitize carboys, hydrometer, bottles, and everything else with ezclean.

 

[andy6026]

Things you can do as you 'progress' along in this hobby:

1) Take all your extra money that you have, and some that you don't have, and invest it into trinkets and gadgets and various equipment that will get you even more excited for the next brew day. While some claim that brewing needn't be expensive - what's the fun in that? The best way to keep it inexpensive without denying you your 'wants', is to plan ahead on your ideal brew-house set-up and buy accordingly rather than buying smaller versions now of what you will want bigger later.

2) Until you are able and willing to experiment with designing your own recipes, make sure you go with top notch kits and recipes that are proven by other brewers to be excellent. Surprisingly it took me far too long to learn this lesson. I figured that just because someone took the time to post it, it must be good. Wrong! Now I like to google 'award winning _____ (insert name of style)" and then pick up the ingredients for it. So far it's worked wonders. This shouldn't be a surprise -- it's damned near impossible to make great beer from a poor recipe. I don't use kits, but the folks on here will be able to tell you which ones are not so good and which companies produce excellent kits.

3) Get those fermentation temps under control. Enter 'swamp cooler' in the search engine on this site and you'll see how to cheaply and easily create a temp control system. I know... I know... the term 'swamp cooler' doesn't sound like anything you want living in your house, but the sooner you get on that, the sooner your beer will improve.

4) Devise a method that will mitigate the aches and pains of brewing. At first you're so excited about the hobby that you tend to overlook how much of a toll brewing can take on your back - from carrying buckets of water around to bending over to bottling upteen bottles of pre-carbed beer. After 3-4 batches in you'll begin to notice how many steps involve demands on your body - and I say that as a fit and healthy 39-year old. Whether it be cranking 12 lbs of grain through a mill by hand or stooping over with a bottle wand, I can almost guarantee that there's an easier way for almost every step. Ask on here as to what ails you while brewing and there's a lot of clever and experienced people here that have concocted an easier way.

5) Drink lots of varied beer from all over the place - other brewers, brew-pubs, craft beer at the market, etc. Expose yourself to new styles and research how to make them or where to buy kits for the ones you like. The more your tastes grow, the better your brewing can grow.

Have fun - I only started this hobby 2 years ago and I'm still hooked. Looking back at my pre-brewing days, I'm astounded at some of the crap I drank at astounding prices and had little idea as to what was in them or the process behind it. Whoever said it's better to be a happy idiot obviously didn't know how to brew.

 

[Jeffinn]

I have posted this before. If the ezclean does not sanitize, then sanitation is way over rated. I have always used it and never had an infection. I wash with good old hot water and sanitize carboys, hydrometer, bottles, and everything else with ezclean.

Its not a sanitizer. The fact that you haven't had an infection doesnt change the fact that its a cleaner, not a sanitizer.

 

[GHBWNY]

Putting your StarSan in a spray bottle is a good way to go. And don't rinse it off anything. When you sanitize bottles, pour some StarSan in, shake it good, dump out the excess, but don't worry about the foam. It's all good.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

So sanitation must be way over rated then. I have some tubing and my auto siphon that I have been using for three years plus. I used them for wine and used them for beer. Same bottle bucket. Reused bottles and everything else all rinsed with ezclean??