My First Brew Experience Today -- Wort In Fermenter

[kyoun1e]

Folks,

First, thanks everyone for answering my many questions. The wort is in the fermenter and I'm hoping the screw ups were minimal so I can enjoy some beer in a few weeks.

I'm going to detail some things here, so I document this a bit for myself, but also to see if any of you see any issues or have recommendations moving forward.

Anyways, here goes:

1. The Recipe --- BSG White IPA

*Grain: 8oz flaked wheat, 4oz rahr 6 Row, 4 oz flaked oats
* Malt: 2 cans Briess Pilsen Light LME, 1 bag Briess Wheat DME
* Hops: 1 oz CTZ, 1 oz Cascade, 1 oz Cascade (aroma), 1 oz Citra, 1 oz orange peel, 1/2 oz coriander
* Yeast: Safale US 05

2. Grains

No issues. Although I had a helluva time trying to get the heat down from 180 degrees F. Added some cool water. Wasted time here.

Put all the grains in the bag and had hoped to tie it off to the pot handle. Nope. Bag too small. Just had it sit there in the pot. Steeped for 20 minutes then used a strainer and hot water to get more juice out.


3. Malt -- Phase i

I turned off the flame and then dumped 1 can in. Easy Peasy after I warmed in warm water. Dried extract no problem. No flame issues or foam.

4. Hops

Brought back up to a rolling boil and started dumping the hops in. There was a little uprising there, but had my spray bottle handy and knocked the first one down. After that, no issue. Then added the aroma and flavor hops with 15 minutes left.

5. Malt -- Phase II

I almost wussed out and put all the malt in at the beginning, but since things were going well I took everyone's advice and dumped some in the end after flameout. No issue whatsoever. Think next time I'll dump it all in at the end like recommended.

One big takeaway from the "hot phase": I felt like I had a lot more time than I thought I would. I actually was futzing around answering email, doing other random things, sanitizing, etc. Need to use this time more efficiently next time. Would be interested in knowing what ducks others get in a row here.

6. Sanitzation

While the steeping and boiling was going on I was getting my act together on sanitizing. I had already filled a 5 gallon bucket with sanitizer and dumped everything I needed in there. I also dumped 1 gallon in the carboy and swished it around then dumped that back in the bucket. So I felt I had a good base of sanitizing done.

I also filled a 32 oz spray bottle with starsan.

Felt good. Little did I know later I'd be shooting starsan all over creation.

7. Wort Chilling

Filled my sink with cool water and dumped the pot in there. Got some cooling but then kept adding a couple bags of ice periodically. Think I used 7 bags of ice.

Finally got down to 63-65 degrees after 45 minutes and I felt it was time to dump it in the carboy. Many had said the target was 60 degrees and I was stuck there in the mid 60s for a while. Got impatient and just said the hell with it.

8. Wort To Fermenter

Here's where the fun began and where I started to panic.

First I dumped the cool wort into a sanitized bucket. I wanted to aerate it more vs. dumping right into the carboy. Brilliant. Good.

Next I took my sanitized funnel (which I probably sprayed with a years worth of starsan today) and stuck it in the carboy. About a gallon went right in and the...stuck. The strainer had clearly failed.

I honestly didn't know what to do. I took risk #1:

* Got a spoon and dumped it into the starsan bucket then tried to get the damn strainer piece out. Nope. Fear here is that I didn't sanitize the spoon enough. Man, I really hope that spoon was sanitized.

Risk #2 was lifting the funnel up out of carboy, hoping the wort didn't rush out, and then dumping the wort back in the bucket where the rest of the wort was. I then rinsed the funnel off with hot water to get the crud off, then dumped it in the sanitizer and sprayed the hell out of it with starsan. I then proceeded to dump the wort in the funnel without the strainer.

So we have the spoon, the funnel, and then the starsan tin foil was off the carboy that whole time. Really hoping this episode didn't screw it all up. I've got to fix this step next time. If anyone has ideas on the best funnel/strainer combo I'm all ears.

9. Top Off

More fun. I dump a gallon of distilled water in and the foam is outrageous. I'd bet that for an hour, I was constantly a) Waiting, b) Taking off the tin foil on the carboy, c) adding water, d) Taking funnel out due to foam, e) Putting funnel into starsan/spraying it, f) Putting tin foil back on, g) Shaking carboy a little.

In the end, I was a bit short of 5 gallons but it was close.

10. Gravity Reading

Sanitized the hell out of my thief and took a sample. Put it in the tube but didn't put enough in so I had to do it again. Got a 1.051 reading.

I also just dumped out the samples here. After what took place above I didn't want to risk any more contamination. So I lose a couple beers.

Per the recipe, my OG was expected at 1.060 and final is at 1.014. The OG I got was 1.051...maybe a little higher. Any thoughts on what would cause that difference? Or does it matter?

11. Yeast

I had started boiling water to rehydrate the yeast but when some hell broke loose above this became less of a priority. I also boiled the water too long and didn't have enough anyway so the decision was made for me.

After taking the gravity, I took the sanitized bag of yeast and cut the corner with sanitized scissors. I poured as carefully as I could. Unfortunately, I did see that some of the yeast hit the side of the opening and was stuck there.

12. Cap It/Swamp Cooler

I then took the sanitized bung and airlock, filled it halfway with starsan and capped it.

I then picked up the carboy and put it my plastic tub with cool water. No ice yet. Temp is apprx. 62 degrees and the room has been consistently 63-64 the last few days.

So that's it! Picture attached.

Where did I go wrong?

What could I do better?

Any significant risk? If yes, anything I can do about it?

Can't believe I know have to sit here for a couple weeks.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[kyoun1e]

Pic of carboy in swamp cooler.

 

[Jtk78]

First off, congrats. Honestly, doesn't sound like anything went to know wrong, in fact quite right. 45 mins to mud 60s without a chiller is pretty stinking good. Not sure why your funnel filter clogged, I'm assuming hop debris if you threw them in lose. I use a homemadehop spider from a sink strainer, stainless hardware and a hop bag, but plenty of people throw them loose, and they all end up in the fermenter. No biggie.
If you Star-saned everything, you should be good in that regard.
Next time instead of answering emails, hydrate you yeast.
Lastly, if that krausen starts to build, I'd have a plan for a blowoff tube ready to go.
Lastly lastly, enjoy, and no matter what comes out of it, brew again. It gets easier.

 

[Nokie]

Sounds like it went pretty good! Glad ya made it and it's all done. Now comes the worst part of brewing.... the wait.
But in the meantime it gives you time to plan your next brew.
Good job

 

[kyoun1e]

First off, congrats. Honestly, doesn't sound like anything went to know wrong, in fact quite right. 45 mins to mud 60s without a chiller is pretty stinking good. Not sure why your funnel filter clogged, I'm assuming hop debris if you threw them in lose. I use a homemadehop spider from a sink strainer, stainless hardware and a hop bag, but plenty of people throw them loose, and they all end up in the fermenter. No biggie.
If you Star-saned everything, you should be good in that regard.
Next time instead of answering emails, hydrate you yeast.
Lastly, if that krausen starts to build, I'd have a plan for a blowoff tube ready to go.
Lastly lastly, enjoy, and no matter what comes out of it, brew again. It gets easier.

You know, when I dumped the aroma hops in with 15 minutes to go I said to myself, "that's a lot of crap floating around." Are you telling me I should skim that off prior to either cooling or dumping into the fermenter?

Need a plan for this blowoff. How do I setup a blowoff tube with my current situation?

Also wondering if my OG of 1.051 vs. expected OG of 1.060 is a big deal. I tried to stuff all that water in at the end...maybe I should have let it be.

 

[GoeHaarden]

...Can't believe I know have to sit here for a couple weeks.

This is the hardest part of brewing. Every time I sample too soon in my head I just hear Mr. Miyagi saying "you lack disciprine."

Congrats on your maiden voyage...

 

[Jtk78]

I usually put a tube on the center post of the airlock, with the tube going into a container of starsan.

Og being off is most likely caused by the contents not being throughly mixed. Do you know the temperature of the sample was when you took it? They are marked with the temp they're calibratted too. Have you tested the hydrometer in (preferably distilled) water? If it were my first batch, and the volume was a little low, I'd probably say 1.056 and split the difference. I know others may say I'm wrong here, and I won't really disagree with them, but extract OGs are usually pretty accurate. At the end of the day, you made beer, and taking an accurate final gravity will be much more important.

 

[Jtk78]

Also, do not dump gravity readings! Drink them.

 

[MB331]

My only suggestion would be to use a double mesh strainer since you are using a sanitized bucket before the carboy. Those strainers that fit into the funnel are too small and clog easily. Other than that your fermentation looks great.

 

[kyoun1e]

I usually put a tube on the center post of the airlock, with the tube going into a container of starsan.

Og being off is most likely caused by the contents not being throughly mixed. Do you know the temperature of the sample was when you took it? They are marked with the temp they're calibratted too. Have you tested the hydrometer in (preferably distilled) water? If it were my first batch, and the volume was a little low, I'd probably say 1.056 and split the difference. I know others may say I'm wrong here, and I won't really disagree with them, but extract OGs are usually pretty accurate. At the end of the day, you made beer, and taking an accurate final gravity will be much more important.

Well, the foam calmed down over night. Doesn't seem like a threat. Regardless, I probably should look into minimizing this blow off risk.

Not sure I get what you're saying. Tube on the center post of airlock? Would I just take off the cap and get tubing that fits snug into that airlock and run it down to a bucket?

As for OG, the temp of the wort was 63 ish after cooling. The basement has been stable at the same temperature and the water in the carboy is now at 61. So, the OG temperature had to be in that ballpark. Thought I mixed everything well. My eyes kinda suck so I could be off by a couple hundredths, but I think it was closer to 1.050 vs. 1.060.

Will be bummed if this beer is super low alcohol content. Next time around I want to avoid this. I'm not a big session ale guy. I want something with a little bit at least. Say, 6.5%.

As for drinking wort...will do! Didn't even think about that. Must be sweet? The basement smelled so damn disgusting at that point I wasn't too interested.

 

[kyoun1e]

My only suggestion would be to use a double mesh strainer since you are using a sanitized bucket before the carboy. Those strainers that fit into the funnel are too small and clog easily. Other than that your fermentation looks great.

Assuming that would go on the bucket I pour into?

Should I also take a strainer and get some of the loose aroma hops out of the wort prior to cooling?

 

[Nokie]

A double mesh strainer would sit at the top of your bucket and you would pour through it.
No need to try and strain anything now. Anything that's in there now will drop to the bottom of your fermenter and anything that doesn't can be coax into dropping by cold crashing. It's just time for you to play the waiting game now.

 

[MB331]

A double mesh strainer would sit at the top of your bucket and you would pour through it.
No need to try and strain anything now. Anything that's in there now will drop to the bottom of your fermenter and anything that doesn't can be coax into dropping by cold crashing. It's just time for you to play the waiting game now.

Agreed.

 

[seatazzz]

Well, the foam calmed down over night. Doesn't seem like a threat. Regardless, I probably should look into minimizing this blow off risk.

Not sure I get what you're saying. Tube on the center post of airlock? Would I just take off the cap and get tubing that fits snug into that airlock and run it down to a bucket?

As for OG, the temp of the wort was 63 ish after cooling. The basement has been stable at the same temperature and the water in the carboy is now at 61. So, the OG temperature had to be in that ballpark. Thought I mixed everything well. My eyes kinda suck so I could be off by a couple hundredths, but I think it was closer to 1.050 vs. 1.060.

Will be bummed if this beer is super low alcohol content. Next time around I want to avoid this. I'm not a big session ale guy. I want something with a little bit at least. Say, 6.5%.

As for drinking wort...will do! Didn't even think about that. Must be sweet? The basement smelled so damn disgusting at that point I wasn't too interested.

You're doing fine for a first batch. We really mean it when we say RDWHAHB. Beer is a forgiving beast and despite what you may have read/heard, it's harder to screw up a batch than you might think.

If you have a three-piece airlock (the kind that has an upside-down cap over the hole) it's easy to convert it into a blowoff setup; just fit about 3 feet of 5/16" hose down over the post, put the other end of the hose in a bottle/jar filled with sanitizer, and you're set. I did this with my first broken airlock and still use it to this day.