My first brew

[HomelessWook]

starting it now. the fermenting stuff is all sterilized - was just wondering is a hydrometer reading necessary for my first go round? or can i forget about it this time - is it essential?

 

[Surly]

starting it now. the fermenting stuff is all sterilized - was just wondering is a hydrometer reading necessary for my first go round? or can i forget about it this time - is it essential?

A hydrometer is your road map. Along the way it tells you how you started and when it all ends.

If at all possible take the readings.

 

[HomelessWook]

ok, i wanted to do it but just spaced on getting a turkey baster and now their is 6 inches of snow on the ground :x

and i cant find anything else to use to scoop some out.

ill try and figure something out.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

If you are doing an extract batch with specialty grains, unless you are doing a full boil, you will most likely have a false reading if you are adding top off water into the fermenter. With extract you really cant miss your og.

The more important reading is the final one to make sure it is finished.

If you are doing all grain brewing you definately need to take an initial reading.

 

[qvantamon]

If you made from extract, and didn't mess up water or extract quantities too much, you don't really need a hydro for your OG (initial gravity, the measurement just before adding yeast), it should be on the ballpark expected for your recipe. Supposing you don't really want to micromanage your first beer, and don't care much for the exact ABV, that should be enough

It is a good idea to have one for your FG (final gravity), though, to make sure your fermentation is really done. Or just have faith and bottle after 3 weeks. But really, do get a hydro in the meantime.

 

[HomelessWook]

its a malt extract and im adding like 4 gallons of water in the fermenting bucket before i put the wort in.

its a really basic brew

an amber beer from true brew

 

[HomelessWook]

oh yeah

im using brita filtered tap water - i havent read anything that says normal tap water isnt ok unless 'tap water in your area is questionable' which i really isnt here.

i was wondering though it tells me to add the wort to 3 gallons of cold water - does it have to be like refrigerator cold or can it just be out the tap cold?

 

[qvantamon]

Brita filtered is fine, and better than straight-out-of-tap.

I suppose at this time of the year "out-of-the tap" cold will be fairly close to refrigerator cold. Anyway, you want to get the temperature when everything is mixed down to about 65-70.

Just don't use water that has been in your fridge in an open container, or ice from your freezer - your fridge is full of beer-spoiling bacteria.

 

[HomelessWook]

i am really happy you said that because i feel i may have contaminated my beer if you hadn't.

i was using a pitcher that had been in the fridge without a top to pour the filtered brita water in - i hadn't even thought of cleaning it or the brita filter - i'm starting over - hah, and i had filtered like 3 1/2 gallons...

better to be on the safe side though. time isnt an issue.

 

[likwidbliss]

I use my tap water, it is sterile. I get no off flavors. I have used store bought bottled water, not spring, not distilled, but bottled water. Many of them come from the same source as my drinking water. If you have a well, you might have minerals that might give it interesting tastes. If you are boiling any water during the process you are sterilizing it and driving off the chlorine, and killing any living thing in there.

I do nearly full boils, if I top off I have a gallon of boiled water, however I have used straight out of the old tap, tap water.

 

[HomelessWook]

thanks for the advice guys

i just wanted to let you all know that my first brew went successfully - i've already realized a few things that i could do better next time but thats part of the learning experience.

its in a cool closet in my kitchen - about 69 degrees - i can see co2 bubbles popping up a lot through the air lock.

im pretty excited and i am going to buy another kit to make as soon as i bottle this one

 

[HomelessWook]

Hi guys,

my first brew is still in the fermenter - i could probably bottle it tomorrow or the next day but am going to wait until the 27th to check the gravity and bottle

... but i was wondering

i got a 6.5 glass carboy that i just picked up - was wondering if it would be worth it to rack it into the glass carboy and maybe dry hop or add some fruit or something to 'jazz' up my first batch - its an amber ale from true brew

would that be a dumb idea?

even if i didnt add anything to it would it be beneficial to rack it to the secondary fermenter and ferment for another 7 days or so before bottling?

 

[Revvy]

Hi guys,

my first brew is still in the fermenter - i could probably bottle it tomorrow or the next day but am going to wait until the 27th to check the gravity and bottle

... but i was wondering

i got a 6.5 glass carboy that i just picked up - was wondering if it would be worth it to rack it into the glass carboy and maybe dry hop or add some fruit or something to 'jazz' up my first batch - its an amber ale from true brew

would that be a dumb idea?

even if i didnt add anything to it would it be beneficial to rack it to the secondary fermenter and ferment for another 7 days or so before bottling?

You pitched yeast on the 18th, haven't taken a hydrometer reading, and you just arbitrarily think you could bottle it now, all without even knowing what the gravity of the beer is?

In Mr Wizard's colum in BYO awhile back he made an interesting analogy about brewing and baking....He said that egg timers are all well and good in the baking process but they only provide a "rule of thumb" as to when something is ready...recipes, oven types, heck even atmospheric conditions, STILL have more bearing on when a cake is ready than the time it says it will be done in the cook book. You STILL have to stick a toothpick in the center and pull it out to see if truly the cake is ready.....otherwise you may end up with a raw cake....

Not too different from our beers....We can have a rough idea when our beer is ready (or use something silly like the 1-2-3 rule (which doesn't factor in things like yeast lag time or even ambient temp during fermentation) and do things to our beer willy nilly, like moving it too early, or thinking our beer is going to be drinkable at 3 weeks....but unless we actually stick "our toothpick" (the hydrometer) in and let it tell us when the yeasties are finished...we too can "f" our beer up.

You will find that many of us leave our beers in primary for 3-4 weeks (or more) and only secondary if we are adding fruit or oak, or to dry hop (though many of us dry hop in primary now as well)....and we have found our beer vastly improved by letting the beer stay in contact with the yeast.

There's been a big shift in brewing consciousness in the last few years where many of us believe that yeast is a good thing, and besides just fermenting the beer, that they are fastidious creatures who go back and clean up any by products created by themselves during fermentation, which may lead to off flavors.

Rather than the yeast being the cause of off flavors, it is now looked at by many of us, that they will if left alone actually remove those off flavors, and make for clearer and cleaner tasting beers.

Even John Palmer talks about this in How To Bew;

Leaving an ale beer in the primary fermentor for a total of 2-3 weeks (instead of just the one week most canned kits recommend), will provide time for the conditioning reactions and improve the beer. This extra time will also let more sediment settle out before bottling, resulting in a clearer beer and easier pouring. And, three weeks in the primary fermentor is usually not enough time for off-flavors to occur.

Your beer will thank you by waiting.

Now as to your issue with hydrometers....

The only way to truly know what is going on in your fermenter is with your hydrometer. Like I said here in my blog, which I encourage you to read, Think evaluation before action you sure as HELL wouldn't want a doctor to start cutting on you unless he used the proper diagnostic instuments like x-rays first, right? You wouldn't want him to just take a look in your eyes briefly and say "I'm cutting into your chest first thing in the morning." You would want them to use the right diagnostic tools before the slice and dice, right? You'd cry malpractice, I would hope, if they didn't say they were sending you for an MRI and other things before going in....

Thinking about "doing anything" without taking a hydrometer reading is tantamount to the doctor deciding to cut you open without running any diagnostic tests....Taking one look at you and saying, "Yeah I'm going in." You would really want the doctor to use all means to properly diagnose what's going on. It's exactly the same thing when you try to go by airlock....


Your hydrometer, like patience is your friend. Learn to use both of them and you will make great beers.

 

[HomelessWook]

yeah i know, i didnt take the OG reading because i was/am a dumb rookie and spaced on a turkey baster.

i had read about letting your beer ferment for a lot longer then what the recipe said (3 days of fermenting 4 days of settling - 4 weeks off bottling) and was planing on it. i also realize the only way to know if its ready to be bottled is to take a gravity reading which i will do this time without a doubt (and every other time from now on (OG and FG))

thanks for the advice and stressing the fact about how important that was.

however you did not address my question about 'jazzing' up the beer by dry hopping an extract kit recipe or by adding fruit to it.

after reading what you said i am going to wait at least another week before even opening the bucket and taking a hydrometer reading but i wouldnt mind trying out my new carboy and 'jazzing' up my pretty boring kit beer.

 

[Revvy]

however you did not address my question about 'jazzing' up the beer by dry hopping an extract kit recipe or by adding fruit to it.

after reading what you said i am going to wait at least another week before even opening the bucket and taking a hydrometer reading but i wouldnt mind trying out my new carboy and 'jazzing' up my pretty boring kit beer.

Why do you feel, without even tasting the finished beer, that you need to "jazz" up the beer. Do you know more about recipe creation and balancing a beer, than the folks that created the recipe and risked untold amounts of money on putting that kit together?

It's not going to need any tweaking from an amatuer brewing his first batch, who understands very little about the brewing process, how ingrediants go about balancing a recipe, or what ingredients does which.

I firmly believe initially that you shoudl brew your first few kits, and recipes "as is" not messing willy nilly with them til you understand the process...

Beer recipes are a balance...and if you add to one variable, that will affect other parts of it...For example if you decide to raise the gravity of a balanced beer...a beer where the hops balance out the sweetness...and you raise the maltniness of it without alaso balancing the hops, then your beer may end up being way too cloyingly sweet.

So for the first few batches just concentrate on the process, and also learn as much as possible. Each time you brew, you will learn something new.

I f you want a hoppier beer, brew a hoppier kit/recipe. You want fruit, buy a fruit beer kit/brew a fruit beer recipe.....

But thinking about tweaking a recipe from an established kit designer is sort of like wanting to go from paint by numbers to wanting to help restore the Mona Lisa, and wanting to make an "improvement" here or there.

You have a long history of brewing ahead of you, you don;t have to cram everything into your first batch....learn about what;s going on before you just decide you need to "fix" something.

ANd by the way....every year we get folks like you on here....your not the first who thinks that adding tis or that will make the beer better......but truly, just take it one beer at a time. If you want a cetain thing in a beer BUY OR BREW a recipe that HAS THAT. Don't take one recipe and suddenly decide you need to fix it. There are thousands of kits and recipes out there in the beginning before you learn to start creating your OWN RECIPES, you will have NO TROUBLE finding an established kit or recipe to fit whatever you are tasting.

 

[HomelessWook]

But thinking about tweaking a recipe from an established kit designer is sort of like wanting to go from paint by numbers to wanting to help restore the Mona Lisa, and wanting to make an "improvement" here or there.

You have a long history of brewing ahead of you, you don;t have to cram everything into your first batch....learn about what;s going on before you just decide you need to "fix" something.

hahah

thanks man - you have given this place some great advice - i see your name in like every thread i read with some A+ knowledge and i commend you on that - i hope to be in your shoes one day

i am just REALLY eager. this is something i have wanted to do for a long time and i finally am do it and ever day(hour even!) i read something new and HAVE TO TRY IT NOW! lol

im just really eager.



merry holidays

 

[Revvy]

hahah



i am just REALLY eager. this is something i have wanted to do for a long time and i finally am do it and ever day(hour even!) i read something new and HAVE TO TRY IT NOW! lol

im just really eager.



merry holidays

Yeah, you and 1,000 other brewers who got their kits for CHristmas.

Every year we get folks like you on here....your not the first who thinks that adding tis or that will make the beer better......but truly, just take it one beer at a time. If you want a cetain thing in a beer BUY OR BREW a recipe that HAS THAT. Don't take one recipe and suddenly decide you need to fix it. There are thousands of kits and recipes out there in the beginning before you learn to start creating your OWN RECIPES, you will have NO TROUBLE finding an established kit or recipe to fit whatever you are tasting.

Just realize this isn't your first batch of beer. You can brew whatever you want whenever you want for the rest of your life. SO you can actually learn about what you are doing before you decide to do whatever you want.

You;'re not the first (hell not the first today we;ve seen) nor will you be the last. And a year from now, you'll be saying the same thing to 15 noobs who post the exact same question.

My goal is for you to make great beer, and enjoy the hobby. So relax and take it one step at a time.

 

[HomelessWook]

Update:

Beer has been in the primary for 17 days. The temperature has been at a pretty constant 60-62 but a few times i had looked at it and you could tell at some point in the night as it got colder outside it dipped down to 58 (I've been worry about this but believe the wort has never actually itself dropped that cool).

I had great fermentation about 12 hours after pitching the yeast for about 3 days or so and then dying down.

I was just looking at the temperature on my bucket and to my amazement i see a BUBBLE!

wtf, i think to myself - am seeing stuff? so i grabbed a chair and sat and waited. As soon as the next bubble appeared i started my count. 24 seconds before the next bubble and then 26 seconds before the next bubble.

Their hasnt been any activity to my knowledge in like 2 weeks.

I heard that fermentation can restart but i didnt think this late in the process.

What's going on here? Revvy - i am looking your way.

 

[HomelessWook]

Bueller?

Bueller?

 

[Yooper]

Is there a question there? I'm not sure I understand.

The fermenter bubbled. Maybe the temperature went up a degree, or a weather changed happened? Maybe the barometric pressure dropped?

If you take a hydrometer reading and it hasn't changed in at least three days, the beer is done.

 

[HomelessWook]

that was my question, why bubbles in the air lock so late.

 

[Revvy]

Change in temp, change in barometric pressure, co2 working itself up out of the trub at the bottom...any number of things, and nothing to worry about.

 

[HomelessWook]

just popped the lid open for the first time. looked and smelled good! took a hydrometer reading and i am in the bottling zone. i am going to take another one tomorrow just to make sure it hasnt changed any and then bottle.

my test sample tastes good. pretty flat and not cold but it taste like beer and pretty good beer - the after taste is nice but it does have a very tiny hint of yeast flavor if you are really really paying attention (my girlfriend wouldn't be able to pick it up).

I am very happy with the way it turned out on first taste - i know it is going to taste really good after a few weeks in bottling.

it actually is pretty clear and nice looking too.

 

[HomelessWook]

ok, so i am going over the procedure for bottling in my head. let me know if their is anything i am leaving out

1. Fill bottling bucket with 3 gallons of water and 2 tsp of iodophor

2. Place tubing, auto siphon, bottle caps into bucket and let sit for about 2 mins

3. remove items from bucket and place in sanitized area (going to use the dishwasher for this)

4. Immerse bottles in bucket about 2 mins each and remove to dish washer for sanitized holding

5. Drain water from bottling bucket by letting it run through the tap at the bottom (insuring that is sanitized)

6. Siphon beer into bottling bucket on top of priming solution

7. Bottle over top of the dishwasher

sound good?

edit: now that i re read it- i may sanitize the bottles before the auto siphon, caps, and tubes

 

[HomelessWook]

decided to run the bottles in the dishwasher with no detergent a few times instead of using all that iodophor. now im just going to use 1 tsp of iodophor and 1 and half gallons of water to sanitize my bucket, spigot, tubes, caps, and siphon.

 

[HomelessWook]

Man, it wasn't hard to wait in primary because i couldn't see it (and hadnt tasted it)......

....but now that i have 2 cases of delicious bottled beer sitting in the spare room - all i can think about is cooling one down, cracking that first seal, pouring the delicious nectar of my labor into a nice glass, and enjoying that first sip of my home brew

no no. I MUST WAIT!

 

[klyph]

Cracking bottles early only leads to disappointment and regret.

 

[HomelessWook]

i know but it looks soooooo good and ive been drying out for about a week and half now and need a sip!

::eagerly awaits brew to finish::

 

[klyph]

With your level of patience, I predict you'll be getting into kegging soon.

 

[Revvy]

With your level of patience, I predict you'll be getting into kegging soon.

What does kegging have to do with not having patience? You will find that many experienced brewers on here age their kegs for as long as many of us bottle condition....beer needs to condition and flavors blend whether it's in a keg or a bottle.