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[GnarlyChick]

Hello! My name is Mia. My boyfriend and I did our very first batch this past week. We didn't realize how much work was involved in the process! It was fun and different and even if our first batch turns out horrible we will try again. Now about our kit. We bought a Brooklyn Brew Shops 1 gallon kit. Best part about it was that it was 75% off, so we got it for a whooping 10 bucks! It came with everything we needed to get started. Its been about 5 days now and man does it look bad! haha. I am going to add a picture here.

We never really saw any bubbles or foam. From reading multiple threads it shouldnt be much of an issue. Any tips and tricks would be great.:rockin:

 

[BradleyBrew]

ummmm.... looks like beer. The visual action of fermentation can happen very rapidly and you may or may not see it. Do you have a hydrometer? What yeast? What was your pitching temperature? What temperature is it fermenting at? Sorry so many questions... keep it out of the light and around the high 60's... i would gently swirl it to re-suspend the yeast.

 

[Pappers_]

Welcome! I'm not familiar with Brooklyn's ingredient kits, so can't really offer any advice. What style of beer was the kit?

If you'd like an interesting read, take a look at www.howtobrew.com and read the first section. It will give you a good solid grounding in Brewing 101. If you're more visual, take a look at www.basicbrewing.com, they sell DVDs for beginning brewers.

Congratulations on your first brew!

 

[DoubleAught]

Welcome to the addiction

 

[GnarlyChick]

We do not have a hydrometer. We used a dry yeast, not sure the brand. Pitching temp was about 65. The fermenting temp is around 68 and its stored in a dark cabinet. Just gave it a good swirl and the stuff on the bottom seemed to be chunky.

 

[GnarlyChick]

Welcome! I'm not familiar with Brooklyn's ingredient kits, so can't really offer any advice. What style of beer was the kit?

If you'd like an interesting read, take a look at www.howtobrew.com and read the first section. It will give you a good solid grounding in Brewing 101. If you're more visual, take a look at www.basicbrewing.com, they sell DVDs for beginning brewers.

Congratulations on your first brew!

It was an Everyday IPA style kit.

Welcome to the addiction

Thank you sir. Now I'm looking forward to my first 5 gallon brew!

 

[BradleyBrew]

well sounds like everything is about right.... I have never made a 1 gallon batch but i would just let it sit for about 3 weeks. The yeast will fall out of suspension then you will be good to bottle... you could also try to dry hop since it is an IPA.

 

[djfriesen]

Gnarly,
That's the exact kit I bought 8 days ago, as my first experience. You are the only other brewers I've found so far that know anything about Brooklyn Brew Shop. Mine looks about like that, with the darker sediment layer being slightly thinner on mine. It fermented vigorously for me the first night, then slowed. But from everything I've read, airlock activity means little when it comes to fermentation. A hydrometer will be my next purchase.

@Bradley,

The way they package these kits, it has no yeast strain indicated, AFAIK. But I know 1 packet, pitched at around 70 degrees F and shaken for about a minute, went nuts about 5 hours later. I heard my bottle rocking in the bathtub as the bubbles were pushing out of the blowoff.

 

[GnarlyChick]

Gnarly,
That's the exact kit I bought 8 days ago, as my first experience. You are the only other brewers I've found so far that know anything about Brooklyn Brew Shop. Mine looks about like that, with the darker sediment layer being slightly thinner on mine. It fermented vigorously for me the first night, then slowed. But from everything I've read, airlock activity means little when it comes to fermentation. A hydrometer will be my next purchase.

@Bradley,

The way they package these kits, it has no yeast strain indicated, AFAIK. But I know 1 packet, pitched at around 70 degrees F and shaken for about a minute, went nuts about 5 hours later. I heard my bottle rocking in the bathtub as the bubbles were pushing out of the blowoff.

Awesome! We can compare at different stages to see how they resemble each other. The layer of sediment was kind of chunky when I gave it a little shake about an hour ago. Im just worried because we didn't experience any bubbles. Do you currently have foam on the top?

 

[Just1pepsi]

yeah for a gallon, three weeks should be ample time I'd think.
Welcome aboard.

 

[Garrett]

Brooklyn brew shop kits are great and usually come out very good, i think you guys will be fine!

 

[skyebrewing]

Without a hydrometer, you will never know for sure. Just by looking at it, it looks like trub on bottom and a yeast layer above that meaning its probably fermented. Id let it sit another 2 weeks to clean up and clear for way better taste and to make sure it doesn't ferment anymore.
Buy a hydrometer.

 

[GnarlyChick]

yeah for a gallon, three weeks should be ample time I'd think.
Welcome aboard.

Now when you say three weeks, does that mean 2 weeks fermenting and then another week in the bottle?

 

[GnarlyChick]

Without a hydrometer, you will never know for sure. Just by looking at it, it looks like trub on bottom and a yeast layer above that meaning its probably fermented. Id let it sit another 2 weeks to clean up and clear for way better taste and to make sure it doesn't ferment anymore.
Buy a hydrometer.

That makes sense. thanks for the tip. Hydrometer here i come!

 

[gcdowd]

Now when you say three weeks, does that mean 2 weeks fermenting and then another week in the bottle?

Usually three weeks primary and then three weeks in bottles is a good rule.

 

[Just1pepsi]

Yeah, three weeks in the fermenter, then i'd go no less than two weeks in the bottle, three or more is better though.

 

[CWasko]

My first batch was the same Brooklyn. Brewed it on the 26th of July. Bottled it about 2 weeks and 4 days after. Then drank the first one 2 weeks and 4 days after that. It tasted good, until the after taste. Suffers from a bad case of astringency. But, that was to be expected (after I read a whole bunch here) as I steeped the grains way too hot. Just had some more last week on Tuesday when I was bottling my 3rd batch - a wheat beer I'm making for a community Oktoberfest. The astringency is either wearing off, or I'm getting used to it. I'll try it again in about another week when I crack one of the wheats. I also did a stout in-between all this from a kit from the local home brew store. The stout rocked. Doesn't taste exactly like it should - it was supposed to be a replica of the Rouge Oatmeal Stout. But, for my second batch, I'm pretty happy with it.

I did all these batches with a good friend who live on the next street over. Been having a blast so far. Can't wait to do the 4th batch. Still trying to figure out what that is going to be.

 

[GnarlyChick]

Okay. Here is an update! We just went up with our hydrometer and tested it. It's been about 2 weeks in primary and the meter showed 1.022 which is what we found an IPA should be around. We never took an OG reading so we our just going off this one. We did a small taste test and it actually tasted pretty good. So we just bottled it from there. We are a little early but I think it will be ok. We bottled into a half a gallon growler, it is a lot less than what we were suppose to yield but we weren't expecting any(we thought we would most likely have to dumb the batch). We added about an ounce of sugar boiled down in maybe a 1/4 cup of water. I guess we'll just have to wait to see how it turns out!