New to Homebrew!!

[rutheyrocks]

Hello!!! I'm new to home brewing and this community... j

I got a little excited and was totally bitten by the beer brewing bug after my first batch of IPA turned out brilliantly (it was a kit!). I think a bit of false confidence got to me, so I decided to go kit free and am now attempting to make lager, not realising how technical it was until I started!!

Are there any lager makers who didn't quite get things right during the process but still turned out with a passable product? If so, I'd love to hear from you! I've realised I've made quite a few mistakes already and it hasn't started fermenting yet!!!!

Cheers,

Ruth

 

[rutheyrocks]

PS... I'm using Bohemia lager yeast.. some light malt extract (using grain was too much of a faff in my small kitchen!) and Boadicea, First Gold and Mandarina hops... trying to achieve a lager with some marmalade-spicy-mandarin aromas... this probably reads like a recipe for disaster to most on this forum!!

 

[Surly]

Welcome to the community of brewing. Your enthusiasm is appreciated. I do not brew lagers so may not be able to advise. If you followed standard brewing practices with sanitation and you followed the directions fairly well you will have beer. Good beer.

There are a few different approaches offered to new brewers as they begin to learn. Mine is to begin brewing ales. And, I recommend starting with darker ales rather than IPA's. With darker ales the characters inherent may hide any off flavors. Once processes and procedures are established and you get your brewery, "dialed" in begin to expand the style of beer you brew.

We want new brewers to be as successful as possible. Especially when they first begin. We would rather not hear of people leaving the hobby because of an early brew off flavor. LOL, I would have left long ago.

Again, welcome to this rewarding past time.

 

[JohnSand]

Welcome aboard Ruth!
Your excitement is understandable. I think we all feel that enthusiasm and desire to expand and improve our brewing.
I've been making lagers for a couple of years, and still they are not quite what I'm aiming for. That said, they are mostly quite drinkable. If you don't have temperature control for your ferment, read the Warm Fermented Lagers thread. Don't worry, you'll still make beer, and learn from any mistakes. I suggest sticking to proven recipes at first. the book Brewing Classic Styles is a great source. Read our recipe section too. I look for recipes with plenty of positive responses.
Study and practice will yield great beer.
Keep us posted.

 

[ncbrewer]

If you don't have temperature control for your ferment, read the Warm Fermented Lagers thread.

Here is the link: Warm Fermented Lager Thread

 

[rutheyrocks]

Hey Surley, John and NCBrewer!! Thanks for the warm welcome and the tips!!!

I think I need to try that book and also the thread you mention... and to get some new yeasts!!

Also.. I think I might have messed up when I made my wort from DME... I calculated 570g to make a 5 litre batch... but then when I measured the wort with my hydrometer so I could measure the OG, I didn't understand the reading... thinking the wort was too weak, I added more DME... then got a super high reading. Resorted to a calculator on line which told me I had something similar to wine, in terms of sugar concentration, so I diluted it right down (reboiled of course)... what a mess! I got my reading down to 10% Brix ( I think!!) which is supposed to convert to an OG of 1.040, but now, my beer isn't fermenting, and I fear I've read my hydrometer incorrectly! I'm such a flipping novice!!! Can anyone tell me how to use these prism type hydrometers? I have an ATC one and it just has a %scale of 0-80%... not completely sure how I convert that to OG...

Appreciate any advice here!! Maybe I need to chuck my 'beer' away and start again!!

 

[Beer Viking]

I prefer lagers and I am learning new stuff everyday on here. I'm still getting all of my stuff together for an all grain batch. You can find answers to any brew related question on here!

 

[JohnSand]

I'm not familiar with a prism type hydrometer. Is it a refractometer? I haven't used one.
Don't be too quick to dump a batch. Everyone gets nervous that they've ruined one. Sometimes time will mend them.

 

[Surly]

At the end of the day, if you haven't brewed an awful beer, you just haven't brewed long enough. There will be some bad ones here and there, and those are learning moments. Good beer is built on the foundation of bad and so-so and not bad beer. Central Europe didn't get good at it overnight and neither will you.

Luckily the internet exists so a lot of the trial and error can be bypassed. The rest of the "error" is just getting some character along the way

Hey Surley, John and NCBrewer!! Thanks for the warm welcome and the tips!!!

I think I need to try that book and also the thread you mention... and to get some new yeasts!!

Also.. I think I might have messed up when I made my wort from DME... I calculated 570g to make a 5 litre batch... but then when I measured the wort with my hydrometer so I could measure the OG, I didn't understand the reading... thinking the wort was too weak, I added more DME... then got a super high reading. Resorted to a calculator on line which told me I had something similar to wine, in terms of sugar concentration, so I diluted it right down (reboiled of course)... what a mess! I got my reading down to 10% Brix ( I think!!) which is supposed to convert to an OG of 1.040, but now, my beer isn't fermenting, and I fear I've read my hydrometer incorrectly! I'm such a flipping novice!!! Can anyone tell me how to use these prism type hydrometers? I have an ATC one and it just has a %scale of 0-80%... not completely sure how I convert that to OG...

Appreciate any advice here!! Maybe I need to chuck my 'beer' away and start again!!

Don't dump the beer. Get more carboys.

Looks to me like you have the research skills and the capacity to problem solve. Now, all you need is more brewing time.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Welcome to the forum and hobby Ruth. I use a refractometer it’s great with small batches as you only need a drop instead of several ounce. You only need a drop on the glass too much spoils the view look at a light source and turn the black eye piece to focus there should be a sharp division showing blue and white that line is your reading. I suppose you have read all this already in the directions.

It’s also nice to welcome another woman brewer. There are a few of us around. We all have made mistakes just keep working at it, learning and brewing.

 

[rutheyrocks]

Hey Hoppy!! Lovely to meet a fellow woman brewer too!! Yes, I love the refractometer.. well.. I just need to learn how to translate the scale into a gravity reading, then I'll be super happy with it. Some come with a gravity scale but mine doesn't, and I'm getting super confused!! For some reason even google isn't helping me on this!!

 

[rutheyrocks]

I'm not familiar with a prism type hydrometer. Is it a refractometer? I haven't used one.
Don't be too quick to dump a batch. Everyone gets nervous that they've ruined one. Sometimes time will mend them.

Yes, sorry it's a refractometer... not a hydrometer!! I think perhaps attempting lager was running before I could walk... a classic case of 'All the gear, no idea'!!! lol!!

Thanks for the positive encouragement... perhaps I'll hang on a little while longer. I do think my wort might have been way too diluted, but we'll see. 24 hours and no activity.. not even a tiny bubble!!

 

[eric19312]

Welcome to the hobby Ruth. I mostly brew ales but have gotten a lager bug recently myself.

One question when you diluted and reboiled was the yeast already pitched? Yeast will not survive boiling. If so you will need more yeast.

That prism type hydrometer is a refractometer and I use one too. Be warned the reading will not be right after fermentation starts and there is alcohol in the beer, unless you use a special adjusting calculator. I use the one in Beersmith but this free online one looks similar:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/
For brew day, before there is any yeast/alcohol in the wort you use Part 1. I think you can disregard the wort correction factor for now. Your 10 brix reading does work out to specific gravity 1.040 as you calculated above.

But once yeast starts to work you need to use Part 2. Enter your original gravity (1.040 or 10 Brix from Part 1) and your new brix reading...for example say your done at a reading of 5.2...and now you will see your final gravity is 1.009 and ABV is 4.17%. A lot of new brewers put that 5.2 reading back into Part 1 of the calculator and wonder why their fermentation got stuck at 1.020...

 

[rutheyrocks]

Welcome to the hobby Ruth. I mostly brew ales but have gotten a lager bug recently myself.

One question when you diluted and reboiled was the yeast already pitched? Yeast will not survive boiling. If so you will need more yeast.

That prism type hydrometer is a refractometer and I use one too. Be warned the reading will not be right after fermentation starts and there is alcohol in the beer, unless you use a special adjusting calculator. I use the one in Beersmith but this free online one looks similar:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/
For brew day, before there is any yeast/alcohol in the wort you use Part 1. I think you can disregard the wort correction factor for now. Your 10 brix reading does work out to specific gravity 1.040 as you calculated above.

But once yeast starts to work you need to use Part 2. Enter your original gravity (1.040 or 10 Brix from Part 1) and your new brix reading...for example say your done at a reading of 5.2...and now you will see your final gravity is 1.009 and ABV is 4.17%. A lot of new brewers put that 5.2 reading back into Part 1 of the calculator and wonder why their fermentation got stuck at 1.020...

Yes!! This is the tool I've been using!! Thank you Eric!!

Hopefully.. maybe... I haven't completely messed this up!! Literally, just before seeing your post, I read that I might be missing a wort correction factor, but I'm hoping that won't make too big a difference. Thank you so much for the tips re part 2 0 I shall take this on board!!

Thankfully I didn't pitch the yeast before I reboiled, and I added some more hops, so I didn't lose too much flavour but it took *forever* to cool the wort down to the 10 degrees I needed it to be at, so I could pitch the yeast.. and then I introduced a *lot* of air when I moved the wort into the carboy, which I later learnt can apparently result in off-flavours. So I think my sins were the long cooling time (potential contamination) and introducing too much oxygen. I guess this is all part of the learning process though.. I need to remember that!

I think I'll probs go back to IPAs after my lager attempt... more instantly gratifying!!

Really appreciate you all for reading my posts and responding!!! Amazing community!!

 

[rutheyrocks]

The strange thing is... this calculator told me I needed mix 571g of Dry Malt Extract with 5 litres of water to achieve a 1.040 OG wort.. but when I tested the resultant wort, my refractometer gave me a reading of 35% Brix. Thats when I started to get in a muddle about how to use the refractometer... hmmm...

 

[eric19312]

The strange thing is... this calculator told me I needed mix 571g of Dry Malt Extract with 5 litres of water to achieve a 1.040 OG wort.. but when I tested the resultant wort, my refractometer gave me a reading of 35% Brix. Thats when I started to get in a muddle about how to use the refractometer... hmmm...

Use this calculator to calculate how much DME/LME to use
https://www.brewersfriend.com/extract-ogfg/
And don't worry about introducing air at the beginning of fermentation. It is common practice to splash wort intentionally going into the fermentor, or aerate it with a pump or pure oxygen tank or by beating it with a wire whisk. Yeast likes some oxygen at the very beginning of fermentation and will use what you give it very quickly to make building blocks for reproduction. After fermentation is almost done and yeast activity slows you do want to be careful about exposing to oxygen.

 

[rutheyrocks]

Use this calculator to calculate how much DME/LME to use
https://www.brewersfriend.com/extract-ogfg/
And don't worry about introducing air at the beginning of fermentation. It is common practice to splash wort intentionally going into the fermentor, or aerate it with a pump or pure oxygen tank or by beating it with a wire whisk. Yeast likes some oxygen at the very beginning of fermentation and will use what you give it very quickly to make building blocks for reproduction. After fermentation is almost done and yeast activity slows you do want to be careful about exposing to oxygen.

You have been ridiculously helpful!!! Thank you Eric!!! I have been going down a google wormhole for hours trying to find answers and you've answered all my questions and alleviated all my concerns in seconds!!! Phew!!!

 

[rutheyrocks]

Use this calculator to calculate how much DME/LME to use
https://www.brewersfriend.com/extract-ogfg/

Well this is so strange - it gives me similar results - i.e. 570g of DME should result in an OG of around 1.040. So maybe my refractometer is off somehow, and my wort is now over diluted? My original brix reading using the 570g with 5 litres came out at 35%. I then diluted significantly it to get a reading of 10%.

I did calibrate the refractometer with distilled water, and I kept doing so (i.e. getting a 0% reading with pure water) because I wasn't sure what was going on...

The plot thickens..

 

[rutheyrocks]

wish I'd ignored that flipping reading now!! lol! Not sure how I can make beer out of something so potentially dilute.... poor yeast will starve!!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Well this is so strange - it gives me similar results - i.e. 570g of DME should result in an OG of around 1.040. So maybe my refractometer is off somehow, and my wort is now over diluted? My original brix reading using the 570g with 5 litres came out at 35%. I then diluted significantly it to get a reading of 10%.

I did calibrate the refractometer with distilled water, and I kept doing so (i.e. getting a 0% reading with pure water) because I wasn't sure what was going on...

The plot thickens..

The refractometer I have needs to be calibrated with distilled water and ther should be a tiny screw driver to adjust it.

 

[eric19312]

wish I'd ignored that flipping reading now!! lol! Not sure how I can make beer out of something so potentially dilute.... poor yeast will starve!!

Pretty sure it is going to be fine. So how big is the batch now? And how much and what kind of yeast did you pitch? Lager yeasts especially fermented at lager yeast temps can take a few days to get going. Really no need to worry yet. Best thing you can do is leave it alone, let the magic happen, and start working on a plan for batch #2. Don't wait for batch #1 to finish...it is going to take some time. It will be easier to wait if you are busy getting another batch in the works.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

Welcome to the addiction! It can be scary when a batch isn't progressing like you thought or assumed from previous batches, Lager yeast need double at a minimum yeast versus ale yeast, due to fermentation temperatures and their fermentation characteristics. Lagers are typically slooooow to take off, but will get rolling after a couple days. This is why some homebrewers pitch at the top(or just above) of the temp range of the yeast they're using and then slowly drop temperature Not to throw another link at you, but I use this. It helps with starters and getting my pitching rates(don't stress about that yet) and what not correct. So give us the run-down on the batch, what is the volume of the batch, what was your grain bill, hops and yeast choice? I have a number of brews under my belt, but am still very much new to the game as I haven't felt like attempting lagers yet. I've helped brew and ferment them, but never done one myself. Also, make sure your refractometer is calibrated properly in order for it to be accurate. Super stoked to hear how it's progressing!

 

[Mont]

Hey Ruth, I'd say welcome to the forum, but I'm a newb here too, just joined today as well.

What most likely happened with your original measurement was that the wort had stratified while cooling and your sample was diluted. I like to pull a sample for my refractometer right after I kill the boil while the wort is the same temperature and well mixed.

 

[HectorJ]

The only advice I can offer

wish I'd ignored that flipping reading now!! lol! Not sure how I can make beer out of something so potentially dilute.... poor yeast will starve!!

Welcome to brewing and to the forum!

Education is the key to brewing beer well. Unfortunately, I can only recommend you continue reading. And this university level book is the only one you should buy: Technology Brewing and Malting (6th) | VLB Berlin


Only joking! John Palmer's website can give you a very good overview on brewing with extract (and for free!): Welcome to How to Brew - How to Brew
He also has a book which is a nice read.

If you want a more fun/no stress approach, try The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian. I think it is in it's 4th edition now. It can be found on Amazon for not a lot of money.

 

[rutheyrocks]

Hi everyone!!!!

I'll respond to everyone's lovely posts soon... but I think I've solved the problem..

I have done some research I have seen some reviews on the ATC refractometer saying that they inflate the readings by a factor of 3!! Which tallies perfectly... I made what should have been a 1.040 wort, which measured 32% Brix on my refractometer. So I diluted the wort to 10% Brix (to give me an OG of 1.040) but what I most likely have is a wort with a Brix level in the order of 3% (1.0129 OG) which will give me an alcohol content of 1.5% ABV!!!

I don't think I'll wait lager timescales to see if this works out... I'd like my carboys back to do this properly!!

My fault for buying from Amazon, the evil corporation! Everything else I've bought has been from a local home brew shop thankfully!!

Lesson learnt!!

 

[rutheyrocks]

Hey Ruth, I'd say welcome to the forum, but I'm a newb here too, just joined today as well.

What most likely happened with your original measurement was that the wort had stratified while cooling and your sample was diluted. I like to pull a sample for my refractometer right after I kill the boil while the wort is the same temperature and well mixed.

Hello fellow newbie!!

I did give it a good stir actually.. for that reason... appreciate the support in trying to untangle this mystery, which seems to be down to faulty equipment!!! What are you brewing at the moment?

 

[rutheyrocks]

The only advice I can offer


Welcome to brewing and to the forum!

Education is the key to brewing beer well. Unfortunately, I can only recommend you continue reading. And this university level book is the only one your should buy: Technology Brewing and Malting (6th) | VLB Berlin


Only joking! John Palmer's website can give you a very good overview on brewing with extract (and for free!): Welcome to How to Brew - How to Brew
He also has a book which is a nice read.

If you want a more fun/no stress approach, try The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian. I think it is in it's 4th edition now. It can be found on Amazon for not a lot of money.

haha! Thank you for the super helpful recommendations... funny you mention the first book... my mind is already turning to 'how on earth do they do this on an industrial scale, or even a microbrewery scale?'

 

[rutheyrocks]

Welcome to the addiction! It can be scary when a batch isn't progressing like you thought or assumed from previous batches, Lager yeast need double at a minimum yeast versus ale yeast, due to fermentation temperatures and their fermentation characteristics. Lagers are typically slooooow to take off, but will get rolling after a couple days. This is why some homebrewers pitch at the top(or just above) of the temp range of the yeast they're using and then slowly drop temperature Not to throw another link at you, but I use this. It helps with starters and getting my pitching rates(don't stress about that yet) and what not correct. So give us the run-down on the batch, what is the volume of the batch, what was your grain bill, hops and yeast choice? I have a number of brews under my belt, but am still very much new to the game as I haven't felt like attempting lagers yet. I've helped brew and ferment them, but never done one myself. Also, make sure your refractometer is calibrated properly in order for it to be accurate. Super stoked to hear how it's progressing!

Hey!! Thank you for the link... the more the merrier!!! Some great advice around getting fermentation started! Thank you! Stupidly, I was only one successful home brew in, of a tiny 1 gallon batch of IPA. I'm a huge lager fan, so just thought it would be a case of different ingredients, not such a wildly different process.. I only realised this as I started! Temp control has been easy because it's nice and cold and I'm only doing a small batch (2 gallons) but my problem has been down to faulty equipment.. I put too much trust in my refractometer sadly (which I calibrated with distilled water) But mistakes, I'm realising, are what make us better.. so I'm going to take it on the chin!! haha!

I haven't used grain this time - just a Barley DME, because I'm a little bit lazy and want to focus on hops and yeast and process.. however, what I notice is that the wort was a little characterless.. it lacked warmth (in it's scent, if that makes sense?) so I might even switch to partial mash... I bought lager yeasts (Bohemia and Bavaria) and I bought myself some First Gold, Boadicea and Mandarina hops... I seem to lean towards orangey/spicy flavours... !! I was hoping to create a lager with some caramel, orangey, spicy aromas! I'm not even sure if this is a thing in the world of lager... so I'm just following my heart on this! I'm terrible at following recipes.. I like to bend the rules a bit where possible!! But I appreciate yeast and temperatures are not to be messed with!!

What have your successes been?

 

[rutheyrocks]

Pretty sure it is going to be fine. So how big is the batch now? And how much and what kind of yeast did you pitch? Lager yeasts especially fermented at lager yeast temps can take a few days to get going. Really no need to worry yet. Best thing you can do is leave it alone, let the magic happen, and start working on a plan for batch #2. Don't wait for batch #1 to finish...it is going to take some time. It will be easier to wait if you are busy getting another batch in the works.

haha! I think after I realised there was a problem with my refractometer and I now seem to be attempting to brew a 1.5% ABV lager, I might accept defeat and start again

 

[Nokie]

haha! I think after I realised there was a problem with my refractometer and I am now seem to be attempting to brew a 1.5% ABV lager, I might accept defeat and start again

Welcome along. Sounds like you’re on a good start.
I wouldn’t give up on your lager yet. It may not have the ABV you’re looking for. But I bet it’ll still turn out good. Plus it’ll give ya some practice in the lagering process