Popping my cherry - Kit Pale Ale

[fireberd350]

Last week, after much research, I picked up some equipment and a kit at my LHBS. Fri was brew day. I followed instructions to the T and was a sanitization freak. Airlock started bubbling w/in 24 hours and hasn't stopped. I just popped the lid and everything appears to be OK (you tell me).


Brewer Best American Pale Ale - http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1013 2013 American Pale Ale.pdf

The OG was 1.053 and it's now 4.75 days later and at 1.018. The foam at the top (kraeusen?) is thick and looks healthy.

I'll recheck the SG tomorrow and Fri and if stabilized I'll rack the beer in my Better Bottle.

I plan on kegging this so that the next step of my learning process. This beer smells so good right now I cannot wait to drink it.

 

[vincentAlpha]

Welcome to the obsession, everything is looking good on this end. Kegging isn't difficult, just keep star-san (or soapy water) on hand to check for leaks.

 

[AnOldUR]

I secondary 90% of my beers, but I wouldn't do it with that recipe. I'd let it sit another week after gravity has stopped dropping and then keg.

That hydrometer is reading 1.012, not 1.018.


edit:
This part of your directions is total BS . . .

Brewer’s Best® recommends home brewers employ the practice of a two-stage fermentation. This will allow your finished beer to have more clarity and an overall better, purer flavor.

There are reasons to use a secondary vessel, but that's not one.

 

[brewcat]

Don't secondary it. Just keg it in a couple weeks.

 

[fireberd350]

I secondary 90% of my beers, but I wouldn't do it with that recipe. I'd let it sit another week after gravity has stopped dropping and then keg.

That hydrometer is reading 1.012, not 1.018.


edit:
This part of your directions is total BS . . .


There are reasons to use a secondary vessel, but that's not one.

The foam brings it to 1.012 but the liquid level is 1.019 by my eyes. whats the correct reading?

As for the secondary, I have the secondary ready and I'd like to start fermenting a second kit. Any harm in racking it?

Also, the kit instructions BOLDY stated not to re-hydrate the yeast, yet the yeast packaging did say to re-hydrate. I didn't but im not sure if that was wise or not.

 

[AnOldUR]

The foam brings it to 1.012 but the liquid level is 1.019 by my eyes. whats the correct reading?

Between that and temperature correction, you're probably correct.

 

[MindenMan]

I would try to minimize the amount of O2 exposure by keeping the cover on your fermenter. Also, I would wait three day before I took the next hydrometer reading. A lot of new brewers get in a hurry to get that first batch finished too soon. When I was a new brewer, I ruined at least a couple of batches by getting in a hurry and wanting to keep looking at my newest science experiment. Patience will pay off, it really will. Good luck!

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Welcome to homebrewing, your life will never be the same. +1 on all the suggestions so far. First and foremost, be patient, it will pay off later.

 

[RM-MN]

Last week, after much research, I picked up some equipment and a kit at my LHBS. Fri was brew day. I followed instructions to the T and was a sanitization freak. Airlock started bubbling w/in 24 hours and hasn't stopped. I just popped the lid and everything appears to be OK (you tell me).


Brewer Best American Pale Ale - http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1013 2013 American Pale Ale.pdf

The OG was 1.053 and it's now 4.75 days later and at 1.018. The foam at the top (kraeusen?) is thick and looks healthy.

I'll recheck the SG tomorrow and Fri and if stabilized I'll rack the beer in my Better Bottle.

I plan on kegging this so that the next step of my learning process. This beer smells so good right now I cannot wait to drink it.

I have a suggestion. Leave your beer in the fermenter bucket with the yeast that are doing a job for you instead of moving it to a second vessel that will have far less yeast to do the work. Use your Better Bottle to make a mead. Meads don't have the krausen like beer so you can use the smaller vessel for the 5 gallon batch. Meads take a long time so that will tie up your Better Bottle until the urge to secondary your beer goes away.

 

[blackdragon82]

Heya cuz!

I usually wait till the krausen is gone and the final readings are steady for a while. I like to make expectations on what I would like the final to be and hope it gets there, so that the beer has the body I want. No harm in taking sample tastes as long as you aren't doing it every day.

As for the dry yeast I never rehydrate. Just open and dump and never had a problem with it. When using wet yeasts like white labs I always put it on my stir plate for a day first.

Let me know when the keg is ready and I'll swing down for some

 

[fireberd350]

good tips so far. thx
Lots of suggestions to let it ferment in the primary bucket and not rack it at all. Im curious if there's any down side to racking it? I ask because id like to open up the bucket for another brew this weekend.

 

[stuknkrvl]

Depends on who you ask. The biggest reason for racking to secondary that I know if is if you're adding some new ingredient - fruit, oak chips, dry hops, whatever. That said, I'm told you can add all those things to the primary fermentor and get similar results. A lot of people have told me racking to secondary is outdated and unnecessary, but I think it's all personal preference. You run the risk of contamination when you change vessels, but you can minimize that risk with good sanitation.

 

[AnOldUR]

Im curious if there's any down side to racking it?

If done correctly, no. So, you have to ask yourself, do you have the skills and equipment to do it correctly?

 

[fireberd350]

If done correctly, no. So, you have to ask yourself, do you have the skills and equipment to do it correctly?

only one way to find out

my airlock stopped bubbling since I popped the lid to measure the SG. I hope i didn't contaminate it.

 

[fireberd350]

Last weekend I racked the Pale Ale. So far so good. No signs of contamination

I also brewed a Kolsch from Northern Brewer. I got some new supplies (spoon, strainer) that made brewing much easier. I also picked up 2 used corny kegs for $60/e from LHBS. I plan to Keg the Pale Ale this weekend. There's a ton of different approaches to carbing your keg. My plan is I'll set CO2 to standard dispensing pressure at 12#, give it a shake and just let it sit in my fridge for a week and then start drinking next weekend, assuming I can wait that long.

Waiting is the hardest part!! Once I get this first brew done I should be able to keep a nice flow of fermenting, racking and kegged beers.

 

[fireberd350]

One thing I wasn't sure of is what to do w/ the sludge at the bottom of the fermenting bucket. I chucked it in the woods. I've read that people re-use yeast, I guess I could leave it in there and pour the new brew on top w/o cleaning sanitizing the bucket?

 

[RM-MN]

One thing I wasn't sure of is what to do w/ the sludge at the bottom of the fermenting bucket. I chucked it in the woods. I've read that people re-use yeast, I guess I could leave it in there and pour the new brew on top w/o cleaning sanitizing the bucket?

You could just pour next wort on top of what is left and I have done so but it is a great deal more yeast than is needed or even wanted so you could pour out 3/4 of it and have about the right amount for the next batch. Some people will save the extra yeast for future batches by pouring it into small jars and refrigerating it.

 

[Biscuits]

Congrats and welcome to the obsession. All good advice in this thread...definitely skip racking to secondary. Ever since I quit doing it my beers have seemed to actually finish better.

 

[fireberd350]

You could just pour next wort on top of what is left and I have done so but it is a great deal more yeast than is needed or even wanted so you could pour out 3/4 of it and have about the right amount for the next batch. Some people will save the extra yeast for future batches by pouring it into small jars and refrigerating it.

so no need to clean or sanitize the primary? just keep on pouring over w/ a new batch? I'll assume you need your wort fully chilled before the pour over as well so as not to kill the yeast, is that accurate?

 

[RM-MN]

so no need to clean or sanitize the primary? just keep on pouring over w/ a new batch? I'll assume you need your wort fully chilled before the pour over as well so as not to kill the yeast, is that accurate?

If the beer you bottle isn't infected, your yeast isn't either so you dont need to sanitize the primary. You probably don't want to use the yeast after the second batch because you will have a lot of trub built up and way,way too much yeast. If you want to use the yeast over again, look for information on washing yeast. That will get rid of excessive amount of break proteins and hop debris. You would then divide the washed yeast into more jars so you could start a yeast bank for future brews.