Gnome
Well-Known Member
If your airlock bung keeps slipping out of the Carboy, it's wet. Wipe or dip it with vodka or a clean paper towel and put it back in.
Stone Cold Lead Pipe Lock'd N00b Advice
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Silviakitty
Well-Known Member
When you ask a question, you will get several (some seemingly contradictory) answers.
You know what? Chances are most (if not all) are right! There are many many ways to brew. Experiment.
A corollary:
When you ask for advice and someone gives it, don't argue with them.
You know what? Chances are most (if not all) are right! There are many many ways to brew. Experiment.
A corollary:
When you ask for advice and someone gives it, don't argue with them.
When filling grain and or hop bags fill them over a bowl on the table, not over the garbage can. If you spill grains then you will spill them into the bowl not the garbage.
EvilTOJ
Well-Known Member
Jesus H Roosevelt Christ what is that thing in your avatar GreenwoodRover??
Oh yea, advice. This is one hobby where procrastination pays off many times. I meant to do that at the beginning of this thread but I put it off.
Oh yea, advice. This is one hobby where procrastination pays off many times. I meant to do that at the beginning of this thread but I put it off.
An early model Dodge Caravan.
This is relaible advice for a standard beer.
1week primary
2 weeks secondary
3 weeks in bottles (70 degrees for 21 days)
If your beer has a high OG, it's not. Three weeks in primary is not going to kill your big beer. Several months in secondary is not going to kill your big beer.
Several years in bottles is not going to kill your big beer (but that doesn't mean you have to wait that long).
1week primary
2 weeks secondary
3 weeks in bottles (70 degrees for 21 days)
If your beer has a high OG, it's not. Three weeks in primary is not going to kill your big beer. Several months in secondary is not going to kill your big beer.
Several years in bottles is not going to kill your big beer (but that doesn't mean you have to wait that long).
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
Milhouse
Well-Known Member
Nice post Rev (#101), puts my mind to rest! Thanks for taking the time to put it out there!
cheezydemon
Well-Known Member
In some places, tap water tastes great and is perfectly suitable for topping off with.
In others you need to boil first.
The water here is good, so I can actually sanitize bottles in my dishwasher with just a tiny amount of dishsoap.
In others you need to boil first.
The water here is good, so I can actually sanitize bottles in my dishwasher with just a tiny amount of dishsoap.
why would you use dishsoap to sanitize??
I clean them first and then use the dishwasher on it's heat cycle (with no soap.)
+1 on the tap water MIGHT be ok...check your local water information and taste
I clean them first and then use the dishwasher on it's heat cycle (with no soap.)
+1 on the tap water MIGHT be ok...check your local water information and taste
That foamy stuff at the top of your fermemnter is krausen...not an infection. If you think it is infected taste it...thats how you can really tell.
and then let it sit for two weeks and taste it again. and then let it sit for 6 months and taste it again. if it doesn't make you cough up green or blue chunks, your beer is fine.
In beer "trouble shooting," always think "evaluation" before "action" in other words, evaluate the beer using proper tools (hydrometer, tastebuds, nose) before doing something to "fix" it (i.e. Re-Piching yeast, bottling, or dumping.)
You can't fix something unless you know it's broken...And you can't know something is wrong if you don't "listen" to your beer.
Our beer talks to us in many ways...The most obvious is through our senses. Sight, taste, smell. But that can easily be deceiving; We can misread lack of bubbles in the airlock, or not seing a krauzen as a problem, when in reality the airlock is pretty faulty piece of cheap plastic jambed into a cheap gasket and could easily leak or be askew, or the krauzen hasn't yet started or came and when between our checking on it.
We can taste a beer when it is green, and think it is infected or flawed, because things "funky", but which more than likely will be gone in decreased as the beer matures.
And can anyone say "Rhino Farts?"
(Use the search is you don't understand that reference.)
See, our senses, especially if we are new to this obsession, can be deceiving. But with experience we can use them to help listen to the beer, but that takes time to learn..
There is one other language that the beer speaks to us in, and it is pretty infallable. It is the language of "Specific Gravities," that is a beer or wine's native tongue. You'll be less "Paranoid" when you can speak the language of your beer...and the babel fish translator of specific gravity into human speak is the hydrometer...
Most new brewers think something's wrong and do something in a "panic," before evaluating truly if something is indeed wrong.
A lot of time it seems, based on the number of threads, that the main issue or fear is lack of fermentation, or "stuck fermentation."
More than likely your beer is fine and one or two things has happened, it finished early (fast fermentations do occur) or it hasn't even begun yet (remember fermentation can take up to 72 hours to begin) and nothing is wrong in either case.
Fermentations in normal beers don't get stuck unless there are a lot of fermentables present (then it wouldn't be a "normal" grav beer) or there is a major downward temp shift. But otherwise, the above scenarios have more than likely occured.
Don't ever repitch or even consider repitching before you take a hydrometer reading.
Don't ever rack if you suspect something is wrong before you take a hydrometer reading.
Don't ever bottle if you suspect something is wrong before you take a hydrometer reading.
In other words; Don't try to fix a problem unless know that there is indeed a problem, and don't assume there is a problem just because the beer isn't acting in the way you think it should be.
Often if your beer isn't ruined, your trying to fix it may actually cause it more harm than good. For example if you bottle too soon because you see white fizzy stuff on your beer (which usually are post krauzen yet still active yeast colonies) you may be setting yourself up for bottle bombs.
Remember, unlike coolaid, or inorganic chemistry, we are dealing with living microrganisms (yeasts) and like any living things (think teenagers or swmbo's) they have their own agenda, and their own timeframe...They will do the job you ask...but at their own pace.
I subscribe to the philosophy that the yeast has been doing this making beer thing since long before I was born, so they're the experts, and they rarely fail. Our job is just to provide them with a clean and sanitary temporary office to work in, and to let them have plenty of food to eat...The rest of the job should be left to them.
Yes sometimes problems occur...But it is rare. And the only way to know for sure is to listen to them in their native tongue, not yours.
Just rememer this simple motto, "evaluation" before "action" and all will be well.
You can't fix something unless you know it's broken...And you can't know something is wrong if you don't "listen" to your beer.
Our beer talks to us in many ways...The most obvious is through our senses. Sight, taste, smell. But that can easily be deceiving; We can misread lack of bubbles in the airlock, or not seing a krauzen as a problem, when in reality the airlock is pretty faulty piece of cheap plastic jambed into a cheap gasket and could easily leak or be askew, or the krauzen hasn't yet started or came and when between our checking on it.
We can taste a beer when it is green, and think it is infected or flawed, because things "funky", but which more than likely will be gone in decreased as the beer matures.
And can anyone say "Rhino Farts?"
(Use the search is you don't understand that reference.)See, our senses, especially if we are new to this obsession, can be deceiving. But with experience we can use them to help listen to the beer, but that takes time to learn..
There is one other language that the beer speaks to us in, and it is pretty infallable. It is the language of "Specific Gravities," that is a beer or wine's native tongue. You'll be less "Paranoid" when you can speak the language of your beer...and the babel fish translator of specific gravity into human speak is the hydrometer...
Most new brewers think something's wrong and do something in a "panic," before evaluating truly if something is indeed wrong.
A lot of time it seems, based on the number of threads, that the main issue or fear is lack of fermentation, or "stuck fermentation."
More than likely your beer is fine and one or two things has happened, it finished early (fast fermentations do occur) or it hasn't even begun yet (remember fermentation can take up to 72 hours to begin) and nothing is wrong in either case.
Fermentations in normal beers don't get stuck unless there are a lot of fermentables present (then it wouldn't be a "normal" grav beer) or there is a major downward temp shift. But otherwise, the above scenarios have more than likely occured.
Don't ever repitch or even consider repitching before you take a hydrometer reading.
Don't ever rack if you suspect something is wrong before you take a hydrometer reading.
Don't ever bottle if you suspect something is wrong before you take a hydrometer reading.
In other words; Don't try to fix a problem unless know that there is indeed a problem, and don't assume there is a problem just because the beer isn't acting in the way you think it should be.
Often if your beer isn't ruined, your trying to fix it may actually cause it more harm than good. For example if you bottle too soon because you see white fizzy stuff on your beer (which usually are post krauzen yet still active yeast colonies) you may be setting yourself up for bottle bombs.
Remember, unlike coolaid, or inorganic chemistry, we are dealing with living microrganisms (yeasts) and like any living things (think teenagers or swmbo's) they have their own agenda, and their own timeframe...They will do the job you ask...but at their own pace.
I subscribe to the philosophy that the yeast has been doing this making beer thing since long before I was born, so they're the experts, and they rarely fail. Our job is just to provide them with a clean and sanitary temporary office to work in, and to let them have plenty of food to eat...The rest of the job should be left to them.
Yes sometimes problems occur...But it is rare. And the only way to know for sure is to listen to them in their native tongue, not yours.
Just rememer this simple motto, "evaluation" before "action" and all will be well.
MashStirBrew
Well-Known Member
Cheap Vodka works great in your airlock.
FlyGuy
Well-Known Member
LOL. Welcome!
Nightbiker
Well-Known Member
It has been mentioned that fermentation does not occur in the 'secondary'. If you believe your primary has finished (no bubbles/activity) and you've let it sit for days with no activity, and rack to the 'secondary' -sometimes fermentation will not truly have finished, but became 'stuck', and you will see activity in the secondary. Don't sweat it. Give it a week. I had this happen on my second or third batch, and it really made me upset (I figured I'd managed to get an infection colonizing and undoing the excellent work my 'authorized' yeast had started.
But I figured I had nothing to lose, and once things had stopped and settled, I tasted the finished product (not bad) and bottled it. I had some pretty fine beer a few weeks later.
But I figured I had nothing to lose, and once things had stopped and settled, I tasted the finished product (not bad) and bottled it. I had some pretty fine beer a few weeks later.
JamesKY
Well-Known Member
Purchasing a copy of Beersmith will be the best $21.95 you ever spent on home brewing equipment. You can even try it free for 21 days!
Ways that Beersmith makes home brewing easier and more fun:
*Edit*
You can also check out QBrew. It's free but doesn't have as many features as Beersmith.
*Edit 2*
Regarding some of the comments about Beersmith being too advanced for a beginner. I agree that most of Beersmith's features are beyond the level of a beginner but since it's free to try, you may as well download it and play with it for a bit. If you're serious about brewing as a hobby, it won't hurt to start familiarizing yourself with it early.
Ways that Beersmith makes home brewing easier and more fun:
- Hydrometer Adjustment Tool
- Easy to Formulate Your Own Recipes
- Keeps a Record of Your Brewing History
- Automatically Generates Brew Sheet Instructions
- Comprehensive Lists of Beer Styles and Ingredients
*Edit*
You can also check out QBrew. It's free but doesn't have as many features as Beersmith.
*Edit 2*
Regarding some of the comments about Beersmith being too advanced for a beginner. I agree that most of Beersmith's features are beyond the level of a beginner but since it's free to try, you may as well download it and play with it for a bit. If you're serious about brewing as a hobby, it won't hurt to start familiarizing yourself with it early.
Nightbiker
Well-Known Member
I agree that Beersmith is an excellent program -but I'd say its a little beyond the scope of the new brewer. I've never tried QBrew (though I will check that one out just out of curiosity. I love Beersmith, and am looking forward to trying my first full-grain recipe from it -once I finish rebuilding my brewery).
Beersmith DOES have the ability to convert grain recipes into extract recipes and would be a nice move once the new brewer gets tired of packaged kit recipes.
Beersmith DOES have the ability to convert grain recipes into extract recipes and would be a nice move once the new brewer gets tired of packaged kit recipes.
A good free introductory online brewing calculator is Beer Calculus . homebrew recipe calculator I learned so much about homebrewing and recipe creation simply from playing with it....I've switched to beersmith subsequently, but for the new brewer, beercalculus is a piece of cake to use....
Joe Camel
Well-Known Member
Take notes.
At every stage of the process, especially if you are just starting out, take notes on everything you can, gravity, volume, temperature, time, etc, because if you make an excellent beer, you'll need this info to make it again. If you make a horrible beer, or something goes wrong, the experts you're looking to for help will be able to answer your questions better if you can provide more data.
Look around for a good brewing sheet template and fill it in as you go.
At every stage of the process, especially if you are just starting out, take notes on everything you can, gravity, volume, temperature, time, etc, because if you make an excellent beer, you'll need this info to make it again. If you make a horrible beer, or something goes wrong, the experts you're looking to for help will be able to answer your questions better if you can provide more data.
Look around for a good brewing sheet template and fill it in as you go.
schneemann
Well-Known Member
Not sure if this is the right thread for this, but it seems to be.
TURN OFF THE HEAT when adding LME.
As I mentioned in this thread, if you dump LME into your pot it will sink to the bottom and burn. I am drinking this batch right now and I AM able to taste the burnt LME.
TURN OFF THE HEAT when adding LME.
As I mentioned in this thread, if you dump LME into your pot it will sink to the bottom and burn. I am drinking this batch right now and I AM able to taste the burnt LME.
goplayoutside
Well-Known Member
If you are doing a primary in a plastic bucket and there are no bubbles in your airlock, there is probably some co2 leaking either around the lid or around the airlock gasket. That's okay, leave everything alone. Check your gravity after a week in the primary using your HYDROMETER. Assuming you checked your gravity before you fermented, you should now see that everything was fine because your gravity dropped.
JorgeIsKing
Well-Known Member
If you use a Wort Chiller, ALWAYS tighten the hose clamps before starting to use it to make sure they dont leak and drip into your wort.
When (not if) you break your first hydrometer:
a) Don't worry, the pieces will sink into the trub and the beer won't be ruined. Next time, don't get the hydrometer near the fermenter.
b) Save the paper 'yardstick' from inside. Put it into your notebook. Very useful for converting SG to balling or potential alcohol.
a) Don't worry, the pieces will sink into the trub and the beer won't be ruined. Next time, don't get the hydrometer near the fermenter.
b) Save the paper 'yardstick' from inside. Put it into your notebook. Very useful for converting SG to balling or potential alcohol.
Bach7210
Well-Known Member
Oxygen before fermentation = Good
Oxygen after fermentation = Bad
Oxygen after fermentation = Bad
Even if you hit 1000 posts, take the time to come back and re-read this thread, you will be surprised what you "re-learn".
ghack
Well-Known Member
To understand what makes a good beer, and how to make your own, all the recipes, books and web information out there cannot replace actually seeing, smelling and tasting the different ingredients that go into it.
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