I pitched a packet of rehydrated Nottingham into my first all grain bath last night at 10. When I got home from work today I went straight to the room to check on the fermentor. As soon as I walked in, I said "it smells like a brewery went to happy hour!" I love the first day of a new batch's fermentation.
Sweet fermentation
- Thread starter asidrane
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Hex
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I love the smell of HOMEBREW in the morning!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBksHaTQCbU]Apocalypse Now Homebrew Smell =Victory - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBksHaTQCbU]Apocalypse Now Homebrew Smell =Victory - YouTube[/ame]
This morning, I happily went to check the fermentor and the air lock activity is done. It fermented so hard yesterday and through the night. I can't wait to take a gravity reading and see what I'm down to. My starting gravity was 1.074 
70Cuda383
Well-Known Member
This morning, I happily went to check the fermentor and the air lock activity is done. It fermented so hard yesterday and through the night. I can't wait to take a gravity reading and see what I'm down to. My starting gravity was 1.074
yes, NOTHING smells better than the CO2 venting off a bubbling carboy!
Hex
Well-Known Member
Resist temptation and leave it alone for a couple of weeks, it's not going to be finished before then. Keep it at a constant temperature, and in the dark--the less you mess with it, the better the final beer will be...
Yeah, I'm not going to check anything until it has been at least a week. That being said, the temp on the bucket was 77, so I'm pretty sure the yeast ripped right through it and are more or less finishing up now.
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Hex
Well-Known Member
That's temperature is high, I usually start Nottingham around 64 and raise to 68 over three days or so.
Even though you may think the yeast are finished, and you take a gravity reading that is near your predicted FG, the yeast will be cleaning up after themselves. I don't know all the specific byproducts of fermentation, but ethanol is not the only one. Let it set for a couple of weeks, and it should be ready to bottle at that temperature.
You may want to consider a water bath fermentation chamber for your next brew. Get a muck bucket that your brew bucket (no spigot) fits in, and surround the space between with water. From there you can freeze one liter water bottles, and put them in the water to bring the temperature down. You'll like the results.
Even though you may think the yeast are finished, and you take a gravity reading that is near your predicted FG, the yeast will be cleaning up after themselves. I don't know all the specific byproducts of fermentation, but ethanol is not the only one. Let it set for a couple of weeks, and it should be ready to bottle at that temperature.
You may want to consider a water bath fermentation chamber for your next brew. Get a muck bucket that your brew bucket (no spigot) fits in, and surround the space between with water. From there you can freeze one liter water bottles, and put them in the water to bring the temperature down. You'll like the results.
Yeah, this definitely fermented hotter than I would like, but I'm not too worried. The first time I made this recipe (see my recipe drop down) it also fermented out at a high temp, but the final product was delicious. I think nottingham tends to be pretty forgiving in terms of esters and whatnot.
70Cuda383
Well-Known Member
only a week? I like to let my beers sit in the carboy for 4 weeks minimum before I bottle.
having 2 carboys helps though, I can bottle a new batch every 2 weeks...on average. some brews take longer. like the honey wheat I just did. 6 lbs pale, 6 lbs wheat, 1 lb biscuit, 2 lbs honey. the honey takes forever to ferment out, so it took about 3 weeks of slow steady fermentation, and I let it sit another 3 weeks before bottling. between the honey wheat taking forever, and my first all grain batch having HORRIBLE efficiency, I've been out of "good" beer for a week and a half now. (first all grain ended up at only 1.030 instead of 1.050, and it tastes like water to me.
having 2 carboys helps though, I can bottle a new batch every 2 weeks...on average. some brews take longer. like the honey wheat I just did. 6 lbs pale, 6 lbs wheat, 1 lb biscuit, 2 lbs honey. the honey takes forever to ferment out, so it took about 3 weeks of slow steady fermentation, and I let it sit another 3 weeks before bottling. between the honey wheat taking forever, and my first all grain batch having HORRIBLE efficiency, I've been out of "good" beer for a week and a half now. (first all grain ended up at only 1.030 instead of 1.050, and it tastes like water to me.
I normally go about three weeks before I even sample a brew, but I'm trying to give this to my broth-in-law for his birthday on 1/1. So, with that in mind, after a week, I'm going to check the gravity and if it seems to be down near my FG, I will dry hop it. The recipe calls for an ounce of centennial, but I have an ounce of cascade in the fridge, so I need to decide what I'll use.
I took a sample yesterday, two weeks after I pitched the yeast. The gravity reading was 1.014 down from the OG of 1.074 7.75%. The sample tasted so good too.
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