Talk me down Fellas

[Farmer]

I'm 4 days into my first brew and I don't know how much more I can take. The pressure is getting to me.

5 gallons seemed like alot, but after 4 days of looking at it and getting a stray waft every so often, I just don't know.

Anyway, I'm starting small and slow. I got a no-brew kit from the LHBS. I figure I'll keep adding complexity until I find a spot I'm comfortable with. I doubt I'll ever grow my own barley. The next brew will be a malt extract that requires brewing.

I may have kept it too simple. I didn't take an OG reading. The plan, if I can stand it, is to wait a full 2 weeks in primary and then bottle. I'll take FG readings on the last 2 days to check for fermentation. But all that I've read indicates that 2 weeks is pretty safe.

My first recipe is a True Brew Pale Ale (no brew extract). I made a yeast starter rather than sprinkling the dry yeast on top. After 12 hours I thought it was going to blow the airlock off the bucket. Luckily I had read somewhere that a spare bathtub was a good place to sit your fermation bucket. I came home to krausen all over the top and running down the side of the bucket. It smelled delicious... lol
So, I put in a blowoff tube for the second 24 hours. Then I replaced the airlock. I'm coming up on 48 hours and I'm down to a few bubbles a minute.

Tomorrow will be a stop at the grocery store for a turkey baster. You know, to take a gravity reading. Maybe I'll get a big turkey baster!

Just glad I found this site. Its always nice to see so much knowledge in one place. Its even nicer that the community seems to be outspoken but not offensive. Its almost as if the brewing community here has decided that having more than one opinion is a good idea.

Guess this is my intro post, nice meeting you all. Here's to many happy years of brewing.

Farmer

 

[malkore]

glad to have you here.

good brewing takes 3 skills: creativity (in the recipe), science (for teh actual brewing process) and patience (no great beer is rushed).

waiting for one brew is why most of us have brew after brew after brew going all the time...and then we have to find time to drink it!

 

[JustDave]

Welcome! The first one is the hardest to wait for, but after that it gets a lot easier. And don't be afraid to drink your hydrometer sample ...

 

[kaptain_karma]

Patience gets easier once you're dedicated to have multiple batches going. That way there's always something beery to do, and you always have homebrew to drink while doing it.

 

[Farmer]

And don't be afraid to drink your hydrometer sample ...

Exactly why I was thinking I would look for a BIG turkey baster, lol.

 

[html034]

Yeah, get yourself a few more fermenters and keep them full.

 

[Dr_Deathweed]

It gets MUCH easier to wait when you have a stockpile built up

 

[Zymurgrafi]

What are we talking you down from egg-sactly? Drinking straight out of the carboy before it is done per chance? If so, don't do it! :cross:

Welcome aboard and yes, get brewing another batch... NOW! It will be worth it.


Oh, and by the way. You might want to be aware their are many fine lady brewers here as well, not just us fellas.

 

[Farmer]

Good point about the ladies. Wonder if its too late to change my subject line...

And yes, its in reference to drinking the beer as is, lol. Its only day 4. Is it suppose to smell so yummy?

I've drank alot of micro brews when I was in Europe, but this will be my first home brew. That's pretty neat that my first home brew was brewed by me. Ha, I hadn't though about that!!

 

[Slappy White]

Welcome! The first one is the hardest to wait for, but after that it gets a lot easier. And don't be afraid to drink your hydrometer sample ...

How does that taste? Hadnt actually thought of doing that.
BTW Welcome...Im a rook too...im already hooked

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Is it suppose to smell so yummy?

Well, depends on who you ask. Most hear would say yes! Fermenting beer smells wonderful! But mature beer tastes even better!

 

[dibby33]

I figure I'll keep adding complexity until I find a spot I'm comfortable with. I doubt I'll ever grow my own barley.

Farmer

Good to have a limit!! lmao.

Welcome. You are hooked already by the sounds of it. Now buy more barrels / fermenters and brew more, then more, then more....

 

[Farmer]

Hmmm, saw a BeastI and BeastII in your sig block. I may have to look up that one.

 

[Eves]

How does that taste? Hadnt actually thought of doing that.
BTW Welcome...Im a rook too...im already hooked

The sample tastes just like flat beer (to me anyway). Having not been carbonated, possibly not fermented, and not clarified yet the sample is just a hint of what you can expect. So far it just makes me more anxious for the finished product.

 

[Shaggy]

Just glad I found this site. Its always nice to see so much knowledge in one place. Its even nicer that the community seems to be outspoken but not offensive. Its almost as if the brewing community here has decided that having more than one opinion is a good idea.

Agreed!

The sample tastes just like flat beer (to me anyway). Having not been carbonated, possibly not fermented, and not clarified yet the sample is just a hint of what you can expect. So far it just makes me more anxious for the finished product.

I tasted all my samples so far and some were worth drinking the whole sample for sure.

 

[Farmer]

After further reading, I should probably correct my first post. I didn't make a yeast starter with my dry yeast. I "rehydrated" my yeast in previously boiled but currently 100 degree water. Is that recommended? The extract instructions told me to pitch the dry yeast directly on top of the extract. However my book mentioned pitching the yeast in warm water first for 20 mins. Any thoughts?

 

[mrk305]

Hydrating the yeast is recomended for dry yeast. Good first post. Welcome to HBT.

 

[Moonshae]

After further reading, I should probably correct my first post. I didn't make a yeast starter with my dry yeast. I "rehydrated" my yeast in previously boiled but currently 100 degree water. Is that recommended? The extract instructions told me to pitch the dry yeast directly on top of the extract. However my book mentioned pitching the yeast in warm water first for 20 mins. Any thoughts?

Following the directions on the yeast packet is generally better than what a book recommends. I would let the water cool below 100 in the future, though, to 70, maybe 80.

Definitely upgrade to a brewed recipe. When starting out, it's REALLY hard not to drink your beers too young. But when you start, you're like, "this beer is pretty good" but by the end, you're thinking, "I don't know why this beer tastes so much better now than it did three weeks ago!" If you can get a backlog going where the beer you're drinking is already at that 3-4 week old stage (or older), you'll appreciate it more, and it won't only be the last 4-5 bottles that really taste awesome.

 

[dibby33]

Hmmm, saw a BeastI and BeastII in your sig block. I may have to look up that one.

Here is the thread :
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=650501#post650501

 

[Yooper]

I actually brewed two batches today, and I drank the hydrometer samples out of both. It is really great to see the changes in the beer from wort (today) to beer (after fermentation), before bottling or kegging, and then as the last pint disappears.

It's a true obsession! And what's really hard now is to go out to a bar. I mean, we have better beer at home than just about any local place. So, it's hard to pay $5 a bottle for some "pale ale" when I have a wonderful keg of it in my fridge. But, now, I just want "one more thing". I remember thinking if I had a wort chiller, I wouldn't want anything else. Well, each time I add a new piece of equipment, I think, "Now, I just need a ________________ and I'll be all set". It never ends! So, welcome to our obsession!!!!!

 

[Farmer]

Its funny, when I mention to a friend that I started HB, everyone's first reaction is "I want to try one when they're done." When I tell them its going to be a month, they're shocked. I'll probably end up giving half my first batch away to friends who have never even tried a HB. On guy told me he could get me a case of swing top bottles and would take a six pack as payment, lol. DEAL!

I could see myself getting addicted to the hobby. But I've been meaning to pick up a hobby for while. My kids are getting to be 7 and 8, so they aren't as much work as they use to be. It also just so happens that SWMBO doesn't have to BO anymore. So it looks like I'm calling the shots around here again, hah.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[Farmer]

Oh no, I got my turkey baster today. I took an SG reading which appears to be 1.08. I'll give it a few days and see where it is again. I'm not entirely sure I was using the hydrometer correctly. It seemed to get tilted sideways and give off readings.

Anyway, I saw no need to waste my sample... It gets better than that!!??

OH boy, 5 gallons is looking smaller and smaller. I may have to go get a 2nd bucket this weekend to get started on batch 2.

 

[blacklab]

No way you're getting talked out of it around here! Welcome.

Get that 2nd batch going stat! One thing that helps you wait for homebrew to age...wait for it...is homebrew.

 

[jds]

Welcome aboard.

Gravity readings on fermenting beer can be a little hard. Bubbles will float the hydrometer up, giving an artifically high reading. 1.080 sounds unpossible, given that you used a no-boil pale ale kit. I doubt the OG was that high, and after a vigorous ferment, there's no way it's that high.

One thing that helps is to spin the hydrometer to keep bubbles from sticking to it. It's a bit of a trick to read at that point, but you get the hang of it.

Another way to get a more accurate reading is to take the sample, put in a jar with a lid, and shake the hell out of it to get the gases out of solution, then take a gravity reading. You really need the hydrometer to float freely in the sample jar, with no bubbles on it.