Timing Question

[couchsending]

First time poster here. Thanks in advance for any help. Since this is my first batch I have couple questions just to maybe confirm a few things that I can't really find a definitive answer to.

Kinda went for it and spent some $$ to do my best to control as many variables as possible.

Goal was a Galaxy Trillium Fort point clone. Brewed in a Grainfather. Recipe was based on 75% efficiency but some how I ended up closer to 90% efficiency. No clue how exactly. Milled my own grain (2 row, white wheat, carapils, Patagonia c15). Mashed at 151 for 60. Sparged slowly using Grainfather sparge volume calculator. Preboil Gravity just ended up way higher.

Boiled for 60. Whirlpooled for 20 at 180ish. Built a starter of WLP007 that I maybe should have been bigger but maybe not. Cold crashed, decanted and pitched around 68ish (ambient basement temp). Aerated with o2 for only 20 seconds which probably should have been 60. Fermented between 64 and 65 using 7 gal SS Chronical with FTSS for 6 days. Dropped trub after two days. Turned FTSS off on day 6 as FG was 90% there and added dry hops to Chronical and let stand for 5 days at ambient temp (68-70).

OG 1.068
FG 1.012


Transferred from racking arm to co2 purged keg through beer out. Only true f*** up was not sanitizing my transfer line. Been force carbing for last two days.



Does all that look about right?

My question is provided no infection
From not sanitizing line and beer reaches ideal carb level how long does it need to age to reach ideal flavor? Should I have aged longer in primary or was two weeks enough before carbing? Also is there a difference in letting it sit uncarbed vs. carbed?

 

[Kent88]

Wow, you just dove right in and bought a grainfather for your first batch.

Nothing you can do about it now, if your beer is going to be infected, it is going to be infected. With it already having fermented makes it a less hospitable environment for microbes. How well hopped is it? High IBUs can help suppress some bugs, I think.

It aged long enough in primary, now it can sit in the keg for any additional aging. If final gravity was stable than there was no reason to keep it in there. There *might* be a *subtle* difference in letting it sit carbed vs uncarbed, but I doubt it. When beer is just sitting in primary after fermenation is complete there is still a low level of dissolved CO2 in there, and the way that transferring happens, you are (sort of, inadvertently) trying to keep most of that dissolved CO2 in there, if possible.

I'm not familiar with the beer you tried to clone. I think it is a pale ale? Then you'll probably just want to let it age a couple weeks, but I am not sure. Heck, it might be good after only a few days. You have it kegged, so you can sample a little bit at a time, right? If you aren't planning to serve this at an event, just do that.

Hope you are enjoying your new hobby

 

[amandley]

I normally let it sit in the keg carbing up for a week to two weeks depending on the beer. Seems like most higher Ibu beers take on the longer side of a week to really meld together and taste right

 

[Morrey]

The OP knows a lot of technique and vocabulary to be a first time brewer.

A week or two of aging will settle things down. Carbing has no effect on aging, so it puts you ahead of the game.

 

[couchsending]

Yeah I went for it for the first time brewing but i've been doing a lot of research for about 6 months before I pulled the trigger. I've read the complete joy of homebrewing and how to brew front to back more than once and invested in Bru'n water and Beersmith.

I have become a beer snob and want to make beers I really want to drink. I didn't want to make some ****ty extract brown ale and pat myself on the back for making something but not really want to drink it. Sounds whack I'm sure but it is what it is.

Batch isn't infected I don't think and it seems to be getting better. Still not quite carbonated enough but just going to let it sit at serving pressure for a while and I think it'll get better.

In hindsight I should have upped the IBUs as they were based on a 5.9% beer and ended up with a 6.9% but for a first attempt I'm somewhat happy.

 

[Kent88]

I have become a beer snob and want to make beers I really want to drink. I didn't want to make some ****ty extract brown ale and pat myself on the back for making something but not really want to drink it. Sounds whack I'm sure but it is what it is.

Hey, some people make some really great extract beers, I've even heard of them placing well in contests.

But I'm sure you're aware that a good, careful extract brewer can make a better beer than a sloppy all-grain brewer.

Taste is subjective, you like what you like, no reason to apologize for it.

 

[liquidcourage]

Wow. Reading that I would have guessed you were pretty experienced.

Most recipes you have will be written at about 75% efficiency as that's pretty common for homebrewers. I've never used the grainfather but I'm guessing the efficiency is going to be higher than normal. It will take you a few batches to figure out your efficiency and then you can plug that into Beersmith when you make recipes.

You're probably not infected. It would have to be something pretty strong to infect a fermented beer.

I usually let my IPAs age for two weeks in the keg at serving pressure before I start drinking them, as you drink them you will notice when they're at their prime. Other beer styles take longer.

Welcome to homebrewing!

 

[IslandLizard]

You're really going to enjoy your first homebrew beer... and you should, at $60 a pint!

It gets better after that.

 

[ericbw]

It is possible to spend big bucks and make sh!tty beer.

Beer is carbed after a few days to a week. It tastes better at 2 weeks.

 

[Morrey]

I know this sounds slanted, but in your first few brewing attempts, you have virtually no experience to draw on for reference, for example......how should this beer taste on day one non-carbed and fresh from primary? After a few batches you'll draw from experiences and project how things will change with carbing and aging.

We have all screwed something up before, and if you haven't, you aren't brewing enough. Patience, especially for your first few attempts, is going to be difficult as you will be chomping at the bit to down your first award winning beer. You'll be surprised at what 2 weeks in secondary will do for your beer.

BTW, as a kegger, your keg can also serve as a secondary. Commercial brewers also call then brite tanks which is just a great big keg. Sierra Nevada cans beers, stores and lagers them cold for XX days, and uses this method to condition.

 

[ericbw]

I know this sounds slanted, but in your first few brewing attempts, you have virtually no experience to draw on for reference, for example......how should this beer taste on day one non-carbed and fresh from primary? After a few batches you'll draw from experiences and project how things will change with carbing and aging.



We have all screwed something up before, and if you haven't, you aren't brewing enough. Patience, especially for your first few attempts, is going to be difficult as you will be chomping at the bit to down your first award winning beer. You'll be surprised at what 2 weeks in secondary will do for your beer.



BTW, as a kegger, your keg can also serve as a secondary. Commercial brewers also call then brite tanks which is just a great big keg. Sierra Nevada cans beers, stores and lagers them cold for XX days, and uses this method to condition.

I think cold conditioning is the biggest improvement to beer after the first few days of fermenting. If you start the ferment at the right temp, you'll get the flavors you want (and fewer off flavors).

 

[Morrey]

I think cold conditioning is the biggest improvement to beer after the first few days of fermenting. If you start the ferment at the right temp, you'll get the flavors you want (and fewer off flavors).

Eric, let me ask your method.......do you cold crash in the primary before kegging, or do you keg at ferm temps and then crash after kegging? I go back and forth with both methods and am trying to establish a more productive approach. Sorry this is semi-off topic.

 

[ericbw]

Eric, let me ask your method.......do you cold crash in the primary before kegging, or do you keg at ferm temps and then crash after kegging? I go back and forth with both methods and am trying to establish a more productive approach. Sorry this is semi-off topic.

I only recently have been able to crash before Kegging. Usually I keg at fermenting temp then put it in the fridge.

I noticed the one I crashed before Kegging is better but can't be sure it was because of that.

 

[Morrey]

I only recently have been able to crash before Kegging. Usually I keg at fermenting temp then put it in the fridge.

I noticed the one I crashed before Kegging is better but can't be sure it was because of that.

Some folks add gelatin finings to the primary after they have crashed and let it settle out before they keg. I suppose this is yet another variation to add into the mix. It may be better since cold crashing may have settled the haze out before you kegged.

 

[couchsending]

Thanks for all the help guys. Beer is definitely getting a little better, less green, and carbonation is getting close. It's very very drinkable for a 7% beer but it probably would be better with higher IBUs, a little more balanced I guess.

My sister's boyfriend is head brewer at a large craft brewery in the Northwest and I've been fortunate enough to be able to pick his brain throughout the process. One thing he mentioned that I had not heard in all the videos and articles I've read (although I'm sure I missed it) is he recommended not releasing pressure from the keg while force carbing. He said they have seen quite a drop off in hop aroma when releasing pressure during kegging. Clearly it's on a completely different scale than what I'm doing but I guess it makes sense.

Brewing the second batch right now and again I ended up with what I think is 95% efficiency according to the Grainfather calculator online. I measured very well stirred pre boil with both a refractometer and calibrated hydrometer. I originally thought my scale might have been off but it's within .3g with a 6 gram weight on it so I figure that's pretty darn close. Again milled my own grains at right around .04 and took my sweet time sparging with pretty constant 168* water.

 

[ericbw]

My sister's boyfriend is head brewer at a large craft brewery in the Northwest and I've been fortunate enough to be able to pick his brain throughout the process. One thing he mentioned that I had not heard in all the videos and articles I've read (although I'm sure I missed it) is he recommended not releasing pressure from the keg while force carbing. He said they have seen quite a drop off in hop aroma when releasing pressure during kegging. Clearly it's on a completely different scale than what I'm doing but I guess it makes sense.

No, you wouldn't want to release the pressure once it's in the keg. You're trying to get pressure into the beer. The only reasons you would vent the keg would be at the beginning to purge the headspace of oxygen (seal it, put the gas on, vent it, let it build up again, vent it - I do that 2-3 times, then leave the gas on) OR if you over-carbonated and need to let off some of the carbonation.

Otherwise, you should leave it sealed until it's empty.