Tips for my first brew session please...

[Shaggy]

Quick question regarding gravity readings....

Is it worth it to take a gravity reading when you can see your brew is still "alive"?
When looking in the carboy, I can still see action in there. There is still regular burping out the blow off etc. This brew was started 2 weeks ago tomorrow and first signs of fermentation came late the the following day.
Thoughts?
TIA!!

 

[uwjester]

You can always check the gravity readings any time you want. The downside is that every time you do, you risk contamination. I checked a lot for my first few batches because I was interested in attenuation rate, but I wait a few days after it looks finished to check now (and then I wait 2 days and check again to make sure).

 

[7Enigma]

As someone who doesn't currently have a hygrometer I can safely say NO there is no reason to check now. While lack of airlock activity is not a perfect measure for when to rack/bottle, churning of the yeast in the fermenter and airlock burping is a very good indication that you are not ready to transfer/bottle.

You can take a sample if you wish, but its just one more chance for contamination and cleaning. Wait for the activity to tail off/stop, then check.

EDIT: Beat me to it!

 

[Shaggy]

Thanks!

I've been thinking along those lines myself, but looking for reassurance lol!
I'll let it do its thing until it looks still, then take a reading to see where everything is at.

 

[Shaggy]

So...this was started on 4/19.
Its coming up on 3 weeks now tomorrow and its still "alive". While theres some sedimentation you can surely see...there is also some churning going on, there is still kreusen foam/bubbles with yeast clumps, and the airlock bubbles.

I guess from reading on here so many people that have fast and furious fermentations has me second guessing my first brews health and I want my newborn to be ok lol....
Any reassurances?

 

[Spunkmeyer]

After this much time you should probably take a hydrometer reading and see where you are.

 

[Philip1993]

As someone who doesn't currently have a hygrometer I can safely say NO there is no reason to check now. While lack of airlock activity is not a perfect measure for when to rack/bottle, churning of the yeast in the fermenter and airlock burping is a very good indication that you are not ready to transfer/bottle.

I don't have a hygrometer either. But I do have (and use) a hydrometer

Jokes aside, 7Enigma's right. You use a hydrometer to determine if it's done. If you KNOW it isn't done, there's no point having a hydrometer tell you that... When its' almost done, the yeasties will gather up and prepare for a long winters nap. Then, you should can start checking it...

 

[Shaggy]

If you KNOW it isn't done, there's no point having a hydrometer tell you that... When its' almost done, the yeasties will gather up and prepare for a long winters nap. Then, you should can start checking it...

Agreed. I mean, it still looks alive so it can't be done.
I'm more looking for reassurance (I'm not impatient) that 3 weeks bubbling is "normal" as I've read a lot of "Wow my wheat violently fermented" in much less time than mine.
Since this is my first, I guess I may be paranoid.

 

[7Enigma]

Agreed. I mean, it still looks alive so it can't be done.
I'm more looking for reassurance (I'm not impatient) that 3 weeks bubbling is "normal" as I've read a lot of "Wow my wheat violently fermented" in much less time than mine.
Since this is my first, I guess I may be paranoid.

All depends on how many viable yeast cells you had when you pitched. Things like chlorine in the water (if you topped off with tap), inproper hydrating or not hydrating at all, old yeast, temperature shock, oxygenation of the wort, etc. can all greatly decrease the numbers. Once they deplete the oxygen the numbers don't increase much from my understanding and so if you only have a million yeast vs. 10 million it can greatly slow the fermentation down (making up numbers here). I think you should just ignore it for a couple days and come back later. It's only going to get better....

And I'd love to blame the g/d error on mistyping but I thought it was hygro....

 

[Shaggy]

Thanks! Makes clearer sense to me now...
I did make some "mistakes"...

Topped off with tap.
Did not use starter on liquid yeast.
Temp was too low at pitch...63f.

Did oxygenate well though lol!!!
I'll just keep letting it roll and of course will update comments/questions as I go.
This has been a great learning experience so far....

Thanks again.

 

[Shaggy]

Well...one month to the day and I decided to poke about. The brew had calmed down recently and over the past few days the kreusen had dropped significantly.
Heres two pix...one from the 25th which looked similar just the other day and one picture from tonight:

Gravity clocked in about 1.020.
Thats a bit high lol and I guess it is do to the mistakes I made.

The upside is I chilled my sample and its drinkable beer!

So..any thoughts?
...do I wait it out and take a few more readings though its been a month now? Do I rouse the yeast or such? Do I just call it a beer and move on?
TIA!

 

[Shaggy]

 

[scinerd3000]

you can surley try...what was your starting gravity?

 

[Shaggy]

I should have consolidated that info...oooops....



OG target was 1.058
FG target was 1.012


Actual OG: 1.054
Current Grav after 1 month: 1.020

 

[Rhoobarb]

Maybe I missed it, but what is the ambient temperature it is sitting at?

 

[Shaggy]

Maybe I missed it, but what is the ambient temperature it is sitting at?

Right now its been averaging 66/67 for the past couple weeks.

 

[scinerd3000]

you could rouse a little bit of the yeast and move it to a slightly warmer area to encourge the yeast to start back up

 

[scinerd3000]

just remember not to get air bubbles in the semifermented beer due to oxidation issues giving it an off flavor. take the gravity in a few days and if its still the same then your beer is probably done. did you aerate your wort very well before you pitched the yeast?

 

[Shaggy]

Yes...aerated well.
Made some noob mistakes like pitching too cold and topping off with straight tap etc.

If I go to rouse the yeast, should I actually mush about in the bottom stirring the trub?
Of course being careful not to oxidize etc.....

If it matters, I plan on using this batch as my first kegging experiment. So, I guess no matter I won't have to worry about bottle bombs lol.....

 

[scinerd3000]

if the flavors good and your just looking for added alcohol you could consider adding more fermentables back in. Theres should still be plenty of sugar in there though. If it tastes good you could just leave it be. Some beers are 3.5-4% and some are as higher than 12%...it all depends on taste. i would bring it up a lkittle bit in temp by moving it to a warmer area. yuo used a hefe yeast which by nature doesnt drop out of suspension well. there is still yeast in there and opefully the temp causes fermentation to restart without rousing yeast from the bottom

 

[7Enigma]

just remember not to get air bubbles in the semifermented beer due to oxidation issues giving it an off flavor. take the gravity in a few days and if its still the same then your beer is probably done. did you aerate your wort very well before you pitched the yeast?

This shouldn't be a problem since all the "air" in the fermenter is relatively pure CO2. As long as you swirl it around pretty good, hopefully it will continue to drop but I'm in about the same spot right now. You might likely have to do what I'm about to do if my F.G. hasn't been reached and that is to chuck in some more yeast. But I'm using dry so if this is a liquid yeast for your Hefe, you might have to get some more.

 

[scinerd3000]

hef yeast doesnt flocculate well so there should still be plenty in suspension.

 

[Shaggy]

Yeah...its pretty cloudy still. Don't know if my pic of the test tube did justice.
Only recently did the action in there really start to die down. The kreusen dropped just a few days ago after 3 weeks of being pretty thick up there lol.
While I guess in a better situation there would be about another 1%ABV for the yeast to make, the sample I took last night tasted decent slightly chilled. I'm betting it would taste even better cold and carbed lol.

I guess I'm wondering if it is worthwhile to fuss since it has already been 1 month in the primary. I don't want to put any more money into this batch (like buying more liquid yeast) etc. as I can use that towards my next one (learning from mistakes this time should prove to make a better beer next time).

The pros seem like I could make the beer better by rousing.
The con is that theres more a chance for this noob to make a mistake when doing so lol.

I like the idea of maybe trying to warm it up just a tad but keep it within its range is the best bet to see if the yeasties will eat a bit more.
However, at what point is it "too long" to be sitting in there for this beer?

Thanks again everyone!
I hope that not only I gleen info from this thread but other noobs can find the help in here useful as well.

 

[scinerd3000]

its probably done....dont fret. theres always the next batch. if its still cloudy then theres still alot of yeast in solution. dont bother repitching. also you can look into yeast washing to save money on your next hef batch.

 

[7Enigma]

My only concern if you decide to be done with it is if it continues to ferment slowly in the bottles. If you stored these for a couple months it is possible the remaining yeast would slowly ferment and cause gushers or at worst bottle bombs.

 

[Yooper]

But if you're kegging that is not an issue at all. I say warm it up a little bit, and let it sit a week or so. Then, keg it and drink it!

 

[Shaggy]

Yes, I do plan on kegging this.
I wrapped the carboy in a blanket last night and will let it set till the end of the week.
Then I will keg.
This will be my first dive into kegging so it should be fun.
When I received the cornies in yesterday, I felt like a kid on christmas morning lol.
I'll report back my thoughts on how it turned out...

Thanks again everyone.
I really appreciate all your help and thoughts and I hope others can get some info out of this thread too.
I'll be moving on to an oatmeal stout kit I ordered from AHS during the sale.
Probably start that after I free my only 6gal carboy from this wheat.
Woooohoooo!

 

[7Enigma]

Yes, I do plan on kegging this.
I wrapped the carboy in a blanket last night and will let it set till the end of the week.

Are you planning on increasing the temp in the room? Wrapping a carboy that is not actively fermenting won't help to increase the beer temp since the yeast are basically dormant. You'd need to:

1. turn the heat up in the room the carboy is in


2. move the carboy into a warmer room


3. use a blanket heater/etc. to actively warm the carboy

Otherwise nothing's going to happen.

 

[Shaggy]

Are you planning on increasing the temp in the room? Wrapping a carboy that is not actively fermenting won't help to increase the beer temp since the yeast are basically dormant. You'd need to:

1. turn the heat up in the room the carboy is in


2. move the carboy into a warmer room


3. use a blanket heater/etc. to actively warm the carboy

Otherwise nothing's going to happen.

I think I've done good...turned thermostat to 67 and I've moved it nearer to my heat vent.
I figure since the carboy sits on milk crates, the warm air will go in and be kept in by the blanket.

 

[7Enigma]

So like you I had mentioned my current batch (AHS Double Chocolate Stout Clone of Young's) pretty much stopped about 0.01 too high (1.125 and it should finish up closer to 1.115). I had tried swirling the carboy but it didn't appear to do much. So I had 2 packets of Munton's Dry yeast (not the Gold variety so I don't plan on using it for brewing) and pitched one of the packets. Boiled some water, let it cool, added the yeast for 15min, and then wisked it up into a froth, then pitched. Hopefully it's doing something, though the airlock does not appear to be doing anything.