Welcome Beginning Brewers!

[garlicbread]

Happy to report the fermentation seems to be going well. But I have found out late about the importance of temperature control during fermentation.
I've used US-Safale 05 Yeast which has 18-26°C (64.4-78.8°F). range.

I don't have cooler or any other setup yet, I just put the beer in cooler place in the house.
The ambient temperature in that place was likely:
Day 1: 65f
Day 2: 70F - really active fermentation with visible activity and thick foam on top
Day 3: 75F
Day 4: 80F - Beer was already slowing down fermenting, the foam layer on top reduced a lot
Day 5: 80F - Foam layer was nearly gone with islands of foam floating on top

So actual wort was probably a bit hotter.

At the end of Day 5, I've found out that even a few degrees above recommended high range can give off-flavors, even though my yeast type is more forgiving.
I've put the ice bottles/arranged some cooling for day 6, But it will be some hassle to keep this up each day. The weather will be hot for a week and probably get cooler later.

So my question would be if there is damage is it already done or does it make sense to keep the beer cool for the following weeks?
And the second question would be I've found Kveik is a good option for hot weather? Is it something I should switch to before I find some sort of temperature control solution?

 

[RM-MN]

The off flavors probably happened on day 2 or 3 and its too late to fix it now.

Kveik is a temperature tolerant yeast and is the one to use for hotter weather if you don't have good cooling.

Here's an article that can give you better understanding on how yeast works: The Life Cycle of Yeast

 

[ncbrewer]

The Yeast book by White and Zainashef advises to raise the temperature once there is 1/4 - 1/3 of the fermentation remaining. Most of the flavor compounds have already been produced by that time. You should be well past that stage. They recommend raising the temperature by 4 - 10 degrees F at that time, over a period of 1 - 2 days.

 

[garlicbread]

Happy to report the first brew came out delicious! Now onto my second one.
Even made epic trailer to celebrate:


The titty mug I got on a trip in Estonia, not sure if it's sold online.

Thank you all once again for putting me on the right track.

 

[cmac62]

Happy to report the first brew came out delicious! Now onto my second one.
Even made epic trailer to celebrate:


The titty mug I got on a trip in Estonia, not sure if it's sold online.

Thank you all once again for putting me on the right track.

Good trailer, and I like the mug, but should really be in a clear glass.

 

[chazam]

Should a cornykeg be able to hold 4,8 bars without leaking?

 

[doug293cz]

Should a cornykeg be able to hold 4,8 bars without leaking?

That might be high enough pressure to cause the PRV (pressure relief valve) to leak or vent, depending on the strength of the spring.

Brew on

 

[chazam]

That might be high enough pressure to cause the PRV (pressure relief valve) to leak or vent, depending on the strength of the spring.

Brew on

That was exactly what happened.

 

[garlicbread]

A friend was brewing for the first time and made a mistake with hops. He got around 10 IBU by only adding most of the hops at flame off.
Is there a way to fix it with dry hopping? Or will that just give an overpowering hop taste?

 

[lumpher]

A friend was brewing for the first time and made a mistake with hops. He got around 10 IBU by only adding most of the hops at flame off.
Is there a way to fix it with dry hopping? Or will that just give an overpowering hop taste?

Can't fix strong flameout hop taste by adding more hops. Either brew another 1 and mix it, or he should just go with what he has, drink it, and learn from it.

 

[elmo]

Hi guys, anybody got any recommendations on video series for learning about brewing? Made my first extract kit but I feel like I learned nothing (other than how to follow instruction) lol

 

[ncbrewer]

I don't know about videos, but you could get the book How to Brew Edition 4 by John Palmer. It's a highly respected source of brewing knowledge.

 

[Broken Crow]

I second ncbrewer 's suggestion. If you really want videos though, there's https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAB3kEMvD0_9IaQ6IL6R2cQ and a few others you can start with for some all-around type stuff.

 

[bellhp]

When I started brewing I read Charlie Papazian's " complete joy of homebrewing" I've given that book away twice to friends who were just starting out... 20 years later I just bought it again to refresh my memory as I have been out of the hobby . I notice the how to brew book gets pushed a lot maybe I should pick that one up ... your never too old to learn right?

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I too have that book, and it was the first brewing book I bought during my journey that started around 1985. I still have that copy and a whole lot of others. I'll have to dust it off and give it another read. On the learning part, I learn with every batch I brew and that's been a lot!

Keep Brewing and Keep Learning!!!

 

[Mason77]

What are some tips for success when home brewing beer for the first time?

 

[JohnSand]

Hi Mason, welcome aboard!
My suggestions would to start simple and reliable. Extract kit from a good supplier, nothing complex. If you have a local homebrew store ask there. Also, read Palmer's book How to Brew, and browse HomeBrewTalk.

 

[Rish]

What are some tips for success when home brewing beer for the first time?

Welcome! Check out the "General" thread in this forum for some suggestions.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

What are some tips for success when home brewing beer for the first time?

Welcome to the party and this forum!

You'll find a wealth of information here from all levels of brewers. I'd suggest read what you can here and look for some books to read. Books are great reference at all levels. As suggested, start out with beer kits. Kits are a great start, all of ingredients are there, premeasured with detailed instructions. Pick one that is not real detailed, wheat beers are what I started with. Extract kits are easier to start with than ones with grains. Work your way up with each kit and learn from each one. Take good notes as you brew. Keep the brew kit instructions and make notes on that sheet as you go. Even after your brew you could add tasting notes to the same sheet or sheets all for future reference. As you get into brewing more there's lots of software packages to organize your recipes or create them.

Pay close attention to sanitation and cleaning through the entire brewing process. Nothing will discourage a new brewer more than a bad batch of beer for their first or second attempt. It's discouraging after hundreds of batches too! The best advice is to try to make it fun. It's an enjoyable hobby so try to keep it that way.

Happy Brewing!

 

[jerrylotto]

I'll second the suggestion to take good notes, and suggest that if your kit doesn't include Campden tablets to either start with distilled water or pick some up if you have a municipal water source. There's nothing more frustrating than having chloramines (used by municipal water facilities to sanitize and stabilize tap water) impeding yeast action. Half a Campden tablet treats 5 gallons of water.

 

[Sneaky Weasel]

And, really, you should ignore any advice from me.

Does that include this advice?