Welcome Beginning Brewers!

[IslandLizard]

Hi All, I am new to this site so not sure if this is the right place to ask a question.
I have been brewing for a few years now & always followed the same process but last couple of brews have been quite low in aeration. They taste fine but are not real bubbly.
Any suggestions on what might be causing this?
Thanks,
Lucky Phil

Welcome to HBT!
To address your first question you'd be best off starting your own thread placed in the appropriate forum. Pick the forum that would best fit the topic.

I think you mean low "carbonation," not aeration.

In this case, the "Beginners Forum" would be a good place being a catch all for questions and issues most new brewers encounter.
If you think this problem is related to your bottling practice, you could instead start the thread in the "Bottling & Kegging Forum." But don't duplicate efforts by posting multiple threads, or in multiple forums, on the same question/issue you have.

Read around, you'll get a good idea how things work here.

To start answering your question, here are a few thoughts that come to mind:

• Are you using enough priming sugar? How much and what kind?
• Are the caps tight and well sealing? Crimp caps or flip tops? Today's flip top seals are prone to leaking after a few uses. Flip 'em over before filling each batch.
• At what temperature do you keep the bottles while carbonating? How long?

 

[ncbrewer]

Are you using enough priming sugar? How much and what kind?

I'll add a caution: Don't just try more priming sugar to see if it helps. Too much can cause bottle bombs. Use a priming calculator, and enter your estimate of the volume in the bottling bucket - not the fermenter. And welcome to HBT.

 

[John Kronberger]

Hi All, I am new to this site so not sure if this is the right place to ask a question.
I have been brewing for a few years now & always followed the same process but last couple of brews have been quite low in aeration. They taste fine but are not real bubbly.
Any suggestions on what might be causing this?
Thanks,
Lucky Phil

I generally go to the bottle when the gravity measurement is between 1.010 and 1.015. I've been using 1/3 cup of very fine sugar dissolved in a couple of cups of very warm water then going to the beer. I've been letting this fully integrate with 5 gallons of beer with a stir and about an hour to sit / settle. After getting the beer into the bottles, I always shake a couple of times and let the bottles sit in a comfortably warm place in the house in order to continue a very low level of fermentation in the bottle for a week before opening.

 

[kh54s10]

I generally go to the bottle when the gravity measurement is between 1.010 and 1.015. I've been using 1/3 cup of very fine sugar dissolved in a couple of cups of very warm water then going to the beer. I've been letting this fully integrate with 5 gallons of beer with a stir and about an hour to sit / settle. After getting the beer into the bottles, I always shake a couple of times and let the bottles sit in a comfortably warm place in the house in order to continue a very low level of fermentation in the bottle for a week before opening.

That is fine if you are not pushing the timeline. If you bottle early at 1.015 and prime also and the gravity then drops to 1.010 you are likely to have bottle bombs.

1/3 cup of is pretty low for 5 gallons so you might be OK even if it is not finished. One week is also pretty short for bottle conditioning. The accepted time frame is about 3 weeks at about 70 degrees. I never try one before 2 weeks, some are carbonated, some are not there yet. ALL of my bottled beers have tasted better at 3 weeks or longer. Much longer for some really big beers.

 

[eric19312]

I generally go to the bottle when the gravity measurement is between 1.010 and 1.015. I've been using 1/3 cup of very fine sugar dissolved in a couple of cups of very warm water then going to the beer. I've been letting this fully integrate with 5 gallons of beer with a stir and about an hour to sit / settle. After getting the beer into the bottles, I always shake a couple of times and let the bottles sit in a comfortably warm place in the house in order to continue a very low level of fermentation in the bottle for a week before opening.

This is different from what I’ve used or ever seen recommended.

The recommended method is
1. Make sure you are at terminal gravity - 2 hydrometer readings 2-3 days apart with no change is safest.
2. Calculate priming sugar requirement: https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
3. Boil the sugar in a little chlorine free water
4. Add boiled sugar water to bottling bucket
5. Rack beer from fermentor to bottling bucket, rack gently and don’t stir it up, the flow will be sufficient to mix in the sugar
6. Bottle and cap immediately

I’m mostly worried about difference between what you are doing and steps 1-2. Your estimated priming sugar sounds conservative and fairly likely to end low carbonation...1/3 cup in 5 gallons is low if the beer is done fermenting...but if it is not done fermenting it could be way to much and be potentially quite dangerous.

The issue with stirring in the priming sugar then allowing it to sit for an hour concerns me that you are going to pick up a lot of oxygen in the process. Better to move the process along and get the beer into capped bottles fast as you reasonably can. Also the yeast start eating that priming sugar right away. You want that happening in the sealed bottles not the bottling bucket.

 

[Mentalflikdid1]

 

[Mentalflikdid1]

First brew, 3 weeks of bottle conditioning. Bavarian hefeweizen.

 

[SEndorf]

First brew, 3 weeks of bottle conditioning. Bavarian hefeweizen.

Congratulations on the first beer!
Looks like a success with many more to come.

 

[J_B_22]

Hey All!

My girlfriend and I brewed our first batch and it has been fermenting for 1 week. I’m trying to learn as much as possible, and have noticed how important fermenting temp is, along with sanitation and cleanliness. I’m looking for ways to take the temp during fermentation? Is it alright to pop the lid off for a few seconds and take it every couple of days? Fermenting in a 6.5 gal plastic bucket that came with our Northern Brewer kit. Thanks for the any suggestions!

 

[eric19312]

Hey All!

My girlfriend and I brewed our first batch and it has been fermenting for 1 week. I’m trying to learn as much as possible, and have noticed how important fermenting temp is, along with sanitation and cleanliness. I’m looking for ways to take the temp during fermentation? Is it alright to pop the lid off for a few seconds and take it every couple of days? Fermenting in a 6.5 gal plastic bucket that came with our Northern Brewer kit. Thanks for the any suggestions!

No don’t do that.

Get a stick on LCD thermometer they are hard to read but cheap. You really want to leave your beer alone until it’s ready to bottle. Every time you open the fermentor you are exposing the beer to oxygen which is not good.

 

[J_B_22]

No don’t do that.

Get a stick on LCD thermometer they are hard to read but cheap. You really want to leave your beer alone until it’s ready to bottle. Every time you open the fermentor you are exposing the beer to oxygen which is not good.

Ah I see! Would taping a digital thermometer probe to the bucket be effective as well?

 

[Imhoppy]

Hey All!

My girlfriend and I brewed our first batch and it has been fermenting for 1 week. I’m trying to learn as much as possible, and have noticed how important fermenting temp is, along with sanitation and cleanliness. I’m looking for ways to take the temp during fermentation? Is it alright to pop the lid off for a few seconds and take it every couple of days? Fermenting in a 6.5 gal plastic bucket that came with our Northern Brewer kit. Thanks for the any suggestions!

I use a Southwire model 31040S non-contact IR thermometer. I originally purchased it for my work, but now use it for brewing and other around-the-house temperature measurements for various information and troubleshooting tasks. It works great, fast response, and results are always accurate too.

I had one of those plastic stick-on thermometer strips but it didn't last long and ended up tossing it. Plus, it only measures temperature in one location, unless you use several which would be crazy to have lots of these things stuck all over the fermenter.

The IR tool is instantaneous and when checking multiple points, it stores the peak temerature in memory. I can definitely detect the increase in the fermentation temperature which is several degrees above ambient temp during peak fermentation activity. The temperature peaks at the upper level in the fermenter as heat rises (cooler at the bottom). I can take multiple temperature readings at several different locations all around the fermenter in practically no time.

My IR tool was expensive, but like most good things, you get what you pay for IMO.

 

[doug293cz]

Ah I see! Would taping a digital thermometer probe to the bucket be effective as well?

If you put the probe in contact with the fermenter wall, and then cover the probe with some insulation (e.g. foam or folded towel) that works well.

Brew on

 

[Toxxyc]

Ah I see! Would taping a digital thermometer probe to the bucket be effective as well?

This is exactly what I do, actually. My STC-1000's temperature probe is stuck to the wall of my fermenter in my fermentation chamber. The temperature might not be 100% accurate, but at least I know it's consistent batch-to-batch, which is more important, if you ask me.

 

[Art2019]

This is a great place to start if you have ANY questions at all about brewing your own beer.

From Mr. Beer and extract kits to all-grain brewing, we welcome all new brewers who have questions or need advice on their equipment, techniques, fermentation, wort making, yeast, and more.

If you have a question, that means that others probably have had the same question too so no question is too silly. I promise. Ask us!

And to more experienced brewers, it goes without saying that we will be welcoming of those questions and be as helpful as possible in our answers. If someone feels that they can't be positive and helpful, they should refrain from posting in the Beginner's Forum. Ask me if you are unsure if something is appropriate- remember what your mother told you, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all!"

Feel free to message one of the admins or moderators if you have any problems with posting on the forum, or if you have any problems with navigating around the forum at all.

Cheers!

I'd ask or participate on this forum but got tired of continually closing out spam on this site.

 

[Art2019]

You all have so many advertisers, its virtually impossible to type a good reply here without being interrupted by ads.

 

[SEndorf]

.

 

[doug293cz]

You all have so many advertisers, its virtually impossible to type a good reply here without being interrupted by ads.

Supporting members can turn off ads. Just one of the benefits of paying for a subscription. Proper browser set-up can also minimize ads. I haven't turned off HBT ads, but have no trouble with ads interrupting my reading or writing on HBT.

doug293cz
HBT Moderator

 

[artneil19]

Well Hi guys!
It's been forever since I've belonged to a Forum but I'll give this a try. I am from Panamá and currently visiting New Mexico learning to ski and enjoying the awesome beer culture in Albuquerque. People are really friendly.
I think I have all my beer equipment that I bought in Panama, I brought it with me to NM, I think all I'm missing is a burner, a freezer for fermenting and maybe I wanna get a thermometer, but the fancy ones that you don't have to stick in the water lol ... anyways, I hope I make friends here, and I'll be posting my experiments.
I'm currently reading "Tasting Beer - An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink", for a refresh of knowledge of what I know (I used to work for a brewery) and it's just amazing.

Anyways, seeya guys!
Ttyl and thanks for the welcome!

 

[artneil19]

Btw, in y'all opinion ... what would be a good style to brew for my very first homebrew?

 

[doug293cz]

Btw, in y'all opinion ... what would be a good style to brew for my very first homebrew?

It's good to start with a simple recipe (not a lot of different ingredients), that doesn't have a lot of hops (hops are expensive, and until you learn about oxygen avoidance after fermentation, they may not turn out well.) Other than that, it depends on what type of beer you like.

Brew on

 

[artneil19]

It's good to start with a simple recipe (not a lot of different ingredients), that doesn't have a lot of hops (hops are expensive, and until you learn about oxygen avoidance after fermentation, they may not turn out well.) Other than that, it depends on what type of beer you like.

Brew on

Hi Doug!,
So, I'm a Witbier, Weizen lover .... and I just saw a video of a guy brewing his first Hefeweizen. That was super cool. He did a few things that I think I'd do different, like:
1- He had a Home Depot Cooler for mashing ... but the grains were free. I have a sort of bag i'd put the grains on, that way I think i'd avoid having grains on my wort.
2- He used a carboy which, I get it, you can see the fermentation process but I ended up buying fermentation tanks at first so I'll try with that first hehe.
3- He keg the beer adding carbonation and such. I think for a beginner I'd stick with bottling and maybe adding a drop of .(for natural carbonation).. i'm not sure if you add a sort of liquid sugar ... i'll research haha but I'll stick with bottling.

I think for a first beer, that was not too hard, and its a hazy beer, but, I'd probably try with a Blonde Ale or maybe a Smash (single malt single hop)

What'd you think?

 

[NewBrewer99]

Hi Everyone,

New to brewing.

Just onto the third batch

Started with all grain.

My second batch was a hefeweizen. It tasted fresh with a hint of all the characteristics flavors (not perfect though) out of the primary fermenter. Fermentation was for 14 days around 20 degree c (68F)

After bottling codititioning with corn sugar for priming, the taste doesnt seem that fresh and fruity.

I am using swing top bottles. Could this mean that the seal is improper and beer is oxidised?

Please advice

Thanks

 

[doug293cz]

Hi Doug!,
So, I'm a Witbier, Weizen lover .... and I just saw a video of a guy brewing his first Hefeweizen. That was super cool. He did a few things that I think I'd do different, like:
1- He had a Home Depot Cooler for mashing ... but the grains were free. I have a sort of bag i'd put the grains on, that way I think i'd avoid having grains on my wort.
2- He used a carboy which, I get it, you can see the fermentation process but I ended up buying fermentation tanks at first so I'll try with that first hehe.
3- He keg the beer adding carbonation and such. I think for a beginner I'd stick with bottling and maybe adding a drop of .(for natural carbonation).. i'm not sure if you add a sort of liquid sugar ... i'll research haha but I'll stick with bottling.

I think for a first beer, that was not too hard, and its a hazy beer, but, I'd probably try with a Blonde Ale or maybe a Smash (single malt single hop)

What'd you think?

Sounds like a good place to start. I also brew in a bag (BIAB), and used plastic bucket fermenters when I started. A hef, blond, or amber ale are all good choices for a first beer.

Brew on

 

[artneil19]

Sounds like a good place to start. I also brew in a bag (BIAB), and used plastic bucket fermenters when I started. A hef, blond, or amber ale are all good choices for a first beer.

Brew on

Thanks!!!!

 

[michaelrorlando]

New here and looking to get into brewing. I've done a lot of research and want to jump straight into all grain BIAB. Already using Brewers Friend to build a few recipes. First attempt will be a DDH New England Hazy IPA.

 

[kh54s10]

New here and looking to get into brewing. I've done a lot of research and want to jump straight into all grain BIAB. Already using Brewers Friend to build a few recipes. First attempt will be a DDH New England Hazy IPA.

IPAs especially NEIPAs are very oxidation sensitive. I would suggest trying an APA or a few before trying an IPA. Something a lot more simple.

 

[michaelrorlando]

IPAs especially NEIPAs are very oxidation sensitive. I would suggest trying an APA or a few before trying an IPA. Something a lot more simple.

Yes true they are. My dry hopping is scheduled at day 0 when transferring and again at day 3 during active fermentation so that the yeast/CO2 scrub and push out what oxygen gets in during the second dry hopping.

 

[user 272380]

Hey y'all! Hopeful first-timer living in Southeast Spain.

I'm wanting to get my first beer kit together, but I had a concern about fermenting temperatures: I see a big recommendation is to ferment at a "cool room temperature" around the upper 60's and lower 70's, but where I live central heating isn't really a thing and my apartment is completely tiled, so my apartment is kind of an ice box (outside temperature right now averages between 50F-60F).

Will fermenting in a cold environment absolutely wreck my chances of beermaking? Should I just attempt this in the spring?

Thanks chums.

 

[doug293cz]

Hey y'all! Hopeful first-timer living in Southeast Spain.

I'm wanting to get my first beer kit together, but I had a concern about fermenting temperatures: I see a big recommendation is to ferment at a "cool room temperature" around the upper 60's and lower 70's, but where I live central heating isn't really a thing and my apartment is completely tiled, so my apartment is kind of an ice box (outside temperature right now averages between 50F-60F).

Will fermenting in a cold environment absolutely wreck my chances of beermaking? Should I just attempt this in the spring?

Thanks chums.

Welcome to HomeBrewTalk!

The best range for fermenting with many ale yeasts is 64°F to 68°F beer temp. Fermentation creates heat, so the beer can be 5°F or more warmer than the surrounding air. So, your room temps may be fine, although your yeast my start slower due to the low initial temps. If you are down near 50°F you could use lager yeasts which work at lower temps than ale yeast.

Brew on