New member and brewer here, got a few questions that probably cannot be answered based on the amount of info that I have, but I will try anyhow.
I brewed my first batch a month or two ago: https://www.homebrewsupply.com/hopfellas-ipa-single-hop-partial-extract-recipe-kit.html
It came out ok- flavor, color, and alcohol were great, carbonation was low. It was not super enjoyable to drink, but it was drinkable, and what I call a first brew success.
I decided to move on to : https://www.midwestsupplies.com/hop-cult-ipa-extract-beer-kit (Recipie: https://www.midwestsupplies.com/dow...uct/7689/hop_cult_ipa_recipe_instructions.pdf). This time I made sure to take care in all the areas in which I messed up on the first brew. My timings were perfect, I aerated more, I used live yeast instead of dry stuff.
But this time I decided to ferment it in my plastic 6-gallon bucket, then transfer to the glass carboy for secondary fermentation. After 4-5 days in the bucket with a constant temperature of 68 degrees, the airlock was dead. I read posts about a leaky bucket seal, etc.
After 9 days I decided to check and opened it up. There was a thick (1.5 inches thick) ring of krousen roughly 4 inches above the beer line, and the beer was as smooth as glass- no bubbles. It smelled like alcohol to me- sticky, and sweet. I measured the gravity at 1.012.
Since there was no activity, I freaked out and pitched another packet of yeast- this time a dry spare I had on hand. I shook and agitated it again, and then sealed up the glass carboy. At this time I noticed I had less than 4 gallons of beer, instead of my original 5 gallons.
The airlocked bubbled backwards for a bit, suckback. After a night that stopped. There is positive pressure on the airlock now, but no bubbles. If I shake it, I get bubbles. The beer still has no activity, nothing.
No mold, nothing discolored. Maybe a slightly oily sheen on top of the beer. If you look closely you can see yeast structure, like a faint honeycomb.
There was 1-2 inches of sediment on the bottom of the primary fermenter which got left behind when I moved to secondary fermenter..
This was 3 days ago, what do I do? Do I stay the course and give it another 1-2 weeks on the carboy with no activity? Do I take it out and check gravity again?
The Midwest guide says that it is done with primary fermentation when gravity is 1.012 or lower. When I first read my hydrometer I read it wrong- it was one hash mark under 10, which is underneath the 1.000. So based on this, my gravity is right on the money, I think. I originally read it as 1.1X and when I smelled the alcohol smell I thought maybe a barleywine was on the way.
I brewed my first batch a month or two ago: https://www.homebrewsupply.com/hopfellas-ipa-single-hop-partial-extract-recipe-kit.html
It came out ok- flavor, color, and alcohol were great, carbonation was low. It was not super enjoyable to drink, but it was drinkable, and what I call a first brew success.
I decided to move on to : https://www.midwestsupplies.com/hop-cult-ipa-extract-beer-kit (Recipie: https://www.midwestsupplies.com/dow...uct/7689/hop_cult_ipa_recipe_instructions.pdf). This time I made sure to take care in all the areas in which I messed up on the first brew. My timings were perfect, I aerated more, I used live yeast instead of dry stuff.
But this time I decided to ferment it in my plastic 6-gallon bucket, then transfer to the glass carboy for secondary fermentation. After 4-5 days in the bucket with a constant temperature of 68 degrees, the airlock was dead. I read posts about a leaky bucket seal, etc.
After 9 days I decided to check and opened it up. There was a thick (1.5 inches thick) ring of krousen roughly 4 inches above the beer line, and the beer was as smooth as glass- no bubbles. It smelled like alcohol to me- sticky, and sweet. I measured the gravity at 1.012.
Since there was no activity, I freaked out and pitched another packet of yeast- this time a dry spare I had on hand. I shook and agitated it again, and then sealed up the glass carboy. At this time I noticed I had less than 4 gallons of beer, instead of my original 5 gallons.
The airlocked bubbled backwards for a bit, suckback. After a night that stopped. There is positive pressure on the airlock now, but no bubbles. If I shake it, I get bubbles. The beer still has no activity, nothing.
No mold, nothing discolored. Maybe a slightly oily sheen on top of the beer. If you look closely you can see yeast structure, like a faint honeycomb.
There was 1-2 inches of sediment on the bottom of the primary fermenter which got left behind when I moved to secondary fermenter..
This was 3 days ago, what do I do? Do I stay the course and give it another 1-2 weeks on the carboy with no activity? Do I take it out and check gravity again?
The Midwest guide says that it is done with primary fermentation when gravity is 1.012 or lower. When I first read my hydrometer I read it wrong- it was one hash mark under 10, which is underneath the 1.000. So based on this, my gravity is right on the money, I think. I originally read it as 1.1X and when I smelled the alcohol smell I thought maybe a barleywine was on the way.
