Brewing first batch this weekend

[thecrow124]

Mine fermented out in 3 days, so at 8 days with proper temps, it is probably done. I would still wait another week or so before bottling. I almost never secondary ferment, it is useful for clarifying and aging, but IMO not necessary. As long as you don't go to long with it on the yeast cake you should be fine. If you can't bottle by the end of a month, then transfer it. If you plan to bottle before that, it shouldn't get any off flavors.

 

[Sleepy T]

Yeah, at 8 days..you should definitely be done with fermentation.

I will agree with the others wrt carbonating and aging the beer in the bottle for a month. Technically, for a medium to low gravity beer the priming sugar (or whatever else you decide to use) should be converted in 7-10 days. But I have found that leaving it in the bottle for an extra 3-4 weeks after that can make a BIG difference in how the beer taste. Especially when you are talking about hop forward beers like IPAs and APAs.

Congrats on your 1st successful brew Philly. It will probably taste better than you could ever imagine!

 

[757Hokie83]

good work philly

Ingredients came in for me Tuesday, so as long as the weather is cooperating, i'll be brewing this weekend

 

[757Hokie83]

Australian Sparkling Ale is in the primary

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

Australian Sparkling Ale is in the primary

You just read about that Zym, didn't you? What yeast did you use?

 

[757Hokie83]

You just read about that Zym, didn't you? What yeast did you use?

eh?

I used Wyeast Thames Valley Ale

 

[Gatorchip]

Yeah, at 8 days..you should definitely be done with fermentation.

I will agree with the others wrt carbonating and aging the beer in the bottle for a month. Technically, for a medium to low gravity beer the priming sugar (or whatever else you decide to use) should be converted in 7-10 days. But I have found that leaving it in the bottle for an extra 3-4 weeks after that can make a BIG difference in how the beer taste. Especially when you are talking about hop forward beers like IPAs and APAs.

Congrats on your 1st successful brew Philly. It will probably taste better than you could ever imagine!

I find the opposite to be true. Malty beers get much much better with age. Hoppy beers tend be drinkable much earlier. I suspect that is because the hops hides some of the flavors.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

eh?

I used Wyeast Thames Valley Ale

Zymurgy magazine. There was an article about that beer in the most recent issue.

 

[Sleepy T]

I find the opposite to be true. Malty beers get much much better with age. Hoppy beers tend be drinkable much earlier. I suspect that is because the hops hides some of the flavors.

Maybe it is just me. But, if the beer is still a little green, it kind of muddles the true hop flavor into just bitterness and astringency. If you let it age just a little bit longer, to me the hop flavor tastes alot cleaner, more pronounced and the characterstics of the different varities of hops "shine" more. Of course letting it age too long and the hop flavors and aromas start to fade. In my limited experience, and for me, letting it sit in the bottle for 4-6 weeks is best.

Listen to me...I sound like I am some sort of beer judge or sumthin..

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

Ok so it's been 8 days now.

I came home today and the few times I have checked on it I haven't seen any bubbling in the airlock. Ives check it almost each day since putting it into the fermenter and I have noted solid action in the airlock.

1. Is this anything to be concerned about?
2. Is it highly recommended to use a secondary fermenter? Haven't done eneough research to convince me it's needed.

The direction from the extract kit say 2-3 weeks until I should bottle. If I see no action in the airlock for a couple days, is it still safe to let it sit in the fermenter until 2-3 are up?

Is it possible the cold temps have slowed down fermentation? It usually sits at around 65-68 degrees in my basement. Today with the snows and freezing temps, it's reading around 61-62. Tomorrow will probably be colder also. Spis this a major concern?



Thanks again for your help fellas.

Signed,
Paranoid first timer

Leaving an ale beer in the primary fermentor for a total of 2-3 weeks, will provide time for the conditioning reactions and improve the beer. This extra time will also let more sediment settle out before bottling, resulting in a clearer beer and easier pouring.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

eh?

I used Wyeast Thames Valley Ale

Never mind. I see you ordered it from N.B.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

Update:

I bottled this weekend after 3 weeks in the fermenter. Personally I thought it smelled great. No obvious signs of spoiling. Gave it a little taste and it had some nice flavor to it, just little to no carbonation.

My OG was about 1.060 and FG was 1.025. Does anything about those numbers send up a red flag? The kit said OG should have been 1.052.

Will probably let sit for 3 weeks but I will have to help myself to a couple before hand to see how it's coming along.

 

[thecrow124]

Update:

I bottled this weekend after 3 weeks in the fermenter. Personally I thought it smelled great. No obvious signs of spoiling. Gave it a little taste and it had some nice flavor to it, just little to no carbonation.

My OG was about 1.060 and FG was 1.025. Does anything about those numbers send up a red flag? The kit said OG should have been 1.052.

Will probably let sit for 3 weeks but I will have to help myself to a couple before hand to see how it's coming along.

They both send up a red flag for me individually, but given that they are both high I would suggest you calibrate your hydrometer. With the NB kits they are usually dead on, but if you were high it could only signify 2 things, the batch you made is less than 5 gallons, or your hydrometer is off, with the high FG, i would go with the latter.

Your beer won't carbonate until it is in the bottle or keg, the airlock on the fermenter doesn't allow CO2 to build up to a point where it would force itself into the beer. So it is not surprising that your taste sample was very flat. Couple weeks in the bottle will fix that.

When I brewed this one, there was enough carbonation to drink it after a week, but it tasted better after a month or so in the bottle, but you can drink them pretty much anytime after they taste good to you.

 

[757Hokie83]

Update:

I bottled this weekend after 3 weeks in the fermenter. Personally I thought it smelled great. No obvious signs of spoiling. Gave it a little taste and it had some nice flavor to it, just little to no carbonation.

My OG was about 1.060 and FG was 1.025. Does anything about those numbers send up a red flag? The kit said OG should have been 1.052.

Will probably let sit for 3 weeks but I will have to help myself to a couple before hand to see how it's coming along.

what temp was it at when you took your gravity reading? are you using one of the glass hydrometers?

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

what temp was it at when you took your gravity reading? are you using one of the glass hydrometers?

Yea I just used a simple glass one that came with the kit, nothing special

As for temp, I did my bottling outdoors in about 40 degree weather. Brought it from inside where it was around 62 degrees


Also regarding the less than 5 gallons, that wouldn't surprise me. I got to about where the spigot was in my bottling bucket and came up short about 6 bottles (one was a waste...dropped the bottle). The others I didn't want to get too low in the bucket so I stopped at the spigot.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

My main fear with this is the extreme temp shifts in Philly lately. Had some days where my fermenter teetered just below 60 degrees. Mostly it hovered in the 62-64 range.

Just hoping I didn't stun the yeast. And it wasn't ready to be bottled. We shall see

 

[thecrow124]

My main fear with this is the extreme temp shifts in Philly lately. Had some days where my fermenter teetered just below 60 degrees. Mostly it hovered in the 62-64 range.

Just hoping I didn't stun the yeast. And it wasn't ready to be bottled. We shall see

At those temps I would say you have nothing to worry about. That is pretty close to perfect.

I would still suggest calibrating your hydrometer. Just do a gravity reading on water, it should read 1.000.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

At those temps I would say you have nothing to worry about. That is pretty close to perfect.

I would still suggest calibrating your hydrometer. Just do a gravity reading on water, it should read 1.000.

I might just do that right now.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

At those temps I would say you have nothing to worry about. That is pretty close to perfect.

I would still suggest calibrating your hydrometer. Just do a gravity reading on water, it should read 1.000.

Discovered one possibility. On first glance water read .005 less than it should have. That was with me holding it in the air. When resting on a flat surface, it crept closer to 1.00.

Both reading I took I was holding it up towards a light because it stated getting dark outside. If this was true for those reading. My OG would be about 1.055 and FG would be around 1.020.

Not sure by any means if this was the same case for those reads, but a solid possibility.

 

[757Hokie83]

Yea I just used a simple glass one that came with the kit, nothing special

As for temp, I did my bottling outdoors in about 40 degree weather. Brought it from inside where it was around 62 degrees


Also regarding the less than 5 gallons, that wouldn't surprise me. I got to about where the spigot was in my bottling bucket and came up short about 6 bottles (one was a waste...dropped the bottle). The others I didn't want to get too low in the bucket so I stopped at the spigot.

sorry, I meant the temp of the beer, not surrounding temperature