***OFFICIAL*** Footballguys homebrew thread (1 Viewer)

[culdeus]

NP..

We just pulled this recipe up and brewed up a 10 gallon batch of the AG version (we were not able to get the palisade hops, so we just swapped them for Amarillo). I have 5 gallons upstairs fermenting nicely with my Amber.



BTW, if anyone cant get Warrior, I have 3 ounces I could send out. Things Beer inside Michigan Brewing Co. stocks them and I pick up some hops every time I am out there..

O RLY I think I can get the other kinds. Struggggling to find warrior.

Scratch that. AHS has everything but pallisade. Midwest has pallisade. Wonder if my lhbs has any of this.

 

[The Gator]

I transfered my brew to the secondary a week ago. Today I noticed some 'stuff' floating on top that wasnt there a couple days ago. I shook the carboy a little and it fell back to the bottom. WTF was/is that?

 

[culdeus]

Anybody got a good lager recipe? I'd like to try one once in my career. Perhaps a german style "imperial" pilsner of sorts.

 

[The Gator]

For my first couple batches, I placed my six-pack containers in plastic bags and then put the bagged packs in a rubbermaid storage container.Hard to believe I'd be paranoid about anything, right? Using the 1-2-3 procedure, I should be immune from this on most batches as long as I'm getting good primary activity, right?

How are your plants, gb?

 

[The Gator]

Bump for the homebrew season, and...... MESMASHU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!jj

 

[culdeus]

Yeah, gonna do a dry stout this weekend most likely. Schmenga is maybe his recipie is in this thread somewhere, but I think it was lost in the TBS move. That's still the hombrew leader in the clubhouse on my board with Gators's Old Ale in 2nd.

 

[orcinus]

Yeah, gonna do a dry stout this weekend most likely. Schmenga is maybe his recipie is in this thread somewhere, but I think it was lost in the TBS move. That's still the hombrew leader in the clubhouse on my board with Gators's Old Ale in 2nd.

If this is the Stout that Nilloc won some local award with, I'm pretty sure it was a kit from these guys.www.homebrewery.com

 

[orcinus]

Oh, and IPA for me this weekend once I finish my current transfer to the pigs.

 

[The Gator]

46 & 2IPA v2.0 next weekend.

 

[culdeus]

Yeah, gonna do a dry stout this weekend most likely. Schmenga is maybe his recipie is in this thread somewhere, but I think it was lost in the TBS move. That's still the hombrew leader in the clubhouse on my board with Gators's Old Ale in 2nd.

If this is the Stout that Nilloc won some local award with, I'm pretty sure it was a kit from these guys.www.homebrewery.com

That's too bad. Homey don't do kits.

 

[The Gator]

LOOK AT ME, IM WAY TOO COOL AND FURTHER ADVANCED THAN YOU TO USE KITS AND I CAN DO ALL GRAIN AND HAVE NO NEED TO STOOP TO YOUR LEVEL TO BREW MY OWN BEER!!!!!!!!!!!one

 

[culdeus]

LOOK AT ME, IM WAY TOO COOL AND FURTHER ADVANCED THAN YOU TO USE KITS AND I CAN DO ALL GRAIN AND HAVE NO NEED TO STOOP TO YOUR LEVEL TO BREW MY OWN BEER!!!!!!!!!!!one

fixed

 

[The Gator]

So you still extract brew but just don't buy kits?

:blink:

Way too much thinking in that for me to not go all the way and all grain, but im lazy, so....

 

[Gator Shawn]

My wife bought me a home brewery kit this weekend I am OVER F%$#ING WHELMED.

This was the "True Brew" Home Brewing Kit. She bought it at a local wine making shop (we have no close-by home brewery suppliers)

It contains:

Maestro Beer Equipment Kit w/ Auto-Siphon

True Brew Handbook

6.5 gallon Primary Fermenting bucket with D&G Lid

6.5 gallon Bottling Bucket with spigot Fermometer

adhesive fermentation thermometer

Fermtech Springless Bottle Filler

Fermtech 3/8” Auto Siphon

5’ x 5/16” Flex Vinyl Tubing

Hydrometer

Emily Double Lever Capper

Bottle Brush

3 Piece Airlock

C-Brite Sanitizer 8-pack

Questions:

1. Besides something to contain the final result, bottles, do I need anything more to brew my first batch?

2. My favorite beers are stouts. Is it as easy to home brew a stout as it is any other ale?

3. Can any of you recommend a better primer than the crappy manual that came with this kit?

 

[coldchill]

My wife bought me a home brewery kit this weekend I am OVER F%$#ING WHELMED.This was the "True Brew" Home Brewing Kit. She bought it at a local wine making shop (we have no close-by home brewery suppliers)It contains:Maestro Beer Equipment Kit w/ Auto-SiphonTrue Brew Handbook6.5 gallon Primary Fermenting bucket with D&G Lid6.5 gallon Bottling Bucket with spigot Fermometeradhesive fermentation thermometerFermtech Springless Bottle FillerFermtech 3/8” Auto Siphon5’ x 5/16” Flex Vinyl TubingHydrometerEmily Double Lever CapperBottle Brush3 Piece AirlockC-Brite Sanitizer 8-packQuestions:1. Besides something to contain the final result, bottles, do I need anything more to brew my first batch?2. My favorite beers are stouts. Is it as easy to home brew a stout as it is any other ale?3. Can any of you recommend a better primer than the crappy manual that came with this kit?

1. A large stock pot, if you go extract and do a partial boil you can get away with with 12-16 quart pot. Ingredients.2. Not a stout fan but have had good luck with them. Check out Midwestsupplies.com and Northernbrewer.com, I believe they rank kits for difficulty level. You don't have to buy there but they'll give you an idea of what some of the simpler styles are.3. The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, plus there is a lot of helpful info in the net. (there are several homebrewers here at FBG's)eta: Good luck with the hobby, I've been brewing for a little over ten years and enjoy it now more than ever.

 

[Gator Shawn]

My wife bought me a home brewery kit this weekend I am OVER F%$#ING WHELMED.This was the "True Brew" Home Brewing Kit. She bought it at a local wine making shop (we have no close-by home brewery suppliers)It contains:Maestro Beer Equipment Kit w/ Auto-SiphonTrue Brew Handbook6.5 gallon Primary Fermenting bucket with D&G Lid6.5 gallon Bottling Bucket with spigot Fermometeradhesive fermentation thermometerFermtech Springless Bottle FillerFermtech 3/8” Auto Siphon5’ x 5/16” Flex Vinyl TubingHydrometerEmily Double Lever CapperBottle Brush3 Piece AirlockC-Brite Sanitizer 8-packQuestions:1. Besides something to contain the final result, bottles, do I need anything more to brew my first batch?2. My favorite beers are stouts. Is it as easy to home brew a stout as it is any other ale?3. Can any of you recommend a better primer than the crappy manual that came with this kit?

1. A large stock pot, if you go extract and do a partial boil you can get away with with 12-16 quart pot. Ingredients.2. Not a stout fan but have had good luck with them. Check out Midwestsupplies.com and Northernbrewer.com, I believe they rank kits for difficulty level. You don't have to buy there but they'll give you an idea of what some of the simpler styles are.3. The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, plus there is a lot of helpful info in the net. (there are several homebrewers here at FBG's)eta: Good luck with the hobby, I've been brewing for a little over ten years and enjoy it now more than ever.

I was going to buy a turkey fryer. It's 32 quarts.

 

[Gator Shawn]

Are there any restrictions on what material the pot I use to brew the mash is made of? My wife said she read that you can't use aluminum. I said: but she failed to provide one. Still, I want to be sure.

 

[heckmanm]

Are there any restrictions on what material the pot I use to brew the mash is made of? My wife said she read that you can't use aluminum. I said: but she failed to provide one. Still, I want to be sure.

There have been rumors about aluminum for years being linked to Alzheimers, but I don't think there's ever been a causal link established. Beer wort is somewhat acidic (pH of around 5, I think), but for the amount of time it's going to be in contact with the pot, I doubt you're going to be etching away any metal. Hell, finished beer is more acidic than the wort is (pH < 4), and it's packaged and sold in aluminum!Stainless is preferable due to durability and maybe more even heat distribution. But if you go with a fairly heavy grade aluminum pot, you should be fine.

You mentioned a 32-quart turkey fryer pot. At that size, you should be able to boil at least close to the full batch volume, although you'll need to be careful of boilovers. To end up at 5 gallons, you'll probably need to start with 6 to 6.5 gallons in the kettle to allow for evaporation losses.

In my opinion (based on 15+ years experience), here are some keys to getting the best results for whatever level of brewing you're at:

1. Boil as close to the full wort volume as possible. This will give you a truer beer color (for lighter styles; for stouts it won't really matter), and if/when you move beyond kits, you'll need less hops to get equivalent bitterness. Concentrated work darkens more during the boil and inhibits extraction of hop acids.

2. After the boil, chill the wort to <80F as quickly as possible, whether that's an ice bath for the pot, or a wort chiller of some type. Wort below 140F is an absolute BUFFET FEAST for bacteria. The sooner you can get it cooled and get your yeast in there, the less chance for other beasties to get a foothold. If possible, cover the pot with a lid or plastic wrap during the chill process - there are lots of wild yeasts and other undesirables floating around in the air. The longer you take to chill, the more important the cover is.

3. Yeast need oxygen early in fermentation. At minimum, you need to shake/stir the bejeezus out of it after it's cooled and in the fermenter. You can buy stirrers that mount in a drill that will do the trick. Whip up a good 3-4 of inches of foam on top; you want as much dissolved oxygen in the wort as possible. You can also look into an aquarium air pump (with a sterile filter), or an oxygenation kit. Ideally, you should see signs of active fermentation (i.e., bubbles) within 12 hours of pitching yeast.

4. Sanitize everything that's going to touch your beer after boiling. Hoses, siphons, whatever you stir or aerate with, and don't forget the fermenter itself. Suggestion: Fill the fermenter up with water & sanitizer, and soak all your stuff in it during the boil. When you're ready to put the beer in the fermenter, siphon or dump the liquid over to the bottling bucket.

5. Tubing is cheap. If it starts looking hazy or dirty, pitch it and buy new.

6. Keep the fermenter at a fairly steady temperature during fermentation; temp range depends on your yeast. Fermentation is exothermic - it will tend to warm up as it goes along, although the ambient temp will buffer that some. Temps at the low end of the yeast's range will ferment a bit slower, but generally with cleaner flavors; higher temps will go faster but produce more yeast-derived flavors (usually a somewhat fruity flavor/aroma). I assume you'll be starting with ales. Lagers require much more temperature control.

When you're really ready to out, go to morebeer.com for ALL of the goodies and gizmos!

Welcome to the obsession hobby!

 

[culdeus]

AL pots are preffered primarily because of cost. I'd be more concerned about the zinc in SS as far as a health hazzard anyways. Zinc will leach and AL doesn't in quantities that are worrisome.

 

[Gator Shawn]

I bought my first batch of ingredients today. A Stout. 4 lbs in the can of ME and 3 lbs dry ME. Going to Brew tomorrow and starting checking gravity on Friday. Here's what was recommended by the brewery supply guy and he seemed VERY knowledgeable (even gave me his card with his personal cell phone on it to call if I run into trouble)

1. Brew the wort

2. Ferment in the Bottling Bucket first for 5-7 days

3. Ferment in the Fermenting Bucket for 5-7 days

4. Siphon to clean bottling bucket and add sugar. stir, then bottle.

5. Open one after 7 days to check it.

6. Open another after another 7 days.

Sounds hot. 4 weeks or so to taste my first Homemade Stout.

 

[culdeus]

I bought my first batch of ingredients today. A Stout. 4 lbs in the can of ME and 3 lbs dry ME. Going to Brew tomorrow and starting checking gravity on Friday. Here's what was recommended by the brewery supply guy and he seemed VERY knowledgeable (even gave me his card with his personal cell phone on it to call if I run into trouble)

1. Brew the wort

2. Ferment in the Bottling Bucket first for 5-7 days

3. Ferment in the Fermenting Bucket for 5-7 days

4. Siphon to clean bottling bucket and add sugar. stir, then bottle.

5. Open one after 7 days to check it.

6. Open another after another 7 days.

Sounds hot. 4 weeks or so to taste my first Homemade Stout.

This will be good news for Gator.

 

[Das Boot]

 

[Gator Shawn]

First Batch Brewed and in the fermenter until next weekend.

Lessons Learned:

1. I brewed 2 gallons of waters with my DME to make my wort. I then put this into the sink filled with ice water to get the temp down. I poured it in my bottling bucket along with 3 more gallons of room temp spring water to get the 5 gallons. However, I didn't let the wort cool enough so my initial temp upon merging them was like 100. I had to cover the wort to protect it from bad stuff while it chilled down to about 78. In the future I will refrigerate the spring water and slowly add it until I get 78.

2. My whole house STILL smells like Sweet Potatoes. Nobody warned (not the right term) me about the intense aroma of brewing beer.

3. I was neurotic about the sanitization thing. I need to find a way to simplify it. A system. I practically turned my kitchen into an operating room before I brewed.

ETA: Happy to see bubbling in my gas doo-hickey.

 

[culdeus]

Are there any restrictions on what material the pot I use to brew the mash is made of? My wife said she read that you can't use aluminum. I said: but she failed to provide one. Still, I want to be sure.

Also, if she's so freaked out about Aluminum ask her to show you her deodorant. 90% chance the active ingredient is aluminum in one form or another. Then ask her again what she thinks about AL pots.

 

[culdeus]

First Batch Brewed and in the fermenter until next weekend.Lessons Learned:1. I brewed 2 gallons of waters with my DME to make my wort. I then put this into the sink filled with ice water to get the temp down. I poured it in my bottling bucket along with 3 more gallons of room temp spring water to get the 5 gallons. However, I didn't let the wort cool enough so my initial temp upon merging them was like 100. I had to cover the wort to protect it from bad stuff while it chilled down to about 78. In the future I will refrigerate the spring water and slowly add it until I get 78. 2. My whole house STILL smells like Sweet Potatoes. Nobody warned (not the right term) me about the intense aroma of brewing beer.3. I was neurotic about the sanitization thing. I need to find a way to simplify it. A system. I practically turned my kitchen into an operating room before I brewed.ETA: Happy to see bubbling in my gas doo-hickey.

1. One of the top 2 or 3 things you can do to improve your beer is brew the whole 5.25 gallons. I boil 6 gallons which goes to 5.25 after an hour. This allows the hops (which have already a low solubility in wort) to fully show themselves.2. Where do you live? I only brew outside.3. There aren't many things to sanitize for the actual brewing. Nothing that can't go in the boiling wort for the last few minutes. The rest I take a PVC pipe with an end cap and fill it with 1G of water and put sanitizing soln in that for the misc. bits. It's the bottling sanitation that can get pretty crazy and drive me to keg.

 

[Gator Shawn]

First Batch Brewed and in the fermenter until next weekend.Lessons Learned:1. I brewed 2 gallons of waters with my DME to make my wort. I then put this into the sink filled with ice water to get the temp down. I poured it in my bottling bucket along with 3 more gallons of room temp spring water to get the 5 gallons. However, I didn't let the wort cool enough so my initial temp upon merging them was like 100. I had to cover the wort to protect it from bad stuff while it chilled down to about 78. In the future I will refrigerate the spring water and slowly add it until I get 78. 2. My whole house STILL smells like Sweet Potatoes. Nobody warned (not the right term) me about the intense aroma of brewing beer.3. I was neurotic about the sanitization thing. I need to find a way to simplify it. A system. I practically turned my kitchen into an operating room before I brewed.ETA: Happy to see bubbling in my gas doo-hickey.

1. One of the top 2 or 3 things you can do to improve your beer is brew the whole 5.25 gallons. I boil 6 gallons which goes to 5.25 after an hour. This allows the hops (which have already a low solubility in wort) to fully show themselves.2. Where do you live? I only brew outside.3. There aren't many things to sanitize for the actual brewing. Nothing that can't go in the boiling wort for the last few minutes. The rest I take a PVC pipe with an end cap and fill it with 1G of water and put sanitizing soln in that for the misc. bits.

1. Yeah, but that requires a SIGNIFICANT kettle or a large outdoor boiler or something. I bought a 16-quart stockpot and it's plenty large. 2 gallons of wort is more than most basic setups tell you to do so I'm a little ahead there.2. I tried moving my stove outside but the gas hose was only like 3 inches long. maybe I'll upgrade to a propane burner and ginormous kettle after a batch or two.3. Agreed, still I was worried about where I set the spoon down and stuff like that. So I wiped down all the countertops and the hood before I started.

 

[culdeus]

First Batch Brewed and in the fermenter until next weekend.Lessons Learned:1. I brewed 2 gallons of waters with my DME to make my wort. I then put this into the sink filled with ice water to get the temp down. I poured it in my bottling bucket along with 3 more gallons of room temp spring water to get the 5 gallons. However, I didn't let the wort cool enough so my initial temp upon merging them was like 100. I had to cover the wort to protect it from bad stuff while it chilled down to about 78. In the future I will refrigerate the spring water and slowly add it until I get 78. 2. My whole house STILL smells like Sweet Potatoes. Nobody warned (not the right term) me about the intense aroma of brewing beer.3. I was neurotic about the sanitization thing. I need to find a way to simplify it. A system. I practically turned my kitchen into an operating room before I brewed.ETA: Happy to see bubbling in my gas doo-hickey.

1. One of the top 2 or 3 things you can do to improve your beer is brew the whole 5.25 gallons. I boil 6 gallons which goes to 5.25 after an hour. This allows the hops (which have already a low solubility in wort) to fully show themselves.2. Where do you live? I only brew outside.3. There aren't many things to sanitize for the actual brewing. Nothing that can't go in the boiling wort for the last few minutes. The rest I take a PVC pipe with an end cap and fill it with 1G of water and put sanitizing soln in that for the misc. bits.

1. Yeah, but that requires a SIGNIFICANT kettle or a large outdoor boiler or something. I bought a 16-quart stockpot and it's plenty large. 2 gallons of wort is more than most basic setups tell you to do so I'm a little ahead there.2. I tried moving my stove outside but the gas hose was only like 3 inches long. maybe I'll upgrade to a propane burner and ginormous kettle after a batch or two.3. Agreed, still I was worried about where I set the spoon down and stuff like that. So I wiped down all the countertops and the hood before I started.

Spoon? As long as the sucker is still boiling you are safe. I can't imagine doing it without a turkey fryer in the outdoors. Anything less and you are asking to coat your stove top in burned sugar one of these days.

 

[The Gator]

I bought my first batch of ingredients today. A Stout. 4 lbs in the can of ME and 3 lbs dry ME. Going to Brew tomorrow and starting checking gravity on Friday. Here's what was recommended by the brewery supply guy and he seemed VERY knowledgeable (even gave me his card with his personal cell phone on it to call if I run into trouble)

1. Brew the wort

2. Ferment in the Bottling Bucket first for 5-7 days

3. Ferment in the Fermenting Bucket for 5-7 days

4. Siphon to clean bottling bucket and add sugar. stir, then bottle.

5. Open one after 7 days to check it.

6. Open another after another 7 days.

Sounds hot. 4 weeks or so to taste my first Homemade Stout.

This will be good news for Gator.

Can never take too many samples.

 

[The Gator]

2. My whole house STILL smells like Sweet Potatoes. Nobody warned (not the right term) me about the intense aroma of brewing beer.

No one told me either, and when my wife came home to the smell she about lost it. It is strong when you are in it all the time, let alone being gone and walking into it.

 

[Gator Shawn]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

 

[culdeus]

BEERMERGENCY!Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here. I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

 

[heckmanm]

AL pots are preffered primarily because of cost. I'd be more concerned about the zinc in SS as far as a health hazzard anyways. Zinc will leach and AL doesn't in quantities that are worrisome.

Agree with you on cost; however, stainless does not contain zinc, it contains chromium and (usually) nickel. Thinking of galvanized perhaps?Stainless is the material of choice for nearly all modern commercial breweries (as well as dairies and all other manner of food handling operations). If there were any health hazards in using it, that wouldn't be the case.

 

[heckmanm]

BEERMERGENCY!Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here. I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

 

[munga30]

BEERMERGENCY!Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here. I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.Any advice?

Sounds pretty standard. Bubbling will taper off over time. If you give it a gentle rock, you'll get a few quick bubbles and it will settle back to infrequent.

 

[heckmanm]

BEERMERGENCY!Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here. I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.Any advice?

Sounds pretty standard. Bubbling will taper off over time. If you give it a gentle rock, you'll get a few quick bubbles and it will settle back to infrequent.

Gently rocking the fermenter will release bubbles, but mainly from knocking CO2 out of solution. Unless you have a yeast strain that flocculates (drops out) very easily, there's probably no need to rouse it up during fermentation, especially at warmer temperatures.At any given temperature, a certain amount of CO2 will remain dissolved in the beer. Absent agitation, it's only when additional CO2 is produced above that point that you will get bubbles. A couple of observations along those lines:- If the temperature drops, more CO2 can stay dissolved, meaning the bubbling will slow down. Even at a steady ambient temp, the temp of the beer will drop slightly as fermentation activity slows.- The CO2 being expelled has to be enough to overcome the pressure of the water in the airlock. Toward the end of fermentation, there may just not be enough excess CO2 being produced to bubble, except very slowly (longer than you want to sit and watch it).Did you take a starting gravity? What was it? For a stout kit, I would expect it to be somewhere in the 1.040-050 range.

 

[Gator Shawn]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.

Anything else I should know?

 

[Gator Shawn]

bump

 

[culdeus]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.



Anything else I should know?

Relax, don't worry.

 

[culdeus]

AL pots are preffered primarily because of cost. I'd be more concerned about the zinc in SS as far as a health hazzard anyways. Zinc will leach and AL doesn't in quantities that are worrisome.

Agree with you on cost; however, stainless does not contain zinc, it contains chromium and (usually) nickel. Thinking of galvanized perhaps?Stainless is the material of choice for nearly all modern commercial breweries (as well as dairies and all other manner of food handling operations). If there were any health hazards in using it, that wouldn't be the case.

Sorry, meant chromium. In any situation AL is a vastly superior metal for a boil pot than SS on many other levels. The heating of a alloy is always going to be uneven and require in the high end stuff a different bottom (often of AL sometimes copper) to compensate for this. You'll get probably a lifetime worth of leaching AL in just one antacid. The big breweries use it because it's obviously easier to clean, and much more durable long term.

 

[Gator Shawn]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.



Anything else I should know?

Relax, don't worry.

So my plan going forward is good to go?

 

[culdeus]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.



Anything else I should know?

Relax, don't worry.

So my plan going forward is good to go?

Sounds good to me. I don't do the bucket thing so I don't know the way the handoffs go like that. I was under the impression however that using a blowoff sort of makes a secondary fermentation optional. Though I really don't know. What's the cost of a glass 5G jar? Can't be prohibitive.

 

[heckmanm]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.

Anything else I should know?

Like culdeus said, "Relax, don't worry" (the quote actually finishes with "have a homebrew", but you can't do that yet, can you? )Anyway, just to be sure I have it straight - you started in the bottling bucket, and then the other bucket will be the "secondary"? If so, then you will need to siphon over to the other bucket, so you can get the bottling bucket cleaned and ready for bottling. Aside from that, it's not strictly necessary, as good beer can be made in a single-stage fermentation.

Doesn't necessarily need to go another week, but that amount of time won't hurt it. It's a good idea, once primary fermentation is mostly done, to get it off the yeast cake if you're not ready to bottle right away. Yeast cells will eventually die and can autolyse (basically, rupture), which can impart some off flavors. It would actually probably take several weeks before it was a problem.

Once it's in the other bucket, give it a couple of days and some more yeast will settle out, and the gravity might even drop a slight bit more. With an ale like your stout, there's not much more complex than that going on. But if you can't get it bottled as soon as you want, that's not a big deal, either. An extra week in there won't make much difference, if any.

Last tip - siphon gently - minimize splashing, and keep the outlet hose below the liquid surface as much as possible. You want to avoid getting air dissolved in the beer (just the opposite of what you want BEFORE fermentation). But again, don't worry too much, because the carbonation process will absorb a little oxygen after bottling.

 

[Gator Shawn]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.



Anything else I should know?

Relax, don't worry.

So my plan going forward is good to go?

Sounds good to me. I don't do the bucket thing so I don't know the way the handoffs go like that. I was under the impression however that using a blowoff sort of makes a secondary fermentation optional. Though I really don't know. What's the cost of a glass 5G jar? Can't be prohibitive.

They are not bad ~$25-30?. What's the benefit? being able to see the clarity? I assumed light was bad for beer, surprises me that it spends any time in clear glass bottles.

 

[Gator Shawn]

Is this what you mean by blow-off?

Valve

That's exactly the thing I am using.

 

[culdeus]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.



Anything else I should know?

Relax, don't worry.

So my plan going forward is good to go?

Sounds good to me. I don't do the bucket thing so I don't know the way the handoffs go like that. I was under the impression however that using a blowoff sort of makes a secondary fermentation optional. Though I really don't know. What's the cost of a glass 5G jar? Can't be prohibitive.

They are not bad ~$25-30?. What's the benefit? being able to see the clarity? I assumed light was bad for beer, surprises me that it spends any time in clear glass bottles.

They last practically forever. The plastic ones are good for a year tops before I start to have my doubts about them.

 

[Gator Shawn]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.



Anything else I should know?

Relax, don't worry.

So my plan going forward is good to go?

Sounds good to me. I don't do the bucket thing so I don't know the way the handoffs go like that. I was under the impression however that using a blowoff sort of makes a secondary fermentation optional. Though I really don't know. What's the cost of a glass 5G jar? Can't be prohibitive.

They are not bad ~$25-30?. What's the benefit? being able to see the clarity? I assumed light was bad for beer, surprises me that it spends any time in clear glass bottles.

They last practically forever. The plastic ones are good for a year tops before I start to have my doubts about them.

I am going right now to go buy a 5Gal Glass Carboy. i assume I still need to leave the beer in a cool dark place while it's in the glass carboy...

 

[heckmanm]

BEERMERGENCY!

Brewed Sunday. Wednesday AM, bubbling was stopped.

I was concerned so I took the valve stopper out and it seemed clogged with foam residue. I washed it in some solution and replaced it. Now Thursday AM, it's hardly bubbling at all. Maybe once every 5-10 minutes.

Did I get bad yeast? I think the temp in the bathroom might have been in the high end all week (maybe 74-76). We had a warm spell here.

I'm reluctant to open it up and take a gravity measurement.

Any advice?

If it gets hot it will ferment faster and finish faster. Can you see any effervescence? I mean just because there's no foam doesn't mean it's over. Especially if you blew the foam off. So you use a blowoff valve? I've never dealt with one of those.

Agree - it's very likely that it's done fermenting (or nearly so anyway), especially at those warm temperatures. Many ale yeasts can finish up in just a few days, and as culdeus noted, higher temperatures will accelerate the process.Why are you reluctant to take a gravity? If it's sanitation, just wipe down the outside of the fermenter with sanitizer, and also sanitize whatever you're using to draw the sample. Don't leave it exposed to air any longer than you have to, but you're not working with level 3 biohazard here. If, as we suspect, it's mostly fermented, you now have ~5% alcohol (depending on your recipe), which makes it much harder for any nasties to cause trouble.

Because I'm terrified of f'ing this up. Okay, I'll get a gravity reading tonight. I suppose if it's done fermenting it's okay to sit in there a day more or so right? The guy I got the direction from said I should now siphon it back into the actual fermentation bucket (it's in the bottling bucket atm) and let it go another week before siphoning back to the bottling bucket and priming and bottling.



Anything else I should know?

Relax, don't worry.

So my plan going forward is good to go?

Sounds good to me. I don't do the bucket thing so I don't know the way the handoffs go like that. I was under the impression however that using a blowoff sort of makes a secondary fermentation optional. Though I really don't know. What's the cost of a glass 5G jar? Can't be prohibitive.

They are not bad ~$25-30?. What's the benefit? being able to see the clarity? I assumed light was bad for beer, surprises me that it spends any time in clear glass bottles.

They last practically forever. The plastic ones are good for a year tops before I start to have my doubts about them.

I am going right now to go buy a 5Gal Glass Carboy. i assume I still need to leave the beer in a cool dark place while it's in the glass carboy...

Yes. You can also make a "poncho" out of a trash bag to keep light off of it. Light is a bigger issue the more hoppy the beer is.If you haven't already left, consider a 6- or 6.5 gallon carboy, rather than 5. More headspace for foam will mean less goo clogging the airlock. Also consider one of these or these. There are few feelings worse than a carboy full of beer slipping out of your hands and heading for the concrete.

 

[culdeus]

6.5 for primary 5 for secondary. HTH

Also, Gator can we get this guy a key to the emerald city?

 

[Gator Shawn]

I bought a 5. Transferring my nectar to the carboy tonight. So excited.

 

[Gator Shawn]

Well, I moved it to the secondary fermenter. Looks great, smells great. Tastes GREAT! I mean it tasted like flat guinness. Although it was quite effervescent. The problem is....I measured gravity and although the crappy hydrometer they gave me varied greately, it went between 1.028 and 1.032 or so.

Now, I f'ed up and didn't take a OG.

The label on the ME can said I should be at like 1.04 OG though, and I added 3 lbs of dry ME per the guy I talked to which was supposed to help with the alcohol content. Wouldn't that probably boost the OG? is there a way to figure it out or estimate it? 5 gallons of water, 7 lbs of ME?

It sure tasted like a Guinness which is 4.5%.