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First beer....12 hours ferment?

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Brewbear

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May 10, 2005
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Well,
I brewed my first beer, an amber ale 8)
I used a 1 gal kit and got it started this morning at 9 am. I rehydrated the yeast and pitched when the wort was at 80 degF.
By 10:10 am when I went to work it was throwing a bubble every 5 sec or so. Apparenly the 4 or 5 inches of headspace I left was not enough, I came home (8:20 pm) to find my concoction had blown the top off of the 3 piece airlock and spewed all over :'( Fortunately I had set it in the bath tub ;D
I cleaned up the airlock and the stopper to hear a very active fermentation going on. At 10 pm, thing are all quiet. Can it be done? :-\

Ted

PS. OK. it's not quite done, it still throws a bubble every 15 sec or so....
 
Just out of curiosity, where did you get the one gallon kit? I've never seen them before.
 
That is an incredibly fast primary fermentation...Too fast. The reason it was fast is likely due to your pitching temperature. 80F is way high unless you are brewing a Belgian ale. Pitching temperature should be <70F. The downside is that your brew will now contain a lot of esters. A few esters are good for some styles, like the above-mentioned Belgian ales, but it will make an amber taste pretty funky. Then again, you may have stumbled across a new substyle of amber that tastes really good to you.

Peace.
 
Hi all,
HB, I agree it was too fast. I added the 5g. pack of yeast rehydrated, that I guess had a lot of yeasties working on a 1 gal. batch. As of 9:00 am it has started to drop clear. Is it itme to rack to secondary? I was planning to let it sit in primary for 2 weeks and then bottle(with 1 teaspoon of sugar/bottle, as recomended) but it seems I will have to do that sooner :-\
JoeM, I got the kit from Stein Fillers in Long Beach, Ca. www.steinfillers.com 562-425-0588.

I guess the temp. in the house went to about 80 ( durn heat) before the A/C kicked in and that may have rocketed the fermentation.
In any case, should I wait for a week before bottling? I'm just curious to see how this is going to taste. I believe the yeast was Nottinghan Ale, so the %ABV will not be too high.
To be continued,
Ted
 
Generally, I rack to secondary as soon as the fermentation slows or stops. Even if I am lazy I will only keep in the primary vessel for two weeks tops. Since the fermentation temp was a bit high, it might do you good to allow it to sit in the secondary for a few weeks. This will allow a lot of the esters to work their way out. They will mellow a bit in the bottle, but since it is airtight it won't be as affective. I would take a whiff after transferring to get an idea of how fruity it smells.

My last batch was an amber as well. I added bit of flaked rye to the wort (ala Full Sail) and it gave it a nice twang. Unfortunately, I increased the size of my wort boil but forgot to adjust my hop rate so it ended up a bit on the bitter side :-X. It took an extra few months to mellow, but it turned out prettty well in the end. ..Still hoppy, but I like that.
 
Thanks for the help HB.
I came home tonight to see that the beer is clearing up some. It most definitelyhad dropped a lot of lees and I guess by morning the lees will be compacted enough for me to rack off of them. Two weeks in secondary and then bottle. Am I right?

To be continued,
Ted
 
That'd be what I'd do Ted.

First beers are always a bit scary. I thought I'd ruined my stout till I cracked open the first bottle and heard that satisfying pop-hiss.
 
Well,
Following Mynx's and HB's advice, since fermentation stopped, I racked it. It SMELLS GOOD ;D ;D
I can hardly wait for the next two weeks and bottle this. And then another two weeks :'( :'(. It should be ready for Labor Day.

To be continued,
Ted
 
Hi folks,
I bottled the beer 2 weeks ago and 3 days ago it went in the fridge. ;D
I finally resigned to the fact that my first try might be off soo... I opened the first bottle yesterday ( way too sooon but I couldn't wait any longer). OH MY GOD !!! It is great ;D My mom likes it too, even tho she said that it makes her sleepy after 2/3 glass.
Inspired by this, I started a 5 gal batch of American wheat ale but I cut down the bittering hops time from 60 to 30 min.
We'll see in another 4 weeks...
Ted

P.S. Mynx, when I get a little more versed at beer brewing I'll try your stout.
 
Good to hear it went well BB!

And seriously? My stout is easy. It was my very first beer I ever made, and now I have to make one batch of it for every batch of new beer I make. We love it that much ;)
 
Stein Fillers is also my local HBS store, and the guys who work there are great, and they'll also answer questions about brewing. My first beer was their brown ale kit, and it's good stuff. I might make it again once a year, it's that good.
 
Heya Brewbear,
Hows that wheat beer coming?
I bottled a cherry wood smoked Hefenweizen today whilst brewing a Dunkel weis and dumped the dunkel on the wyeast 3056 cake from the hefe, damned Im tired ;D

I like to keep ale ferment temperatures @ 64-68f (close to stalling), the hefe has a heck of a good smoked nose with cloves ( its almost as good as my recent hard cider) ;)

Let me know how that American Wheat tastes, Im sure it will live up to it's ancestory!

Cheers...John
 
Hi John,
The American Wheat started fairly slow, about 10 -15 sec. between bubbles and i was wondering if i messed up the yeast while rehydrating. I decided to wait a while before jumping on the forums and asking for help. I did not want to cry wolf for nothing. I also knew from meads that it may take a while before fermentation gets its stride. The fermentation bucket is in the tub, safe and secure, at about 74 deg.F, I do not have a designated room for my brewing endeavors (yet).
Anyhow, by next morning the suckers were going to town, 4 -5 bubbles / sec. and this comtinued for 2 days. On the morning of the first of the month I counted 1 bubble every30 sec and by evening time 1 every 45 sec.As of today it has stopped fermenting and I will give it until Monday to do its thing, then to bottles it goes ;D

So, I'm guessing it is going well, I'll know for sure in about 3 more weeks.
Have fun,
Ted
 
The American Wheat got bottled today! Three more weeks to party time.
Trying to figure out what my next project will be.

Ted
 
Brewbear,

You took a sample taste, didn't you? Any early reviews?

-David
 
Hi Lostnbronx,
Took just a small sip...O.K., a couple of sips, it tastes like....flat beer :-\ It is good, and I believe that my decision to reduce the bittering hops time to 30 min ( from 60) will yeld a beer that is pretty much on target with what I wanted.
As a side note, the amber ale has been in the fridge for just about 2 weeks now and has gotten better, the bitter aftertaste has mellowed considerably. It is better now than it was at first sampling (1.5 days in the fridge) but the saddest thing of all is that I'm down to 2 bottles...darn them one gallon batches :'( I have to wait 3 more weeks before the current batch is ready and my friends started calling already, an End of Summer bash is being organized.

Ted - keeping guard near the bottles, no two-legged rats here :D
 
The problem with 5% beer is that it doesn't go nearly as far as 15% mead. :(
I say go for some 5 gallon batches now that you have an idea what you like. Two cases isn't really much beer, especially when you have friends knocking your door down.

Enjoy!
Kirk
 
Heya Ted,
glad to hear your wheat beer is a success, that Amber IMO is best about 6 weeks after bottling (about the time its gone), mine is always still a little rough around the edges for the first week or two after carbonating, hey but that last one is always awesome;)

That Dunkel I was bragging about? It stalled@ 1.020 :-[ (::note to self:: Wyeast 3056 does not like 64f primary temps) , well it underwent CPR (80f bath water) and is slowly bubbling now (very sloowww).

I fully agree with byathread , it never hurts to have a few extra homebrews in the fridge, Cheers...John
 
I agree, small batches are good while trying to figure out what you like :D
My second batch, the American Wheat, might make it a little longer. I am thinking about a barley wine next but for now i have to wait, I'm out of carboys and brewing space.

Ted - desperately seeking carboys
 
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