Started first beer... I gots questions!

[Meriadoc]

Hey, all...

Well, I finally took the plunge and started my first batch of beer over the weekend. (I'd heard all the rumors about it being a major pain in the butt, and how it stinks up the whole house, etc, etc... but, now that i've got a coupla batches of mead going, i figured it would be interesting to try a batch of beer, just for the heck of it...)

i picked up an "Brewer's Best" kit at my LHBS (American Amber), and bought a copy of How To Brew. Reading through the section on yeast, i decided to make one change in the ingredients: rather than use the Nottingham yeast that was provided, I picked up a packet of Cooper's Ale yeast (its temp range was about 5 degrees higher, so i figured it made sense).

(As for the rest of the ingredients: 18 oz ID Carlson Crushed Crystal 60L Malt, 1.5 kg Munton's Amber Malt Extract (LME), 2 lb ID Carlson Spray-Dried Malt (DME), 1 oz 4.2% ID Carlson Willamette Bittering Hops, 1 oz 4.2% ID Carlson Willamette Finishing Hops).

I went with this recipe, rather than a stout or porter, since i figured i'd make something more middle of the road (I'm thinking it'll be ready for a Labor Day cookout I wanna host for my family).

So, Saturday, I do my thing; it went pretty well. Although HtB says that leaving a bit of the hops in the wort was OK, I strained all the solids out as i poured the wort into the fermentation bucket.

Took a reading before I closed up the bucket: OG ~ 1.038 @ 78 deg (raw reading -- I didn't adjust for temp).

Sunday morning, it was going gangbusters, even faster than I've become accustomed to with mead! I'm talking like a jackhammer here -- 3 "pops" a second in the airlock!

Now... here's my first question: when I came home last night, the airlock was still. I mean, completely still, and the little hood on the (3-piece airlock) was sitting on the stem (i.e., not even any pressure pushing it up)! Is this normal? Could my wort have finished fermenting in the space of a day or so (~36 hours since being pitched)?

I had been planning on keeping the wort in the bucket for a week, then racking to a 5-gal carboy for 2 weeks, then bottling (which would make the beer ready just as we hit Labor Day weekend). Now I'm not so sure.

Should I rack it already if i don't see any activity in another day or two? I don't think the yeast would have gone dormant -- the temps have stayed within the Cooper's recommended 65-75 deg. range since Saturday.

Next question: in HtB, he talks just a little bit about using honey; he doesn't seem too in favor of it. I'm not sure I want to use it here (since I want to have a baseline against which to compare), but I had two thoughts: (1) the kit listed the OG at around 1.042 - 1.045; since my measurement was a bit below that, would there be any problems "making up the difference" with a honey water solution, let's say at the time of racking to secondary? (2) the kit has just a honking big packet of priming sugar -- what benefits / drawbacks would there be to using honey as the source of priming sugar? What amount of honey would be equivalent to either corn sugar or table sugar?

Thanks in advance,

Merry

 

[byathread]

Considering the low starting gravity its possible that it is finished fermenting. Beer tends to complete primary ferm in 3-5 days for me. You should probably be expecting a FG of 1.010 to 1.015 so a quick gravity check should answer your question. Also, did you add any nutrients? When extract brewing some nutrients are necessary as there is not nearly as much natural nutrients as compared to all-grain and can get stuck without their addition.

I tend to leave an average or low gravity brew 1 week in the primary, 1 week in secondary (assuming I'm not being lazy). Keep in mind that adding priming sugar "greens" the beer up again, so you'll probably be better off bottling sooner and giving it a full 2 weeks in the bottle before drinking. FYI, it will probably reach its peak flavor at 1-2 months in the bottle.

I have used honey for priming beer before. Usually 1/2-2/3 cup of honey will substitute for 3/4 corn sugar per 5gal which is pretty standard for most beers. I don't see any real drawbacks to using honey for priming, though its cheaper and perhaps more convenient to use sugar. Regardless of priming sugar source, I make a syrup by dissolving it in 1/2 cup of boiling or very hot water as this makes it easier to mix in than powder or honey.

Good luck!
Kirk

 

[byathread]

I haven't noticed any real flavor differences between corn sugar and honey for priming. I've heard DME for priming leaves a subtle maltiness, which may be because its not quite as fermentable as other sugars, though I have not tried it.

 

[Meriadoc]

Kirk,

Thanks for the response!

There wasn't any kind of nutrient in the kit, and in my reading, I can't recall having seen any references to using yeast nutrient in beer brewing. (Would I just use the same yeast nutrient / energizer combo that I usually put in my meads?)

I was a bit worried about my OG reading. In a mead, I'd add more honey to try to get the OG up to where I wanted it; what would I add in this case? (Go out and get more malt extract, and do the whole boil thing with it? Some other sort of grain-based fermentable?)

well, if my beer's gonna be ready to bottle in another 2 - 2.5 weeks... well, it looks like I'm gonna be drinking a whole bunch of Grolsch between now and then! (Oh, the sacrifices we make...!)

Merry

 

[byathread]

Check you current gravity first. If its near 1.010 then its finished fermenting.
Your adjusted OG was 1.040 - this ought to yield about 4% abv. Personally I think you're better off not adding additional sugars on this first batch.

If it is stuck and you need to add nutrients, BruVigor is a beer-specific nutrient you could add. Also yeast hulls or DAP will probably do the job.

 

[JoeM]

You're beer could definitely be finished, especially if it was fermenting as fast as you say. To be honest, I’ve been extract brewing for years without additional nutrient and have never had a batch get stuck on me. Not to say that it can’t happen, i just feel like it would be odd, especially with the addition of specialty grains IMHO.

I would say that there are no major drawbacks to priming with honey except that it’s a bit more difficult to work with. The thing is that for the amount of sugar you're adding for priming in comparison to the volume of beer you’re adding it to; it really would make little difference in the final flavor.

Also realize that bottling and drinking a beer as soon as you have planned will leave you with a beer that is quite green (young). I’m not saying it won’t be good, but it certainly won’t be at its best. I think a lot of people greatly underestimate what a good few months of aging can do for a homebrewed beer.

I’m a big proponent of that as I think a lot of people offer their homebrews out way too early and people taste it and say “Wow this is…awesome” while in their heads they are thinking “Damn this is f@#$ing aweful”

 

[byathread]

I’m a big proponent of that as I think a lot of people offer out their homebrews out way too early and people taste it and say “Wow this is…awesome” while in their heads they are thinking “Damn this is f@#$ing aweful”

Hehehe. I absolutely agree. Most of my beers seem to reach that curve of excellence around 2 months in the bottle and just keep getting better. Higher gravity brews benefit from 4 months plus.

 

[Fortuna_Wolf]

I'll remember that when I brew beer.
What long would I want to age a grain wine? (like +1.10 sg beer)

 

[byathread]

Looking back the 1 batch I had that got stuck was a low gravity beer that I added 1 lb of honey to to boost the gravity. Nonetheless, after adding a pinch of nutrient it finish out right away.

I'll remember that when I brew beer.
What long would I want to age a grain wine? (like +1.10 sg beer)

I think you'd see a *big* improvement by aging 4-6 mo. But this can vary a lot. Probably best to hold off a couple of months and then try a bottle a once or twice a month to chart its progress.

Is this a barley wine? Care to post the recipe?

 

[Meriadoc]

Thanks for all the advice!

Really... it took me a minute or two to adjust, when I attempted to measure the activity through the airlock. So far, on my meads, I've been doing the basketball ref's "one mississippi... two mississippi" count to get a feel for the number of seconds between bubbles -- on this one, i was counting bubbles per second! it was certainly an unexpected change of pace!

So, if it's really an OG of 1.040, adjusted for temp, then maybe it's done its damage already. It's still sitting there, with the dome of the airlock square on the post. I'll give it a day or two, then rack to secondary, taking an SG at that time.

Assuming that all's well, and i'm in the correct (i.e., recommended by kit instructions) range of about 1.010, I'll only need a week in secondary, before bottling? wow...

That being the case, let's assume i rack to secondary on the 3rd or 4th, and bottle on the 10th or 11th. Around Labor Day weekend, they'll have been in bottles just a bit over three weeks. Would that put them at the earliest stages of "maybe drinkable", or would I do well to hang on to them for another couple of weeks or a month before subjecting family to them? (I'm assuming that I'd try one or two first, of course.)

 

[Brewbear]

Just my 2 cents,
I just bought a 1 gal. kit from Stein Fillers and they do not have any nutrients included. It is an amber ale, all extract. I should get it going soon. In their instructions they show a ferment of 3 - 5 days, followed by a 2 week secondary. Bottling at 2 1/2 weeks and waiting for 2 more weeks before drinking. They specify that the beer will be good for 3 months (if refrigerated) but I guess that's because this seems to be the "quick and dirty" way of making beer. As this will be my first attempt at brewing beer, I'm in the dark as for what to expect, hopefully these nice folks here will shine some light on the subject.

Ted

 

[Mynx]

My stout is very tasty drinkable after 1 week in the bottle, and awesome after a month.

IPA is astounding after 2 weeks in bottle, and is just getting better.

Taste them after a week, and see how the taste/carbonation level is...unless they're REALLY green, you should be ok to serve em to the family...just save some to see how they turn out in a month or two

 

[HomeBrew]

FWIW:

Your stuck fermentation: It may be that your wort was not fully aerated at the onset and O2 became limiting. Another possibility is that a high starting temperature led to a fast than normal primary fermentation. As mentioned above, a S.G. reading will tell you which is the most likely cause.

Yeast nutrients and beer: I have brewed many, many batches of beer (ales and lagers; extract and all-grain) and have never needed to add nutrients. That’s not to say that they won’t help some recipes, just none that I have run across.

Ageing: Keep in mind that many beer styles, especially a lot of the ales, should not be aged long before drinking. In fact, you will do injustice to a lot of varieties if you age too long. Two weeks is a good normal ageing period for most ales. Longer ageing will be required if your hop rates are high since they take some time to mellow out. Also, if you brewing process is not optimal longer ageing will be required to mellow out some of the esters, etc. that may have been produced. Of course, ageing will also vary depending upon whether or not you are trying to duplicate traditional methods, or tailoring your brews to your own likes.

Books:
If you don’t already have them, pick up Papazian’s books.
Another highly recommended book is Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass by Randy Mosher. This book is mainly geared towards all-grain brewing but it also contains a lot of extract/ partial mash recipes. It is also a very entertaining read that will give you a lot of information on the history of beermaking and how the different styles came to be.

Peace.

 

[Brewbear]

Another good source is www.howtobrew.com

Ted

 

[Meriadoc]

Well, I'm thinking that it was a too-fast ferment; i racked to secondary today, and took an SG (1.012 @ 77 deg F).

If I'm doing my gozintas right, then that means that I'm at 3.4% ABV.

I had just a bit left in the racking cane after I filled my carboy, so i got it into a glass right quick, and took a sip. Hey -- this tastes like real beer! Woo hoo! ;D :

I didn't notice any fruity flavors; it tasted much like I'd expect a micro-brew to taste. So, I'm thinking that I let it sit in secondary for a week, and bottle next weekend?

After I racked it, I moved it downstairs, so it could sit in colder surroundings. when I last checked (about 20 minutes after the move), I saw that it was at 72 already. (I figure I'll let the bottles sit upstairs, with the rest of my meads, so they'll have a chance to do their carbonation thing at around 75, though...)

Merry

p.s., Brewbear: the howtobrew site is where I started reading; i went out and bought the book at the homebrew shop before starting this batch...

 

[HomeBrew]

A week in secondary will work. Be sure to double-check your S.G. before bottling. It's great that it tastes good....Congrats.

Peace.

 

[Meriadoc]

Incidentally, is there some minimum temperature that I don't want to dip below, while in secondary?

I'll have to double check when I get home tonight, but I'm thinking that the carboy is at 62-64 deg F ...

 

[byathread]

I'll have to double check when I get home tonight, but I'm thinking that the carboy is at 62-64 deg F ...

This should be okay since fermentation is essentially complete. May also clear better at these temps.

 

[Pawn]

Well, I'm thinking that it was a too-fast ferment; i racked to secondary today, and took an SG (1.012 @ 77 deg F).

Hi Meriadoc,
I am far from being an expert, but have made some great beers.

Im not familiar with the coopers ale yeast or the particular beer kit you described, but none the less one of my favorites is B3 american amber ale (www.morebeer.com),
with a starting OG of 1.055 - 1.060, most generally finishes at 1.012-1.014
this ingredient kit comes with 8 lbs of LME, grains etc...

My two choices of yeast are Nottingham and more preferably WLP001
(I hear US56 is good, I have a packet but havent tried it yet due to the hot weather)

Im not familiar with coopers ale yeast, but when I ferment a beer if the yeast has 68f to 75f temp range my brew is kept at 68, I have made much better beers at the low end temps.

Your ABV is close to that of a light ale, I would secondary till it clears (and stable gravity), bottle, I let bottles condition/carbonate (primed with corn sugar) at 70-75f for 4 weeks (any beer), I feel the amber ale I mentioned hits its peak at 6 weeks after bottling, 4 weeks conditioning and 2 weeks in the fridge to drop the chill haze if it lasts that long
a lower ABV beer such as yours should be drank within 3 months of botting day (all gone) IMHO.

Honey will add no complexity to your amber beer just alcohol.

I should add, I have also had a few 24 hr ferments in light ales (around OG 1.040).

Cheers...John

::edit:: I also try to keep the secondary in the same temperature range as the primary, from what I understand the yeast are still working "cleaning up", some folks cold condition...

 

[Mu]

All the information I have read on beer recommends a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Putting 1 tea spoon of sugar in a 750ml bottle and leaving upright for 5 days at 18-25c. Apparently that charges the bottles with co2?

But from what your saying it sounds like you add the sugar and do a secondary fermentation in a carboy. Is there any difference?

Mu.