So I brewed my first batch on the 30th. A Caribou Slobber I picked up from NB.
As this is my first batch not sure what to expect, so in your opinion how’s it looking what do you think.
Looks pretty good to me. Normal fermentation appears to be finishing up. Keep a t-shirt or towel around it so light doesn’t hit it to protect it. Were you able to maintain fairly reasonable fermentation temps?
Brewinhard,
I’ve had it in a 5gallon bucket filled with water to keep the 1gallon jug cool and stable. Although I cant be sure what exact temp it is.
That’s a great idea. And the one gallon batches ferment out so quickly that you really only need to keep the temps stable for a short 2-3 days tops.
I brewed a 5 gallon batch of this back in my early days. I want to say it was my third batch. But what I do remember is that it went gang busters in early fermentation. It over flowed the blow off basin. Might have been Nottingham yeast.
This is a good beer. I think that you’ll enjoy brewing your west coast IPA too. You’ll have more hop additions. As a newbie and being anxious, adding things to the pot is more fun than watching a pot of boiling wort for 60 minutes lol.
Fmader,
Lol same happened to my cousin. One of his first original recipe batches blew the air lock off and he had yeast and wort all over his ceiling.
One thing to certainly consider is a blow off hose as opposed to an airlock during the early, heavy fermentation. Blow off or even a sanitized piece of foil coupled over the neck of your carboy and just have gravity hold it on. On another note, your recipe will say to transfer to a secondary. There’s abosolutely no need to do so with this beer. Just let this one go in the primary. The only time I rack (and most of these guys) is if I need to dry hop (which I just do in the keg now) or if I’m adding fruit to the beer. Your recipe probably says something like 1-2 weeks in the primary and 1-2 in the secondary or something similar. Actually, yours is probably less being that it’s a gallon batch. Lol but what I’m saying is that you should ignore a general timeframe to rack or bottle. Do so when the yeast is done. The yeast control your calendar.
How can I be sure the yeast is done ?
You know the yeast is done by taking hydrometer readings - take 2-3 readings a couple days apart each. If the readings are the same, your yeast has done its job and is finished. Then bottle or keg.
Buy a rubber cap to hold your airlock, or like the suggestion earlier, use a blow off tube. I made a one gallon batch and had a plastic cap holding my airlock. Unknown to me, during fermentation the cap was cracked all the way around.
Nice ! Thanks for the great tips guys. If you think of anything else I should know or be aware of let me know.
Quickest and cheapest way: observe your beer: krausen drops, beer begins to clear, temperature was raised to 70° after holding at your target temp for a few days and total time elapsed is now 2 weeks… you’re probably good… probably.
If you want to be sure a hydrometer is the next option. Hydrometer readings will use up a lot of beer for a 1 gallon batch, especially if you start taking multiple readings with it.
More expensive is the refractometer. This won’t give you an accurate FG reading, but it will tell you if the reading is moving (ie if its not moving your yeast is done). It uses mere drops instead of valuable ounces.
If you want an accurate FG reading, which is useful for a variety of reasons, you’ll want a hydrometer reading. Again, the trade there is ounces of beer.
As stated above, most average strength beers (1.050-1.060) easily finish up and condition nicely by the two week mark making them able to packaged at that time provided temps were maintained and even warmed a tad during the end of fermentation.