Around seven days.
In Texas we have similar issues. I was never really happy until getting a chest freezer and controller. I’m dedicated though. The tub will work well enough. You’ll dial it in.
Put your carboy or bucket in a nice dark cool closet if you don’t have a fermentation chamber. I do most ale type beers like that. Just done do what I did on my first batch and check the gravity every day for a week and a half. Just let it do it’s thing.
Welcome to the best years of your life! For temperature control you might want to consider searching swamp cooler and also consider heading to Home Depot for a coil of copper to make an immersion chiller. Next to sanitation, temperature control is pretty important in the early stage of fermentation. That said, this beer will still be the best beer you have ever made!
well, I have bad news! All the advice from everyone has been great and well noted. But something has gone wrong. I checked my hydro after a week and found mold/spore/bacteria floating on the top of my much awaited batch. I’m crushed… I thought for sure I had everything cleaned/sanitized very well. Live and learn I guess. Gonna order another extract kit today, unless by some miracle you guys says this can be saved, which I really doubt
I have a pic but can’t figure out how to post it. I click the insert image button and it gives me html tags and now way to browse and upload.
I think you have to upload to photobucket or something and then link in to the picture here.
Could be yeast or floating krausen leftovers. You’re not always going to have a perfectly clear beer on top. Doesn’t mean the beer is ruined but you shouldn’t jump right to assuming it is infected.
the photo has to be hosted elsewhere. I use flickr or tapatalk on my phone.
Click the mona lisa icon and insert the address of the photo like this (I broke the code a bit so you could see it.)
img]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7410/10506070514_848e5a103c.jpg[/img]
![https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7410/10506070514_848e5a103c.jpg[/img]](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7410/10506070514_848e5a103c.jpg%5B/img%5D){kind=link}
and you get…
+1. Wait wait and wait. I brewed a couple of one gallon batches recently and pitched too warm. Ended up w some funky cider smelling beer.
If you can, after posting the picture here (after falling, Kraeusen looks funky sometimes), I would see if you can siphon out a sample from underneath the floaties. If it still tastes good, you should be able to bottle it, as long as you can keep the bottles cold after they carbonate, you shouldn’t have to worry about bottle bombs.
I’m worried you may have taken too long to cool your wort in the first place. Perhaps something fell in if it didn’t have it mostly covered while in the tub. Definitely get that picture up: it might not be anything bad…
I doubt very much it’s because of the time chilling. I routinely put my wort in the fridge for 12-24 hours before pitching to get down to temp with no infections except the ones I meant.
If it is an infection, be sure to clean the fermenter very well (like soaking overnight in PBW, then rinse then soak in star San solution) before using again! And also your tubing, racking cane and anything else that came in contact with that batch!
Also, make certain that you’re not scratching your equipment as you clean. Don’t get all crazy with the scrubbing and abrasives, since cracks and scratches can harbor bacteria. Just give it a good soak and clean with a soft cloth or your bare hands as needed.