I brewed my first from a kit, Brewers Best, and it’s the English Brown Ale. Followed all directions and it is sitting in a glass carboy in my basement as I type. Although all the krauesen is gone, it looked very healthy for the first 48 and now it is all gone. Just wondering if that’s okay, I’m about 60 hours into it, and also wondering would 72 hours be a good time to transfer into secondary? Thanks everybody, as I said I am new and just thought I’d ask.
The Krausen settles back in to the beer after a few days. You are fine. I would just leave it in primary for 2-3 weeks, then rack and bottle.
Dave
Dave,
Thank you, I’m super pumped about my first homebrew.
Good luck and welcome to the addiction!
What temp did you ferment at? My first brew I didn’t pay too much attention to the temp and it got up to 80 degrees and fermented really fast. Result was non too pleasant but a very good learning experience. As long as your temps are good, I wouldn’t worry too much about how fast your krausen rises and falls.
Well I would have to say it never got above 75 degrees, I have been checking every chance I can on it.
When you say 75 degrees, is that the reading on the thermometer strip (assuming this is what you are using)?
Yes, I moved it to a cooler spot in the basement just to be certain, I will see if it cools it anymore.
I usually try to ferment in the low-mid 60’s w/ most of my ales. If you are using a temp. strip on the outside of your fermenter, then that’s more than likely going give you more of an ambient temp reading rather than the actual temp of your wort/beer inside. If your temp strip reads 75, then the wort/beer on the inside is closer to 80. The beginning of fermentation is most important to keep your temps in check.
I was in your shoes last October as I began my homebrewing adventures and with the advice and help from others on this board, you’ll be brewing some of the best beer you’ve ever tasted. So never hesitate to ask any questions on this board.
F or future reference, try to keep it around 65F. You’ll end up with better beer that way. Using a secondary is kind of an outdated idea any more. It’s seldom really necessary. As was said above, if you just leave it in the primary for 2-3 weeks you’ll be fine.
+1 for skipping the secondary fermenter. My first brew was the first time I transferred to a secondary fermenter and the last. Not saying transferring to a secondary is never necessary, but for most brews you can get by without the need to do so. I even dry hop in the primary fermenter.
Denny,
Thanks for the advice, I will give that a try for next time.
Baker,
Thanks also for your help, and I am excited for the coming months. I’m just about 22 years old and ready to start a lifelong (hopefully) hobby. Been intrigued since my first visit to New Glarus Brewery. Cheers
If you have another fermenter (that isn’t you’re bottling bucket), get another batch going ASAP. You’ll be amazed at how fast that first batch goes. Congrats!
You can keep the next batch cooler by placing the carboy in a tub of water and swap out frozen water bottles to keep the brew cool. You’ll probably have to do it twice a day at most.
Thank you I will give this a try, folks weren’t on board with me turning the air conditioning all the way down.
I’m sure it will. So for good measure, I ran to the local homebrew store this afternoon to grab myself another carboy, thanks!
I have an extra cooler that I put my carboy in to begin fermentation. I put an old dark t-shirt over it and about two inches of water in the cooler (w/out the lid on). To cool it even more, I’ll do as Euge does and put something frozen in there (frozen ice packs or ice). During the fall and winter, I don’t need to do this as much since my basement gets cool enough down there. After about 10 -14 days or so, I’ll take it out and let it warm up a little as it finishes out.
I have done the cooler route too. Currently what keeps my beer fermenting cool is a chest freezer with an analog temp controller. But I’ve done many a batch with the ice-pack method. Cheap and easy.
That’s my next item. I thought I would just build a fermentation chamber, but it’s easy to find cheap freezers on CL that could hold a couple carboys/ buckets.