I tried my first all grain, and it went wrong from the start. First, I used Patersbier/Belgian Enkel ingredients, Pilsner, Special B Malt, Golden Belgian Candi Syrup, it ended up about 8 pounds of grain. I forgot to measure the SG, I had the grain in a bag, the water was too hot a little while after I put the grain in, 190F…I kept bringing it down until it was at the right temp. Then when I went to take the wort and put in a primary fermenter, the bag had scorched on the bottom, two small places. I pitched the yeast, and within 2 hours it was going like a percolator. The next day a bubble in the air lock about once every minute. By the third day, no bubbles in the air lock, I pulled a test sample and it read 1.010, according to the specs it should be 1.006-1.010 SG, there were a few bubbles on top. I left it in until today, planning on racking it into a secondary. When I popped the lid on the primary fermenter, it has clusters of bubbles on the surface, doesn’t look like the usual fermentation bubbles to me, but it smells fine. Does this sound like the beer will be ok? I hate to waste a bunch of time bottling, if it isn’t any good…
It’s beer
Just leave it in the fermenter a while. No need to move it into another container until you are ready to bottle.
Agreed w/brew inspector01…your gravity dropped, so I suspect as long as all smells OK you’re fine. And second the suggestion of leaving it in the primary for a few more days and then bottling/kegging direct. Transferring to secondary, for most beers, is just another chance to oxidize or introduce contamination.
Anecdotally, I’ve often noted that the bubbles on the top of the beer sometimes look “funny”. It depends on the stage of fermentation, amount of time the beer has been sitting, etc. Unless there is active mold, I wouldn’t really worry.
How many days has it been in the primary?
Today is the 14th day…the reason I wanted to put it in a secondary, was because there was some sediment in the brew pot when I poured it in the fermenter, more than I would of liked. I just finished putting it in the secondary, and there was even a few pieces of grain it the bottom, where the bag scorched and left two small holes…
Hop and grain debris will just settle into the trub layer given enough time. You would still have clear beer to rack into the bottling bucket. My typical primary time for excess yeast and sediments to drop out is 21 days. Boil kettle debris going into the fermentor will not impart off flavors into the finished beer.
14 days for a lower gravity beer is MORE than enough time in the fermenter. Bottle that up and enjoy!
Hey thanks ya’ll! You have sure put my mind at ease…