Actually that was the first time I got into the beer since it was made. I was going to wait a few more days before taking another reading.
And yes, I used a sanitized wine thief to obtain the sample.
I think I’ll pick up some Irish moss next time I’m at the homebrew store. My next two batches will be extract/partial mash batches, is the moss needed in those?
Tomorrow will be two weeks since it was brewed. I’m anxious to bottle but afraid of making bottle bombs if the yeasties aren’t done yet. The final gravity was supposed to be 1.017-1.018. I’m waiting to hear back from my friend who helped me on this batch to see what he thinks too. If he says bottle, I’ll just go for it tomorrow. If he says wait, I’ll wait. I’m not sure about target FG verses actual FG here, especially since our OG was a bit higher than expected.
On the other hand, if I took another reading tomorrow and it remained the same, I would think that would be a sign that it was finished fermenting and ready for bottling.
Thoughts on my ramblings here? I’ve been reading lots of “first time” threads and we all seem to ramble a little with worries, concerns, questions etc ;D
I use Irish moss (or whirfloc) in every batch. It doesn’t make a world of difference, but it doesn’t hurt.
I know it’s hard on your first few batches, but I can practically guarantee you better results if you’re patient. Give your beer another week or 2 and I think you’ll be rewarded with a better beer.
Actually, given tomorrow has two big football games on TV (and I have other things to do), I can easily wait till next weekend to bottle. The beer is sitting at about 68 degrees or so, covered in a towel against the wall in a dark closet. The temperature is pretty steady in there, so I suspect it will be just fine if I wait till next saturday to bottle.
At the moment, that’s sounding like the best plan.
Bottling day today. Getting the hang of this bottling thing with a friend and a couple of brewskies.
FG = 1.020
I think I did good for the most part. If anything, the addition of the boiled corn sugar was my iffy-est step. I think I over-boiled the sugar longer than I wanted to (my buddy came over right at the critical moment, and I was distracted). Slight color tinge when it was done. But there was a slight residue on the pot I used and it tasted purely sweet and not burnt or caramelized, so hopefully it’s good. I guess it wouldn’t be my first batch unless I sketched and worried about it. Only time will tell at this point.
tomorrow I’m planning on brewing my first solo batch, the extract IPA I originally had planned before I met Old Guy. There are some specialty grains but for the most part it looks pretty cut and dry. I’m going for it one way or another, so wish me luck.
OK. Batch two, English IPA, completed. Full procedure, with notes, [u]here[/u].
The only major concern was the temp on the mash got up to about 164 for a few minutes, probably 2-3. I quickly removed it from the heat and hopefully it never reached 168. Can’t guarantee anything as the thermometer isn’t calibrated (D’oh! Hindsight 20/20 error).
That’s good to hear, as (of course) I’m finding a bzillion things to worry about, even though I think I really should be fine. But I’m a semi-perfectionist (meaning I like my results to be perfect without having to use perfect technique, LOL).
you also only (according to your recipe) steeped crystal malt, which doesn’t actually need mashing, as the enzymes are already denatured as a part of the kilning process. You are fine as long as you don’t bring that thing really high. Its recommended that you keep it under 170, but I have heard of people getting it a bit higher and not tasting any astringency. RDWHAHB.
Unless my thermometer is WAY off (doubtful) there’s no way it reached 170.
I tasted the SG sample* after I read the OG and it tasted fine, quite bitter from the hops, but then it’s an IPA so that’s probably expected. It smelled wonderful brewing so I’m not going to spend two weeks worrying when I’ve already gotten two positive replies and I’ve had about five beers since I finished brewing it!
Thanks everybody who’s participated in this thread, btw. This forum is a really great place to learn about brewing, I’m already spending too much time here!! It’s distracting me big time from my other useless internet pursuits!!! LOL
I already can’t wait to brew my sweet stout that’s up next!
I have decided that bottling with the carboy went just fine, and I’m keeping the plastic bucket as the primary fermenter. If I decide on secondaries for whatever reason in the future, I’ll get another glass carboy, but for now I’m happy with this arrangement. There’s going to be slight losses from transferring, so I’ll start with 5.5 gallon batches and bottle from the carboy from here out, at least until something better presents itself.
Although bottling is a pain in the butt so I might just invest in a keg or two in the somewhat near future anyway lol.
*not that my pallet is advanced enough to glean any useful info from that, but hey, you can’t put the sample back in the bucket, so might as well, right?
I drink all my gravity samples as well, and I have noticed that taking good notes on what I taste in that original sample, along with the later samples, has given me a good idea of how I am going. The first beers I didn’t know what I was tasting for, but now I can make assessments on whether I hit the bitterness I was going for and whether I made some mistakes prior to fermentation.
My tricorder tells me that it’s probably going to be somewhat extra bitter, possibly because I extended the 12 minutes to 25 because of the non-boil phase after adding the malt extracts and 2nd hops addition. No doubt there’s some extra bittering there, but how much I can’t be arsed to attempt to calculate at this time and after this many beers. Let’s just say that I expect the IBUs to be higher than normal, except for the OG being lower than expected, thus leading to a definitive mathematical quantification of “I just don’t f’in know.”
Whatever, the beer should be tasty when it’s done. The wort was pretty tasty, despite its slightly extra bitter nature. I’m purely optimistic at this point. Next time I brew I’ll have homebrews to drink so I really won’t be worried about it at all.
unfermented wort tastes more bitter than the final beer will be in my experience. I suspect because alot of harsh bitterness gets driven off and carried away into the yeast cake.
I’m new to this but learning fast from people here and a buddy at work that brews, one trick I’ve picked up that really helps is that I buy 1 gallon jugs of bottled water. It helps me know exactly how much water I’m using, it’s purified already, and they fit in the refrigerator to quickly drop the temp of my wort.
You may also want to consider kegs if you are doing the 5 gallon route. I made the switch and only bottle a few to give away for friends to try. It is so much easier then cleaning bottles.
When circumstances allow, I eventually plan to do the keg thing. Right now that would be impractical.
BTW this time I’m doing my yeast a bit different. I aerated in advance, then I’m going to pitch the yeast according to the alternate directions on the website:
[quote]Alternatively, pitch dry yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of the wort is above 20C. Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration.
[/quote]
Only deviation is that I’ve already aerated the wort, and plan to stir gently instead of aerating after pitching.
Package has little info on it, just saying pitch between 15-24C. I got the info from the website. There is a rehydration method and an alternate direct pitching method. For ease, and because my last batch worked well with direct pitching, I chose the simpler method. I may try the rehydration method next time though (if using dry yeast again).
I just experienced this firsthand myself. I started my second batch of beer a few days ago from a recipe/hop schedule I threw together myself. When I tasted the unfermented wort I was pretty worried that I overdid the bittering hops because it was bracingly bitter. I just took a gravity sample a few minutes ago and it tastes great. There is a nice bite to it, but it isn’t overwhelming like the wort tasted. In five days it went from “I’m worried I screwed this up” to “this is going to be a nice one”. ;D
WOW!! Just popped a 12oz of this one, ten days after bottling. It’s freaking GOOD! Very hoppy, not too bitter, has a nice light sweetness and a touch of fruitiness despite being pretty dry overall, and has tons of hops, both in the nose and on your taste buds!!
This recipe turned out great and I would certainly recommend that any homebrewer who wanted an easy recipe for a hoppy beer should try it! Make sure to note the dry hops, 2oz cascade after a week in the fermenter (not shown on original recipe).
New to home brewing but excited to get started…couple of questions:
-Using the Zymurgy Introduction to Brewing recipe for the American Pale Ale to start–does it matter if you used a hopped or unhopped bitters malt extract?
-Reference cooling the wort at the end of boiling–do you have to put the wort on ice or is it okay to let it cool slowly?