First brew is in the can (fermenter)

[Killer Brew]

Waited as long as I could hold out before knocking together my first brew after getting a kit from the wife for Xmas!! Learned a lot along the way! It was a bit more hectic than I expected with hops on the stove while dissolving the can and trying to keep everything sanitised.

My beer is an American Pale Ale in the Fat Yak style. Uses a Black Rock NZ Bitter can, Brewblend No20 1kg, Prem Spray Malt Wheat 250g, POR Hop Pellets 25g, NS Hop Pellets 25g and US-05 Dry Ale Yeast.

I pitched the yeast at 28 degrees as instructions said anything under 30 degrees is ok. Now after some more reading I'm thinking I should have waited until it was under 25 degrees, although am unsure what impact the higher temp has?

SG was 1.046 so hopefully this is ok?

I have a spare room with no window in a double brick house which was constant at 20 degrees when pre-checking but just looked in at the temp on the fermenter and is still sitting at 23 degrees (24 hrs since brewing) so have now moved it into the bathroom to try and reduce. Have resisted opening the lid but it is bubbling away through the airlock and smelling delightfully fragrant!

One more question. I keep seeing the term "cold crash" on here and haven't been able to find a definition?

Thanks, Killer

 

[Moad]

Welcome killer and well done on the first brew.

Cold crashing is dropping the temperature on the fermentation chamber once primary fermentation is complete.

The goal is to drop yeast out and clear the beer up. Lots of different methods.

I drop mine for 3 days around 3 degrees before kegging/bottling.

 

[michaeld16]

Dont worry mate ya will make beer but definately get the temp lower before pitching next time i like pitching us05 at 18 degrees and holding there for a week then slowly raising the temp over another week before cold crashing

 

[kelbygreen]

yeah you should still make alright beer out of it I read here first read to keep at 18-20 deg. But I wanted to get started and asked guy in LHBS if I can ferment in shed in this weather was 35-40 in the day prob alot more in the shed. He said yep no worries it will ferment quicker so not knowing who to trust went with LHBS advise it fermented out in like 2 days and tasted like I melted my work boot threw the wort lol.

So now I have 2 fermenting fridges I didnt brew again till I bought a fridge to ferment in. I may of done one or 2 in a water bath as I remember trying it but didnt do many lol

 

[Mattrox]

Sometimes I get the timing wrong, because I rehydrate the yeast, meaning it is ready to pitch and the temp is still too high. So after longer than I think is safe for the yeast to left ... and with it foamy and creamy I pitch it. If you can get the brew temperature down to under 20 in less thsn 4 or 5 hours there should be no ill effects.

 

[Killer Brew]

Cheers guys. Much appreciated.

 

[Dan Dan]

For a first brew, I'd say you did well.

 

[Grott]

For a first brew, I'd say you did well.

I'd agree with that and welcome Killer Brew. To help reduce temp of wort before adding the yeast, chill some water (in sterilised bottles) in the fridge 24hrs prior to brewing and add to your fermenter volume. In my beer fridge I have 12 litres in the crisper.
Cheers

 

[Killer Brew]

Welcome killer and well done on the first brew.

Cold crashing is dropping the temperature on the fermentation chamber once primary fermentation is complete.

The goal is to drop yeast out and clear the beer up. Lots of different methods.

I drop mine for 3 days around 3 degrees before kegging/bottling.

Thanks and I have done some further searching on cold crashing. It is something I would like to do to get a clearer beer but at this stage I don't have an available chest freezer or fridge to get the fermenter down to those temps. Will add it to future plans if I get seriously hooked! In the meantime should I just embrace the cloudy nature of my beer or consider using finings or some such? I read the thread on gelatine and this could be a solution however can it be added to the primary fermenter as I wasn't planning on racking due to only have a single tub at this stage?

Cheers again for the advice all.

 

[Moad]

I never secondary, it seems to be an american thing in general. Like anything homebrew there are many different opinions/methods... you will find what works for you. I find I get clear enough beers without risking oxygenating through the racking process.

I gelatine some beers but it works best if the beer is cold. You could definitely try gelatine anyway, it won't hurt. Are you kegging or bottling?

You'll get clear beer if you leave it long enough but that is still a challenge for me after a few years.

best thing you can do to improve your beer is get an old fridge or freezer and hook up an STC-1000 temp controller. You can either go the DIY route for them or you can buy some pre made such as Keg King etc.

edit: if you are bottling just add the gelatine to your primary after ferment is finished and give it 3 or 4 days to settle out. If kegging you can add it when filling keg, leave for 2 days while carbing and then the first beer or two will be all the gunk on the bottom.

 

[Killer Brew]

I never secondary, it seems to be an american thing in general. Like anything homebrew there are many different opinions/methods... you will find what works for you. I find I get clear enough beers without risking oxygenating through the racking process.

I gelatine some beers but it works best if the beer is cold. You could definitely try gelatine anyway, it won't hurt. Are you kegging or bottling?

You'll get clear beer if you leave it long enough but that is still a challenge for me after a few years.

best thing you can do to improve your beer is get an old fridge or freezer and hook up an STC-1000 temp controller. You can either go the DIY route for them or you can buy some pre made such as Keg King etc.

edit: if you are bottling just add the gelatine to your primary after ferment is finished and give it 3 or 4 days to settle out. If kegging you can add it when filling keg, leave for 2 days while carbing and then the first beer or two will be all the gunk on the bottom.

Thanks for that. I will be bottling so will do as you say and add gelatine to the primary a few days prior.

 

[Moad]

give it a shot.

Again there are a number of methods to add it. I just boil up some water, let it cool a little and then mix in the gelatine until fully disolved (everything sanitised).

Then let it cool with some foil on top and pour in gently.

Others do it in the microwave to pasteurise it but I haven't had an issue

 

[Killer Brew]

Drew down a sample of this today (72 hour mark). No airlock action the last 24 hours. Reading was 1.026 so still quite some way to go.

The underlying flavours of fat yak were there but it was quite bitter and cloudy. Hopefully this will settle down.

Any action required?

Edit: just heard it start doing some slow bubbling again

 

[Moad]

Let it roll for another day or two and measure again.

 

[Killer Brew]

So the brew is now a week old and I have tested 3 consecutive days and getting a reading of 1.016 (giving an ABV of 4.2%) so I take it that fermentation is complete?

The finish is a little more bitter than expected but I was guessing the simmering temp for the hops as had no thermometer. Will this settle down over time in the bottle or should I be looking to do something additional now?

I have a window to bottle over the next 2 days before going away. After that it would be another week making it just over 2 weeks since brewed. Bottle it now or best left another week or so?

 

[bigmacthepunker]

I alway ferment for two week in a fridge. Hopefully this helps

 

[kelbygreen]

waiting another week wont hurt it infact prob make it better. I know first brew can be a bit exciting but if your going away then I would leave it till you get back. I can only say that from experiance but if it was me I would prob ignore that on my first and bottle it now. Really up to you it will only get better and clear more over the week as beer will mature faster in a bigger lot (so I read) so leaving it in 30lt fermenter it should age a bit more then leaving it in 365 or 750ml bottles. I have left a brew 6 weeks in fermenter (forgot it was there) and its been my best lager to date and it was a kit mind you only done 1 AG one as they take to long

 

[Killer Brew]

I let this one sit in the fermenter for 2 weeks and then CC'd it at 1 degree for 48 hours. My first bottling day went surprisingly well and I look forward to tasting it in around 2 weeks time.

One more question. The final readings gave me an ABV of 4.2%. Is this the final alcohol content or do I need to allow for change in the bottle conditioning period?

 

[Grott]

I believe you add 0.5 for the carbonation process if using sugar eg. Sugar drops etc.
Cheers

 

[Killer Brew]

Cracked my first home brew tonight. Doesn't taste particularly like Fat Yak but is very drinkable! Very happy as a first up effort.