First brew tonight any rookie mistakes to watch for

[Shotgun07]

Hey brew heads,

Doing my first ever home brew tonight, with a starter kit from Australian home brewing. Any mistakes a first timer will make that I can avoid.

I know use sanitizer on everything apart from that any advice would be greatly appreciated

Tim

 

[Ditchnbeer]

Let the wort cool to ferment temperature, then pitch the yeast

 

[cedric]

have a plan, even write it down.
think how long it should to take, and double it

 

[philrob]

Control your fermentation temperature, if at all possible. Ignore the advice to ferment at 25°C and aim for about 18 to 20°C for an ale. If you do not have a temperature controlled fridge, a wet towel over the fermenter is an option.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Mistakes are an asset, that is how we learn. Follow everything you have read and been advised mistakes will still be made, they are unavoidable. I like this woman's attitude to her craft, no matter how good a wine she makes the next one is going to be better. We have the advantage of 'tip it' I'll brew it again. She gets one chance per year.

 

[DU99]

Keep it clean..sanitizer where required and watch temp

 

[Tony121]

Close the tap

 

[feralbass]

Temperature control, without it you make home brew, with it you make beer

 

[Jimmymac]

It needs to be said twice. Close the tap

 

[Ian D]

Hey brew heads,

Doing my first ever home brew tonight, with a starter kit from Australian home brewing. Any mistakes a first timer will make that I can avoid.

I know use sanitizer on everything apart from that any advice would be greatly appreciated

Tim

What a lot of brewers don’t appreciate is hot side oxidation. Don’t let the hot wort splash in any transfers between vessels until the wort is cool enough to add the yeast

 

[Half-baked]

Don’t panic, small mistakes won’t ruin a beer.

Once you’ve completed your first batch you can live by the adage: relax, don’t worry, have a home brew

 

[Malchizedec]

Half-baked is completely on the money.

My first brew was a comedy of errors
- stuck sparge
- broke the grainfather glass lid
- blocked the pump on transfer
- couldnt cool fast enough
- missed the numbers

Brew took 9 or so hours due to my over fretting, over engineering but still enjoyed a nice SMaSH in the end.

After a lot of brews I've realised that beer is very forgiving, sanitation is important, other than that...... enjoy the process

 

[Shotgun07]

Thanks heaps for all the advice. It did take abit longer than anticipated but I think I did alright. Two days in its bubbling on the airlock but not a crazy amount the OG was 1.054 and it’s now down to 1.036. It tastes like beer and has small bubbles in the sample flask, so hopefully it’s all going to plan.

 

[cedric]

Thanks heaps for all the advice. It did take abit longer than anticipated but I think I did alright. Two days in its bubbling on the airlock but not a crazy amount the OG was 1.054 and it’s now down to 1.036. It tastes like beer and has small bubbles in the sample flask, so hopefully it’s all going to plan.

good job, it'll get less chaotic (one day)
are you bottling or kegging?
i just noticed you're in perth and i have about 70 x 640ml bottles cleaned and packed, going on Gumtree soon. only used them once or twice.
PM me if you're interested.

 

[Shotgun07]

good job, it'll get less chaotic (one day)
are you bottling or kegging?
i just noticed you're in perth and i have about 70 x 640ml bottles cleaned and packed, going on Gumtree soon. only used them once or twice.
PM me if you're interested.

Thanks mate I’m bottling but I was given a heap by my mate that used to do tomato sauces.

 

[Shotgun07]

Any advice would be helpful. it’s seems to not be bubbling a lot in the airlock I checked the gravity and it has reduced. Also when I dry hopped last night it had lots of foam on top does this mean it’s gone bad or stalled. I tried the beer from the sample it tastes pretty good

 

[elmoMakesBeer]

Any advice would be helpful. it’s seems to not be bubbling a lot in the airlock I checked the gravity and it has reduced. Also when I dry hopped last night it had lots of foam on top does this mean it’s gone bad or stalled. I tried the beer from the sample it tastes pretty good

If the gravity dropped and the krausen (foam) formed and the beer tastes good then it sounds like it’s working! A lack of bubbling in the airlock could be because the gas is leaking out somewhere else. Meh. That doesn’t really matter.

 

[Shotgun07]

If the gravity dropped and the krausen (foam) formed and the beer tastes good then it sounds like it’s working! A lack of bubbling in the airlock could be because the gas is leaking out somewhere else. Meh. That doesn’t really matter.

Awesome fingers crossed it stays that way thanks

 

[Narapoia]

Any advice would be helpful. it’s seems to not be bubbling a lot in the airlock I checked the gravity and it has reduced. Also when I dry hopped last night it had lots of foam on top does this mean it’s gone bad or stalled. I tried the beer from the sample it tastes pretty good

When I have had this in the past I've really tightened the lid - sometimes that is all you need. Once I had to re-seat the rubber o ring in the fermenter lid. After that it sealed properly and bubbled.

From my reading experienced brewers usually tend to say 'Don't rely on the bubbles as a sign of activity measure the gravity' and this is 100% true. But I like to have the bubbles going because it means you have a good seal and it's an easy visual representation of the rate of fermentation (though not 100% reliable as many will point out).

 

[iamacup]

If the gravity dropped and the krausen (foam) formed and the beer tastes good then it sounds like it’s working! A lack of bubbling in the airlock could be because the gas is leaking out somewhere else. Meh. That doesn’t really matter.

Took me a long time to come to terms with, and understand the underpinnings of, this state of brewing. As an early brewer I “needed” to see the airlock bubbling.