My first batch of beer

[AZRedhawk44]

I've done a few batches of mead which have all come out well, a gallon of prickly pear wine that was awful, and I've got a batch of apfelwein going well right now, but I've never done a beer before.

So I started one last night.

Wow, it took up a lot of my kitchen!  This was more involved than the mead.  The only thing more demanding I've done was the prickly pear wine, but that was because of the demands of peeling the fruit and protecting the batch from the glochids on the skin.

It monopolized my kitchen for almost 5 hours.

Bringing 3 gallons of water to a boil takes a long damn time.  Cooling a large mass of boiling water to 75 degrees also takes a long damn time.  I even used a trick suggested by the guy at the brew store of substituting 10 pounds of ice for my 2 gallons of cool water, then filling with refrigerated water to make up the difference in volume.  I think next time I will use 15 pounds of ice.

I'm doing a golden ale variant.  Using White Labs yeast WLP029.

Should be bottled by mid December and drink-able just before Christmas.

[geronimotwo]

you may make your wort with 1.5 gallons of water, then add the 3 gallons of COLD water and it gets down to temp faster. I've also found that yeast is more resilient than the books give it credit for, and will survive at 95 or more Fahrenheit.

[AZRedhawk44]

So, instructions say fermentation should start somewhere between 8 and 48 hours.

I've had no activity in my airlock at ~22 hours now, but I opened the top and peeked inside.  The top of the wort has a thick foamy head, which I assume means the yeast is happily munching away at the malt?

I buttoned it back up, assuming it is working as intended.

[charby]

So, instructions say fermentation should start somewhere between 8 and 48 hours.

I've had no activity in my airlock at ~22 hours now, but I opened the top and peeked inside.  The top of the wort has a thick foamy head, which I assume means the yeast is happily munching away at the malt?

I buttoned it back up, assuming it is working as intended.

Patience, sometimes it takes me 2-3 days to get it rolling, sometimes with bigger results than expected. Also it may not be ready by Christmas to drink, usually takes 6 or more weeks to bottle condition.

[dogmush]

I've been going with keeping my extra water (what I add to the wort) in the freezer for the brew process.  That gets it very close to 32 degrees when I add it.  then I put the bucket in an ice bath and stir for about 25 min to get it to temp.  I've also pitched yeast up to about 80 degrees with no noticeable effect.  I also brew on a repurposed turkey fryer.  a large propane burner gets the water boiling faster, and is pretty easy to adjust to keep it at the right brewing temp.

When I get home I'm probably going to suck it up and make a heat exchange out of copper tubing.  One more thing to sanitize though.

[geronimotwo]

depending on your time for fermention (usually 1 week minimum, although i have had some batches complete fermenting within 3 days), you're likely gonna be pushing it for a christmas brew.  if your like me you will try your beer at the time of bottling, then about a week after, and it wont be until the second week that you say "hmm, this will be a good beer!".  pitching the yeast with the wort at 80-85f will kick it off a lot more quickly, with activity sometimes starting in 2-3 hours .  did you use liquid or dry yeast?

When I get home I'm probably going to suck it up and make a heat exchange out of copper tubing.  One more thing to sanitize though.

having used clear tubing for siphoning, something always grows on the inside regardless of how much it is rinsed.  i don't know how a coil of copper could ever be sanitized.  meh, just adds to the flavor i guess?

[AZRedhawk44]

depending on your time for fermention (usually 1 week minimum, although i have had some batches complete fermenting within 3 days), you're likely gonna be pushing it for a christmas brew.  if your like me you will try your beer at the time of bottling, then about a week after, and it wont be until the second week that you say "hmm, this will be a good beer!".  pitching the yeast with the wort at 80-85f will kick it off a lot more quickly, with activity sometimes starting in 2-3 hours .  did you use liquid or dry yeast?

Liquid.

having used clear tubing for siphoning, something always grows on the inside regardless of how much it is rinsed.  i don't know how a coil of copper could ever be sanitized.  meh, just adds to the flavor i guess?

Yuck... I've never had anything grow in my siphon equipment.  I sterilize it with a bleach solution after using it, then put it away. 

[dogmush]

having used clear tubing for siphoning, something always grows on the inside regardless of how much it is rinsed.  i don't know how a coil of copper could ever be sanitized.  meh, just adds to the flavor i guess?

You only have to sanitize the outside.  Pretty easy.  Just make a bucket of sanitizing solution, and dunk the copper in it while you're brewing.  Think a large copper coil that you dunk in your cooling wort, and run cold water through. (Although I have seen at least one with stuff that could be chilled below 32 running through it)


ETA: I just siphon about 4 gal of sanitize solution through all my tubing and rinse before and after brewing.  Never had stuff grow in the tubing.

[zahc]

Keeping stuff clean and sanitary takes attention to detail. The key is to not let it get dirty to start with by immediately cleaning before deposits deposit. Immersion chillers can be scrubbed clean and places in the wort while it's still boiling. With counterflow exchangers where the wort actually runs through it, it's critical to immediately rinse it with hot water after use. Tubing should stay clean if you rinse immediately, sanitize it and fling it dry. You can also fill a bucket with sanitizer and put your bits in there to soak or even store them in there.


I use silicone tubing because it's immortal, I don't have to worry about PVC disruptin' my endocrines, and can be used with boiling liquids. Every now and then I soak it in lye for a week then boil it and finally dry it in the oven at 350F.

I have a nice 50ft 1/2" copper immersion chiller that is very nice to have and worth every penny for the time it saves. However, last year I started fermenting in my keezer, using a corny keg wrapped with heat tape and using the dip tube as a thermowell. This setup keeps the beer at the exact temperature I want regardless if the temperature in my garage is 120F or -20F. Since the fermenter is stainless, I simply pour my boiling wort directly into the keg, and let it cool down naturally and pitch my yeast the next morning. This is even lazier than using a chiller and uses less equipment. The only problem with this is wort aeration. I've been shaking up the keg after it cools, but I might get an air stone.

[brimic]

I'm way too lazy to make beer, maybe someday though...

[AZRedhawk44]

Patience, sometimes it takes me 2-3 days to get it rolling, sometimes with bigger results than expected. Also it may not be ready by Christmas to drink, usually takes 6 or more weeks to bottle condition.

Just looked at the airlock this morning, and it's happily chugging away now.  Hooray, beer!

[geronimotwo]

Yuck... I've never had anything grow in my siphon equipment.  I sterilize it with a bleach solution after using it, then put it away. 

I always end up replacing it after 8-10 batches.  and yes, it is thoroughly rinsed with pressure, and dipped in the bleach solution before storage.

[AZRedhawk44]

My starting gravity was 1.060.

I racked to secondary back on December 4th.  Gravity then was 1.012.

I was hoping it would clarify and stop fermenting by the 14th.  No dice.  Still cloudy, still lightly bubbling, today is the 19th.  This isn't going to be ready for Christmas consumption.

[charby]

My starting gravity was 1.060.

I racked to secondary back on December 4th.  Gravity then was 1.012.

I was hoping it would clarify and stop fermenting by the 14th.  No dice.  Still cloudy, still lightly bubbling, today is the 19th.  This isn't going to be ready for Christmas consumption.

Great things come to those who wait.

[geronimotwo]

stir/shake it up!   it will speed up the fermentation process.  also, much of the clarifying occurs after bottling.  what temp are you keeping it?  warmer (low 70's) will usually ferment more quickly.

[AZRedhawk44]

At night my house will dip to high 60's but most of the time I'm right around 72 degrees.

[geronimotwo]

it may be the type of yeast?  or, i wonder if your az water has a mineral composition that retards fermentation?  regardless, it's too bad you're missing the holiday window to share your brew, but that'll leave more for your consumption!   

[AZRedhawk44]

Just how translucent/transparent should a 5 gallon carboy of a golden ale, look?  I'm NOT used to evaluating beer clarity in a container of this size, and trying to apply equivalence to a pint-sized container I typically see beer in.

Should it precipitate as clear as an apple wine or mead?

I hear some folks suggest it should be nice and clear, and others compare the final result to a cream ale (which is definitely not clear).  Yeast used here is WLP029, just for reference.

[charby]

Probably be a medium dark amber in the carboy.

Did you use a kit or follow a recipe?

[zahc]

I believe AZRedhawk44 is asking about clarity, not color.

Beer will look a bit less clear in a carboy than in a glass, but it is still easy to estimate clarity by looking at a carboy. There is no straightforward way to get clear beer, because it can be caused by multiple things including suspended yeast or trub or it can be protein. You can reduce the first with extended aging at low temps, but there's no surefire way to ensure clarity, except to filter, which is what the breweries do, but it will probably double your production costs at the homebrew scale. Gelatin finings are pretty magic, but are technically an adulteration. I would try to give up on wanting clear homebrew. In this as in other areas, happiness is easier if you lower your expectations. And there's only a limited number of styles which are supposed to be clear, anyway.

[Jamisjockey]

Best homebrews I've had were not clear.  Former co worker in Utah makes an amazing Cream Ale....kegs it in soda and has a tapped fridge with some awesome brews on tap....

[geronimotwo]

with some brews with poor clarity, i couldn't see the siphon hose unless it was against the side of the carboy.    while siphoning i keep the tube off the bottom so that it doesn't suck up the sediment.  you can get a little more out if you gently tip it to one side when the beer is mostly transferred.  just don't slosh it.  have a short piece of 2x4 handy to keep it tipped.  also, as your bottling bucket fills up, the rate of transfer slows down allowing you to move the tube closer to the bottom.

[AZRedhawk44]

Probably be a medium dark amber in the carboy.

Did you use a kit or follow a recipe?

Kit and recipe.  Neither mention the intended clarity of the final product.

[charby]

Kit and recipe.  Neither mention the intended clarity of the final product.

got a link to the kit? Ingredients may help out with determining the color and clarity.

[zahc]

Some people actually but stuff like flour in wheat beers because  beer competition judges will dock points if a wheat beer is not cloudy enough.