Advice for the 1st Batch

[KavDaven]

I'm on my very first batch, Brewer's Best Weissbier. It's currently in the primary since Wednesday, five days so far.

In reading these forums, my first lesson learned was to relax, after all it's a home brew. Ok, I'm relaxed now and have sighed away my last concern.

I'm thinking about transferring the beer into a secondary carboy and leaving it there for two entire weeks before bottling for three weeks. [1-2-3 Mantra was the second lesson learned.]

However, I've read that extract brew instructions tend to be vague or just crap. Also read that wheat beers don't require alot of time in the primary or secondary. Some people skip the secondary and leave the beer in the primary longer. While others, at least with wheat, don't leave the beer in the primary for more than 10-14 days and go straight to the bottle.

Sooo, maybe it just doesn't really matter. What would you recommend to a noob on their very first batch in order to develop a good first time brew?

 

[gcdowd]

Usually people put their beers in a secondary fermenter to clear it up. Since wheat beers are cloudy, I'd skip secondary. Primary for 2-3 weeks but make sure your gravity is stable, don't want bottle bombs.

 

[TopherM]

The instructions are typically very good, actually, they just tend to get you to a drinkable beer quickly instead of letting the beer peak.

For the wheat, you certainly don't need a secondary at all, and can just leave it in primary until bottling time. Wheats, pilsners, hefeweizens all do peak a bit earlier than most beers, and are best enjoyed young. I'd recommend about 2 weeks primary, prime and bottle, then 2-3 weeks in bottle.

 

[DonutMuncher]

+2

Agreed with the above posters. You can just skip the secondary altogether, which saves you time, work, and possibility of contamination. Give it 2-3 weeks in the primary, make sure fermentation is done (take a hydrometer reading if you have one), then bottle it up and let it sit for a few weeks.

After bottling, I recommend sampling a beer per week so you can see how the carbonation/conditioning process works. You'll really see why waiting is important.

 

[tsimo33]

That kit was my first brew as well. I left in primary for 3 weeks and bottled. Then left in bottles for 3 weeks. Threw some in the fridge and left for about 5 days before I tried it. Not too bad. I am now down to about a six pack of it left and I had a couple the other night and they were really good. That was about 6 weeks after bottling. Everyone on here says the last beer is the best and I am going to have to agree it is looking that way for me.

 

[KavDaven]

Good advice, one and all. I'm going to leave this batch in the primary for three weeks. Well almost. I'll bottle on the 1st of April. I'll leave them in the bottle for another three weeks. Of course, I'll have a taste at bottle day and each weekend after to see how the beer develops.

I've attached some pics for your review. Notice my batch is in a cooler in my closet? On the first day, I put the batch in a hall way closet and the temp climbed to 74 and I didn't think it would stop. I didn't know that the yeasties would cause the temp to rise. At first I dropped the temp in my apartment to 68 and threw on a sweater. My wife thought I was an idiot. Did she think I was going to let my beer go bad? I got too cold so I put the batch into our garden tub and ran some cold water. This got my batch down to 64 and stable. The batch only remained in the garden tub for two day before my wife threatened to flush it down the toilet. So, back in the closet inside a cooler with cold water. Learned that trick on these forums here. One day I'll get fridge and controller just for my brew.

The water in the cooler is 62 and my brew is 64/66. Is there anything wrong in leaving a floating thermometer in the water 24/7? I still have bubbles so I must still be fermenting. I was just a hair short of the targeted OG of 1.047. I think maybe I was short since I couldn't figure out to get all of the malt out of the plastic container. Next time, I'll heat the container up. Maybe swirl some of the hot wort in it?

 

[DonutMuncher]

Sounds like you had quite the adventure getting that sucker temperature controlled Good for you though, making sure to control fermentation temps on your first batch. I did several batches before realizing how important it is.

As long as your thermometer is water-proof, I think you can leave it in the water 24/7. I think plenty of people do that with floating thermometers.

Some people do put the can/container of extract malt into some warm water to make it pour easier. That's probably recommended on your next batch if you think you missed out on a decent amount stuck to the inside of the can.

 

[unionrdr]

Always rinse out the extract malt container with hot water or hot wort from the kettle to get every last drop of LME. I sanitize a soup ladle & fill it with hot wort,spin my paddle in it,then pour it into the BK Stir.

 

[KavDaven]

Ok, to further stabilize the temp, I've bought some large blue ice blocks. Which I plan on keeping two in the freezer and two in my cooler. This should save me from stealing all the ice out of the freezer everyday. This practice has been limiting the amount of ice my wife is able to put into her glasses of boxed wine. I've also been searching on Craig's List, Lowes, Home Depot, various appliance stores and even swap meets for a suitable compact fridge or freezer. My wife thinks I'm going insane.

My next two questions are:
My primary has been going since 14MAR and the bubbles are slowing down. No, I haven't gotten tunnel vision staring at the airlock, yet. I'm leaving the beer in the primary until 01APR, no secondary, its a wheat beer. Should I continue to keep my beer at 64/66 temp after the first week?

Once bottled on 01APR, do I have to keep the bottles at 64/66? Revvy says to store the bottle in a dark warm room. In my apartment, a dark warm room is about 70-72.

 

[gcdowd]

I'd say after the fermentation is complete it's ok to let the temp up to 70 if you'd like. I mean, I wouldn't let it get to 85 or anything crazy like that. As for bottling, 70 is a good temp to store them at. Just make sure no light gets to them. If it means throwing a towel over them then so be it.

 

[KavDaven]

Ok, just a follow up for those interested.

I'd collected various beers over the weeks for bottling day. Excruciating sacrifice on my part drinking all that beer to give the bottles a new start. At first, I just kept bottles without any concern. I discovered that any liquid left over in the bottle began its very own yucky micro-environment. Now I rinse all my bottles and store them upside down.

Sanitized my bottles in a bucket, rinsed out the inside on the sink then put each of the 54 bottles in the dishwasher for a full cycle.

Transferred the beer to the bottling bucket. LEFT THE SPIGOT OPEN!

Almost forgot to take a hydrometer reading:
(1.046 OG - 1.010 FG) * 131.25 = 4.725 ABV

Stacked the bottling bucket on top of the now clean fermenting bucket. Attached the bottling wand.

The last pic shows a sample in the middle next to a Tucher Dunkle Hefe Weizen. The sample tasted ok but flat obviously. I'm hoping a few weeks in the bottle will produce a yummy beer.

 

[Homercidal]

That beer will change dramatically as it gets chilled and carbed.

Looks good!

 

[Wilbergrowsalot]

Lowes,160 for a freezer chest, and get a temp over ride!

 

[KavDaven]

Add to that a military discount, the wife must see the rationale!