Just Brewed

[edosully]

Just brewed my first batch. The yeast seems to have dropped off the top, into suspension. Is this normal? If not, any suggestions.

I brewed a Belgian Golden Ale, put yeast into carboy and agitated the carboy to work it in.

 

[edosully]

Here's what it's lookin like.

 

[edosully]

Update, it's churning away! Starting to build a nice kroysen.

 

[Cyclman]

That whole Ale is top fermenting Lager is bottom fermenting is a bit of a misnomer. Yeast does it's job in suspension either way.

Fermentation is an addicitve thing to watch, look for time lapsed fermentation videos, very interesting.

 

[Travestian]

If the yeast are alive they will do what they do in suspension. Pretty cool to watch the process during the first couple of days. But keep your carboy out of the light best you can or your beer could skunk. It can happen even not in sunlight.

 

[edosully]

Thanks guys! Your so right, I check it out every chance I get. The activity is amazing. Here's the latest pic.

 

[Hang Glider]

You'll be so proud of your beer...congratulations!

Eventually, you'll consider temperature control during fermentation - I'll bet if you monitored that stick-on thermometer, you'd see it got quite warm. If you can, keep the temp at around 65 the entire time (lots of ideas for temp control on this forum). Left alone in a closet like this, the temp in that carboy can easily reach 10F above the ambient temps.

 

[edosully]

Hang glider, I got it into a swamp cooler and it seemed to lock in at 65 for three days. It seems to have shut down now it flocculated and now I'm seeing a bubble every 15 to 20 seconds or so. I'm thinking that I'll be bottling in the next couple days. I think I'll be letting it condition for two weeks. How's that sound to you? What about dropping it into a secondary? Do you think that would help to get more fermentation before bottling?

 

[choosybeggar]

Most brewers here don't bother with a secondary. Leaving the fermentation for 2-3 weeks in primary does a nice job without the hassle.

I suggest moving you LCD thermometer for improved accuracy. Place it lower on the carboy so the entire scale is below beer lever.

 

[edosully]

Btw, it did drift up to 70 degrees before I got it into the swamp cooler. Next batch will be much more temp controlled.

 

[edosully]

Thanks beggar, I thought about that. As soon as I get this beer down, I'll be moving it. At some point I want to get a fridge and temp control.

 

[edosully]

You think I should just let it go another week, even after it shuts down completely? It cleans up that way?

 

[choosybeggar]

It definitely cleans up if you leave it in the primary a week after active fermentation ceases.

 

[edosully]

Hi guys! I panicked! Took a gravity reading.

0.996! I felt that it had attenuated a bit more than it should have. So I bottled.

Am I right with my calc. ABV of over 11?

 

[edosully]

 

[Brulosopher]

Hi guys! I panicked! Took a gravity reading. 0.996! I felt that it had attenuated a bit more than it should have. So I bottled. Am I right with my calc. ABV of over 11?

Bottling won't stop attenuation, just create bombs if the beer isn't done fermenting. I bet it was done, but make sure your FG is stable before bottling. Also, that yeast will rip through wort, so your FG is nothing to be worried about.

 

[edosully]

Thanks Bru, that makes me a bit nervous. We'll see.

 

[Brulosopher]

Thanks Bru, that makes me a bit nervous. We'll see.

Most beers fully ferment out in 4-5 days, so you're probably good