First timer with a huge worry

[khaos]

Hey guys,

I just brewed my first batch of autumn amber ale from midwest . it was an extract kit and i did everthing to the letter par the instructions. pour my wort through a fine strainer to aerate and gave it a stir.(still think i didn't do it enough) S.G 1.046 and pitched my yeast muntons std yeast at 73f stuck it in my ferment chamber. ( whirlpool fridge with johnson a419 set at 67 f and it was a slow start to a nice run till day 2 early day day 3 and then nothing with a F.G of 1.021. On day 4 still at 1.021 tried some yeast energizer and a gentle swirl and still nothing . Day 5 still at 1.021 was told to try a repitch with muntons std yeast and some yeast nut. have i killed this beer or should i just wait it out ? going to leave it in the fermentor for 2 weeks par instructions.

 

[advogold]

Should be fine. First few days yeast is usually pretty aggresive. Then it slows down but they are still working.

 

[khaos]

so all the stuff the women at my brew shop told me to do to it wont hurt the outcome? my bigeest worry is being in and out of my fermenter 4 or 5 times in the last 3 days. Dont want any infections.

 

[Genjin]

so all the stuff the women at my brew shop told me to do to it wont hurt the outcome? my bigeest worry is being in and out of my fermenter 4 or 5 times in the last 3 days. Dont want any infections.

This worrying is fairly common with the first brew or two. Then you will realize that the yeast don't need your help for the vast majority of beers. If you can stand it, ignore the beer for two weeks and then check. The gravity will likely be more where you expect it to be. Welcome to the obsession!

 

[khaos]

I think i will do just that. I still have one more week on the cake. From today, so i will leave it for an extra week after that and give it a stick and see where its at then. Should i be worried about any infection being i been in there a few times? i have sterilized everything that touched it. but my goofy brew store lady told me that i need to warm it up alittle so i did bump my controller up to 71f and now it smells like a dang banana but have since dropped it back to 67f being that's what i was told the yeast liked. Between 64-70f

 

[Andrew5329]

I think i will do just that. I still have one more week on the cake. From today, so i will leave it for an extra week after that and give it a stick and see where its at then. Should i be worried about any infection being i been in there a few times? i have sterilized everything that touched it. but my goofy brew store lady told me that i need to warm it up alittle so i did bump my controller up to 71f and now it smells like a dang banana but have since dropped it back to 67f being that's what i was told the yeast liked. Between 64-70f

The yeast "like" warmer temperatures just fine, they "like" it in the high 90s as well. The issue is that if the temp is too warm you get weird odors/tastes like your banana smell as well as some Fusel Alcohols (propanol/Butanol) neither will kill you, but they can add a harsh alcoholic taste to your beer if you brew too high. (99% chance this didnt happen to your beer, I'm just explaining why you want the temp in the mid 60s)

You shouldn't have to worry regarding infection as long as you sterilized everything properly. Infection typically occurs either at the start before the yeast get established in your beer, or when your transferring your beer from one container to the next (because the whole surface of the new container might have bacteria on it.)

As for Ferm time, I'd recommend 3-4 weeks from the day of your boil before you bottle it. 3 is usually sufficient but in this case 4 is probably the way to go. Even though most of the fermentation is done by week 2, as your beer sits for the next week or two it breaks down various unwanted compounds and chances are that if you let it work your yeast will work out whatever was causing that banana smell you had. (This is effectivly the same as bottle conditioning with the difference being that anything that would have left the beer altogether as a gas is trapped in a bottle versus released in a fermenter.)

Patience is always your friend as a homebrewer.

Relax, Dont Worry, Have a Homebrew is the magic saying. Though you dont have any ready yet so drink one of your fav commercial beers instead.

 

[ahaley]

The best advice I can offer is, while you ferment but a black trash bag over your carboy / bucket (I use bucket myself) and seal the bag but leave the airlock visible, and if anything leaks, the bag will hopefully catch it. And also "out of sight out of mind" is my brewing motto, I forgot about my last brew had it ferment about 4 weeks then bottle condition for about. 2 before I got impatient. I have 1 bottle left! :x but good luck as previously stated you should be squared if you sanitized everything that touched the cold wort.

How long have you been brewing / thinking about it?

 

[homebrewdad]

so all the stuff the women at my brew shop told me to do to it wont hurt the outcome? my bigeest worry is being in and out of my fermenter 4 or 5 times in the last 3 days. Dont want any infections.

The best thing you can do is leave the beer the heck alone. Yeast know how to make beer. If fermentation starts and the temps are pretty stable, give it a couple of weeks, then check gravity. Worry then, if need be.

If you are measuring thins in single digit days, you are being way too hands on.

 

[malkore]

Of course OP is 'too hands on'...its his first batch and he's already got a dedicated fermentation chamber and a johnson temp control (so figure several hundred dollars invested on temp control alone).

I agree the yeast could just be 'chilly'. Let it come up to 70F for a couple days and see if they finish off the sugars.

Extracts often finish high though, since the extract's sugar profile is pre-defined (unlike all grain)

 

[Ryan11]

Yeah I agree with malkore let it come up to around 70F....since you have temp control just gradually have the temp rise over the next few days and let it sit. That should finish things up

 

[khaos]

Ahaley, I been thinking about getting into brewing for the past year. This is the first batch for me ever and yeah i am a bit of a worry wort, but i guess that comes with the obsession. its like becoming a father for the first time. you get way out of hand and worry about everything...lol. But i want to thank all you guys for the info i tell you it has really helped me out. have the beer still in the chamber sitting a comfy 68 to 69f and will just forget about it for atleast 2 more weeks and then check for fg. bottle it and wait some more..while i brew a easy coopers dark ale with DME

 

[green_bierz]

dont worry dude, in fact that was the exact same beer that i made for my first batch... same worries, same posts (mostly) if there is one thing i have learned in the past months is to just chill and let the yeastie beasties do their thing. they are some tuff little critters (alcoholics at that) imagine living in alcohol (or your own pee if thats how ya look at it) youve gotta be tough. one thing that has helped me clear my mind in the past batches after the first is filling my mind with more things homebrew. research research research. start looking into more/better equip. sounds like youve got a good start on that. and of course another thing to do with your time is drink... i think we can all agree on that one. i am now all grain and loving it. raspberry wheat was tried by a brewmaster that i know and was told that its an award winning beer. keep it up and have fun with it. thats what this hobby is all about. brewers are very social people (youve gotta have friends to finish bad batches lol)

Cheers and good luck!

 

[Yooper]

Munton's standard yeast is NOT recommended for all-malt beers. It's designed for beers with corn sugar and the like. I would recommend for the next batch to stay away from Coopers and Munton's yeast strains, and buy a good quality ale yeast like S04 or S05.

If it's still at 1.021, it sounds finished there. I wouldn't worry too much about it, and just bottle when convenient.

 

[Stauffbier]

I agree with Yooper. It's likely not going to drop lower than 1.021, which is common for extract..

 

[ajf]

Munton's standard yeast is NOT recommended for all-malt beers. It's designed for beers with corn sugar and the like. I would recommend for the next batch to stay away from Coopers and Munton's yeast strains, and buy a good quality ale yeast like S04 or S05.

If it's still at 1.021, it sounds finished there. I wouldn't worry too much about it, and just bottle when convenient.

I agree completely.

According to Midwest, that kit is all malt

Muntons state that their standard yeast is not suitable for all malt brews.
See http://www.muntons.com/homebeer/other-products/misc_standard_yeast.asp

I'd contact Midwest, quoting the Muntons Information, and ask why they supplied an unsuitable yeast. If you do it politely, and they are interested in their customers, you may get a replacement kit, and they may change the yeast in their package. Otherwise, I wouldn't order from Midwest again.

-a.

 

[midfielder5]

You can upgrade to US05/ 04 for $1.00 with Midwest's kits, so just do that.

 

[khaos]

Hey yoopers,
thanks for the info i actually wanted to step up to the so5 yeast but the guy there informed me there was no need to but i will be contacting them since i had read that somewhere myself also ..but im going to give it the full two weeks and see where it is at and if it is still at 1.021 to 1.020 im going to go ahead and bottle it and let it sit for 2.5 weeks and start checking the carb on it ..hopefully the banana smell was just the yeast getting a bit warm since i have the probe taped to the side of my fermenter bucket insulated with an old sock so it is just about 1 degree warmer then the controller says so when it read 71 on the controller the beer was actually 72f but i have since dropped it back down over time to 67f and haven't even looked at it.

 

[khaos]

Hey guys just a little update about my yeast. Went to midwests site and looked up muntons yeast and it states in there description that its meant for corn sugar batchs... will be calling them in the a.m.