Wondering if I'm doing it right

[joericks]

Hello all, I am brand new to the art of home brewing. I recieved a True Brew beer brewing kit for my birthday, and have tried my first batch with a Brew House Stout kit.

The instructions said to mix with water and PH packet, stir vigorously, measure S.G. then add yeast (don't stir). I then put the lid and air lock in and waited. This was Wed. at noon. The next morning the air lock was bubbling maddly and there was foam coming out the top. This went on for awhile and stopped completely last night (Friday). I woke up this morning to see no action in the air lock, and decided it was time to rack to secondary.

I guess what I'm asking is if I moved too soon and ruined the batch, or if it still may turn out OK. Once I cracked the lid on the primary, there was very little foam on the surface, and after racking the sediment was not was I was expecting, looked like foamy sludge to me (I expected more of a packed nasty substance).

Hope I did ok on my first time. It's a little nerve wrecking to think that I may wait 2 weeks, bottle and wait another 2 weeks to having something undrinkable.

 

[LovesIPA]

It was definitely too soon but you may be OK anyway. Usually you want to wait 3 weeks in the primary and a secondary fermentation isn't necessary. You can get away with 3 weeks in primary, bottling, and conditioning/carbing for 2 more weeks.

But honestly - beer is really hard to screw up. The yeast really, really want to make beer. Relax, don't worry, have a home brew.

 

[Graypayp]

It was definitely too soon but you may be OK anyway. Usually you want to wait 3 weeks in the primary and a secondary fermentation isn't necessary. You can get away with 3 weeks in primary, bottling, and conditioning/carbing for 2 more weeks.

I second all of this - you don't even need to do a secondary fermentation for anything shorter than a month in the primary. The yeast only start to break-down and negatively affect the flavor after one month in the primary (and possibly not even by then).

If things don't seem to be fermenting because you racked to secondary too soon, try aerating the wort very well (yeast need well-aerated wort to get started; this is a VERY important fact that beginners often overlook!) and then try pitching some more yeast. Things are basically guaranteed to take-off then.

 

[Calder]

If things don't seem to be fermenting because you racked to secondary too soon, try aerating the wort very well (yeast need well-aerated wort to get started; this is a VERY important fact that beginners often overlook!) and then try pitching some more yeast. Things are basically guaranteed to take-off then.

Bad advice to give a new brewer. Yes yeast need O2 to reproduce, but once fermentation has started, you should never aerate the wort otherwise it will just start tasting stale after a short time.

 

[RM-MN]

I second all of this - you don't even need to do a secondary fermentation for anything shorter than a month in the primary. The yeast only start to break-down and negatively affect the flavor after one month in the primary (and possibly not even by then).

If things don't seem to be fermenting because you racked to secondary too soon, try aerating the wort very well (yeast need well-aerated wort to get started; this is a VERY important fact that beginners often overlook!) and then try pitching some more yeast. Things are basically guaranteed to take-off then.

NO! NO! NO! This would oxidize the beer for sure. Never add oxygen once fermentation has started unless you have a very high OG like you might in a barleywine.

The beer shouldn't have been moved so soon but it will turn out to be beer anyway, perhaps not as good as it could have but good.

 

[RM-MN]

Hello all, I am brand new to the art of home brewing. I recieved a True Brew beer brewing kit for my birthday, and have tried my first batch with a Brew House Stout kit.

The instructions said to mix with water and PH packet, stir vigorously, measure S.G. then add yeast (don't stir). I then put the lid and air lock in and waited. This was Wed. at noon. The next morning the air lock was bubbling maddly and there was foam coming out the top. This went on for awhile and stopped completely last night (Friday). I woke up this morning to see no action in the air lock, and decided it was time to rack to secondary.

I guess what I'm asking is if I moved too soon and ruined the batch, or if it still may turn out OK. Once I cracked the lid on the primary, there was very little foam on the surface, and after racking the sediment was not was I was expecting, looked like foamy sludge to me (I expected more of a packed nasty substance).

Hope I did ok on my first time. It's a little nerve wrecking to think that I may wait 2 weeks, bottle and wait another 2 weeks to having something undrinkable.

I think the easiest way to get past this is to read about brewing and learning how to make your beer better. Here's a good place to start although the latest print version has some corrections in it and is worth the price to have for a reference. John Palmer was gracious enough to put the entire first edition online for FREE! www.howtobrew.com

 

[Graypayp]

NO! NO! NO! This would oxidize the beer for sure. Never add oxygen once fermentation has started unless you have a very high OG like you might in a barleywine.

Obviously I'm not saying it's ideal. But I have re-aerated wort, even after having initially pitched the yeast (because I failed to aerate properly from the beginning as a novice brewer), and trust me - it turned out just fine; the sky didn't fall or anything. So if you've got a stalled batch, I see nothing wrong with re-aerating things.

Some of you guys on here need to lighten-up just a tad...

 

[Cyclman]

Always rouse (swirl) yeast and bring the beer up to the high end of the recommended yeast ferm temp if you have a very slow or potentially stuck fermentation. Often, this does the trick.

If you truly have a stuck fermentation, and have to re-pitch, you must re-aerate (according to the book YEAST). This is because the yeast must have oxygen at the beginning of fermentation, and if you aerated 2+ days prior, any oxygen that was in the wort will have precipitated out. True, you will oxidize the beer, it won't taste as good, and it will have a very short shelf life, but at least you have a chance to make a drinkable beer.

If your beer is stuck (non-declining gravity significantly below desired FG), you either oxidize it + repitch it, or throw it out (unless you want to drink syrup beer).

However beers often aren't stuck, they're just ferementing very slowly due to under-aerating under-pitching, or too low a ferm temp.

 

[Graypayp]

However beers often aren't stuck, they're just ferementing very slowly due to under-aerating under-pitching, or too low a ferm temp.

Good point, which is partially why RM-MN and Calder were so adamantly opposed to the idea of re-aerating and re-pitching, I think.

 

[BigFloyd]

I wouldn't assume that, because the OP moved the stout out of the primary very prematurely, he caused fermentation to cease.

The best you can do at this point is to let it ride undisturbed in the secondary for a few weeks and then take a hydrometer reading. It still has a chance to finish up on its own.

Next time, unless you've got a specific reason to transfer it to a secondary, leave it alone in the primary for 3 weeks and go straight to bottling. Just because the airlock stopped bubbling does not mean that fermentation is anywhere near to being done.

 

[joericks]

I do think next time I will skip the secondary. I just did it because it comes with most kits and the directions called for it.

I'm going to leave it for about 15-20 days then rack over for bottling, I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do to make a better finished product given the circumstances. I'm a very visual person and like to see what's going on, maybe I need to find a clear bucket for my primary.

Thanks for all the help so far. I'm hoping to make a chocolate stout on my next batch.

 

[Puddlethumper]

The best you can do at this point is to let it ride undisturbed in the secondary for a few weeks

+1 to bigfloyd

Once the beer is in the fermenter let it alone. It has a lot of business to take care of and it takes a couple of weeks to get it all done. Don't open it or mess with it. Just let it do its thing. If you want to keep messing aroung with brewing, buy another fermenter and start another batch. In about 3-4 weeks your beer will be nice and clear and ready to go to the bottle.

 

[joericks]

Just an update, I finished the beer as said. After leaving 2 weeks in the bottle, I have to say it's pretty damn delicious and only have a few left.

With that being said, I have recently started a new batch (Nut Brown Ale) which required me boiling to make a wort and what not. That being said, I have run into a problem seeing no action in the air-lock. The morning after putting into primary, there were a few bubbles in the air lock. However, now 4 days later and all the bubbles have disappeared. I fear that the primary has gotten too cold (~64 degrees).

Wondering how to save this batch?

 

[Puddlethumper]

What yeast did you use? Also, check the liquid level in your airlock. I didn't get one filled enough and thought for sure there was no fermentation going on. Got the liquid level up and started getting bubbles right away.

 

[BigFloyd]

Just an update, I finished the beer as said. After leaving 2 weeks in the bottle, I have to say it's pretty damn delicious and only have a few left.

With that being said, I have recently started a new batch (Nut Brown Ale) which required me boiling to make a wort and what not. That being said, I have run into a problem seeing no action in the air-lock. The morning after putting into primary, there were a few bubbles in the air lock. However, now 4 days later and all the bubbles have disappeared. I fear that the primary has gotten too cold (~64 degrees).

Wondering how to save this batch?

64 degrees is by no means too cold. For many ale ferments, it's the temp that many of us shoot for through that first week. I may then bring it up to 67-68*F to finish, but that's just to help the yeast consume their by-products.

It's not uncommon for the yeast to get in there and get a bunch of work done in the first 72 hours. Afterward it's still fermenting, but just not producing enough CO2 to bubble the airlock. Leave it alone for 2 weeks from brew day and then get a gravity reading.

 

[woozy]

>>>>So if you've got a stalled batch,

But it *wasn't* a stalled batch. Not even close. Fermentation was damned near if not totally complete.
++++++++
My answer as a newbie to a newbie:

Your error was in racking when you had good reason but not adequate reason to believe fermentation was done. As racking isn't time sensitive (and as you have learned from the responses not necessary at all [but never let anyone no matter how much more experienced than you tell you what you must or must not do]) what you should have done was wait to be certain that fermentation was complete (by taking hydrometer readings a few days apart to so if the specific gravity has stabilized to a final gravity near the predicted final gravity.)

But as it is done... well, ride it out and pretend you didn't rack too soon. Leave it in the secondary for a few weeks and bottle.

Racking to secondary doesn't seem to be necessary and probably that's just as well. The one time I tried to rack to secondary so I could compare results I accidently left the spigot on and I poured the entire batch done the drain. That's pretty much turned me off to secondary. Now that's not a *logical* reason to turn away from secondary but it does show that people have made a *lot* stupider mistakes than yours.

====oops

should have noted the date and the multiple pages....

Oh, well. My advice too late....

Glad to hear your beer turned out good.

 

[Puddlethumper]

64 degrees is by no means too cold. For many ale ferments, it's the temp that many of us shoot for through that first week. I may then bring it up to 67-68*F to finish, but that's just to help the yeast consume their by-products.

It's not uncommon for the yeast to get in there and get a bunch of work done in the first 72 hours. Afterward it's still fermenting, but just not producing enough CO2 to bubble the airlock. Leave it alone for 2 weeks from brew day and then get a gravity reading.

+1 to bigfloyd's advice. Your beer is probably fine ... No saving needed. I have had several batches go off with a bang for a few days and then completely quit (apparently). The beer turned out great. I'm still new to fermenting at lower temps so will defer to bigfloyd's expertise in that area, but I've learned that beer is really pretty forgiving stuff.