So I've been interested in home brew for quite some time now. Several years ago I got a Mr beer and was unhappy with the results. Fast forward three years and last month my wife for me a nice beginners setup from a lhbs, complete with an extract kit classic brown ale. Today I finally took the plunge and made my first batch. Here's to new hobbies. And an edible creation in a month or so. Cheers.
noob from RVA
- Thread starter Sudsy426
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Welcome to the group, from CO, congrats on the first batch. The forum stickies and the wiki have lots of great, free info. Ask lots of questions, this is a helpful and knowledgeable community.
Greetings from Northern Vermont (and previously RVA and Fred-Vegas)
Hello and welcome from a fellow brewer in RVA! Congrats on the first batch. Come by Mekong July 10th for our homebrew club meeting if you can. More details on the site http://jrhb.org/
Groner
Well-Known Member
Welcome from NoVA! Good luck! This forum is a fantastic resource.
CastleHollow
Well-Known Member
Welcome, lots of resources for homebrewers in RVA, including: Original Gravity in Lakeside, the Weekend Brewer in Chester, and the James River Homebrewers club (celebrating 30 years)
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
So I took reading to see where my brew is at. OG=1.070 tad high based on numbers with kit
Current gravity is 1.024 instructions say FG=1.014 guess I've got more waiting and checking to do. I tasted sample and while not carbed it tasted very similar to style I was going for but had a slight strong alcohol taste. Reckon all is well with this first batch.
Current gravity is 1.024 instructions say FG=1.014 guess I've got more waiting and checking to do. I tasted sample and while not carbed it tasted very similar to style I was going for but had a slight strong alcohol taste. Reckon all is well with this first batch.
Groner
Well-Known Member
Sudsy426 said:
You're already at around 6% ABV. If you started high, chances are you will end high as well. Also things tend to mellow out while it ages so I suspect it will simply get better! But hey, regardless, you've made beer!
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
So I checked gravity late today it's been two days at 68-70. Gravity is solid at 1.024. Maybe I can attach some pictures. Lots of bubbles just hanging out on top with what is similar to an oil slick, researched oil slick and looks like either the no rinse I used our hop oils either way sounds ok. Guess if all stays steady I'll bottle this weekend.
Groner
Well-Known Member
That looks normal to me. Since you started out high on your gravity I'm not surprised it finished at 1.024. But it should leave some nice residual sweetness if you like that sort of thing! That's the beauty of brewing though, sometimes our mistakes turn into wonderful recipes. And hey, if you don't like it, let me know and I'll come down and pick it up. 
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
Realized I wasn't going to be able to bottle for a while so decided to transfer to secondary yesterday. This morning I have airlock activity which I understand doesn't mean fermentation just pressure relief.what troubles me is the foam or what have you that has accumulated last night. Big white patches of what looks to be dense foam.doesn't look fuzzy or anything so maybe I'm ok.I would hate to bottle this in a week or so only to have an undrinkable. Opinions advice ridicule expertise are all very welcome.help this noob. Thanks everyone.
CastleHollow
Well-Known Member
Looks like more fermentation activity to me. When you racked, you might have agitated the yeast and kick started them a bit. I would not bottle this weekend, let it ride and your gravity might come down to where you had expected it. You've got a pretty big headspace in that carboy so make sure to keep the airlock in place, that should keep a nice blanket of new CO2 inside.
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the quick response.I have two concerns with the action going on.
One, the carboy I transferred to was old and dirty but I soaked it for three days in oxyclean and then before transferring added very hot water and some no rinse sanitizer. I'm curious if there was still possible contamination I know cleaning is the most important step. Two, when I transferred from bucket to carboy using spigot I noticed some bubbles which made me think I was getting air in the mix. Those two things have me concerned I might be growing a bitter beast on my brew. I'll let it sit a week or two and see what happens.
One, the carboy I transferred to was old and dirty but I soaked it for three days in oxyclean and then before transferring added very hot water and some no rinse sanitizer. I'm curious if there was still possible contamination I know cleaning is the most important step. Two, when I transferred from bucket to carboy using spigot I noticed some bubbles which made me think I was getting air in the mix. Those two things have me concerned I might be growing a bitter beast on my brew. I'll let it sit a week or two and see what happens.
Groner
Well-Known Member
Some how I doubt it. That foam doesn't look like anything bad. You transferred from the spigot? Did you attach a tube to it? I would consider getting an auto siphon. The spigot could have also been below your yeast that dropped out and agitated them as the previous person mentioned. The auto siphon will allow you to grab all the liquid above the yeast cake much easier.
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
Yea, after extensive research thanks to this site I just relaxed and had a brew. Looks like bad stuff didn't form that much that quick anywhere in here I could find, not did they look like what I have. But yes I attached tubing which was clean, to the spigot and transferred by setting it in bottom of carboy. I think I'm just excited and anxious for my first brew to turn out right. Groner maybe when I get this stuff bottled we can trade and compare.
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
So it's been a week since I transferred to secondary and all the action on top is gone. I took a reading today and it has dropped from 1.024 to 1.018 by my math that makes this at 8%roughly. Still tasted very similar to what it is a clone of. All is well
Groner
Well-Known Member
Sudsy426 said:
I'm getting 6.83% from those figures. How did you calculate it?
Groner
Well-Known Member
Sudsy426 said:
There will be some residual CO2 from fermentation. Since your bucket was essentially a sealed container with a little bit of pressure relief from the airlock. You need to account for that residual CO2 when carbing. There are calculators online to do this. Here is one I used before I got iBrewmaster for my iPad:
http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html
You'll notice that the temperature at which you fermented is a factor. This is because that temperature affects the amount of residual CO2.
Almost finished!
Groner
Well-Known Member
Sudsy426 said:
Nice job!
You'll be tempted to try one after a week, I promise, it pays off to wait!
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
Ok so go figure been a week almost and i couldnt wait, i actually set aside three bottles to test once a week. And guess what, i got excited and tried not one but two tonight with a major difference in bottles. Bottle one i chilled for several hours and then shared with my father, both of us enjoyed it immensely. The taste was spot on to the clone. Bottle two i chilled in freezer just long enough to cool and enjoyed with my brother, this bottle smelled of bananas and tasted of them as well, it wasnt overpowering but it was most definitely noticeable. How do bottles of same brew taste so different? Did the slow cooling of the first bottle remove the flavor that was present in the first one? I have one more set aside and im debating on chilling that one and trying. I know i should just relax and wait it out but im curious what the majority of my batch is going to taste like. Cheers
Groner
Well-Known Member
Sudsy426 said:
Hard to say, they should all be the same considering you did everything the same way at the same time. The only factor is the cooling so that really should be the only variable. I can't say why cooler one faster than the other would make a difference but if they were indeed at different temperatures when you tried them then that could certainly explain it.
Sudsy426
Well-Known Member
So these have been resting room temp for almost two weeks and I popped them in the fridge on the first. Cracked one today and had the clone side by side, has less head maybe little more time will help that but colour and flavor is pretty much spot on. Very nice for my first 5gal homebrew. Thanks everyone for tips comments and advice this place is great. Cheers
Homebrew on right clone on left. Legend brown ale
Homebrew on right clone on left. Legend brown ale
