equipment and ingredients purchased, fear this

[watermelonman]

So I've obtained enough equipment and ingredients for my first brew. It will be an amber. I got all the ingredients and instructions as a kit.

I think I'm going to get cooking tomorrow morning. Is there anything I should be watching out for? As far as I've read, I just need to make sure everything is clean and do a good job following the instructions.

[barley ben]

I don't know if this is what you meant but you want to have everything clean and sanitized. Sanitation is the most important part of brewing. As far as the directions go, depends where they come from. If it involves lots of sugar be concerned about it. If you post your ingredients and instructions, we could give you better advise.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Homebrewing. You'll never look at beer the same again!!

[watermelonman]

Yes, sanitized is exactly what I meant.

The ingredients are 7lbs liquid malt, two sets of hops, 15grams of dry yeast, and 3/4cup of sugar.

It looks like a pretty plain procedure; I got this one because it was rated "very easy" to make.

[Wilson]

Sounds like a pretty good basic recipe, from what you've posted. I think that if you have the basic idea down already, it'll be fine. Sanitation is key, and if your like me my first batch was a bit nerve racking. I got to fermentation fine, but then started to worry--needlessly. In the end eveything turned out great! I'm still learning, but have had no problems yet. Have fun, and people here are full of good help should you need it.

[kgaugler]

I think the best recommendation I could give you (other than the obvious, sanitize properly)is just be patient. Don't keep opening the fermenter cover to "look and see". Leave it for probably a week. When you loose count between bubbles in the air lock, you're good to go...

Welcome to the wonderful world of homebrewing!

[wortchillergoal]

Welcome to a great hobby. I am probably overstating the obvious, but that 3/4 cup of sugar will be for priming your bottles.

[thewiz]

I just started about a month ago - bottled 3 batches that all seem to be turning into great beer. I have 2 tips that I learned kinda early (might have e- has helped me keep everything clean:

Get a 5 gallon bucket (or your bottling bucket) or something similar.... make sure it's clean. Make a batch of sanitizing solution. It should be the very last thing dumped when you are done. Use this to sanitize hands, equipment and everything before, during and after brewing.

I've found that I go out to have a smoke, grab a snack, drop a spoon on the ground - whatever - and that bucket is always there to sanitize after I've rinsed/cleaned/washed whatever it is that needs it, especially including my hands.....

Anyhow, good luck - let me know how you're first batch turns out.... gotta go get brewing myself - 3 more batches to do today.

[S.F.B.]

Having patience is one of the best bits of advice I have seen so far. Remember to just relax. Brewing is supposed to be fun. We are all here to help and support each other. Lots of good folks here on the board to help. There are no stupid questions.

[kgaugler]

I think the advice thewiz gave is excellent. I do exactly the same thing with a spare 3 gallon bucket that I keep most of my stuff in when not in use (thermometer, hydrometer, etc.)

[watermelonman]

I cooked it up late monday and it's been sitting ever since. Most of my concerns were about leaks and the spigot system I had, but now all the liquid is in there and nothing is leaking, so that should be fine.

I left the yeast in plain water for longer than it said I should (probably about 30 minutes), and I had to thwack it with my finger a few times but my hands were clean.

How sensitive is the airlock to water level? At first I accidently put 2-3mm too much in, and about a half hour in I took the airlock apart and filled it right to the line. I'd think some of it will evaporate during the fermentation. Also, what is the risk of nasty molecules getting in through the airlock? I've since moved everything my roommates need away from the area, but there was some risk of contamination through the airlock earlier.

It was bubbling like mad yesterday until the late afternoon, and now it's down to (I'd guess) one big bubble every 30 minutes.

[OldHooky]

The only thing I would recommend to a first time brewer is to buy a 6 gallon carboy for a primary. It's like a poor man's lava lamp.

[adbachtell]

You should have been ok on the airlock level the first time. But I did the same thing on my first brew. I chalk it up to worry. Nothing should be able to get into the fermentor as long as the water floats the inside piece of plastic. With the Yeast fermention and creating CO2 it gives positive pressure inside the fermentor. Also you need to be aware the air lock can become clogged when the fermentation is vigerous. Otherwise it sounds like a good job. Always remenber that even if everyting is done to perfection a brew can still go south. Good luck and enjoy.

[watermelonman]

Sounds good.

I haven't seen much airlock activity in a few days now. Should I agitate the beer with a spoon, or just let it sit?

I cooked everything up on monday, so I think I'll be bottling next monday.

[thewiz]

bottling after 1 week? that seems a little soon.... i rack mine into a secondary fermenter and leave at least another week.... helps the crud settle out of the brew and condition.... not to mention helps prevent exploding bottles from over carbonation....

[fretlessman71]

Yeah - you need to make sure that beer is done fermenting, and 1 week usually isn't long enough. Do you have a hydrometer?

[watermelonman]

Well, all visible airlock activity has stopped, so I thought either it's done fermenting or I need to agitate the yeast.

I do have a hydrometer, but I spaced out on taking the original readinds. Would comparing current readings to the values published on the instructions do me any good?

[fretlessman71]

What you want to do is take a Hyd. reading right away, write that number down, and take another one in about 2-3 days. If they're the same, it's done, and you can go ahead and safely bottle. If you have another vessel, though, I'd consider doing a secondary fermentation. This is nothing more than getting the beer OFF of the current yeast cake so it doesn't impart any off flavors into the beer. There is plenty of yeast left in suspension; if more fermenting needs to be done while it's in secondary, it'll get taken care of. If it doesn't, all you've done is age your beer a little bit and allow it to clarify a little more - both good things for your beer. PATIENCE, young grasshopper... :)

[paul84043]

Transferring to a secondary also has the effect of agitating a bit more yeast into suspension and can kick things off again if they seemed to stall out.

[YamahaXS]

Welcome to the machine, watermelonman!


Look, you're new to this, and everyone one of us has felt exactly like youare feeling now....You can't wait to get this beer bottled so you can drink it!


Well, you should wait. Your beer will be much better if you let it rest even just one more week.

I suggest you take all that brewing energy and excitement and GET A SECOND BATCH GOING and leave your first one alone for a while longer.

cheers and beers!
Jeff

[OldHooky]

Originally posted by YamahaXS

I suggest you take all that brewing energy and excitement and GET A SECOND BATCH GOING and leave your first one alone for a while longer.

That's really good advise. Nothing worse than bottling too soon.

[watermelonman]

Oh, I can definitely wait, I just want to do the right thing here. I was under the impression that it was done or almost done fermenting when the airlock quit being so active, and if it wasn't done then I needed to agitate it.

Can I use my settling tank (HDPE) for secondary fermentation? All the books I've seen tell me to use a glass carboy.

[watermelonman]

Originally posted by thewiz
Anyhow, good luck - let me know how you're first batch turns out.... gotta go get brewing myself - 3 more batches to do today.

Just to follow up on this old thread, my beer turned out fine. The recipe was a little plain and not really what I was hoping for in an amber, but the real goal here was to brew a simple batch and make sure I had things down before moving on to bigger and better things.

Some of the bottles tasted off and some of them had more carbonation than the others, I imagine this was due to not drying some of the bottles long enough (iodophor left in bottles) and failing to mix up the priming sugar enough.

[Moondoggy]

I rack my beer to primary and let it sit for 2 weeks before bottling.

No off flavors so far with my batches and it sits on top of the yeast cake the entire time.

Actually, it has been exactly 2 weeks on a batch of fortified amber today and I am racking to my first keg as soon as I get done with this post.