Home Brewing / Micro Brewery / My own beer

[Gothan]

Phoned him. Next week I am putting in the order. He said he also has bags for biab that fits the boiler

 

[Gothan]

Crap, seems I have some defective yeast. My last batch (dark ale), had an OG of 1.032 and after 30 hours it had exactly the same reading. Now to find some yeast fast (while sitting at the office)

 

[Necropolis]

Crap, seems I have some defective yeast. My last batch (dark ale), had an OG of 1.032 and after 30 hours it had exactly the same reading. Now to find some yeast fast (while sitting at the office)

Give it some more time...

 

[Gothan]

Will do

 

[Necropolis]

With most of the beers I've done the earliest I check gravity readings is 1 week in, sometimes even more.

And I've started giving all my beers 3 weeks in the primary and 1 week in secondary.

 

[Gothan]

But is it not bad for the wort, to be sitting in the fermentation tank this long without any yeast activity?

 

[Necropolis]

As long as you cleaned and sterilised your fermenter well then there shouldn't be a problem.

Google the No-Chill brewing method - these guys leave their wort for a long time before pitching yeast and nothing bad happens to their beers.

 

[Gothan]

Cool will use patience. Stupid beer kit.

 

[Dimpie (COMPUTEK)]

Without taking the reading into consideration, you should be able to clearly see if fermentation has started ... and after 30hours it should definitely have started

 

[Beachless]

Cool will use patience. Stupid beer kit.

Did you add lots of air to the wort just before pitching the yeast and what temp did you pitch at?
The yeast need O2 for their initial processes and they take much longer to get going if you did not add enough O2

 

[Gothan]

Well according to the wort extract the temp must be 18 - 28 degrees. I pitched the yeast at 28 degrees (its currently sitting at 22 degrees). I did make sure that when I added water that it splashed around a lot. Will still check it, and see, but will also get some extra yeast, just in case

 

[Beachless]

28 deg is fine but in future I suggest using a big spoon to stir very vigorously to add back enough O2 into the wort, I do it for at least 2 min.
The boiling process removes all the O2 so you need to add some back because the yeast need it to divide and create more yeast.

By the way thats the only time you want to stir and splash things around everywhere else in the process O2 is bad.

Also have you checked for leaks sometimes the lid will not seal properly and it seems like nothing is happening when it actually is.
But it can take up to 2 days for fermentation to start before I would start wondering whats wrong.

 

[Gothan]

So when will i know the beer "has gone bad"? I opened the fermenter and it had the normal hoppy smell,but also a sweet lingering smell. Now i have not had enough dark ales in my life to be an expert on the aroma,so can't say.

It seems that there is somekind of krause forming, but might also mean it has gone toxic and is ready to kill me and my family

 

[Necropolis]

Stop opening your fermenter so much - that is a good way to introduce bacteria - especially if fermentation hasn't begun yet.

 

[Beachless]

+1 leave it closed.

You will know when its infected with bacteria or mold. Bacteria is usually a oil like film and mold will be white or green fluffy stuff and there will be strong off flavors and smells.

If it still smells like beer, yeast and hops you have nothing to worry about even if it has some unfavorable flavors after its been bottled for a few weeks due to hot fermentation or other issues those also mostly clear up with time.

Dont stress too much if you disinfect properly and follow the processes its very hard to ruin a batch.

 

[Gothan]

Gonna leave it for a couple of weeks while i order everything for biab.

 

[Gothan]

Ah bliss,had to get an emergency root canal this morning. And what greeted me when i came back....A very active airlock!!

 

[Necropolis]

Excellent!

Homebrewing definitely teaches you to be patient

 

[Gothan]

Ah my first beer ever, it still from a beer kit,but its all mine and it tastes just as good as anything from SAB. And its only 2 weeks after battling. Would have liked it a bit clearer,but still love it

 

[Necropolis]

Nice

My last couple of beers haven't been clear - it really doesn't bother me - not like I'm going to enter them into any competitions. As long as they taste good