My first time - not plain sailing

[IDK]

Well I took the plunge tonight and started brewing 23L of uncle teddy's yorkshire bitter from a love brewing starter kit.

Sanitised bucket, lid, thermometer and hydrometer.
Heated the malt extract pouch and put it in the sanitised bucket.
Didn't pay enough attention while filling the bucket and now have a liquid too hot for the yeast.

It's currently sitting around 30 C and the instructions (and wisdom of the internet) seems to say the yeast shouldn't go in above 25C. Ambient temp is 24ish so not going to cool that quickly.

I just need to get the hydrometer reading and put the yeast in then I can forget about it for a few days.

Do I go to bed and do the yeast in the morning or try to expedite cooling tonight?

At what point do I need to resanitised the thermometer and hydrometer?

 

[Rwilts]

Ideally it should be down to pitching temp asap.it would probably be ok if you can't . Regarding resaniting not sure on how your using them but anytime something is in contact with your wort it needs to be sanitised .

 

[dad_of_jon]

sanitize before taking a reading. As for letting it cool further it depends on the temperature of the location your fv is in. Many people do a no chill and pitch the following morning having made sure the wort is tightly sealed and everything has been propertly sanitized

 

[Rwilts]

And most importantly IDK you have learnt something to watch next time..we are all still making mistakes and improving our processes

 

[Scrattajack]

Do you have any freezer blocks you could sanitise and lob in? Otherwise, as above, many brewers leave it until the morning.

 

[dad_of_jon]

there will be a lag before the yeast start to work and generate heat by fermenting the wort. I often pitch a few degrees above recommended as the house is cooling down at night, but would pitch at recommended temps if pitching early on in the day.

 

[IDK]

Thanks all... to bed it is.

Everything is sealed up. I'll make up some sanitiser in the morning get a clean hydrometer in for the SG and then get the yeast in.

 

[IDK]

And most importantly IDK you have learnt something to watch next time..we are all still making mistakes and improving our processes

Indeed, such a simple thing to mess up. If I'd mixed the water to hit the target temperature I would've had the yeast in two hours ago and this off my mind for the night.

 

[IDK]

Yeast pitched this morning at 23C.

Starting gravity 1042.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Yeast pitched this morning at 23C.

Starting gravity 1042.

Now the wait begins. Patience is a virtue in brewing (and hard to achieve!)

 

[IDK]

48 hours in. No airlock action but seems to be some foam forming.

Think all is well.

Hops going in Friday or Saturday.

 

[Stevieboy]

Don't worry about no airlock action. Those bucket lids are notoriously not airtight. Just don't open the lid for the next 2 weeks.....the brew will cover itself with a blanket of CO2.

 

[Rwilts]

I have NEVER used an airlock. I could never bring myself to cut the hole out if the lids... Kept the lid closed and could see the buldge and krausen were enough for me for 10 years .

 

[Stevieboy]

I have NEVER used an airlock. I could never bring myself to cut the hole out if the lids... Kept the lid closed and could see the buldge and krausen were enough for me for 10 years .

Yep - I remember the days when the instructions said to cover the bucket with a clean teatowel!... and if you were really advanced you secured it with pegs or an elastic band...

 

[Rwilts]

Give it a few brews IDK then you will be looking at pressure fermentation and then you can watch the fun.

 

[IDK]

Added 50g of Fuggles pellets tonight (having first covered them in boiling water).

Took the chance to have a quick peek at how things are going. Gravity is down to about 1015. Quite a strong medicinal smell and some orange bits floating on top that I hope are just yeast.

 

[Rwilts]

If your dry hopping there is no need to soak the pellets .

 

[IDK]

If your dry hopping there is no need to soak the pellets .

Fair enough. Just following the instructions this time but will bear in mind for future.

 

[Rwilts]

Fair enough. Just following the instructions this time but will bear in mind for future.

Pic looks fine to me..

 

[IDK]

Planning to bottle tomorrow.

Tried to take a gravity reading with 250ml measuring cylinder. Hydrometer is too big for this setup and hits the bottom. Never mind, I’ll sanitise it tomorrow and drop it in the FV before bottling.

Also decided to taste the sample. Very, very dry (all hops) very little body. Can I hope this will improve after bottling?