A bit concerned

[Lawrence22]

Last week I brewed my first all grain brew on my new grainfather. During brew day I ran into a few problems, firstly the extension lead tripped on me once during the mash and twice during the boil. The main issue with this, is I was relying on the app for timings and had to guesstimate where I was when I reset everything. I have since bought 2 new extension leads which should be able to handle the load. Main issue was probably trying to run both the grainfather and the spare water heater through the one extension.
Then during cooling the hose that I had attached to the out end of my thrumometer came off and straight into the wort. Some wort splashed over the lid and I foolishly in a panic poured this into wort. So contamination was also a worry. Anyway then I had an issue with fermentation temperature for the first 24 hours which I mentioned in an earlier post.
So Today I decided to take an early gravity reading to see how it was getting on. The wort looked nice and clear and was reading 1.018. Initially it tasted very malty but fine, but then there was a bit of an acidic aftertaste, not terrible but noticable. I intend to leave it in the fermentor for at least another week but was wondering if anyone has any experience of something similar. Will this brew end up down the drain?

 

[Clint]

Sounds like you had a hectic brew day! It happens but use it as a learning curve and try to iron out any problems next time.
As for the brew....leave it another week and see what it's like then. ...

 

[Bigcol49]

How!
Of course, everyone on this forum has perfect brew days where absolutely nothing goes wrong - NOT!
We still produce drinkable beer most of the time.
As @Clint says, wait another week for fermentation to finish; let the yeast clean up after itself.

 

[Lawrence22]

Thanks. I don't usually take samples so early, but because of the issues I had on brew day and it being my first all grain I thought I would. With this being my own recipe I was also trying to get an idea of flavour to see if I should maybe dry hop. I'll try it again next week and see how it is.

 

[AdeDunn]

I had that problem with one of my brews, turned out I was using too long an extension with a thermal protection circuit in it. Cable got warm, thermal protection cut in on me. Beer came out of it just fine and dandy, so as the others have said, don't sweat it...

Then there was the ultimate chaotic brew day, where the tap for my reverse osmosis system snapped off, spraying water all over the kitchen flooding it badly. Instead of brewing I ended up going out to buy a new tap and trying to fit it over the existing hole...

Brew days go wrong, most often though the only thing harmed by it is your own composure, and maybe the kitchen floor.... Beer is tougher than folks give it credit for.

 

[BrewHouse]

If I am completely honest with myself, I have only hit all the numbers once in the last 12 months. 95% of my brew sessions never go according to plan but the beer is still better than the local pub. Every home brewer has far more 'Oh F!!k' moments than they like to admit. Patience is the key. I totally agree with AdeDunn, unless you have really screwed things up, beer has a remarkable way of sorting itself out in the end.

 

[foxbat]

I have since bought 2 new extension leads which should be able to handle the load. Main issue was probably trying to run both the grainfather and the spare water heater through the one extension.

Yes running two heating elements down one cable would do it. Always use the shortest leads you can get away with, don't put multiple heating elements on one lead and never use coiled extension leads.

 

[Lawrence22]

So 3 days later and I decided to see how things are going. First, the good news is the acidic aftertaste appears to have gone but I am still reading 1.018 for gravity so this appears to have stuck. The grainfather recipe tool suggests this should drop to 1.010. I have 22 litres of beer pitched a sachet of S-04 which had been rehydrated. I was aiming for an Irish red ale, what I've ended up with is a brown ale. Taste reminds me of Brooklyn Brown Ale which isn't a bad thing but not what I was looking for.
I have increased the temperature slightly to 20° and given the fermentor a good shake but I'm wondering if I should consider pitching more yeast.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Give it a damn good thrashing - stir it it up vigourously - I know that this will raise sediment, but the yeast you want to wake up is down there.
Of course, this will mean an extra few days for fermentation to finish and the sediment to settle again.

 

[Lawrence22]

4 more days after a vigorous shake and it has dropped to 1.016. Been doing a lot of reading and I now believe that my high final gravity may be due to me putting too much carared and carafa II in my recipe. Probably should have done more research before my first all grain. Dry hopped today and will bottle on Friday if it doesn't drop any further.

 

[Dutto]

Okay, here's my twopence worth.

Leave your FV alone for at least two weeks after pitching the yeast ...

... then (and only then) start worrying if the SG hasn't dropped to where you expect it to be!

Didn't your Mum ever read "Little Bo-Peep" to you? The last two stanzas were specifically written for home-brewers to start their learning!

 

[Lawrence22]

Okay, here's my twopence worth.

Leave your FV alone for at least two weeks after pitching the yeast ...

... then (and only then) start worrying if the SG hasn't dropped to where you expect it to be!

Didn't your Mum ever read "Little Bo-Peep" to you? The last two stanzas were specifically written for home-brewers to start their learning!

Generally I don't go near my brews for 2 weeks but as this was my first all grain and as I had so many issues on brew day I couldn't help myself.

 

[Dutto]

Generally I don't go near my brews for 2 weeks but as this was my first all grain and as I had so many issues on brew day I couldn't help myself.

I know the feeling well!:thumb:But, like infidelity, you know you shouldn't be doing it.:wave:

 

[GerritT]

4 more days after a vigorous shake and it has dropped to 1.016. Been doing a lot of reading and I now believe that my high final gravity may be due to me putting too much carared and carafa II in my recipe. Probably should have done more research before my first all grain. Dry hopped today and will bottle on Friday if it doesn't drop any further.

Cara/crystal tends to do that. Did you run the recipe through brewersfriend or another recipe calculator?

 

[Lawrence22]

Cara/crystal tends to do that. Did you run the recipe through brewersfriend or another recipe calculator?

I ran it through the grainfather recipe builder, which suggested a F.G. of 1.010.

 

[Lawrence22]

Just ran same recipe through brewers friend it suggests 1.012.

 

[Lawrence22]

Bottled this today after 4 weeks in the fermentor. Never did drop below 1.016. So I hope that was its' finishing gravity and that it will carbonate with the additional sugar added bottling.

 

[Dutto]

Bottled this today after 4 weeks in the fermentor. Never did drop below 1.016. So I hope that was its' finishing gravity and that it will carbonate with the additional sugar added bottling.

Hmmm. I've just had an Oatmeal Stout that took six weeks (14th December to 25th January) to get down to 1.011 and I still didn't trust it.

I transferred it to a Wilco Keg and primed it with 2.5g/litre as a precaution against further fermentation but luckily keg fermentation is "normal".

I hope you also kept the priming sugar low as a "just in case" and I recommend opening (and drinking of course) a bottle every three or four days for the next month or so to ensure that you son't get any "gushers".

Enjoy!

 

[Lawrence22]

Hmmm. I've just had an Oatmeal Stout that took six weeks (14th December to 25th January) to get down to 1.011 and I still didn't trust it.

I transferred it to a Wilco Keg and primed it with 2.5g/litre as a precaution against further fermentation but luckily keg fermentation is "normal".

I hope you also kept the priming sugar low as a "just in case" and I recommend opening (and drinking of course) a bottle every three or four days for the next month or so to ensure that you son't get any "gushers".

Enjoy!

I have botled in 2 6 litre tap a draft bottles with pressure release lids, so those I'm not worried about. The rest is bottled in a mix of glass and PET, so I hope the PET bottles will give me early warning if they firm up too quick.