Brewing my first ale but have a few concerns....

[Jimbo75]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and to home brewing in general. I received a kit for Christmas which had most of what I needed to brew my first ale. I got an FV, barrel, tap, syphon, steriliser, paddle, hydrometer and an Admiral's Reserve kit and I kicked it all off on Saturday afternoon (3ish).

After doing all the necessary sterilising I added the contents of the beer kit to the FV, topped up with some boiling water (as directed on the kit) and then topped up the remaining with cold water. I had purchased a stick-on thermometer (the type that would usually go on a fish tank) and according to that the temperature of the liquid was approx 31 celcius. Having read a post on here before I believed this was too high to add the yeast. I had taken care to pour the liquids in from height so as to aerate the contents in readiness for adding the yeast but had to then wait until the temperature had dropped before doing so. Sadly in waiting for the liquid to cool, the froth had all but disappeared. After some time the temperature fell to 29 celcius and I added the yeast. I took an OG reading of 1040 just after adding the yeast to the FV and snapped the lid on tightly. I then moved the FV to a cold room to drop the temperature slowly to 20 celcius and it has remained at that temperature ever since. I have since checked the wort on two or three occasions and it seems to be developing a fairly good yeast head at around 1-1.5 cm I would estimate.

I have a few concerns:
- Does what I have done so far sound ok?!
- Did I add the yeast at too high a temperature?
- The kit I received had no airlock and there was no hole in the FV for one either. The lid snaps tightly shut and that is how I have left it. Should I be placing the lid on top rather than snapping it down?
- Is an airlock absolutely necessary and what is it's function?

Apologies for all the questions and the stupidly long post but I am new to all this!

Cheers
James

 

[jonewer]

I have a few concerns:
- Does what I have done so far sound ok?!
- Did I add the yeast at too high a temperature?
- The kit I received had no airlock and there was no hole in the FV for one either. The lid snaps tightly shut and that is how I have left it. Should I be placing the lid on top rather than snapping it down?
- Is an airlock absolutely necessary and what is it's function?

Apologies for all the questions and the stupidly long post but I am new to all this!

Cheers
James

Hi Jimbo,

All sounds good so far, dont worry about the froth disappearing after aeration.
The temp isnt too high to pitch the yeast
You dont absolutely need an airlock, just open the lid a crack to let the pressure escape. Clamping it down tightly might cause the pressure to blow it off!

Hope its a good one! :

 

[markp]

Hi and welcome.

What you've done so far sounds pretty good......the fact you have a nice 'krausen' forming on top sounds like fermentation is well underway.
The yeast was pitched at slightly too high a temperature, but I wouldn't worry too much for your first brew......but something to try and improve on next time.
Some people think it is better to pitch at a slightly higher temperature, rather than wait for the wort to cool before pitching.

Re: lid
Fermentation has been done in open vessels for hundreds of years - again, don't worry too much.
The frementation will cause the lid to pop off, so you may just want to crack it a tad to allow the CO2 to escape.....the CO2 produced by fermetation will provide a 'blanket' of protection.
Airlocks.....again, so do, some don't.......I personally keep the lid of my FV 'unsnapped' for a couple of days to allow the vigerous initial fermentaion to complete, I then snap the lid and use an airlock as I personally like to be sure nothing is getting in there.
Again, personal preference.

Good luck with the rest of the brew.

ATB

 

[Dunfie]

I have a few concerns:
- Does what I have done so far sound ok?!
- Did I add the yeast at too high a temperature?
- The kit I received had no airlock and there was no hole in the FV for one either. The lid snaps tightly shut and that is how I have left it. Should I be placing the lid on top rather than snapping it down?
- Is an airlock absolutely necessary and what is it's function?

You haven't done much wrong at all. Perhaps a slight misjudgement with the temperature when making up the kit no harm done. We normally pitch the yeast into wort a bit warmer that we will ferment out at as this gives it a bit of a flyer.

Beer shouldn't need an airlock. You do however want to allow the CO2 to escape so just fit the lid and then lift one side up. This ensures that the beer is safe from airborne nasties but won't let the pressure build up and potentially cause damage to your FV (and the beer).

An airlock simply allows CO2 to escape but doesn't allow air to go the other way. Once the active fermentation gets going you should have a nice yeast head that will protect it. Also, as CO2 is heavier that air there will also be a layer on top that will stop any air getting into contact with the beer. It should be fine for 2 or 3 weeks like this. If you were intending to store in secondary fv for any length of time then it would be advisable to fit an airlock at this point (less CO2 being produced).

 

[Jimbo75]

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated!

I have just cracked the lid and lifted it at one side as you all suggested. Did have a look inside and there is still some foam covering the wort but by no means is it completely covered. There are just a few spots of foam here and there. Should I expect the wort to still be completely covered by the yeast head at this stage? The wort is currently around 55 hours old.

 

[Wez]

Hi

Is there a ring of 'scum' about 1" above the wort level? If here is the yeast head may have been and gone, if not it hasn't started yet and after 55 hrs it should have.

If it hasn't i'd get it to 20 - 22c and give the yeast at the bottom a gentle rousing with a sterilised paddle.

Wez

 

[Jimbo75]

Hi Wez,

Yup, there's a ring of scum above the wort. After around a day there was a decent yeast head covering the wort but this has now all but gone. The wort is currently at 20 celcius, the same as for the last 2 days. I am guessing the yeast has been and gone and I also guess it has happened far too fast? Is there anything I can do to rescue it?

Jimbo

 

[Wez]

Dont assume that it's all over yet, the yeast will still be working but not as vigorously as it was in the early stages of fermentation.

Are you able to take a hydrometer reading?

 

[jonewer]

Hi Wez,

I am guessing the yeast has been and gone and I also guess it has happened far too fast? Is there anything I can do to rescue it?

Jimbo

Relax, trust in your yeast!

'twill be fine I'm sure. :thumb:

 

[Jimbo75]

Yup, I'll take it and post back in a little while.

 

[Jimbo75]

Right I just tried to take a hydrometer reading and struggled as when I got some of the wort in the trial jar it was extremely fizzy and lively! Also, there was a large amount of the yeast still on top of the wort and I was keen not to disturb the wort any more than I already have. I think it might be ok and that as you say, the yeast is still working but not as vogourously as before. I'll just keep an eye on it for the next few days.

 

[Wez]

Keep us posted :thumb:

 

[Jimbo75]

One more quick question on a slightly different subject this time. Once the primary ferment has completed and I have kegged the ale and left for a further 2 days or so in the warm (18-20 approx) I know I will need to move it to a cool place. The potential problem I have is the only place I can really move it to is my conservatory which is almost entirely uninsulated. I estimate that the temperature in there is a pretty constant 2-3 celcius at present. My garage and shed will also be a similar temperature. Am I right in assuming that this is too cold to condition the ale and if so, would anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do to keep the temperature at the required level? I read somewhere that the ideal temp is between 10 and 14 celcius? A friend suggested I could wrap blankets or something similar around the barrel.

 

[Bribie]

For future reference, 20 celsius is about bang on for an ale fermentation, but pitching at an initial high temperature is fine, I usually pitch my yeasts at around mid 20s then cool gradually down to 18 to 20. Also I don't think it's gone too fast, it all depends on the yeast you used. A couple of weeks ago I did an ale using a dried Belgian yeast and it was all done in about 48 hours at 19 degrees and even starting to clear out from the top.

Any reason why you can't park your pressure barrel in the same spot you fermented in? For conditioning / carbonating you don't need a cool place as such. Here in South East Queensland at the moment, it's Summer and it's 29 degrees most days and around 25 indoors and I have quite a few ales bottle conditioning at those temperatures no worries, plus a cornie keg waiting for its place in the kegerator.

When the pressure barrel is carbed up, by all means then put it in the cold area prior to drinking. :

 

[Jimbo75]

Thanks for the response Bribie. That's interesting, I was under the impression the temperature had to be quite a bit cooler for conditioning than for the primary fermentation.

 

[Bribie]

Basically with conditioning / carbing, you are just giving the existing yeast a bit more of a feed to produce some more CO2, following which they go to sleep, fall out of suspension and the beer clears out and matures. If you chill the beer too much at that stage, the yeast will go dormant and won't be able to chew through the extra sugar (I assume you'll be putting some sugar / glucose or whatever into the barrel). Most ale yeasts will be knocked out at temperatures below 14 degrees, although true lager yeasts will continue to work down to 10 degrees or thereabouts. So warmer would be better for a few days at any rate

 

[Aleman]

the idea of fermenting at cooler temperatures during conditioning is to allow the beer to absorb CO2 more readily (Gas dissolves more readily at lower temperatures) Rather than sit in the head space where it will soon become too high and be gassed out through the PRV.

Ideally If I was to naturally carbonate in a pressure barrel I would condition it at around 16-18C, before moving to around 12C for dispense . . . but that would be an ideal situation . . There is nothing wrong with conditioning at 20-22C though . . . its just that it will take a bit longer at the cooler temperatures for the gas in the head space to dissolve . . . and therefore the beer will appear to lack condition, and produce lots of foam until this happens . . . plus once dispensed it will take longer for the pressure to recover as a lot of the conditioning gas will have been lost during the 'conditioning' phase. . . . That's what external CO2 is for :lol:

 

[Jimbo75]

Hi all,

Well it's been 8 days now since I started off my Nelson's Revenge kit and after some intial concerns I think it's actually gone ok! However after taking an OG reading of 1040 (according to other posts on the forum this was about right) I took another yesterday and then another today and the gravity was 1016 on both occasions. According to the kit it should be below 1014. I have just given the wort a gentle stir but am pretty sure the fermentation is now complete and that the gravity won't drop any further. Would I be ok to transfer it to the keg now or could this cause problems?

Any help gratefully received!

Cheers
Jimbo

 

[Sean_Mc]

Hi Jimbo, whats the temp of the brew giving 1016? I'd get another reading in 24hrs, but giving it a stir was a good idea.

Personally I like my brews to have 10 -14 days in the FV before kegging or bottling.

Nelson's Revenge is a good kit and hope you enjoy it

Sean

 

[Jimbo75]

Hi Sean,

The temp of the brew is between 19 and 20 celcius. I had a taste of it yesterday and it tasted pretty good already to be honest. I think you're right though another couple of days in the FV can't do ny harm.