First Ever Homebrew! Is this normal?!

[PickledBeer]

Hi guys!

I'm totally new here and to the homebrew scene!

I was sitting on a "Brooklyn Brew Shop - Beer Making Kit - Everyday IPA" box for quite some time... honestly, probably over two or three years. I was just quite intimidated by the whole process and the notorious lack of instructions in this kit just didn't give me enough confidence.

After watching plenty of videos and even watching homebrew live-streams, I felt I had enough knowledge to give it a go, so I dusted the box off and made me a batch last night!

When I poured the wort into the fermenter last night, there was quite a lot of sediment at the bottom, a thick amount. This morning, there was CRAZY activity in the fermenter! Bubblin' like mad! But there was also a green/brownish foam that had made its way through the blowout tube (see pictures). Is this normal? Or has my beer been harmed?

I also note that I added some organic cane sugar during the boiling process of the wort - I did this to raise the ABV a bit and also to add some carbonation? Was I right in doing so? Or is steeping the grains and adding no sugar enough for carbonation? (I'll be going from one gallon fermenter jug to bottle). Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[MmmmCitra]

Don't panic, looks perfectly normal to me, it'll settle down a bit in a few days.............:thumb:

 

[MyQul]

Welcome to the forum. :thumb:

Looks all normal to me. The greenish brown foam is some of the trub (the green will be hops and the brown will be from the malt) which got carried up through the wort and into the blow off by the C02

Adding cane sugar will up the ABV% (it will also dry out the beer but dont worry about that at the mo as this is your first brew). Once it's finished fermenting you'll need to add more sugar at bottling time to the bottles or you'll have flat beer

 

[chub1]

:thumb:looks ok here as well

 

[Spapro]

That all looks normal, leave it alone for at least 2 weeks to ensure its fermented out fully. Best practise is to check the gravity of a sample with a hydrometer but as long as its fermented out then settled for a week you should be ok to bottle.

You need to add a small amount of priming sugar to each bottle when bottling - that small amount of sugar in the bottle is what the yeast use to carb the beer up. Once bottled (with the priming sugar added to each bottle) you store the bottles somewhere at roughly normal room temperature (18-20°C) for a couple of weeks to carb up, then move somewhere cooler (garage/shed/celler are all ideal this time of year) for a couple of weeks to condition before drinking.

Good luck with it, hope you get the bug and brew more !

 

[Thorbz]

That looks OK. The sugar you added during the boil will be consumed by the yeast and turned into alcohol and CO2 in the fermenter. You'll need to add priming sugar to carbonate the brew at bottling time.

Hope it turns out well.

 

[PickledBeer]

Thank you so much for all your replies!

PHEW! Glad to hear she's safe!

And thanks - so the initial sugar I added will help to boost the ABV.

As for carbonation - is the priming sugar added to the bottle or the fermenter before bottling?

 

[Clint]

Add to the bottle...or if you're batch priming;to your bottling bucket.
Brew looks great!

 

[RichardM]

Once bottled (with the priming sugar added to each bottle) you store the bottles somewhere at roughly normal room temperature (18-20°C) for a couple of weeks to carb up, then move somewhere cooler (garage/shed/celler are all ideal this time of year) for a couple of weeks to condition

This is your first brew. You will probably find that, for quality control purposes, you will want to try the first one after 2 weeks. You will then sample the brew regularly and realise that it has got to it's best as you finish the last bottle

 

[Jakeyboi]

Thank you so much for all your replies!

PHEW! Glad to hear she's safe!

And thanks - so the initial sugar I added will help to boost the ABV.

As for carbonation - is the priming sugar added to the bottle or the fermenter before bottling?

It can be done either way. Either you add a small amount per bottle (there are charts to work out how much sugar you want for your style of beer). Or you add enough for the entire batch in the bottling bucket, gently stir it in and then bottle. That is batch priming. For now I recommend you add as small amount to each bottle.

Enjoy

 

[PickledBeer]

Appreciate all the help people! Will add some sugar to the bottles for carbonation this time round.

Also - does anyone have any tips to get the clearest possible beer for this solution? I was too excited and didn't want to wait for Whirfloc tablets ordered online so just went ahead with the brew.

I've been looking at Gelatin being a good way to clear beers - would this be possible for my current set-up? And when exactly would I add the gelatin, as all the videos I've seen were for kegged beers.

Thanks if you can help!

 

[terrym]

One of the ways of achieving finished matured clear beer this is to first leave it in the FV until its clear or nearly clear, then bottle it, which minimises yeast going forward. I usually leave mine about 16-18 days sometimes longer. Even though it looks clear there will still be enough yeast cells to carb up. And after its carbed up just leave it at least a month before you get stuck in. That will give gravity chance to complete the job and the little yeast you have in the bottles should have settled. Be aware that some yeast flocculate better than others and will pack down better and this means that the yeasty sediment is less likely to cloud up when you open up. And also be aware you will have to leave a little cloudy beer left in the bottle at the end of the pour. Finally you don't need finings imo, gravity and time will do the job for you.

 

[Covrich]

Nice healtthy Looking fermenting beer there mate.

Straight in with a boil too.. well done