New member, first brew

[BGM]

Hello everyone,

I am a new member and have just brewed my first batch. I am extremely new to this but I was given a Brooklyn Brewhouse Punk IPA set for Christmas so I thought I would start with that and see how it goes first. I have attached a link to an image of where my beer is at currently and I am just unsure if it's how it's should look etc so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'll give a bit of detail first.

I started the process on Thursday early afternoon and followed all the instructions correctly and precisely and poured my wort into the fermenter later on in the day. After letting it cool to the correct temperature I pitched the yeast and gave it a good shake then left if in a dark place at room temperature. As of this morning this is where it is at,

LINK TO PHOTO...Click here to view image

This has been like this since yesterday morning. I put a black mark on the bottle last night to see if the sedement was falling at all but it doesn't seem to be anymore? The bubble rate is currently about 1 per minute and according to the instructions I should be replacing the blow tube today with the airlock I currently have sanitising? I have read that some people have had to repitch and I do actually have another yeast packet identical to the one I used previously but again I am unsure.

Any advice would be a great help,

Cheers,
BGM

 

[Rodcx500z]

At 3 days in i would say that looks spot on, its past high krausen if it was me i would fit the airlock and leave it at least another week, the reason its not falling is it is still fermenting, it looks very healthy remember time is the brewers friend you can't rush it

 

[BGM]

Ah ok, that’s great thank you very much! I can rest a bit easier now

 

[Sandimas]

Dark room normally equals a bit cool, at least in this house: keep an eye on the temp especially with the weather changing, and ensure it doesn't drop below 18C or it could stall in the final stages of fermentation.

 

[TomlinP]

BGM - Another first time poster/brewer here, with exactly the same Brooklyn IPA grain kit. And with a completely different experience! You may have had more success than me, or it may be different brewing conditions but here goes:

Last Saturday afternoon, a pretty warm day, I followed all the instructions without much of an issue (other than having to split across 2 pans due to volume of liquid). Found I'd lost a fair bit in boiling so had to top up the demijohn, then I left it in the kitchen in the corner to start fermenting. Which it did. Quickly. Within an hour it was constantly bubbling, had a lot of sediment rolling around and froth on the top. Next morning I came down and it was much slower, a bubble every 9 seconds or so, so fearing the kitchen had gone a bit cool overnight I popped it back in a warmer place where it sped up again, a bubble every 4-5 seconds. I then followed guidelines to move it 2 days later into a room temperature dark place with the airlock on. And it's now sitting there with very gentle activity (few tiny bubbles, few bits of yeast popping to surface and back down etc...).

So unlike yours above, 3 days in I've got a compacted inch of sediment and very little activity, but I'm going to have to be patient and see what it's like in a couple of weeks for bottling...

Few images below:

 

[BGM]

Okey doke. Thank you darrellm

 

[BGM]

BGM - Another first time poster/brewer here, with exactly the same Brooklyn IPA grain kit. And with a completely different experience! You may have had more success than me, or it may be different brewing conditions but here goes:

Last Saturday afternoon, a pretty warm day, I followed all the instructions without much of an issue (other than having to split across 2 pans due to volume of liquid). Found I'd lost a fair bit in boiling so had to top up the demijohn, then I left it in the kitchen in the corner to start fermenting. Which it did. Quickly. Within an hour it was constantly bubbling, had a lot of sediment rolling around and froth on the top. Next morning I came down and it was much slower, a bubble every 9 seconds or so, so fearing the kitchen had gone a bit cool overnight I popped it back in a warmer place where it sped up again, a bubble every 4-5 seconds. I then followed guidelines to move it 2 days later into a room temperature dark place with the airlock on. And it's now sitting there with very gentle activity (few tiny bubbles, few bits of yeast popping to surface and back down etc...).

So unlike yours above, 3 days in I've got a compacted inch of sediment and very little activity, but I'm going to have to be patient and see what it's like in a couple of weeks for bottling...

Few images below:

Hey tomlinp. How weird! I'm not even sure mine foamed up at all? I never looked at it at that stage. I have moved it now to a warmer place in the house but haven't check it today. The colours seem so different? However from what I've seen online I think yours looks spot on.

 

[BGM]

I have just checked my brew and there is no visible change since Sunday. So it still looks identical to the first picture. Should I intervene as from what I’ve been reading I think the fermentation might be stuck?

 

[BGM]

*UPDATE* I have gently warmed the demijohn over the last few hours with a plug in heater, as I believe the house was too cold and stalled the fermentation? There is now more activity happening and it seems to have kickstarted fermentation. Bubble rate in the airlock is down to 1 every 10-15 seconds. I am releuctant to repitch any yeast at the moment. However I’m really not sure if the brew every actually reached high Kräusen?

Again, any advice greatly appreciated. Sorry to keep posting, just don’t want to ruin it.

 

[JiiPee95]

Beginner brewer here as well, done 2 batches of Coopers kits and haven't got to tasting them yet. If you measured your brews original gravity you could measure it again to figure out how much fermenting has happened. Of course that makes it contact with oxygen though

 

[Manxnorton]

Great pics m8.
Welcome to the addicted hobby
Bri

 

[Lawrence22]

*UPDATE* I have gently warmed the demijohn over the last few hours with a plug in heater, as I believe the house was too cold and stalled the fermentation? There is now more activity happening and it seems to have kickstarted fermentation. Bubble rate in the airlock is down to 1 every 10-15 seconds. I am releuctant to repitch any yeast at the moment. However I’m really not sure if the brew every actually reached high Kräusen?

Again, any advice greatly appreciated. Sorry to keep posting, just don’t want to ruin it.

Hi do you have a hydrometer? It is really the best way to tell where you are in the fermentation process. I wouldn't pitch more yeast unless I was sure it was stalled and before I would think of that I would give the fermenter a bit of a shake to rouse the yeast.

 

[BGM]

Hi do you have a hydrometer? It is really the best way to tell where you are in the fermentation process. I wouldn't pitch more yeast unless I was sure it was stalled and before I would think of that I would give the fermenter a bit of a shake to rouse the yeast.

I don’t own one unfortunately. This was the state of play this morning. I did give it a bit of a shake afterwards

 

[Lawrence22]

Is there much activity? If you search fermenting beer on you tube you should see what it looks like while actively fermenting. Also do you know what temperature it is at?

 

[BGM]

Is there much activity? If you search fermenting beer on you tube you should see what it looks like while actively fermenting. Also do you know what temperature it is at?

There was no activity before heating it up gently yesterday, then a little bit, then nothing again. It’s roughly at 21-23c

 

[terrym]

I don’t own one unfortunately. This was the state of play this morning. I did give it a bit of a shake afterwards

You are really working a little bit in the dark without a hydrometer. If used for nothing else they usually tell you whether a fermentation has finished or not. Anyway your beer has been going for a week now so the likelihood is, if it has been kept warm enough and you pitched with enough healthy yeast, it has finished or thereabouts. But lack of a hydrometer makes advice difficult. However I suggest you make sure, as far as possible, that the temperature does not drop below 20*C and then leave it until Sunday, as was advised to you earlier. Then open it up and have small taste. If it's sweet it has probably stuck, if it tastes like beer, leave it two days longer, then find a cold place for a couple of days to get it to clear before you bottle. But because of the uncertainty use one PET bottle at least so you can monitor how the carbing process has gone.

 

[BGM]

You are really working a little bit in the dark without a hydrometer. If used for nothing else they usually tell you whether a fermentation has finished or not. Anyway your beer has been going for a week now so the likelihood is, if it has been kept warm enough and you pitched with enough healthy yeast, it has finished or thereabouts. But lack of a hydrometer makes advice difficult. However I suggest you make sure, as far as possible, that the temperature does not drop below 20*C and then leave it until Sunday, as was advised to you earlier. Then open it up and have small taste. If it's sweet it has probably stuck, if it tastes like beer, leave it two days longer, then find a cold place for a couple of days to get it to clear before you bottle. But because of the uncertainty use one PET bottle at least so you can monitor how the carbing process has gone.

Ok thank you very much. I’ll invest in a hydrometer first future brews

 

[Lawrence22]

I would give it another while to see how it settles. Your more recent picture appears slightly clearer to me than your first. You would expect it to end up looking like TomlinP's second picture above. After a week the fermentation should be mostly complete but you should still leave it for another week to let the yeast clean up. If you can get a hydrometer do so. It is the only way you can be sure it has finished. Does the kit give you an estimated Original Gravity? If it does you can use the calculators at the top of the forum page to calculate where your final gravity should be. If it doesn't it will probably be about 1.010. Anyway if you can get a hydrometer you are looking for a stable reading for 3 straight days. If this is over 1.020 then you probably have a stuck fermentation. Hope this is of some help. There are others here a lot more knowledgeable than myself, hopefully some of them will be able to help more.

 

[Lawrence22]

Terry posted while I was typing. Follow his advice ahead of mine.

 

[Rob Kerr]

I was a new brewer about a year ago and started with a kit. It looks like you're off to a good start, but here are 2 bits of advice that should help:

1) Following the instructions is absolutely key, but packets of yeast tend to claim you can just sprinkle the dry yeast onto your wort. You can, but you won't get the vigorous fermentation that you'd get if you made a yeast starter first. That's a pretty easy thing to do. You just need some dry malt extract and a container. It makes a big difference.

2) Some basic temperature regulation is worth it. Personally, brewing in the UK, I rarely need to cool the fermenter, but I do have a heating pad in place to keep it from getting too cool overnight. My first brew was a bit of a disaster because I couldn't keep it at a constant temperature. You can regulate the temperature with an Inkbird (a temperature sensor that connects to a heater and cooler) and a heater (there are 'pads' and 'belts' out there).

Those additions won't cost too much and will improve your brews.

Enjoy.