Not a lot happening American PA

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

So I finished my first brew on Sunday about 1.30pm.

A Young's American PA from kit. The only changes to brewing instructions are that I've brewed short to 20litres and that in addition to the hops included I plan to add 25g of Falconer's Flight hopefully within the last few days of fermenting.

It's been in the ferment bucket in the keezer since then at 22°c. There's not a lot happening in terms of bubble vent activity other than the 50% full chamber water has all displaced to one side. After a bit of research on here I read that this is not unusual. I had initially hooked up to a corny keg with blocked off bubble vent but reverted back to open bubble vent yesterday evening (keeping the tube to corny sealed by removing from the keg post).

I fear I my bucket may be leaking because when I open my keezer there's a strong but wonderful aroma!

 

[lupinehorror]

i stuck this very kit on 5 days ago...also shortfilling to 20L. i did add in some golden syrup but only 150ml or so.
took a wee while to get going maybe around 36/48hrs (at 20.5C) and still isn't as active as most kits i've done but it is parping away through the airlock.

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

I'm guessing the leak, if it is leaking, isn't disastrous as at least CO2 is being produced (hinting at some sort of activity). The problem I'll have is avoiding O2 being sucked in when I attempt a closed transfer. Hopefully a trickle of co2 via the gasline will do the job

 

[lupinehorror]

fingers crossed. let us know how it turns out.

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

Okay, so a bit worried about lack of activity I've drawn another 100ml ish to do another hydrometer reading. It appears to have gone from 1064 to 1014 in 3.5 days.

Could this be right?

The latest sample was drawn through a floating dip tube via a spigot at the bottom of the fermentation bucket.

Original Reading:

New reading:

 

[lupinehorror]

mine has got to 7% in 5 days. the curve is starting to flatten

yours isn't far behind.

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

That's pretty decent @lupinehorror, loving the graph!

I wasn't expecting this! I want to add hops while there's still a bit of CO2 being produced. At this rate I'm looking at adding in the next day or so I think.

Colour wise. Do you think it looks comparable/okay?

 

[lupinehorror]

your readings sound good to me (and sample looks fine also). i'll probably be adding my hops on day 8 but your mileage may vary.

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

Cheers bud. Appreciate the help.

 

[lupinehorror]

Cheers bud. Appreciate the help.

let us know how it goes. like you new username by the way and i do know a Dave.

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

Definitely will.

Go to name

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

Day 6. Hydrometer reading now down to 1011 ish from 1064. I've decided to dry hop now and leave for another few days in the hope that some extra CO2 will be created within the bucket before transfer.

Hops used are the pellets that came with the kit +25g of Falconer's Flight as I read on here somewhere that this is a nice addition.

When I dropped the hops in I noticed there wasn't a lot of anything on the surface of the wort... a few 'islands'. Definite Krausen down the inside of the bucket though, looks to have been a couple of inches deep at some point.

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

Took a final reading of the AIPA this evening. It's sat at 1010. I'm quite happy with that, it seems stable. I'm dropping the temp in the keezer to 2.5°c (+/- .5°c) and have pumped in a little CO2 through the FV lid. I'm hoping a bulging FV lid on with 4-6 inches of headspace + 1.5 metres of gas line will hold enough CO2 to reduce/eliminate any O2 suck from a potentially leaky tub. I'll leave this now for 3 days before attempting the corny keg transfer - checking the bulge periodically

 

[EveryoneKnowsADave]

Thats it kegged! It wasn't a very smooth process as the floating dip tube stopped working halfway through which meant I had to open the tub and remove it to allow flow to resume.

I'm quite happy with the taste and colour. Just need to wait on it carbonating now.

OG 1064
FG 1010
Abv 7.09%