Question from a novice.

[Bubblehead08]

Morning.

I'm brand new to all this brewing and started my first brew on Wednesday night. I've used a Beer Works kit which was basically a 3kg bag of extract, mixed as per instructions and then the yeast added at the end - it's now sat in the FV and I'm meant to add the hops on Monday.

I'm happy I sanitised everything correctly but just after I poured the warmed extract into the FV and added the hot water (about 3L), SWMBO had some form of hormone induced mental breakdown (probably something to do with the fact she's heavily pregnant) and I had to leave the FV with the lid on top. It was about 20-25minutes before I could return to my brew and top it up to the 23L and add the yeast.

I'm starting to stress a little now as there are no bubbles coming through the airlock and there appears to be some sediment gathering on the bottom although there is definitely foam/froth building on the surface and some skeg/yeast forming a ring around the top of the bucket.

I'm planning to take a gravity reading (SG 1.045ish) on monday when I put the hops in but does it sound like I might have messed it up with the time delay in getting it finished? I know about the airlock unreliability but should there be bottom sediment at this early stage?

Thanks.

 

[NickW]

Sounds perfectly normal to me. It's going great!

 

[nixhaz]

Sounds perfect. Your fermenter lid is probably not completely sealed. No worries at all.

 

[jonnymorris]

I brewed yesterday and it was about 6 hours between dropping the wort into the FV and adding the yeast. 25mins is nothing.

 

[Michael2378]

Keep in mind not to get to worried about the FV some kits require a airlock because they're so active however others can use a loose lid method where you just put a airlock hole plug on and throw the lid on the FV loosely. I have a 1 month old new born and I brewed through my wife pregnancy stuff like that happens yo me all the time. Not to worry mate.

 

[jonnymorris]

No kits need an airlock. They're just handy for keeping flies etc out.

 

[Michael2378]

Some on the higher OG ones need one just to keep the foam head in bucket like an Imperial stout for example it's handy for keeping the outside of the FV clean and what ever it sits on. lol

 

[Tarticus]

NO airlock here, just seal the lid all the way round and crack one bit open for CO2 to escape, never had a problem :)

Well with the one brew I done so far, but my LHBS said an airlock is not needed and a lot of the time you can get blow back into the airlock

and 25mins is no problem, I just pitched a Citra Experiment and waited 1hr for the foam to die down to get a hydro reading :)

 

[winelight]

I just seal the lid. It has two holes in it that are closed with rubber grommets and those will leak enough to let any CO2 out under pressure.

 

[Bubblehead08]

Thanks for all the replies, helped set my mind at ease.

I took the lid off today and added my hops. There wasn't all that much foam to be honest, just a thin and whispy layer in addition to the ring of it built up around the barrel. I took out a sample, prior to adding anything, so I could take a gravity and it came out at about 1018ish so I'm happy that it's working away.

I may have had a little taste of my sample!!!