Newbie ferm question

First time brewing. I ordered the one gallon wheat starter kit. Thursday I brewed and pitched the yeast. Friday a slight bubblong. Saturday more bubbling but not ALOT. Today (monday) it has slowed down to maybe 2 or 3 perks per minute. The jug was in my back hall. Today I brought it inside thinking it may be too chilly out there ( 60 degrees maybe) when I moved the jug a bunch of floating stuff started to cascade into the liquid. Is everything ok? What should I do?

Everything is fine. The bubbling isn’t necessarily always a good indicator of good or bad fermentation. I would bring your beer somewhere a little warmer, (65-68 degrees). As for the sediment, there wI’ll be plenty throughout fermentation. It will settle. Beer is alive, and with good fermentation, your beer will swirl and churn and move sediment all around. It’s pretty awesome! Most of all, relax and let it ride. Welcome to the forum and the craft!

Just wait and see it will come out fine. After ten days see if krauzen droped. Than take a grav reading. Do you have a hydrometer. But end result your beer will be fine

I brought it inside where it’s a little warmer. The bubbling hasn’t increased plus it looks super cloudy and has a strange color. Does This Look normal?

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Totally normal. Stuff will settle over time. Let it set. Even after active fermentation is done, good stuff is happening. The yeast will settle in a distinct layer at the bottom, and the beer will clear up.

How long do I wait before bottling it? How long to clear up?

As long as it takes. Every beer is a little different.

You will want to observe, and then take some measurements. If you have a hydrometer, take readings a few days apart, and if you get the same reading, you can bottle.

If you have no hydrometer, my usual rule of thumb is to let an ale sit for three weeks before transferring or bottling. Worth noting, wheat beer will always be a bit hazy, but it should clear up a lot from what you’re seeing now.

I don’t have a hydrometer. Why was I thinking 7-10 days to bottle? It’s 7 days tomorrow. Can I wait too long?

Instructions on brew kits are optimistic, to say the best. I guess it’s possible for beer to reach final gravity in 7 days, but it will probably still be a cloudy, yeasty, green tasting mess.

Technically, you can let beer sit in the primary too long, but that takes months. After primary fermentation is done, the yeast cleans up and metabolizes compounds that cause off flavors, and the beer drops cool. A longer wait can do you no harm.

Are you brewing the Bavarian Hefeweizen one gallon kit?

Most of the one gallon kit recipes recommend waiting 14 days before bottling. If you can wait another week (follow @uberculture’s advice of 21 days), your patience will likely be rewarded.

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Do cover it too, yeast don’t like you watching them, er should I say, they are light sedative. Sneezles61

It’s an American wheat. My next batch will be hefeweizen

Depending on the yeast, most heff strains are designed to leave sediment in suspension. That’s why most heffs are cloudy. I recommend getting a hydrometer. But in your case, jusy let it set at least 2 weeks and bottle. It should be tasty.

Like what flars said cover it with a towel or t shirt. Yeast likes to be in the dark. Just let it sit longer. 4 weeks maybe. Or longer. Take a hydrometer reading see what it does say. Look at the original Og. Than ten days later. Take other reading. But remember sanatize. The hydrometer. Before use

Thanks!

If you investigate hydrometers, you may want to consider refractometers as well.

The appeal of refractometers when brewing small (1-3 gallon) batches is that they only need a couple of drops of wort for the measurement (rather than 4 oz per measurement). The drawback is that the refractometer measurement (in BRIX) needs to be converted to SG.

More importantly is that refractometers need to be adjusted in the presence of alcohol.

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Me do use them both. Refractometer. Once done. With. The brew. To see the og. And brix. For the rest i do use the hydro meter. Most the time. After 6 days. And transfer to second. And final reading to get the fg

Ok I got a hydrometer and I will test test tomorrow. That will be 10 days. I still have the slow bubbling. I covered the jug and put it in a little warmer atmosphere. What should the FG be? Better yet…what do I do now?

For a 1g batch i would just wait three weeks and bottle…hydro sample takes too much beer :slight_smile:

Think i would wait untill. A og of 1 010 1.012. Before going any further. But take a reading. And wait few days. And a other reading. If the og stays the same move to the next step. But indeed you got a 1 gal beer going. You lose beer taking a hydrometer reading. Get a refrectometer as well