First attempt at The Plinian Legacy

[ThatGeordieGuy]

I've just opened a bottle of The Plinian Legacy (1 gallon batch) - my first ever attempt at home brewing.

Bit disappointed with the result though. The taste is good (fruity / IPA style) and so is the alcohol content. But the beer itself is flat and still very cloudy.

I followed the instructions during the boil to the letter, but after that I must be going wrong somewhere...

• Cooling the wort seemed to take a very long time, even with the kettle in ice water . It must have been at least half an hour and I've read it should be cooled as quickly as possible?

• When siphoning into the fermenting jug it seemed very cloudy at that point and I probably got some of the trub too - should it be left to settle for quite a while before siphoning? Should the wort still be cloudy when siphoning?

• After 24 hours in the fermenting jug the rate of CO2 bubbles through the airlock was around 1 every 8 seconds, but this slowed significantly by the third day.

• I left the brew in the fermenting jug for 3 weeks before bottling. I'm guessing this was too long and bottling should be done as soon as fermentation has finished? I've been told this is so there's still some life in the yeast when bottled?

• The fizz drops I added to the bottles were quite small, so maybe I should have doubled up on those too?

• Someone recommended throwing a whirlfloc tablet into the boil around 10 minutes before then end, to help with clarification. Anyone confirm this makes a difference?

Despite the result, I really enjoyed brewing for the first time and I'm sure I'll get it right in future. I'm going to order another batch of Plinian Legacy ingredients and try again as I know this will be a great beer when done properly.

Any comments or advice are most welcome...

[WMNoob]

Sounds to me like everything went alright except for the carbonation? How long has it bottle conditioned and at what temp? Generally at 70 degrees I give them a couple weeks to get fizzy. Patience is the hardest part of this whole deal I think.

[ThatGeordieGuy]

How long has it bottle conditioned and at what temp? Generally at 70 degrees I give them a couple weeks to get fizzy.

Bottle conditioning was 10 days in a cupboard at around 65 degrees, then around a week in the fridge (as someone recommended this to help clarification).

[WMNoob]

If it were me, is probably take them out, turn them upside down to resuspend the sediment/yeast, and put them in the cupboard again. Give them another week, chill one and give it a try. Do that until it's carved to your liking them chill 'em all. It always seems to me like they go from flat to fizzy almost overnight after a couple weeks.
In response to your other question about 3 weeks, somebody posted a long time ago that yeast can read a calendar. Your only real way to know when a beer is done is to take gravity readings. Even if you hit the end of fermentation there's always yeast in there ready to eat additional sugar for carbing. Have you gathered @ThatGeordieGuy that this an art with a side of science? Happy brewing!

[Rburrelli]

Welcome to brewing. It is a great hobby. You will quickly learn that kits are pretty generic in their instructions and there is a lot to learn about little things here and there that can make your brew day outcomes better.

Carbonation can be difficult with kits. I hate those tabs. Look into carving by style Northern Brewer has an excellent calculator on their site for that.

If you try what others have stated and don’t get better carbonation, then chalk that up to experience and try something different on the next kit. Good luck.

[sneezles61]

Welcome to this forum... As Noob points out... you did well your first time out the gate... I hope you'll get a hydrometer with the next brew... That will help you...
A- check your Original Gravity.. that will help you determine ABV
B- taking a couple of readings after the fermentation finishes, you'll know when the yeast are done... This is quite important... since you bottle. If its not done fermenting, you bottle, you will end up with bottle bombs... no one here wants to hear you were hurt from glass shards... Also, then you'll have your finished gravity... which you subtract from the OG. and can determine the ABV... Lots of knowledgable brewers here to help all along the way! Sneezles61

[loopie_beer]

I've just opened a bottle of The Plinian Legacy (1 gallon batch) - my first ever attempt at home brewing.

Bit disappointed with the result though. The taste is good (fruity / IPA style) and so is the alcohol content. But the beer itself is flat and still very cloudy.

I followed the instructions during the boil to the letter, but after that I must be going wrong somewhere...

* Cooling the wort seemed to take a very long time, even with the kettle in ice water . It must have been at least half an hour and I've read it should be cooled as quickly as possible?
Although you want the wort to get to pitching temps as soon as possible your 1/2 is nothing to worry about.

* When siphoning into the fermenting jug it seemed very cloudy at that point and I probably got some of the trub too - should it be left to settle for quite a while before siphoning? Should the wort still be cloudy when siphoning?
before racking into the bottling bucket/bright/bottle I would move the fermenter a day ahead. This will allow for any sediment that got roused time to settle. Another tip is to use something under on side of the fermenter so it angles and you get more beer out of the fermenter. If you get into cold crashing you can move the fermenter a couple hours before as the cold beer will promote the sediment to resettle.

* After 24 hours in the fermenting jug the rate of CO2 bubbles through the airlock was around 1 every 8 seconds, but this slowed significantly by the third day.
with only 1gal and the amount of yeast that you likely used (1 package is enough for 5gals) it doesn’t surprise me that fermentation was quick. Higher temps play a role in quick fermentation as well. Best advice I can give you is to look into fermentation temp control.

* I left the brew in the fermenting jug for 3 weeks before bottling. I'm guessing this was too long and bottling should be done as soon as fermentation has finished? I've been told this is so there's still some life in the yeast when bottled?
3 weeks is not an issue. The longer you can wait, within reason, the more clear your beer will be.

* The fizz drops I added to the bottles were quite small, so maybe I should have doubled up on those too?
I have routinely heard negative things about these drops. Look into flars’s bottle conditioning ideas on this forum. Or look into bulk priming.

* Someone recommended throwing a whirlfloc tablet into the boil around 10 minutes before then end, to help with clarification. Anyone confirm this makes a difference?
this will absolutely make a difference in clarity. It promotes proteins and beta glucans to settle out. 1 tab is good for 10gals of wort so you only need 1/4 tab at most.

Despite the result, I really enjoyed brewing for the first time and I'm sure I'll get it right in future. I'm going to order another batch of Plinian Legacy ingredients and try again as I know this will be a great beer when done properly.
welcome to the forum and the treaty hobby of brewing. Lot of good info with good people here. Please feel free to ask any questions.

Any comments or advice are most welcome...

As noted above by @WMNoob bottle carbonation can take a few weeks. Higher ABV beer seems to take awhile longer since the yeast is a little stressed from fermentation. My answers to your questions are above.

[barbarianbrewer]

@ThatGeordieGuy, Welcome to the forum and welcome to the hobby/obsession! It sounds like your brew day went just fine. I agree with all the advice given by the others. One thing I would add regarding your second point about cloudy wort. I wouldn't worry about transferring trub into the fermenter. It's really not going to be a problem unless you leave it in the fermenter for 5+ weeks. Other than draining the wort through a kitchen strainer to catch hop debris, I dump everything from the brew kettle into the fermenter. I usually cold-crash the fermenter to cause most yeast and trub to settle and compact on the bottom of the fermenter. So it's less likely to be pickup up by the siphon tube when transferring to the bottling bucket.

One other thing I would like to note is that, from my experience, one gallon batches are hard to brew well; especially when you are new to home brewing. Even a little error or deviation can have a significant impact on the outcome. It's kind of like driving a go-cart on a narrow track. It's very easy to bump the rails.

Good luck with your next brew day. Let us know how it goes.

[irishjoe]

I bottle a lot. I always use the NB CO2 calculator to help me bottle. I use priming sugar a lot for CO2. Temperature and time is important.

[ThatGeordieGuy]

Cheers for the replies everyone - very much appreciated.

I'm going to order the same recipe kit (or ingredients) and try this one again in the next week or two.

Following the advice you've all given I've got some ideas on what to try differently. I think brew day went ok, but I'll try some of the later steps a bit differently next time. I'll post back to let you all know how it goes.

[squeegeethree]

You should be patient, they may still carb up. This is 1.07 OG, yeast is often sluggish at the end of the high octane banquets. You might as well move up to 2.5 gallons. From my Mr. Beer days I know a lot of people use this as a fermentor.. cheap... $8

Arrow H2O 2.5-Gal Slimline Beverage Dispenser, Blue - Walmart.com

[brewmanchu]

@ThatGeordieGuy welcome to the forum and the obsession of home brewing. Tons of knowledge here to help you through nearly anything. Looks like @loopie_beer outlined it very well for you and other suggestions should help in your next batch. As @sneezles61 stated bottle bombs are no joke so you want to make sure fermentation is complete before bottling. My next steps would be to purchase a hydrometer, make a swamp cooler for temp control and move up from 1 gallon batches. Maybe try a few cheaper kits and get your process down before buying the more expensive ones too! Good luck and let us know how the next brew day goes, we're all pulling for ya!

[beer4life]

One thing that you can always count on is the people on this forum are always willing to help with great advice and patience is for sure extremely important for success. I had a few early on that I thought were dumpers and after a month or so turned out fantastic. An obsession to be sure.

[squeegeethree]

If done right isn't this supposed to be cloudy?

[uncdeo]

Nope.....this here is from the west coast.