Hey guys! Im the FNG. I brewed my first batch 48 hours ago. It was a NB Mild Ale extract kit. At 24hrs the beer looked exactly like what i think it is suppose to. The bubble lock was bubbling about every 3 seconds, the fermenter had a nice krausen on it. I could see activity in the carboy and the beer looked clear. At 48 hours the nice white krausen collapsed and the beer is really cloudy and “chocolate like” in appearance. The bubble lock has slowed to about every 3-5 min. Is this normal and ok?
The kit says to maintain a temp of 62-72. I have maintained it around 64-68.
Here are 24 hr pic and 48 hr pic. The pic with the nice white krausen is the 24 pic.
That’s a relief! I was worried because the change was so sudden. The kit doesnt mention doing a secondary I am planning on a putting it in a secondary after the first week and leaving it in the secondary for an additional week, then bottle fermenting for two weeks.
I would primary for more than a week. Using a secondary is debatable, neither way is right or wrong though. If you are going to however, I’d leave it at least 2 weeks in the primary.
I would primary for more than a week. Using a secondary is debatable, neither way is right or wrong though. If you are going to however, I’d leave it at least 2 weeks in the primary.[/quote]
I would primary for more than a week. Using a secondary is debatable, neither way is right or wrong though. If you are going to however, I’d leave it at least 2 weeks in the primary.[/quote]
I agree. Also about keeping the light off[/quote]
The light in that room is normally off, but I will come up with something to wrap it in. Im still a little concerned about the activity in the bubble lock. It is slowed to about a bubble every 5 min at best. At what point do I say it is not actively fermenting anymore? The beer doesnt have a krausen anymore at all and there is not movement in the carboy at all anymore. Is this normal?
The light in that room is normally off, but I will come up with something to wrap it in. Im still a little concerned about the activity in the bubble lock. It is slowed to about a bubble every 5 min at best. At what point do I say it is not actively fermenting anymore? The beer doesnt have a krausen anymore at all and there is not movement in the carboy at all anymore. Is this normal?[/quote]
yes, it is very normal. usually activity slows down a lot, and the beer settles, and clears up a bit. let it sit for 2-3 weeks total. then you can bottle or secondary is you want.
dont bother with secondary if it is a normal gravity beer, which I assume it is for being a first.
I doubt you have to worry about UV light in the room unless you get a lot of sunlight hitting it
[quote=“grainbelt”]dont bother with secondary if it is a normal gravity beer, which I assume it is for being a first.
I doubt you have to worry about UV light in the room unless you get a lot of sunlight hitting it[/quote]
Its in a closet. It doesnt get any UV light. Is the NB Mild Ale extract kit a “normal gravity beer”?
Pretty low gravity. Like others said let it sit in the primary for at least 2 weeks if not longer. The yeast will clean things up. Skip the secondary entirely. Less handling of fermented beer is the preferred route.
[quote=“EagleRising”]
…At what point do I say it is not actively fermenting anymore? The beer doesnt have a krausen anymore at all and there is not movement in the carboy at all anymore. Is this normal?[/quote]
Take a couple hydrometer readings a few days apart. If they’re the same, then the gravity is stable and you’re done with fermentation.
[quote=“mvsawyer”][quote=“EagleRising”]
…At what point do I say it is not actively fermenting anymore? The beer doesnt have a krausen anymore at all and there is not movement in the carboy at all anymore. Is this normal?[/quote]
Take a couple hydrometer readings a few days apart. If they’re the same, then the gravity is stable and you’re done with fermentation.[/quote]
Yeast also has to clean up by products after fermentation is done, I would just go a minimum of 2 weeks, I usually go 3 or 4 and then keg.
After a while you will learn what you can push and what you cant.
Ok, so then since I brewed it on May 4th I should jump straight to bottling on May 18th, skipping the secondary all together. Also, a fact that I forgot to mention was that I had to use the danstar dry yeast that came with the kit cause I screwed up my wyeast packet. I thought I broke the inner packet but didn’t realize that I didn’t until I opened it and was ready to pitch the yeast. At that point it had been sitting out for two days. So my quick reaction was to throw away the wyeast and grabbed the danstar and pitched that instead.
you dont have to technically break the packet on wyeast to use it. You wont know if it is viable unless you make a starter but you can still use it.
You dont lneed to leave them sit out for 2 days, they swell up in a few hours
You could also “rouse” the yeast by swishing the carboy around. That can help the yeast clean up after themselves. Also helps in the cases of using high flocculating yeasts where they fall out before everything is done.
