So I got a Deluxe Kit from my in-laws and started my first batch of Irish Red Ale this past Wednesday. I’m brand new at this and have a couple of questions.
After pouring the wort into the primary fermentor, it says to aerate the wort by swirling the carboy around for a few minutes. Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of trying to keep out airborn infections?
After pitching the yeast, I got fermentation pretty much right away. After a day, I needed to implement a blow-off system. After two to three days I had little-to-no krausen and minimal bubbles coming from the blowoff container. Does that sound reasonable? Could I have gone to the secondary fermentation stage after 3 days of primary?
I’ve read that some people don’t like to use secondary fermentation with the Irish Red Ale. However, I plan to do it for some practice. Can you taste test a sample in between primary and secondary fermentation to get a feel for the flavor?
How long should I let the wort stand in secondary fermentation? It says 2-4 weeks but I’m thinking 2 weeks tops since primary only seemed to last a couple of days. Suggestions?
Just an FYI, I initially cooled the wort to 100 degrees before pouring into the primary fermentation carboy. I pitched the yeast at around 70 degrees. The wort’s temp went from a high of 72 during initial fermentation but is now sitting around 65. Also, any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated!
I’m new at this myself and this is my first post but I think I can answer your first question: Sanitize some aluminum foil and use it to cover the carboy mouth once you pour in your water and wort. Then you can hold it around the neck while you rock it for aeration. Worked great for me.
Also - there is no “secondary fermentation”. I’ve read a lot over the last couple months and secondaary fermentation is really just a term for the additional aging period.
1, Boiling of the wort will deplete the oxygen that yeast needs. You need to get O back in so the yeast will be happy. I’m not a biologist, but it is my understanding that yeast uses the O to reproduce and doesn’t make alcohol until the O is gone.
2, Bubbles in the air lock are not a good judge of fermentation. Hydrometer readings are the only way to check progress.
3, Find the method that you a comfortable with. Yes, you don’t need to secondary small beers, but sometimes it’s the best way to free up a primary to make more beer. Star San is your friend, and cheap insurance to prevent contamination.
4, You need to trust your hydrometer. You want to get consistent readings for 3-4 days before you bottle. I recently bottled early on a Christmas beer and there is nothing like 15oz. of foam in a 16 oz. glass.
Primary: Olde Kent County Brown Ale, Southern English Strong Ale
Secondary: Red Honey Wheat
Keg Priming: Olde Guernsey farm Ale
On Tap: Peasmarsh Mild, oatmeal stout
Bottled: Coffee Stout, Barleywine, Holiday Pumpkin, Brickwarmer Red Ale
[quote=“kherb23”]So I got a Deluxe Kit from my in-laws and started my first batch of Irish Red Ale this past Wednesday. I’m brand new at this and have a couple of questions.
After pouring the wort into the primary fermentor, it says to aerate the wort by swirling the carboy around for a few minutes. Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of trying to keep out airborn infections?
After pitching the yeast, I got fermentation pretty much right away. After a day, I needed to implement a blow-off system. After two to three days I had little-to-no krausen and minimal bubbles coming from the blowoff container. Does that sound reasonable? Could I have gone to the secondary fermentation stage after 3 days of primary?
I’ve read that some people don’t like to use secondary fermentation with the Irish Red Ale. However, I plan to do it for some practice. Can you taste test a sample in between primary and secondary fermentation to get a feel for the flavor?
How long should I let the wort stand in secondary fermentation? It says 2-4 weeks but I’m thinking 2 weeks tops since primary only seemed to last a couple of days. Suggestions?
Just an FYI, I initially cooled the wort to 100 degrees before pouring into the primary fermentation carboy. I pitched the yeast at around 70 degrees. The wort’s temp went from a high of 72 during initial fermentation but is now sitting around 65. Also, any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated![/quote]
During the early stages of fermentation, yeast needs oxygen. I believe it has something to do with reproduction and healthy cell wall growth… but I may just be pulling that out of my ass. Sure it’s possible to get an airborne wild yeast into your fermentor while aerating, but it’s not very likely and the importance of oxygen far outweighs the risk of infection.
Active fermentation can start in as little as a few hours or can take up to 72hrs. You’ll get one of those one day so RDWHAHB! Visual signs of fermentation can slow or stop within a few days of starting or can last up to around a week or longer (with Lagers). After visual fermentation has stopped or slowed, know that the yeast are still active. They are “cleaning-up” after themselves, so NO you DO NOT want to rack to secondary after only 3 days. Leave your beer on the yeast cake, in the primary for at least a week, if not longer. I regularly primary for 2-4 weeks depending on the beer, OG, FG, etc.
Sure! You can take a taste. That’s actually a good time to start tasting. It won’t be great since at that point it’s still very “Green”, but you should get an idea of what the finished beer will taste like.
This is totally up to you and really depends on the purpose. Most would tell you to skip the secondary. Just primary for 2-3 weeks than either bottle or keg. If you are set on secondary (which by the way, this is the time with the greatest chance of picking up a bug and an infection since you’ll be racking the beer and it will be coming in contact with new surfaces) I’d still primary for at least 2 weeks then rack to secondary. The timeline here is completely up to you and dependent on the purpose. If you’re dry hopping, you may only want to secondary for 5-7 days or so. If to clear the beer up and you’re using a very low flocculating yeast, you may want to secondary longer. Or if it’s a big beer and your purpose is to age/condition the beer, you want to secondary even longer. It’s all about the purpose.
One tip: cool your wort even farther, like down to 60F, then pitch. You want to ferment in the low to mid 60’s (generally). 70F and up is starting to get a little hot and can cause the yeast to produce some unwanted biproducts and flavors.
Good luck and welcome to the obsession of home brewing :cheers:
Thanks everyone for the replies. Here’s another question for you. I’m using a clear glass carboy and I’m keeping it in a closet. How much does light really affect the brew? How much light exposure can the batch handle before it’s ruined?
Keep beer out of light – it hates bright light. Light can kill it! And whatever you do, don’t feed it after midnight! :roll:
But seriously… light can skunk the beer. That’s about all the bad it does. If you don’t like your beer skunked, keep it away from sunlight for sure, and don’t leave a light on 24 hours a day in your closet, and it will be just fine.
Thanks for all the replies. I just transfered my first batch to the secondary fermentor so I have room to start another batch. Now that I’m a little further along in the process I have some questions about bottling.
Is it ok to leave newly filled bottles at room temperature for long periods of time before cooling them in the fridge?
Is it still considered “bottle conditioning” if the bottles are in the fridge? For example, the directions for my Irish Red Ale say to bottle condition for 1-2 weeks but I heard 3 weeks is better. Is cooling the beers after 1 week and letting them sit in the fridge for 1 week not a good idea?
Is longer bottle conditioning time better, like 3+ weeks? If so, what does the longer time allow the beer to do?
Is it ok to leave newly filled bottles at room temperature for long periods of time before cooling them in the fridge?
Is it still considered “bottle conditioning” if the bottles are in the fridge? For example, the directions for my Irish Red Ale say to bottle condition for 1-2 weeks but I heard 3 weeks is better. Is cooling the beers after 1 week and letting them sit in the fridge for 1 week not a good idea?
![/quote]
If you put them in the fridge right away, you’re going to put the yeasties to sleep too early, which translates to some flat overly sweet beer (due to priming sugar). It’s best to keep them out of the fridge for a couple weeks to let that yeast eat up the priming sugar and fart out CO2. Keeping them around 65-70 would work nicely for that. After a week, pop one in the fridge for 48 hours, then pop it open to try it out. As a new brewer, I’d recommend trying at least one a week to get an idea of how the carbonation and conditioning is coming along, as well as how even the flavor and aroma profile can change drastically in that time (usually for the better). And pour into a glass slowly so as not to get all the “gunk” that will be sitting at the bottom of the bottle. It won’t hurt you, but it could cause other people around you discomfort
[quote=“kherb23”]Thanks for all the replies. I just transfered my first batch to the secondary fermentor so I have room to start another batch. Now that I’m a little further along in the process I have some questions about bottling.
Is it ok to leave newly filled bottles at room temperature for long periods of time before cooling them in the fridge?
Is it still considered “bottle conditioning” if the bottles are in the fridge? For example, the directions for my Irish Red Ale say to bottle condition for 1-2 weeks but I heard 3 weeks is better. Is cooling the beers after 1 week and letting them sit in the fridge for 1 week not a good idea?
Is longer bottle conditioning time better, like 3+ weeks? If so, what does the longer time allow the beer to do?
Again, thanks everyone for the responses![/quote]
Longer conditioning at room temperature will not hurt the beer, especially if we’re talking about weeks. By cooling the bottles, you slow the conditioning process down. Beer conditioned this way, tends to turn out a bit more “crisp.” The reason you are leaving the beers at room temp is to let the yeast work on the added sugar to add carbonation. 1 week is generally not enough and if your room temp is in the 60’s, 2 weeks is probably not enough. I sampled every batch after a week though and determined that if I could forget about my bottles for a month at room temp, I would have consistent results as far as flavor and carbonation.
Ok so I have a quick question. I started another brew, the Cream Ale. I used liquid yeast and pitched it around 68 degrees. It’s sitting at 66 degrees right now. After about 2 days I had to implement a blowoff system. The krausen actually got into the liquid the blowoff tube was going in to.
Anyway, my first brew, Irish Red Ale, had a dry looking krausen. The krausen on the Cream Ale has subsided back into the carboy but it looks a lot wetter or runny compared to the Irish Red Ale. Is this normal? It almost looks like the foam you get from using star san but with a tan tint to it. Am I alright? I can post pictures if it would help.
You’re fine. Different yeast behave differently. Same yeast with different wort will behave differently.
When you go to bottle, fill one soda bottle with your beer. Squeeze the O2 out and screw the cap on. As CO2 is formed the bottle will expand. No wondering what is happening in the glass bottles. Let them sit for 3 weeks minimum. Then put 1 in the fridge for 24hrs before sampling.
Stir the bottling bucket after each 12 beers to keep the sugar mixed up well.
