New Brewer Multiple Questions

[Noods]

Never brewed before. Started first batch two days ago. Couple questions:

1 - I poured 100% of the contents of the kettle into the fermenter. I have since gathered that I wasn’t supposed to include the sludge at the bottom. Did I ruin the batch?

2 - The fermenter is performing it’s duty in my barn, which is heated, but it’s rather chilly here in Virginia at the moment and I’m realizing that I’m an idiot who’s going to have a massive electric bill running my heat pump in the barn constantly for two weeks. I want to move the full 6 gallon glass carboy into the house and up two flights of stairs so I don’t have to keep the barn heated. What is the best way to accomplish this? If I drop the carboy and make a mess in the house I am a dead man.

3 - I am reading that glass carboys sometimes spontaneously explode. I enjoy a spontaneous explosion as much as the next guy but how can I avoid such an occurrence with my nice new carboys?

[sneezles61]

Well now welcome to NB’s forum…
Q#1 … Naw, the sludge won’t harm it…
Q#2… If it’s Ale… It’s ok to keep it at even 65… even a heavy blankety wrapped around it will help keep some heat in…
What is the brew you brewed?
Q#3… Why not get some sort of tote/tub get some help and quietly… no shaking… Carry it in the house…
Sneezles61

[Noods]

Bavarian Hefe - recipe says keep it at 68 degrees. Would a blanket really work?

[sneezles61]

Hefe… Yeah, use a blanket… The yeast gives off heat whilst fermenting… Got a way to tape a thermometer directly to the side of the carboy? Then wrap it?
Obeserve you temps…
Record temps out of door…
Record temp of the fermenter…
Sneezles61

[voodoo_donut]

Regarding keeping it at 68 degrees, with most ales a little cooler is ok, say down to 62 degrees, and with a hefeweizen even a little warmer is ok, up to 72 ish. Warmer brings out more banana flavor, cooler brings out more clove flavor.

[brew_cat]

You have a milk crate. I keep and carry glass carboys in them. If you don’t have one you could make one

[WMNoob]

Welcome to the forum and brewing! @brew_cat is on point with the milk crate advice. I put all mine in them. (Lower left corner)

[squeegeethree]

1- Brewers call that sludge Trub which is the German word for sediment. It’s a natural part of the process and many think will help your yeast. Eventually this will settle out and compact.

2- You want your yeast to experience steady temperatures without massive swings in their preferred temperature range. I would bring it in from the barn. I really like having a carboy handle on my carboys. They really help picking them up but the handle is not for carrying.

3- Carboys do not spontaneously explode. What happens is that people smash them and like to blame the carboy. With the rightly placed tap they will break with ease. So you do need to be very careful carrying them and cleaning them.

[hd4mark]

@Noods

Did I ruin the batch?

We have all asked or thought that and in my experience the answer is almost always no. It sounds like you are off to a good start. As already said ales like mid 60s if you can do it but unless it gets really warm or cold it will come out beer. Probably better than most beer you can buy.

If you have a cool spot in the house, that might be the best bet. Some of the exploding carboy stories might be just a vigorous fermrntation, sometimes caused by a too warm temp, where the airlock blows off and wort (your unfermented beer pronounced wert) shoots out all over. Makes for a big mess. Search blow off hose to see one way to stop that. With 5 gal in a 6 gal carboy you should be OK.

[brew_cat]

I actually have neck handles on mine for holding onto for washing but since I never do primary beer fermenation in them they are very easy to clean keeping them on the floor in the crate using a short hose. Then turn them over in the crate to dry. By the way I flip the crates over and use them for bottle drying racks

[Steve]

I have found a brew hauler to be a good way to move carboys around. Our host does not sell them, but they are not hard to find.

[sneezles61]

Did you drill a hole in the bottom? I never thought about that… Perhaps for growlers and yeast starter flaskes too!
Hey Noob, stuff running out of your stuff when you lay them sideways!
Sneezles61

[brew_cat]

Self explanatory

[brew_cat]

https://www.duluthtrading.com/heavy-duty-square-milk-crate-24630.html?msclkid=57c4c45b09f81a22c7849bed72af8ce6

In case you need some

[voodoo_donut]

@sneezles61

Hey Noob, stuff running out of your stuff when you lay them sideways!
Sneezles61

Kinda like the old fun house at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky Ohio!

[Noods]

One more important question about the carboy bung. There’s a hole in it. Am I allowed to call this the “bung hole”?

[voodoo_donut]

Yes, yes you may.

[Noods]

That’s a relief.

More seriously I appreciate the advice. I decided to get a heat strap and a inkbird. I had some rigid insulation laying around so I put the carboy on this insulation. My plan is to turn the heat down out there to 50 degrees, which is the minimum temperature for any space with plumbing anyway, and use the heat strap and inkbird to ensure a relatively even 68 degrees. I’ll throw a blanket on top as well. I think I should be able to control the temp this way and this eliminates the annoyance of moving the carboy great distances.

Good plan? Heat strap and inkbird arrive tomorrow.

[voodoo_donut]

Sounds like a good plan.
We say it all the time, temperature control is one of the major steps toward making your best beer. Especially when you make ales other than hefeweizens, which as stated have a wide range of temps you could use. Most ales will suck if you ferment them at greater than 75* or so(with STANDARD ale yeasts).

And Lagers are easy to make once you can control temp.

[sneezles61]

Yes, Noods is able to ferment a bottom yeast!!
Brew Cat… I have some milk crates but the grid is quite small… I’ll just bust a couple out… I like the idea… Thank you!!!
Sneezles61