Paranoid first time brewer

Good morning all,

I am using the Northern Brewer deluxe starter kit and recently brewed my first batch of Irish Red beer this past weekend. I started the brewing around 7:00Pm at night and finished around 11PM. Since then the beer has been sitting in my basement at constant temperature of about 66-69 degrees. After the first 24 hours the fermentation was very active with bubbles coming through the airlock every 4-5 seconds and the krausen was very thick on the top layer of the beer. I checked it last night and this morning and the fermentation process has almost slowed to a standstill and the krausen has all dissipated. There seems to be a thick layer of sediment forming at the bottom of the glass carboy. Is this normal for the fermentation process to slow to this level this quickly? It would not be time to move it to the secondary fermenter already would it?

As I said I am a paranoid first time brewer and as I am sure with everyone here, desperately want the first batch to turn out.

Thank you for the help!

Sounds perfectly normal. Congrats, you made beer!

It might have been a touch on the warm side, which would speed things up a bit. Primary fermentation usually only lasts a few days anyways, but there’s still a lot going on and you don’t want to take it off the yeast. Leave it in primary a good 10-14 days at least, and at that point you can move to secondary if you want, bottle it if gravity is stable, or just leave it in primary for a couple more weeks.

All is normal. The initial phase of the fermentation finished rapidly due to ambient temps that were towards the high side for ale yeasts, and perhaps wort temperature that was also to high when the yeast was pitched. The wort temperature will rise as the yeast begins to work. The temperature of your wort probably rose 3° to 5°F resulting in a fast initial fermentation. The fermentation is not over yet. The yeast will be in a cleanup phase for the next few days. Fermentations produce off flavors that the yeast will clean up after active fermentation ceases. High wort temperatures will produce more off flavors. The yeast can take care of some of these flavors, if given the time. I would recommend leaving this beer in the primary, no secondary. Take a SG reading in two weeks, take a second SG reading a few days later. If the readings are the same final gravity has been reached.
The beer will clear in the primary. Three weeks is usually the time I give my beers before bottling, even though FG may have been reached at day 14.

+1 I would leave it alone for at least 2 wks or more to clean up, then take gravity readings with your hydrometer for 2-3 consecutive days and get the same low reading to be sure. This kit seems to be relatively low gravity and it could have initially fermented fairly fast, but have patience and let it finish completely. Good luck.

Sorry Flars, my fingers are too slow this morning, need more coffee. Do what Flars said.

Hopefully the first round of advice has eased your fears. Perhaps we can help you get through your second brew day with less trepidation, with some details of your first brew. Should mention that very good notes on a brew day are important for all following brews.
Which yeast did you use and how was it prepared for pitching. Rehydrated dry yeast or liquid yeast with a starter?
Wort cooling method and how the wort was aerated.
Temperature of the wort at time of pitching the yeast.
How did you track the fermentation temperature? The stick on thermometer strips are very accurate.
Do you have a swamp cooler, or some other method, to keep fermentation temperatures in the optimum range for the yeast used?
Will you keg or bottle your beer?
Last, but very important, how do you clean and then sanitize your equipment?

I tried to take good notes on my inaugural brew day but probably not in as much detail as I should have. The yeast I used was just the Wyeast that was provided in the initial recipe kit that came with the brewery kit. I sanitized as recommended in the brewing video and let it get to about room temperature. Wort cooling was done in a very simplistic manner of an ice bath in a large kitchen sink. The wort was aerated just by hand for approximately 5 minutes as soon as the carboy got to below 100 degrees… Was approx. 97 degrees when I began to aerate. Temperature that I pitched the yeast at was around 80 degrees a good time after I was done aerating. I just used the stick thermometer that was provided in the kit to track all temperatures. I do not own a swamp cooler, I just have the carboy storing in a basement that stays at a pretty constant temperature of 66-69 degrees. I will just be bottling my beer in your standard 12 ounce brown glass bottles when fermenting is complete. Sanitizing, I used the sanitizer that was provided and thoroughly cleaned every item that touched the beer about 5-10 minutes before each item was used on the beer.

Any advise is warmly welcomed!

Thank you again

[quote=“Duenorth715”]I tried to take good notes on my inaugural brew day but probably not in as much detail as I should have. The yeast I used was just the Wyeast that was provided in the initial recipe kit that came with the brewery kit.
The yeast was WY 1272 American Ale II. In most cases a yeast starter is needed with liquid yeast. Size of the starter depends upon the OG of the beer and the age of the yeast, which determines how many cells are alive and healthy. Your Irish Red has an Original Gravity of 1.044. The smack pack of yeast you received most likely will take care of your beer with no problems from under pitching. NB doesn’t ship yeast that is to old.

I sanitized as recommended in the brewing video and let it get to about room temperature.
the sanitizer is 1 Step, which is pretty good. Starsan is a foaming, no rinse sanitizer, which when mixed properly can be saved and reused, as long as clumps of gunk aren’t put into it.

Wort cooling was done in a very simplistic manner of an ice bath in a large kitchen sink.
I use an ice bath in the sink also. My technique is t set the boil kettle in just cold water at first. with the cover off, a gentle stirring with my boil spoon that I kept clean after the boil. When the water warms, drain and then add the ice and more cold water. I leave the spoon in the kettle, with the lid partially on, for a gentle stir once in a while. This will bring the approxiamte 3 gallons to 70°F in about 30 minutes.
The wort was aerated just by hand for approximately 5 minutes as soon as the carboy got to below 100 degrees… Was approx. 97 degrees when I began to aerate. Temperature that I pitched the yeast at was around 80 degrees a good time after I was done aerating.
Aerate the wort after it is cooled to pitching temperature. Cool wort will hold more oxygen than hot wort. 80°is to warm to pitch yeast. Pitch your yeast at or below the fermentation temperature. High pitching temperatures will result in a very, very active initial fermentation. WY 1272 will ferment the cleanest at 62° to 68°F. The first three to four days of fermentation will determine the flavors, good flavors and/or off flavors, produced by the yeast. I don’t want to worry you, your beer may be okay as the wort cooled closer to the ambient temperature.
I just used the stick thermometer that was provided in the kit to track all temperatures. I do not own a swamp cooler, I just have the carboy storing in a basement that stays at a pretty constant temperature of 66-69 degrees.
My swamp cooler is a heavy duty restaurant busing tray purchased a t Sams Club, two for $12. The water filled tray moderates the rise in wort temperature from the yeasts activity. Plastic soda bottles filled with ice can be used to cool the water. A wet towel over the carboy will cool by evaporation, (The first air conditioning in the SW US.) Adding a fan to accelerate the evaporation, can drop the wort temperature 8° to 10°F.

I will just be bottling my beer in your standard 12 ounce brown glass bottles when fermenting is complete. Sanitizing, I used the sanitizer that was provided and thoroughly cleaned every item that touched the beer about 5-10 minutes before each item was used on the beer.

Any advise is warmly welcomed!

Thank you again[/quote]
Here are a couple of links to good pitch rate/starter calculators:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitc ... alculator/ http://www.homebrewdad.com/yeast_calculator.php

Hope this isn’t confusing. I guess I’m rushing to get my third Dead Ringer in the bottles.
Let us know how your brew is progressing, and happy brewing. When it gets closer to bottling day, we could talk about yeast harvesting. You will have enough yeast in the primary for three to four more brews.