new Chicago suburban brewster

[honkongphoo3y]

Hello all Beer people,

Started my first brew this weekend. Purchased the Brewers best deluxe kit with the addition of 20qt kettle and sanitizer.

Attempted to Brew "The Colonial IPA" from the Brew masters Bible. I figured it was good to start with an intermediate book since the kit came with a beginners book.

The Recipe called for (left book at home so i did the best i can at remembering)
9 lbs of light malt syrup (which i substituted accidentally for 6 lbs of light malt extract)
1 oz chinook hops
2 oz kent golding hops (1 oz for brew 1 for dry hoppin during second fermenting)
8 oz UK crystal malt
8 oz other malt
1 tsp of irish moss

Couple questions for you experts out there.

How do I know when the yeast is finished fermenting?
Different recipes call for different times between when you transfer from first fermenter to second (5 gal carboy). Is there any reason to transfer to secondary fermenter other than filtering out all the malt and gunk still in the beer.. or besides dry hopping?
How does dry hopping work and when should it be added? I understand that you add hops (at different points) during the boil to extract the alpha acids from the hops into the beer (adding bitterness and prevention against spoilage). Are the flavors and oils from the hops absorbed into the beer during dry hopping and how does that work/what are the best timing elements?

Thanks for your patience. Besides a pretty rough cleaning, it was an awesome experience. I hope soon to taste the fruit of my labor.. but the one thing ive learned from briefly browsing the forums, is to have patience, to not spoil my optimistic expectations of my beer.

[anday6]

Where are you at in Chicagoland? North Aurora here.

Did you only use 2/3s of the extract? Did you take an original gravity reading? If you used that much less fermentables and hopped it the same, you're probably going to be really over bittered. But it's an IPA so enjoy it anyways.

How do I know when the yeast is finished fermenting?
Different recipes call for different times between when you transfer from first fermenter to second (5 gal carboy). Is there any reason to transfer to secondary fermenter other than filtering out all the malt and gunk still in the beer.. or besides dry hopping?
How does dry hopping work and when should it be added? I understand that you add hops (at different points) during the boil to extract the alpha acids from the hops into the beer (adding bitterness and prevention against spoilage). Are the flavors and oils from the hops absorbed into the beer during dry hopping and how does that work/what are the best timing elements?

Do you have a hydrometer? The beer is done a little while after the gravity stops dropping. After you see the krausen drop, start taking gravity samples. Or if you don't have anything to take gravity readings, just give it 2 or 3 weeks and it will finish up before you transfer to a secondary vessel for dry hopping.
Secondary's are not needed for normal fermentation. Transferring to a secondary vessel is only needed for dry-hopping or an actual secondary fermentation with bugs or fruit.
Dry hopping get the hop flavor from the alcohol dissolving the aromatic oils in the hops, while the alpha acids are extracted in the boil. Dry hops are usually left on the beer for 1-2 weeks and can be added in stages to get a layering of flavors.

Keep asking questions and you'll keep getting answers, the people here are always willing to help. And some good natured screwing around !

[snowcapt]

Welcome to the BN.
Hydrometer is key to telling if a beer is done.
You will still have to be patient. Sometimes the hyrometer reading says it is done fermenting, but the yeasties are still in there cleaning up their mess. Off flavors and other undesirables are produced and the yeast take care of it.
Not all off flavors are caused by the yeast, though. Temperature control is second only to sanitarion. Make sure you have a way to keep temps down. Being summer makes it a bit tougher, but it is doable- on the cheap, too. Get a big tote and fill it with water and add ice filled soda or juice bottles to keep temps down. Low tech, but effective.
Again, welcome.
Plenty of info here and plenty of people to share it.

[honkongphoo3y]

Thanks for the quick replies and welcome guys.

anday6: I'm located at a slightly more elevated area-- Mount Prospect. The recipe called for 9 lbs of syrup extract and I substituted that for 6lbs of the processed powder extract form. The employee at brew and grow seemed to think that 9lbs was overkill for a 5 gal batch and suggested using 6 instead (not sure if he noted the recipe calling for syrup instead of powder). I'm partially aware of a difference in concentration between the powder form of malt extract and the syrup form (which i believe loses roughly 20% of it's concentrate in that form). I took the OG (pre adding the yeast), around 1.055, which the recipe called for 1.060-1.06XX. The recipe instructed after 4-6 days I transfer to a secondary fermenter and dry hop for an additional 5-7 days before bottling.

snowcapt: I have a hydrometer although it's a little tough to read considering how narrow the space is between the different marked gravity levels. I think I was able to get a semi-accurate reading I noted above. I'm lucky when it comes to maintaining a constant cool temperature. My batch is sitting in a dark cedar closet in my basement which maintains a pretty constant temperature (id say between 65-73).

Is there a general time frame for when you should expect the yeast to finish in which you begin testing the gravity levels? I assume in general it's best to touch the beer as little as possible.. aka not taking a gravity reading everyday. If i'm going to transfer it to a second fermenter for the sake of dry hopping, I'm still slightly confused with the timing element. Why just not add the dry hops during the first fermentation? Does the rising alcohol level impact the effectiveness of extracting the hops oils?

Thanks for helping a novice.

[cornhole]

Welcome to the hobby!!!

Where in Chicagoland?

What yeast and how much do you plan on using? There are some techniques to consider around getting your yeast ready to go to work.

The majority of a good healthy ferment (Ales) will be done 3-4 days after it gets rolling. Sometimes it takes a half day to 1 to get going. Keeping a stable temp during ferment will enable better results. Nothing bad will happen if you leave the beer in the fermenter for several days after you think the fermentation is done. There are lots of opinions on secondary, for a light to medium alcohol beer, secondary is just a way to get the beer removed from the yeast and trub in order to get a clearer beer in my opinion. Chilling your fermented beer also helps in getting the yeast to fall out.

Hops added early in the boil add acidity, help prevent infection. Hops added later in the boil or after the boil add flavor then aroma. That is the spectrum of the utility of hops. Dry hopping is for aroma and flavor and don't have longevity. Therefore, as you taste your beer over time, hop aroma and flavor will diminish in a dry hopped beer. I haven't dry hopped and can't advise on a schedule there.

Keep in mind everything post boil must be sanitary, this means containers, utensils, siphons, etc., everything that comes into contact with the beer. I am a fan of StarSan no-rinse sanitizer.

my $0.02 -CH

[honkongphoo3y]

Thanks for all the quick replies and support!

I attempted to post yesterday and thought I submitted a post... which was either not approved or a fail on my part.

I live in a higher elevation than most of you ILL people, Mount Prospect here.

Based on all your feedback it seems that a hydrometer is the key to deciding whether the beer has finished fermenting. I'm going to give it 6 days, take a gravity reading, measure the following day, and if no change, transfer to secondary fermenter for dry hopping (as the recipe calls for). It sits in my basement in my cedar closet which is kept cool and dark at a constant temperature. The OG reading was 1.055 when the recipe called for 1.06X-1.06X. I'm assuming my use of 6 lbs of light malt extract vs the 9 lbs of the extract syrup is the cause for a slightly lower OG (homeboy @ brew & grow said 9 lbs was too much for a 5 gal batch)

Sanitation, constant temperature, and common sense seem to be the motifs siphoned to new brewers I'll try to maintain. I'm still slightly confused on the impact of yeast on the beers flavor.. but I'm sure i'll slowly figure that out. Following recipes will be my go to for the near future.

This weekend I'm going to attempt HTH's German Hefeweizen (I saw in a post yesterday) which seems much easier they my above recipe.

Thanks again for the help guise

[honkongphoo3y]

Question on OG following my second brew.

Attempted to brew this amber ale recipe:

6 lbs English light extract syrup
1.5 lbs English crystal malt
2 ounces cascade hops (added first boil)
1 ounce cascade hop (added 55 min into boil)
1 tsp Irish moss (added 45 min into boil)
1 package dry ale yeast
6 ounces corn sugar for priming

Expected gravity: 1.042 - 42
My gravity reading: 1.056

My deviations:

6.6 light extract syrup
I chose 1 lbs of a light crystal malt (left packaging at brew shop)
.5 lbs of TF & S dark crystal malt

Should I expect a higher gravity reading, such as above, given I used .6 more lbs of syrup malt and possibly changed the grain malt specified (vaguely) in the recipe?

I don't mind a higher alcohol content.. but I would like to ascertain what went wrong (or maybe vagueness of the recipe bodes such deviations)

Thanks in advance guise,

[Kbar]

I live in a higher elevation than most of you ILL people, Mount Prospect here.

Welcome!

Funny. Higher elevation and Illinois do not go in the same sentence. Sorry, was in Chicagoland for 10 years, now back in Oregon with the family. Our house is at 1000 feet in the PDX area and that is just a hill here..........We always got a good laugh out of the "ski slopes" in Chicagoland..........



Welcome. Lots of great people here to help out. I get most of my information from these guys and my Local Homebrew club.