Hi folks, I'd really appreciate some feedback on my first attempt at brewing home brew. I just don't know how quickly the gravity should drop, what the beer should look like if its still fermenting etc...
Directly from my blog:
Having given the beer four days since giving it a good stir to try to kick it back in to life, I decided it was time to take another measurement. Rather than taking the lid off I decided I would draw a sample through the tap. I wanted to do this for a number of reasons: I wanted to avoid taking the top off and exposing it to yet more oxygen, I wanted to be able to taste a sample, I wanted to be able to get a more accurate hydrometer reading, and I wanted to test out the tap before the bottling stage as I suspected being so low it would catch too much of the sediment.
Having put the bucket on a thick book to raise the tap off the ground to allow me to attach the tubing, I was fairly easily able to fill the tube the hydrometer came in with beer. As it happened I originally filled it to a level where, with the hydrometer in, the beer came up exactly to the top of the tube. This made taking a hydrometer reading very difficult with the beer making a bell shape at the top. The tube was also very tight, and so the hydrometer didn't move smoothly up and down. However, taking a number of readings I would estimate the gravity at between 1017 and 1018 - in other words it might have gone down a fraction from the previous readings of 1018, but I'm far from certain that it has. I carefully poured out some of the beer (into my mouth of course but I'll come onto the tasting in a minute) and tried to take another reading with the hydrometer, but the tube was definitely too narrow lower down, so I couldn't. I took some reassurance from noticing that before drawing any beer, the lid of the bucket was noticeably pushed up in the centre, presumably the result of the beer producing co2 and the pressure building up. This dropped a little after I drew off some beer - perhaps there is still hope that it is fermenting ok.
So onto the tasting... I was very pleasantly surprised. Having fairly recently drunk a bottle of this exact beer (thanks Phil - see my blogroll for his blog) I could clearly recognise the taste as the same, just currently with a milder and shallower flavour and perhaps a fraction sweeter.
As for for using the tap, my suspicions were correct. With it being so low down the bucket, it picked up far to much sediment. I will use tubing fed into the top of the bucket to bottle the beer rather than the tap.
Overall I'm not very happy with the progress of this beer. Having nothing to compare it against, its hard for me to know whether things are still ok or not. After all, it is to be expected that the beer will be late finishing, given the 17-18 degree average temperature normally, not to mention the several days of 16 degree temperatures while the boiler was broken, which caused it to stop fermenting entirely. The pushed up lid today, and the hiss and bubbles when I opened the lid a few days ago give me hope. I will leave the beer alone for another couple of days before taking the lid off to inspect things and take a more accurate hydrometer reading.
If I'm keeping everything crossed for the wine, I'd better tie myself in knots for the beer...
first home brew fermenting concerns
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MightyMouth
Its not clear but it sounds as if you are trying to us the Hydrometer container as a sample jar, I think this would be very problematic. You need to get yourself a proper trial jar. Wilkos sells them, they are wide enough to accommodate the hydrometer without requiring drawing too much beer.
Until you have done a proper reading there will be no way to know if its still fermenting but from what you say I would suspect it is but very slowly due to temperature. You say its been between 17-18 on average, are you measuring the beer temperature or the room temperature? I suspect the beer would be several degrees lower than the room as every time I have measured my conditioning beer to has been at least 2 degrees lower.
Until you have done a proper reading there will be no way to know if its still fermenting but from what you say I would suspect it is but very slowly due to temperature. You say its been between 17-18 on average, are you measuring the beer temperature or the room temperature? I suspect the beer would be several degrees lower than the room as every time I have measured my conditioning beer to has been at least 2 degrees lower.
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drbell
Thanks for the replies so far. I am indeed measuring the room temperature ont the beer temperature. I will measure the beer temperature when i take another reading in a few days - thanks. I agree about the hydrometer tube - no good at all. I'll be dropping it in to the bucket next time, and buying a proper tube next time I'm at the homebrew shop.
I hope you are right about it still fermenting. Going slowly I can cope with - stopping completely will be annoying.
Thanks
I hope you are right about it still fermenting. Going slowly I can cope with - stopping completely will be annoying.
Thanks
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stevezx7r
Did I read correctly - you seem to have the lid on the FV closed i.e. any buld up of C02 will eventually pop the lid (or worse).
Re. "giving it a good stir" - Be careful on that as you can introduce oxygen which will spoil your beer.
Re. "the tap being low and letting sediment through..." I tend to do the opposite i.e I have an old tin propping up the rear of the FV in an attempt to get the most beer from the FV. I find that I have a max of 1/4 - 1/2 inch sediment at the bottom of the FV on completion. The reason you will get sediment through at the moment is due to it being in suspension - give it time to settle.
Re. Taking samples - As Mightymouth says, get a trial jar.
Re. The taste - Yes it will taste slightly sweeter at the moment due to it having unfermented sugars in it. Again, time will sort that out.
As a suggestion I would say to release the pressure by cracking the lid off in one place so the FV can expell it's C02. I tend to leave the lid on top but not attatched to the FV - just to stop bits of fluff or whatever from getting in. If you want you can cut a hole into the middle of the lid and fit a bung and water/air lock. Either way, check the gravity once a day and once it's between say, 1005 to 1015 bottle or keg it.
Steve.
Re. "giving it a good stir" - Be careful on that as you can introduce oxygen which will spoil your beer.
Re. "the tap being low and letting sediment through..." I tend to do the opposite i.e I have an old tin propping up the rear of the FV in an attempt to get the most beer from the FV. I find that I have a max of 1/4 - 1/2 inch sediment at the bottom of the FV on completion. The reason you will get sediment through at the moment is due to it being in suspension - give it time to settle.
Re. Taking samples - As Mightymouth says, get a trial jar.
Re. The taste - Yes it will taste slightly sweeter at the moment due to it having unfermented sugars in it. Again, time will sort that out.
As a suggestion I would say to release the pressure by cracking the lid off in one place so the FV can expell it's C02. I tend to leave the lid on top but not attatched to the FV - just to stop bits of fluff or whatever from getting in. If you want you can cut a hole into the middle of the lid and fit a bung and water/air lock. Either way, check the gravity once a day and once it's between say, 1005 to 1015 bottle or keg it.
Steve.
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drbell