Hi,

This weekend I took the plunge and bought a home brewing starter kit from my local shop. I also bought a pale ale kit so that I could get a batch going quickly and give the mechanics of home brewing a try, especially sanitizing. I got it set up yesterday afternoon and by this morning the airlock was bubbling which means I didn't forget to add the yeast

My question is about checking specific gravity. The instructions with my kit tell me to check SG and temperature every day. I'm wondering what is the best or easiest way to do this. Should I take the lid off the primary fermenter and drop the (sanitized) hydrometer right in there, or should I take a sample by siphoning or dipping in my cylinder?

Also, according to directions I am to transfer the beer to my glass carboy after 3 to 6 days and leave it there (at fermenting temperature) for 14 days. To check the SG in the carboy should I siphon a sample out or drop the hydrometer into the mouth of the carboy?

Thanks,
- S

Hey man, good to see you back!

You don't need to check the gravity every day. I feel like that's overly labor intensive and adds the risk of infection. Wait 5-6 days (make sure airlock activity has stopped). One of the best part about using a bucket for primary is you can just put the (sanitized) hydrometer right into the beer. So I recommend that.

Also, I don't know if you need a secondary on this beer (secondary is the step where you move it to a secondary fermentation vessel, which allows yeast to drop out of solution). All this step does is allow you to clear you beer and batch age it. Most of the yeast should drop out of suspension when you refrigerate the beer, anyway, so clarity isn't an issue (unless you want a filtered looking beer). And pale ale is a style best drank fresh, so batch aging isn't an issue. Plus, this is your first batch, so you're probably restless to try it. I say wait until fermentation is done in primary, then bottle it. Skip secondary on this one. Unless you're going to dry hop it, secondary isn't necessary on beers like this.

After bottling, give it a week to carbonate. After two weeks in the bottle, it'll probably be at it's best, but after 1 it'll be tasty!

Thanks for the information. Checking the SG every day seemed excessive to me, too.

This kit was different from what I expected -- it was not a can of hopped malt extract. It was a big plastic bag of liquid (essentially wort, I assume) that I dumped into my primary and topped up with water. There was also a little packet of "hop pellets" that I dumped in as the last step. Does that constitute "dry hopping"?

I'm definitely restless to get to the bottling stage and of course beyond (tasting!)

Thanks,
- S

Replying to myself here -- I've read about dry hopping and I see that it's possible to add hops during secondary fermentation. The kit I am using essentially does dry hopping during primary fermentation. So I think I could bottle after primary fermentation.

Another question, though. I prime the beer with sugar immediately before bottling, and yeast in the beer feeds on this producing the carbonation in the bottle. Is it possible to age the beer too long in secondary fermentation, such that the yeast all die off before bottling, which would mean no carbonation would happen after bottling?

Thanks,
- S

A few things:

Did you get a no boil kit? You just dump the malt extract into cool water and ferment? Next time I'd step it up to a kit you need to do a boil on. This is a good first step to get the sanitation procedures and other stuff down

Yes, that's dry hopping. You can dry hop in primary as well. The only thing is, what you are looking to add are the most volatile compounds from the hops. In primary, the active fermentation will sometimes blow off a lot of the oils you are looking to get from the hops. This is why it's normally suggested you dry hop in secondary or after primary fermentation is complete.

Sounds like you've got the process behind bottle conditioning down. Yes, you can leave the beer in secondary too long, so that you need to add dry yeast. And the yeast isn't really dying, so much as going dormant and dropping out of suspension. But you don't have to worry about this. We're talking a secondary period of about a year for something like a big boozy barley wine. If this happens, all you do is add some dry yeast to the bottling bucket with the sugar.

Yes this is a no-boil kit. I also bought a canned kit that requires a boil which I might try next time. My local brew shop also has a bunch of raw grains available so I might skip straight to that My next purchase will be a nice big stock pot and a big strainer.

When I read about dry hopping yesterday I was a bit worried that this beer would turn out like a very hoppy IPA. So I'm OK with some of the hop element being lost with dry hopping during primary fermentation.

That's good to know about the yeast going dormant. It's a little different with bread yeast in my experience, probably because primary/bulk fermentation for bread is on the order of hours as opposed to days. I have ruined dough before by letting it massively over-proof -- it ends up smelling very strongly of alcohol. I've also killed a few sourdough cultures through starvation.

I think with this batch that I might bottle a bit of it (like a few bottles) and transfer the rest to the carboy to age/settle for a week or so. I think I can prime the bottles with a bit of sugar before filling them, correct? When I bottle the rest I'd prime the whole batch in the primary fermenting bucket before bottling.

I think I have to wait a bit before bottling anyway since I'm still collecting bottles from Japanese restaurants. I give them the deposit money and they give me the Sapporo bottles

Thanks,
- S

My advice would be don't skip right to all grain, do a malt extract boil first, it well let you get used to what you need to do to adjust heat properly, understanding where hot breaks are and just make you more confident in general.

Yeah, now that I have read more about all grain brewing I think I will definitely stick to extracts as my next step. A small two bedroom apartment and no backyard means I can't even barbecue so full on all grain brewing would be tough.

- S

sgtturmeric wrote:
Yeah, now that I have read more about all grain brewing I think I will definitely stick to extracts as my next step. A small two bedroom apartment and no backyard means I can't even barbecue so full on all grain brewing would be tough.

- S
http://drinkcraftbeer.com/editorial/articles/how_to_home_brew_beer_in_your_kitchen.html

Turns out it can be easier than you think! I live in an apartment that's not that big, either, and I pull it off. That's why we wrote the article linked above on Homebrewing in Your Apartment Kitchen.

But I would still do a few extract batches with a boil. You need to get those processes down first. Also, try using a tool like Beertools.com. This will help you measure stuff and know what you're going get out of it.

As for bottling part of your batch, you could do that. Just make sure you don't put too much sugar in the bottles. They can explode. I only say this because it happened to somebody I personally know recently. A bottle blew and he had to get stitches in his face. Too much sugar, equals higher from carbonation than the bottles are rated for. DO NOT let this deter you, as homebrewing rocks... just please keep this in mind. My advice would be transfer part to your bottling bucket, prime with a proportionately less amount of sugar (rather than some in each bottle), then bottle.

Ah yes the "bottle bombs" that I have read about elsewhere as well. I racked the beer to the secondary (glass carboy) yesterday and I'm going to leave it there for a week before bottling. I did put some into a water bottle with a little sugar just for fun though

I was talking with the proprietor of my home brew supply shop about brewing with malt extract and I think I'll do that for my next batch.

One other question: the beer in the secondary is very cloudy right now, will it settle and clear nicely by next week?

Thanks,
- S

each step your go your beer will clear up. in another week you should see it clear up considerably, it'll also clear some more in the bottle

I guess I need more patience -- I would like to RDWHAHB but this is my first batch. Tonight I'll relax and have one of the cream ales I bought so that I could use the 650ml bottle for my beer.

I looked at the carboy this morning and the beer at the top is looking nice and amber and somewhat clearer; the bottom has a layer of sediment and also some paler cloudy areas above that.

- S

sgtturmeric wrote:
I guess I need more patience -- I would like to RDWHAHB but this is my first batch. Tonight I'll relax and have one of the cream ales I bought so that I could use the 650ml bottle for my beer.

I looked at the carboy this morning and the beer at the top is looking nice and amber and somewhat clearer; the bottom has a layer of sediment and also some paler cloudy areas above that.

- S

Don't worry too much about cloudiness. It shouldn't affeect taste, just appearance. Plus, after you bottle, the yeast in suspension will drop out in refrigeration. Then just poor a little carefully and it should be clear enough.