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First brew help

Twopuppers

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Hi everyone this is my first brew using a brewers best kit and their American pale ale kit. I?ve been searching the Internet but can?t figure out if this is what it should look like during the second phase of fermentation or not so I was hoping for some help. Thanks in advance!
 

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Twopuppers said:
Hi everyone this is my first brew using a brewers best kit and their American pale ale kit. I?ve been searching the Internet but can?t figure out if this is what it should look like during the second phase of fermentation or not so I was hoping for some help. Thanks in advance!

You really don't need a secondary either that style :). You could just bottle or keg it right away :).
 
Twopuppers said:
So this looks like it should To you?

Yeah it looks fine :) if it smells good and doesn't have any bad aromas it's usually okay. For me it's easier to tell by smell if s beer has gone south.
 
Greetings Twopuppers - unfortunately, it?s far to difficult to ascertain any issues from the pictures you posted.  It appears the top photo is the bottom of the fermenter and there appears to be some trub?  Is that correct? The next picture is also a bit confusing.  So, some questions:

1) how long was it in primary and what was the SG when you racked to secondary?
2) how long was it in secondary and what I is your SG now?
3) what yeast did you ferment with and are your readings on target?
4) have you had any contamination issues in the past?
5) what type of vessel did you use for primary; glass, plastic bucket, bubbler?
6) while your beer is in secondary, are you planning on doing a dry hop, and if so, have you started yet?

If you could possibly post better pictures, possibly from a different angle.  I have brewed many American Pale Ales and typically dry hop my secondary.  It add a nice touch indeed ;)
 
KellerBrauer said:
Greetings Twopuppers - unfortunately, it?s far to difficult to ascertain any issues from the pictures you posted.  It appears the top photo is the bottom of the fermenter and there appears to be some trub?  Is that correct? The next picture is also a bit confusing.  So, some questions:

1) how long was it in primary and what was the SG when you racked to secondary?
2) how long was it in secondary and what I is your SG now?
3) what yeast did you ferment with and are your readings on target?
4) have you had any contamination issues in the past?
5) what type of vessel did you use for primary; glass, plastic bucket, bubbler?
6) while your beer is in secondary, are you planning on doing a dry hop, and if so, have you started yet?

If you could possibly post better pictures, possibly from a different angle.  I have brewed many American Pale Ales and typically dry hop my secondary.  It add a nice touch indeed ;)

All valid points for him, I think it's likely okay, he was using a kit so he probably doesn't have dry hops.
 
It was in a plastic fermenting bucket for six days it was very foamy looking with what appeared to be the hops on top. Now it?s been in the secondary for the third day I messed up when taking the sg when racking it so I?m not sure. I?ve been following the kits instructions but they aren?t very specific and it?s hard to get a clear idea of what fermenting should look like everything on the internet varies so much. This is my very first brew.
 
Twopuppers said:
It was in a plastic fermenting bucket for six days it was very foamy looking with what appeared to be the hops on top. Now it?s been in the secondary for the third day I messed up when taking the sg when racking it so I?m not sure. I?ve been following the kits instructions but they aren?t very specific and it?s hard to get a clear idea of what fermenting should look like everything on the internet varies so much. This is my very first brew.

Greetings Twopuppers - I think your best option is to let it sit in secondary a couple more days, then taste it.  It will taste a little yeasty, but the flavors of the American Pale Ale should come through.  If it has a sour taste, that may indicate that it got infected.  If not, go ahead and bottle it or keg it, give it a couple weeks and have a brew!

A word of caution: plastic buckets are prone to concealing very small micro fine scratches that develop in time.  Hence, cleaning and sanitizing grows more difficult.  So, you must remain diligent in your cleaning and sanitizing processes.  No short cuts.  Plastic fermentation buckets are not very forgiving.

Good luck with your brew!  I hope All is well for your first brew.  If you have problems or questions, feel free to ask.  There is a lot of knowledge and experience in this forum.
 
In addition to KellerBrauer's good advice, if you have a hydrometer you can take a sample an measure the gravity.  Wait a few days and check again.  If the numbers match, then you are definitely done.  If not, then give it some more time until you get a couple of gravity readings that are the same.
 
Now the carbon has become very cloudy you can?t even see throughout fi the top is that a bad sign?
 
Twopuppers said:
Now the carbon has become very cloudy you can?t even see throughout fi the top is that a bad sign?

Nope. Given that your beer is quite young, the yeast hasn't fully flocculated. As long as you keep things sanitary, you're in good shape.
 
KellerBrauer said:
Twopuppers said:
It was in a plastic fermenting bucket for six days it was very foamy looking with what appeared to be the hops on top. Now it?s been in the secondary for the third day I messed up when taking the sg when racking it so I?m not sure. I?ve been following the kits instructions but they aren?t very specific and it?s hard to get a clear idea of what fermenting should look like everything on the internet varies so much. This is my very first brew.

Greetings Twopuppers - I think your best option is to let it sit in secondary a couple more days, then taste it.  It will taste a little yeasty, but the flavors of the American Pale Ale should come through.  If it has a sour taste, that may indicate that it got infected.  If not, go ahead and bottle it or keg it, give it a couple weeks and have a brew!

A word of caution: plastic buckets are prone to concealing very small micro fine scratches that develop in time.  Hence, cleaning and sanitizing grows more difficult.  So, you must remain diligent in your cleaning and sanitizing processes.  No short cuts.  Plastic fermentation buckets are not very forgiving.

Good luck with your brew!  I hope All is well for your first brew.  If you have problems or questions, feel free to ask.  There is a lot of knowledge and experience in this forum.

Yep, I personally use plastic buckets for extended periods of time because they just seem to hold up for me. Haven't gotten a batch infected in one. But I did in my $60+ Speidel fermenter.

I guess it just depends on type of plastic.

But yeah I would use PBW to get rid of the beer smell and stains in plastic buckets then soak them in star San for a couple minutes. And you should be good to go.
 
Twopuppers said:
Hi everyone this is my first brew using a brewers best kit and their American pale ale kit. I?ve been searching the Internet but can?t figure out if this is what it should look like during the second phase of fermentation or not so I was hoping for some help. Thanks in advance!

You can save yourself a lot of worry by reading: How to Brew, by John Palmer. It's available in print (more current) and on-line free at: http://howtobrew.com/
 
durrettd said:
Twopuppers said:
Hi everyone this is my first brew using a brewers best kit and their American pale ale kit. I?ve been searching the Internet but can?t figure out if this is what it should look like during the second phase of fermentation or not so I was hoping for some help. Thanks in advance!

You can save yourself a lot of worry by reading: How to Brew, by John Palmer. It's available in print (more current) and on-line free at: http://howtobrew.com/

That's an excellent book amongst my favorite
 
My first brew was an American Pale Ale made by a local store [I have 3 local HB shops, 2 make their own kits and one sells the Brewer's Best kits] and it was a huge learning experience.
Assuming you are bottling I suggest you wait a minimum of 10 days before your refrigerate a bottle and 14 days is usually better.
But if you are very impatient do the following after bottling, on day 6 put on bottle in the fridge. On day 7 drink it, if it tastes mediocre wait 2 more days and then refrigerate another bottle. let that bottle sit in the fridge for a day before trying it. You WILL taste a difference between the first bottle and second bottle. If it is a drastic improvement GREAT! You've done everything well. If it's only a moderate improvement wait 2 more days before refrigerating your 3rd bottle. If you are impatient then you can put one bottle per day into the fridge and have one every day...once you get to the "right" day of bottle conditioning you will notice a HUGE difference from your first [early/green/young] bottle to the last.
This improvement alone, waiting 14 days instead of 7 made such a massive difference for me that I NEVER wait less than 14 days anymore AND have never had difficulty waiting that long!

Welcome to brewing, Cheers!
 
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