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1st time brewing

shanehallam

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good day.
I have 2 part Question. so I tried my 1st bit of extract brewing with a bit of Caramel malt and it was going really well. I did add some clarifier. when I put it in the fermenter there was a real lot of sediment witch settled really quick. is this right? the next is the next morning the sediment was going crazy. 1st thought my wife toughed it but when I was watching it,it was really going crazy. please any help would be great
thanx
ShaneHallam
 
It's normal.  That is what it is supposed to do.  The yeast were getting ready to work, as they settled to the bottom with the trub and built up their cell walls and got ready for the work of fermentation.  It's going crazy now, because the yeast are in a feeding frenzy.  They are busy converting sugar to CO2 and alcohol.  Nothing to worry about.  Just keep it covered, so that light doesn't get to it.  Also, try to keep the temperature at about 65F.  If it starts getting too warm, wrap some wet towels around it and blow a fan on it and the temperature will come down.
 
Wanted to ask a question also.  After I cooled my wort I was supposed to use my previously boiled water to top off the five gallons.  The water was still warm and I decided to use filtered water to top off instead (about 2 gallons)  Unlike Shane I didn't notice a lot of activity in my fermentor bucket.  I'll admit it was hard to see as I have the bucket partially submerged in a water bath with a couple of ice blocks to maintain 70 degrees.  I am concerned that the yeast wasn't able to do the job because of the filtered water.  Its been three days now and whatever foam was there subsided and it appears calm.  Any thoughts on this?
 
Did it have foam (Krausen)?  If it did, the yeast have eaten through most of the sugars.  Just leave it go for at least 4 more days though.  You might want to bring the temperature up now about 4F higher.  This will allow the yeast to clean up after themselves and get rid of any off flavors.

The top up water shouldn't have caused any issues.

Then you can either rack it to a secondary (I usually don't even do this anymore), or you can let it sit for about two more weeks to settle and clear.

When it's been about 3 weeks since you've pitched the yeast, take gravity readings on three consecutive days.  If the gravity doesn't change, it's time to bottle or keg it.
 
Thanks Scott will do.  I had planned to rack to a secondary after a week and take readings just to see if did anything.  I did have a lot of foam after I topped off the water as I poured it in at shoulder height to allow for aeration.  From there I followed the instructions for the brew store to just sprinkle the yeast on top as it was a simple pale ale recipe that came with my kit.  I did wonder about sprinkling the yeast on as it went directly on the foam.  Live and learn, I will definitely pitch the yeast in warm water next time as it seems everyone recommends it.  Right now from what I can tell is that it looks like there is little foam on top after 5 days.
 
Sprinkling the yeast on the foam is not a problem.  It is best to rehydrate dry yeast, but you'll be fine.
 
shanehallam said:
good day.
I have 2 part Question. so I tried my 1st bit of extract phenq fat loss with a bit of Caramel malt and it was going really well. I did add some clarifier. when I put it in the fermenter there was a real lot of sediment witch settled really quick. is this right? the next is the next morning the sediment was going crazy. 1st thought my wife toughed it but when I was watching it,it was really going crazy. please any help would be great
thanx
ShaneHallam
dont worry too much.
It is absolutely fine.
Just carry further
 
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