Newbie Question (continued) - subtitle: What DID I brew?

You're fine. Your beer is essentially done fermenting. Your ABV is 4.9% based on your gravity readings. Without knowing any else about your beer, rule of thumb would put your final gravity at 11-12, so you appear to be below that. You may drop another point or so before it's time to bottle.

As far as the look of your beer. I would recommend on your next batch get a mesh strainer/sieve and filter out your hops when you transfer from the brewpot to fermenter. If you boiled those hops for the full 60 minutes, you should be fine. You got all your really going to get out of them during the boil.

Just leave it in your secondary until everything settles out. Generally it's recommended secondary should sit for 2 weeks. If it's really mucky, you could let it sit for a week and transfer into a second carboy and let it sit for another week. Only do this if you just can't stand to leave it alone. It'll clear on it's own. If you don't have two carboys, don't worry and just let it sit for 2 weeks. There's nothing wrong with letting it sit longer too. If you've got a particularly cool spot, the cool temps may help to precipitate the sediment faster. Waiting is the hardest thing to brewing.

Sounds like you've done everything right. You might want to rack it to a secondary fermentor if your worried about all that sediment, but otherwise confirm that it's done fermenting, add the 3/4 cup of cornsugar per five gallons and bottle. You have a little ways to go if it's only the fifth day, but beer has been known to not take very long at all to ferment. It doesn't sound completely done, furthermore there's stuff you can add to the brew to get it to clear up too, although refrigeration has a tendency to do that too. They have various products you can add such as isingglass and campden tablets, though I'm unsure of their efficacy. I usually just let it settle in the bottle. I wouldn't worry about the hops, I've used them before and they never left a rime on my mouth when drinking the beer. I would stop stirring it up and let the beer settle then bottle, but not too early. -gcitagh

When you siphoned the beer from the primary to the secondary, did you accidentally stir up the sediment on the bottom of the primary fermenter? Most of the "mud" you mentioned should have been left behind. In any case, leaving it in secondary for a few days will allow the sediment to settle back out, and you can siphon the clear beer into your bottling bucket.

Karl S.

First, thank you for your response and helpfullness. I do have a few questions still, if you don't mind... some of these questions are probable stupid but, remember that I am still a newbie at this.

Should there be ANY bubbling from the airlock while on the secondary? At this point I seem to get one or two bubbles every 6-8 minutes.

If the fermentation is basicly done, what is the purpose of the secondary?

Based off of your suggestions (and other responses), I should just leave it alone in the secondary for a while and everything SHOULD work itself out?

I do have a kegerator that is currently empty. In regards to storing it in cooler temps, would it do any good to keep it in there and, if so, at what temps would you suggest.

Thank you again for your time and encouragement.

I have moved it to my secondary (carboy) and as I did so tried to strain the sediment through a wire strainer. However, it did not seem to do any good. The strainer only caught a MINIMAL amount of the sediment.

Thank you for your response and help. I would appreciate your opinions as I continue learning.

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 20:38:22 GMT, "Karl S." wrote

I do think that MOST of the sediment was left in the primary. However, the color of the beer still looks like a nasty mud.

Thanks for you help. please feel free to pass on any and all information you think I could use.

Dude... RELAX! You're falling into the "first time brewer trap" of over- analyzing and worrying about things that will take care of themselves IF YOU JUST QUIT MESSING WITH IT. Sounds like you've done the right things so far, so let nature take its course.

Most of any suspended solids will settle out in the secondary over the next week or so. I generally leave mine for at least 2 weeks before bottling. Yes, it will bubble a bit, but that should finish out, as well. You'll probably even get some futher fallout after botting, as well. So what? It's all good stuff, and won't hurt you.

Next time, try some irish moss at the end of the boil. Helps to promote flocculation/knock-out of solids and proteins that end up suspended in the brew. Gives a clearer/cleaner look, but like I said, it's all good.

So again... RELAX!

bob p

I guess the fact that I want to understand what is happening is coming across as worry. I am RELAXED... My feeling is simply that IF it doesn't work out this time I will try again. In that regard, I am NOT worrying. I am simply trying to understand each step completely. I am sorry if my questions annoy but that is how I learn. sorry to have caused you any trouble...

No trouble at all grasshopper...

A "bad" batch (one that doesn't EXACTLY hit the OG/FG marks, one that may be a bit cloudy, one where a wild strain of yeast may have slipped in, etc.) of homebrew is still better than the off the shelf stuff. I've never had a batch so badly ruined that it wasn't drinkable. Some are better than others, but their all good. You just sounded like you were obsessing a bit about the "nasty mud" stuff, and thinking that I was annoyed sort of confirmed that.

Like I said, it's all good...

bob p

Maybe...don't worry about it either way. Bubbling is no indication of anything but bubbling! If you really want to know what's going on, take a hydrometer reading.

Clarifying and conditioning the beer. A secondary is strictly optional. I usually do one, but I've made some fine beers by just leaving it in primary for 3 weeks or so. Don't worry about yeast autolysis in that short time frame.

Yes! Time is your friend in brewing. Work on the beer's schedule, not the recipe's.

There's nothing wrong with doing that, but it isn't strictly necessary.

----------->Denny

Bad move with the strainer, I'm afraid. You likely introduced a lot of oxygen into the beer, which will make it prematurely stale. The good news is that it takes a while to set in, so if you drink it soon after it's done, you'll probably be OK. But don't do that again!

--------->Denny