Recipe Request - English Bitter

[Vino]

Hey EB,

That gravity sounds suspicious...if you added all the extract and ingredients as instructed you should be higher than that...don't know that I've ever had an OG below 1.040 (light wheat)...in any case the yeast should kick in within 48 hours...you should see a layer start to develope on the surface.

?'s
When did you brew this? (pitch)
Can you give an exact recipe as you brewed it?
What was the wort temp at pitch?
What is the current temp?

In any case I wouldn't sweat it yet.

Thanks,
Vino

 

[ndbrewlady]

The first time I added honey instead of sugar to a wheat it looked like it wasn't fermenting at all. Two days later I had the hubby pop the lid so I could try energizer to see if that would help. By the smell we could tell that it had been fermenting just no airlock activity. Once I added the energizer it took off. Your api is low, I have only brewed beer for two years now but the recorded api's I have the lowest is 1.44 (Cream ale, waiting to bottle)

 

[osluder]

?'s
When did you brew this? (pitch)
Can you give an exact recipe as you brewed it?
What was the wort temp at pitch?
What is the current temp?

Vino is absolutely correct: please provide us as much info as you can or it's difficult to troubleshoot. The most likely reason for a low gravity reading like that is if you racked the wort to the fermenter, added top-off water and didn't mix well enough before you grabbed the specific gravity. (I do it more often than I care to admit, but I have a refractometer as well as a hydrometer so I take readings with both once the fermentation is under way, input the values into my brewing software and backfire the original gravity.)

Other than that and clogging my auto-siphon with hops there weren't any major disasters.

Were the hops pellets, plugs or whole? Pellets are the worse as far as disintegrating and clogging things up. In any case, you'll find investing in a small mesh bag as mentioned in earlier posts well worth it. In a pinch, pantyhose over the bottom of the auto siphon can work too, but be sure to sanitize them well. ;D

...in any case the yeast should kick in within 48 hours...you should see a layer start to develope [sic] on the surface.

As Vino says it could be up to 48 hours, but if your smack pack was fully expanded and the pitching and current temperatures aren't too low it should be much less. I've had some take off within a few hours. Since it's top fermenting yeast, it'll be obvious when it starts.

-- Olen

 

[Poobah58]

EB, where in CT are you? We have a small brew club in New Milford and you are welcome to sit in on one of our brew sessions anytime. We do 40 gallon all-grain batches but you will learn a great deal.

 

[EBCornell]

<sigh of relief>
Within 24 hours of pitching I had the start of krausen and things are bubbling along nicely. Thanks for all of the hand-holding...I definitely didn't do a lot of mixing between topping off with water and taking a SG reading. I waited until after I pitched to aerate. I'm hoping that's why my OG was so low. I've got to head back to the homebrew store tomorrow to pick up another 6 gallon carboy for a secondary and a bottling bucket too. I'll try to get a more talkative employee this time around and see if they have any input on my first batch. I'll let you all know how things progress...
Cheers,
-E-

 

[EBCornell]

EB, where in CT are you? We have a small brew club in New Milford and you are welcome to sit in on one of our brew sessions anytime. We do 40 gallon all-grain batches but you will learn a great deal.

I'm from Torrington originally, but I'm living in Greenwich now. New Milford is a bit of a haul, but if you can let me know when your next meeting is I'll try to get in touch and get up your way. Do you guys have a club website? Thanks for the invite!

 

[Medsen Fey]

Other than that and clogging my auto-siphon with hops there weren't any major disasters.

Another trick other than using pantyhose is to take a brew spoon or paddle and stir it vigorously to create a nice vortex. This will aerate the wort and will draw the trub to the middle of the brew pot. Then keep your racking cane to the side, an you'll miss most of the trub.

 

[EBCornell]

I'll have to give the whirlpool a try next batch.

As for this one, things seem to be moving along fine. The kit recipe instructs me to rack to a secondary after 1 week, with no mention of a SG to be aiming for at that point. Do I make the transfer even if there's still signs of fermentation? I'm not sure if the protocol is different from mead to beer in this case.
Thanks!
-eric-

 

[Vino]

When I plan to transfer to a second carboy for conditioning (almost always), I generally wait for the krausen to drop...In any case the fermentation can finish after you transfer it as there should still be enough yeast in suspension...a FG is still a good indicator of completion.

Based on the recipe you described you should be looking at a FG of 1.012-1.015.

I would suggest you go ahead with the transfer, and if necessary allow it to finish in the secondary.

BTW, what is the temperature?

 

[EBCornell]

The recipe predicts an OG of 1.045 and a FG of 1.009. I'm doing my best to keep my temp. between 65 and 68, but it's DANG cold out up here this week and the old heating system in the house is struggling to keep things warm. That temp. reading is ambient air temperature. I don't have a thermometer on/in the carboy. Do the stick-on ones actually work? I know that I've never trusted them for my various aquaria.

 

[Vino]

The recipe predicts an OG of 1.045 and a FG of 1.009.

I wouldn't expect you to reach that FG...if I remember correctly your said you used a Scottish Ale smackpack, and to my knowledge the highest attenuation Wyeast expects from that ale yeast is 73%, which would give you a FG of 1.012+, and that would be under optimum conditions (The estimated 1.009 FG was probably based on using the dry yeast), I also imagine since you used extract you probably have a fair amount of unfermentables.

Generally the initial fermentation (called the "exponential growth phase") is 1-4 days, then you enter the stationary phase which generally last from 3-10 days...that's why most people wait at least 14 days before bottling.

There are exceptions, but for most low gravity ales this will be the case.

 

[EBCornell]

I did indeed use the Scottish Ale smack-pack. The recipe and kit were both written and prepared at the homebrew shop so I figured they gave me the yeast that they had planned for.
But no worries, I checked this morning and the krausen has fallen so I'm good to rack to my secondary.

 

[akueck]

I'll have to give the whirlpool a try next batch.

As for this one, things seem to be moving along fine. The kit recipe instructs me to rack to a secondary after 1 week, with no mention of a SG to be aiming for at that point. Do I make the transfer even if there's still signs of fermentation? I'm not sure if the protocol is different from mead to beer in this case.
Thanks!
-eric-

I generally do not transfer to secondary for my beers, unless it's either high gravity (more than 1.075 or so) or has some fun additions (e.g. fruit) that go in the secondary. I don't even transfer to do dry hopping anymore. There's no harm in leaving your beer in the primary for a few weeks. 6 is not too long either. There's usually no harm in moving it either, but it's a lot less work to just leave it be.

 

[Vino]

I generally do not transfer to secondary for my beers, unless it's either high gravity (more than 1.075 or so) or has some fun additions (e.g. fruit) that go in the secondary. I don't even transfer to do dry hopping anymore. There's no harm in leaving your beer in the primary for a few weeks. 6 is not too long either. There's usually no harm in moving it either, but it's a lot less work to just leave it be.

The benifit to transferring to secondary is that the beer will clear quicker while allowing time for fermentation to complete...we've done over two dozen double batches in which we transferred one to secondary and left one in the primary...in every case the batch transferred to secondary dropped clear in just a few days, where the batch left in primary remained cloudy for weeks. The only time there was a noticeable taste difference was with low gravity low IBU brews. YMMV

 

[osluder]

All my lagers go to secondary for the extended lagering period (weeks to months depending on gravity). Ales may not benefit as much, but I find myself mostly doing it anyway since they tend to be big Belgian-style strong ales that do seem to benefit from it considerably as Akeuck points out. I have also noted a tendency for the beers to drop clear more quickly in the secondary as Vino points out, but I have no empirical data to support it. -- Olen

 

[akueck]

The benifit to transferring to secondary is that the beer will clear quicker while allowing time for fermentation to complete...we've done over two dozen double batches in which we transferred one to secondary and left one in the primary...in every case the batch transferred to secondary dropped clear in just a few days, where the batch left in primary remained cloudy for weeks. The only time there was a noticeable taste difference was with low gravity low IBU brews. YMMV

Cool, I've never done a side-by-side comparison. Though mine generally are clear by week 2 in primary, less if I use irish moss. Difference in water? Hetch Hetchy water is awesome!

What kind of taste difference did you notice for the smaller beers?

 

[EBCornell]

As this is my very first beer I'm sticking with the kit recipe word for word. And it says to keep it in the secondary for about 3 weeks. It smelled great when I racked it yesterday and had a decent taste even this early on.
Thanks to all for contributing their experiences. When I get around to my next batch and experiment a bit I'm certain all of this info will be a huge help...
cheers,
-E-

 

[Vino]

Cool, I've never done a side-by-side comparison. Though mine generally are clear by week 2 in primary, less if I use irish moss. Difference in water? Hetch Hetchy water is awesome!

What kind of taste difference did you notice for the smaller beers?

The ones that were left in primary left an after taste...hard to describe, but the one's that went to secondary were crisp and clean with no after taste.

As for Irish Moss, we don't use it.

 

[osluder]

As for Irish Moss, we don't use it.

Main reason to add Irish Moss is to reduce chill haze, so I find I never use it on dark beers and only occasionally on pale ones as it also has a negative affect on head retention. -- Olen

 

[Vino]

Main reason to add Irish Moss is to reduce chill haze, so I find I never use it on dark beers and only occasionally on pale ones as it also has a negative affect on head retention. -- Olen

Yep...and I find that after a few of my Big Belgians or Baltic Porters everything gets a little hazy...:drunken_smilie:

Besides, I prefer my seaweed with some sushi rice and raw fish...YUM!!!