First Brew Ever (pics)

I just took another gravity reading from that sample from about a week ago.
1.012..........crap. After 3 weeks in fermentation I took a reading of 1.021 (was lazy and just bottled after that). And it dropped to 1.012 this week? Stupid question: Priming sugar should not affect F.G., correct?

So, I guess I have potential bottle bombs. The good news is, I've stored them in a hefty cooler so they're contained. Now what? Open'em and recap? Ugh. None of the caps have blown off.....yet.

I've learned my lesson. Be sure to take two gravity readings spaced by about 2-3 days. If same, you're done and you can bottle. If not, give it more time. Damn it.

 

Was afraid you would confirm that. Hey, the optimist in me is saying, "Maybe your 1.021 reading was incorrect!" Yeah, that's the ticket!

 

I'm in denial right now....do not want to recap........bahhh brb......

 

....Alright, I'm back. Thanks JrGtr. It was really getting to me. I just opened all and recapped immediately. They actually seemed fine. Every one I opened gave a gentle to medium hiss. I'm still glad I recapped. A few more days and I'll drink'em! I hope they retain at least some of their carbonation. If not, oh well.

 

Doh!!! Hahahahahaha! VikeMan, you don't miss a thing, do ya!

 

Well, the day has finally come. Tasting day! I was able to pick up a sixer of Palm Beligan Pale Ale to have along with my Belgian Pale Ale (thanks VikeMan for guiding me to that instead of Orval). My overall impression of my very first homebrew is.........IT'S NOT TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With all the weird little mistakes I made with this first batch, I really just wanted it to be drinkable. It is, and I'm thankful. It's not very good; a bit syrupy and too concentrated. The color is too dark for a pale too. But, it's drinkable. I'll finish this batch off for sure.

Thanks everyone who chimed in and gave me some advice. Got batch #2 in fermentation right now and I look forward to many more! Feel free to guess which one is the homebrew and which one is the Palm!

 

I believe it was under attenuated. I can't explain what happened but the gravity reading after 3 weeks in the fermenter was 1.021. It was supposed to be 1.012. Thinking 3 weeks was long enough, I bottled. I had about 4.6 gallons of beer to bottle. Using the Brewer's Friend online calculator, I used 3.7oz of priming sugar aiming for 2.2 volumes of CO2. A few days after that machalel gave me the idea of cracking open a bottle and putting the beer in a plastic bottle for a week and shaking it around. After a week, that sample had a gravity of 1.012.

This could have meant that my other readings were wrong or my beer hadn't fully attenuated. Unfortunately, I cannot answer that with certainty.

I've been reading a bit about yeast and pitch rates and I'm getting the impression that new home brewers tend to under pitch their batches. Hey, maybe a vial of WLP550 is enough for a 5 gallon batch but I should have made a starter anyway I think. Maybe my vial was weak from the beginning and I under pitched and the beer finished under attenuated (but the sample eventually read 1.012 which is where the recipe was supposed to finish). Maybe the yeast stalled and I woke it up when I bottled? I'm reading that the White Labs vials generally will have 100 billion cells (assuming it's a healthy vial of yeast). I think I'd rather have closer to 175 or even 200 billion cells per 5 gallon batch though. So, should have made a starter. Over pitch, under pitch, sure it's about balance but at this point in my brewing hobby I'd rather over pitch (I think).

Other info:
1. Did not top off with enough water. (Fermented with 4.6 gallons)
2. Did I aerate enough in the beginning? I'm reading that it takes about 45 seconds of aggressive shaking to get 8ppm of oxygen in there to keep the yeast happy. Not sure I did that.
3. Did not filter out hops, hot break/cold break, etc. when transferring to the fermenter.
4. Fermentation temps were probably too high 75*F-78*F.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts. And good stuff to remember for future batches.

My home brew is actually the one on the right. My pours were not consistent so the confusion is understandable. I poured the Palm too gently, getting no head and I poured my home brew aggressively, creating a nice thick head. You can see though, the Palm just looks more crisp and clear (as it tastes) than mine.

In other, more upbeat news, my hefe is bubbling ferociously in the basement at 63*F right now and I'm very excited for that one!

 

Yeah, I didn't want to give it away. Thought it'd be fun for people to guess.

Edit: Fermentation temps were low 70s.