Hi everyone, New member here and new to home brewing. Excited to be jumping in and having fun so far. I cooked up my first attempt last night, trying to follow the steps as well as I could and sanitize religiously, and hopefully it all turns out well. Starting with a honey wheat since that is what the wife enjoys most, using an ingredient kit from my local homebrew shop and my Brewer's Best starter kit with a few extra items. . Could be key to future attempts! Anyway, I got through the whole process, sprinkled in my yeast, put my air lock in, and got my 5 gallon bucket into a dark closet to ferment. My understanding was fermentation would begin in 24-48 hours when I see bubbles. And my local homebrew shop recommended I let it ferment for 2 weeks before bottling. Anyway, I got up this morning and could not help taking a peek at the bucket. It had been 11 hours since I pitched the yeast. Sure enough I see the air lock bubbling away. Is this okay? Is it too soon for fermentation and will it be a problem going forward? I used Fermentis S-33 dry yeast, sprinkled in and not stirred. The temp range given to me was 63-75 and it is 73-75 in the closet. My side question would be the beer in the bucket looked a lot darker and more sediment than I expected... maybe helped by me still learning to keep all the trub out. But I assume that all settles as it ferments and I siphon off the top... and maybe it gets lighter? Thanks for the help! I look forward to jumping into more threads as I explore!
Nope, if you pitched an appropriate amount, (like a dry packet) fermentation can take off quickly. Especially if your temps are on the high side - like yours are. I would recommend trying to get that down as quickly as possible. You really want to be in the mid 60s for most beers. Cold water bath will work best for your situation. The beer will look darker in the bucket - there's more liquid for light to go through - don't worry about it. Also, extract brews, especially liquid extract tends to come out darker than the style indicates.
Welcome to BA Have used a lot of dry yeasts, but never that one... http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFBS33.pdf The following is a review on Morebeer webite: "This is probably the worst dry yeast I've ever used. It bears zero resemblance to any real belgian strain. It's profoundly English if anything. I tried it twice. It stalled about 1.030 both times. The flavor was atrocious, the attenuation awful, the outcome a drain pour. This was my second attempt with a dry yeast other than S-05. I'll never use it again. There's a reason it's only a few bucks. You get what you pay for." I posted both these just to show you that everyone has an opinion here and some have an axe to grind...good luck on this batch and many future ones hopefully.
1) 11 hours is plenty of lag time. 2) Ambient of 73-75 is too warm. Inside you fermenter it can be 5 degrees higher. Google swamp cooler. 3) Don't worry about color right now.
Welcome to the BA site and to the Homebrewing forum, Riptide. We're glad that you're here. I agree with the above comments. Finding a way to cool that bucket as quickly as possible will pay dividends. Higher temps tend to create off-flavors that may not go away with extra conditioning. Also, the sediment that you saw in your bucket is krausen bubbles which occur almost always during fermentation. It should sink once fermentation is complete, but if it doesn't, don't worry about it. You should try not to peek at your beer until bubbling has stopped because you are exposing it to air/oxygen, or potentially wild yeast if your bucket was in a surrounding area that was not so clean like a garage, old dirty basement, etc. Given the review of the yeast that @GreenKrusty101 posted, there may be a possibility of a stopped fermentation. You mentioned that you have a Brewer's Best starter kit with a few extras, so is one of the extras a hydrometer? If your yeast poops out before reaching the end of fermentation, having a hydrometer will be the best way for you to realize this condition and to take steps to fix the issue. I highly recommend that you get a hydrometer if you don't have one.
To address the main question in the title of the thread, fermentation cannot start too soon - you want it to start as quickly as possible. I've had fermentations start in as little as 15 minutes which is great. Secondly, a closet will hold in the heat that the fermentation creates, particularly if there are other things taking up most of the space in there. This could be good in winter, but is probably working against you right now. I wouldn't worry about it though, especially with a honey wheat. I'm wondering why it's in the closet though, it doesn't need to be dark if you're fermenting in a bucket, and if it blows out the top of the airlock it could make a mess that's harder to clean up.
Wow. Thanks so much for the quick replies! With the yeast, I obviously don't have much expertise with different ones yet so I just used what was in the ingredient kit assembled by the local home brewing emporium. Won't worry about that much right now and just learn as I go. I will try to move it to a cooler spot. It is in the closet because my impression was it needed to be as dark as possible... that maybe some light would still get through the bucket? But no big deal. It is also more of a pantry than a closet, on tile floor off the kitchen, so any spill or mess is easy to clean up. Thanks again for responding so quick!
Well, I do not Agree with the yeast comments. It is a ok yeAst, but not terrible in my opinion. Other above mentioned comments I agree with especially temperatures. Welcome to the best hobbie and the tastiest.
Good lord, can we let the kid make ONE batch before we start knocking his technique? I know it was intended as advice and not criticism, but sheesh. Hey kid, all is good. You’re beer’s gonna be good. RDWHAHB
Don't worry about the yeast - its pitched so just let it ride. Worry about the temps. As @NeroFiddled said, a weiss handles higher temps better than most. But I'd still concentrate on getting the temps down via a swamp cooler or water bath. That being said, don't dunk the bucket in ice water or anything like it or you'll shock the yeast.
Since I just turned 40 last month, being called "kid" made my day! =) It took me a while for beer taste and habits to mature to this point. =) And I am all good with any level of feedback. I have thick skin and I am happy to learn, but thank you!
All that and I took a look this morning and it looks like the bubbling has slowed to a crawl after 36 hours. Some small bubbles in the air lock... saw one bigger bubble that was more noticeable. So much to think about and learn!
