Help? First brew. Instructions differ a lot from books...

[Jimmy]

I do the whole thing in a bucket for 2 reasons: they are easier to clean, and I have large buckets that can hold a 22 liter brew and still have lots of headspace.

I'd leave it for the 7-10 days, definitely don't dump it. The 7-10 days will hopefully give whatever yeast are left some time to clean up after themselves. I'm sure it will be drinkable when it's all said and done.

[chalmers]

Don't worry, your beer is fine.
If the airlock wasn't bubbling after looking at it for 2 minutes (and the lid was snapped on tight), then that's an OK (but not conclusive) indication that the fermentation has completed (good) or stalled (bad, as in it didn't get as low as it should have). It went fast compared to most of us, as I believe the starting gravity was a little low, and you had the temp a bit higher than suggested. When you measured the gravity at 1.012, it seems a bit on the high side of finished for this beer, but not out of style. Good idea to measure before transfer, in case it's too high, you'd want to leave it in the bucket (with the yeast) to keep lowering the gravity. You could give the bucket a swirl to get the yeast back in suspension to help kickstart them.
The fact that it tasted sweet is probably OK, nothing to be worried about. There will be a bit more fermentation in the carboy, and the headspace will become full of CO2, so that's OK too. See, things are OK.
The plan now is to let the beer finish fermenting some more, and allowing more yeast to settle out (flocculate) so you don't have a lot in suspension before bottling. So I wouldn't suggest rushing this stage. When it's time to bottle, you might try cooling the carboy down in the fridge or basement/garage for a day or two to get even more yeast to floc., I think you'll still have enough in suspension to carbonate the bottles (anyone comment here?).

Noble Grape's note about not letting a beer sit for longer than 3 days is absolutely wrong. I will ferment in the primary for weeks, mainly because I skip a secondary.

[chalmers]

The last two responses came in while I was crafting the above. Definitely don't dump it! It'll be fine.
When things calm down work-wise on my end, let's meet for a homebrew, and we can chat.

[glassgiant]

Good to hear, thanks. I'll give it the recommended time and give it a whirl...

I think next time I'll skip the kit instructions. Time to clean up and off to bed. Thanks, everyone. This is an awesomely helpful community.

[glassgiant]

The last two responses came in while I was crafting the above. Definitely don't dump it! It'll be fine.
When things calm down work-wise on my end, let's meet for a homebrew, and we can chat.

Thanks, I'll take you up on that.

[Jimmy]

And just remember that it's pretty easy to make beer. You can make many mistakes and still end up with something decent...a lot of the best brews come out of the days with the most mistakes - this being a prime example:

http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... f=3&t=2870" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[glassgiant]

Here's hoping it's one of those days. All cleaned up. Beer is nestled in a dark corner of the cool basement (where I should have had it for the primary). Now to try to forget about it for a week...

[Stusbrews]

Most folks ferment ales around 18C, and leave it primary for at least 2-4 weeks(with no secondary). It produces a much cleaner tasting brew than the quick ferment the kits shoot for. I suppose they want them to be "quick and easy" rather than slow and better.
I wouldnt worry bout your brew, but you might consider doing it a liil different for the next one.
Lots of knowlegable folks here who want to help othes brew better brews, so dont hesitate to ask for advice!

[LeafMan66_67]

Best advice - relax. Have a brew! Let that carboy sit for a couple of weeks. Did NG give you a sheet saying what the final gravity should be? Come to think of it, that's normally on the recipe sheet from them.

[glassgiant]

I put it in the basement, which currently reads 16C. I'll definitely do the next one differently. I'm pleasantly surprised by how quickly this group

Instructions said final gravity should be less than 1.020. It was at 1.012 when I transferred it.

Any helpful tips on how to sanitize my bottles? I've got an attachment and brushes to wash them.

[sleepyjamie]

I started making better beer after I stopped reading the ng instructions and started attending brewnosers meetings

[HappyHopper]

Don't dump it it will be fine but I'd bottle a little sooner then the recommendation. Come see me at the bayers lake noble grape and ill give you the ingridients list for the porter. As far as the instructions they are kinda vague for someone who wants to brew as a hobby and actually learn. The instructions we have are more for the masses who don't care about the how and why and to try and avoid them infecting their beer..

Having said that typically following them should make great beer that's what I used until a few brewnosers opened my eyes to all grain! Thanks fellas!

[HappyHopper]

Also bring your bottles in to sanitize them ill hook you up with a free wash. I'm off for a few days but back Thursday if I'm not around when your in say you were talking to jonathan

[jacinthebox]

The NG brewing instructions (part kits) seem to be spot on...but I leave it in the Primary for 4-5 days, and the carboy at least 10 days (unless i'm lagering it).

[akr71]

...When it's time to bottle, you might try cooling the carboy down in the fridge or basement/garage for a day or two to get even more yeast to floc., I think you'll still have enough in suspension to carbonate the bottles (anyone comment here?).

Noble Grape's note about not letting a beer sit for longer than 3 days is absolutely wrong. I will ferment in the primary for weeks, mainly because I skip a secondary.

When I rack to a bucket for bottling, I let the racking cane hit the bottom once - just to make sure there will be enough yeast in suspension so that the bottles carb up. Probably overkill, but that's what I do.

Generally, I don't even think about transferring for at least 2 weeks, unless its a small beer like a mild or ordinary bitter. At our scale you likely won't run into problems that NG is suggesting until the beer is sitting on the yeast more over a month. I don't secondary either, unless the beer is going to be sitting around for a while (lagering) or I want to age the beer on something (dry hopping, oak aging).

[HappyHopper]

The NG brewing instructions (part kits) seem to be spot on...but I leave it in the Primary for 4-5 days, and the carboy at least 10 days (unless i'm lagering it).

Keep in mind always use your hydrometer, the time line is simply ment as an rough guide but temp. will play a roll.

[HappyHopper]

...When it's time to bottle, you might try cooling the carboy down in the fridge or basement/garage for a day or two to get even more yeast to floc., I think you'll still have enough in suspension to carbonate the bottles (anyone comment here?).

Noble Grape's note about not letting a beer sit for longer than 3 days is absolutely wrong. I will ferment in the primary for weeks, mainly because I skip a secondary.

Is the primary air locked??? Weeks? Wouldn't you worry about infection (unless its air locked)

[akr71]

Is the primary air locked??? Weeks? Wouldn't you worry about infection (unless its air locked)

My 'primary' is a carboy with an airlock, so yes.

[chalmers]

My primary is often a bucket with the lid cracked ever so slightly during the most violent times of the ferment (after yeast lag, and until it slows down), snapped on tight the rest of the time (burped every often). If the bucket was well sanitized to begin with, and there's a positive pressure (ie, air/CO2 pushing out), there's little to no risk of infection.

[glassgiant]

Also bring your bottles in to sanitize them ill hook you up with a free wash. I'm off for a few days but back Thursday if I'm not around when your in say you were talking to jonathan

Great, thanks very much!

[jacinthebox]

The NG brewing instructions (part kits) seem to be spot on...but I leave it in the Primary for 4-5 days, and the carboy at least 10 days (unless i'm lagering it).

Keep in mind always use your hydrometer, the time line is simply ment as an rough guide but temp. will play a roll.

for sure

[HappyHopper]

Also bring your bottles in to sanitize them ill hook you up with a free wash. I'm off for a few days but back Thursday if I'm not around when your in say you were talking to jonathan

Great, thanks very much!

And by Thursday I ment Friday !

[glassgiant]

Bottled it up last night. Tasted like flat porter, which I take as a good sign. Now just have to wait a bit. Thanks, everyone for your help!

[Jimmy]

Were you at NG in Clayton Park picking up a kit today? Based on your profile picture, I thought it may have been you...didn't want to look like a weirdo if it wasn't you.

[glassgiant]

That was me! I ordered a gluten free kit last week (will brew for a friend). Wife got a call today that my SIX kits were in. I showed up and asked about it. Turns out, when they wrote it in the book, they put my phone number in the column before the kit name. The number ran over into the next column, making it look like six kits. So NG Clayton Park has five extra gluten free kits if anyone is looking.