BeerBorg

derekscott85 wrote:...I'm hoping to brew something Belgian sooner rather than later.

I did a Belgian Ale from an extract with steeping grains and hop boil kit about a year after starting brewing. I was really happy to have brewed a Belgian.
Belgian yeast, a good recipe, and good brewing habits is all you need.
Good luck.

Dawg LB Steve wrote:Welcome to the Borg! The best advice to give to the new brewer is BE PATIENT! Patience makes better beer. Make sure you keep it in the fermenter for 3 weeks if your not using an hydrometer, after you bottle it, if bottle conditioning keep it at room temp for 4 weeks before refrigerating and drinking.

I'm using a 2 gal brew demon kit and foolishly forgot to take an initial measurement with a hydrometer to start. I check the temperature every day (64-68 deg) and there IS trub forming in the bottom but very little visible foaming or bubbling. Its been in there for 15 days now and still looks a bit cloudy when I shine a flashlight through it. How clear should the liquid be before I bottle and carbonate?

Thanks!

Lou

I'd leave it go for 21 days, then you should be good to go. Using the hydrometer you could still go by finish gravity, take a sample and check, once it stays the same for 3 days it is finished. DO NOT pour the sample back, leave it in the sample tube and wad up a paper towel to loosely plug the top. When done drink the sample and you will have an idea of the flavor, which will get better as it carbonates. Checking OG and FG will give you the necessary reading to figure ABV%.

Dawg LB Steve wrote:I'd leave it go for 21 days, then you should be good to go. Using the hydrometer you could still go by finish gravity, take a sample and check, once it stays the same for 3 days it is finished. DO NOT pour the sample back, leave it in the sample tube and wad up a paper towel to loosely plug the top. When done drink the sample and you will have an idea of the flavor, which will get better as it carbonates. Checking OG and FG will give you the necessary reading to figure ABV%.

Great! Thank You!

If you're at day 15, the time for active foaming/bubbling are long past, so it's no surprise that you're not seeing any at this point. As for the clarity, it's normal for the beer to still be somewhat cloudy when it's bottling time. It will continue to clear after bottling. As Dawg said, 3 weeks should put you in the "definitely safe" zone -- and if you have the hydrometer readings to confirm completion, so much the better. Good luck!

derekscott85 wrote:Either way I've got the bug and I'm hoping to brew something Belgian sooner rather than later.

Welcome to the Borg! And when you decide to brew that Belgian, feel free to ask me for some tips just let me know what type of Belgian you are going for. Half of my brew year is spent making mostly Belgians and Saisons. (the warm half of my year). Belgians are not hard to brew, they just don't necessarily follow the same rules/advice you will get for other beers.