# Brewing In Brisbane Too Hot



## Ade42 (4/3/09)

Since leaving my job of cinema technician (IT Head, Electronics Tech, Metelshop helper) due to 3 years of VERY poor pay, All that glitters in the cinema business is VERY fake on the "Other" side, I personlay Bult Most of the digital cinemas in Australia today, and helped "fix the software and crated and ran a helpdesk to support the 100's of cinemas, So I was getting 28k a year, yep pretty bloody shit eh? so I walked after boss denyed me raise and warned me he would "not give me a regfrance" As I was the ONLY IT GUY there and he was well now.. fucked.. thinking every IT helpdesk companiy would be wanting to hire me! (very wrong).. Worked for "cash in hand" for the last year at a hardware shop and now Unemployed, Big time, (I apply for 200 jobs per week) Even brand new technologys and hardware Ive developed over 10 years to restore Archive audio can't get me anything

Ok preamble over and yep, Ive found I cant now buy a slab AND be on the dole, It's prety crap so I took the plunge and with my last $$ I got me a shiney new Coopers Kit. 

Even though Im new to the game a helped my brother about 15 years ago make a brew (which was like rocket fuel) 
Seeing that about 10-15$ can get me 20 odd liters of the stuff and "I" controll all aspects of the process I started my first Brew lastnight

OK Saw the crappy DVD (blimey those coopers guys should have got me to Render that bloody pixilated DVD) and saw that Thetere bloke (wife was laughing and i said who's that, se told me AFTER it was over) 

Before I even thought about this i spent many an hour on this forum to see what you guys think of the coopers kit, Ok most of you brew with "real" gear, and i am now toatly hooked on reading and hoping one day to have some "real" gear of my own, But Most thought the coopers kit "OK" so I got that one, and it comes with the plastic bottles (which was a BIG incentive) 
more than 15 years ago my bro did a brew and used Plastic bottles, In fact 1.25 homebrand lemonade bottles!! 
All his mates thaought him toatly mad to bottle with PET bottles, so I was in for a shock when i saw the "bottles" But hey for the price and for my Thirst I won't complain. 
Now I live in brisie in one of those "quenslander" houses (ive Just moved from NSW to find work, ha ha bloody ha) so Under the house is a room which for the most part is about 10c colder than the "house" which is in the mid late 30's most days. 
So I asumed that water in a wort would be about 20-27c most times,, Boy was I wrong.

So last night I made the batch, found a quite,dark coldish spot for the wurt to "live"in. the temp was 39c as I used a bit too much boiled water to disolve the dex. waited a couple of hours with the lid screwed tightly on and the airlock in place. after 2-3 (or more) hours it had got to 32-34 and It was getting a bit late so i thought Bugger it and put in the yeast packet. 

I thought at that temp i must have ruined it, so today ive had a look, Nice foamy "head" no bubbling "action" from airlock but foam means Im ok, But I was in for a shock, the temp is 30c ALL THE TIME!! 
Will this make the brew taste shit? Ive read loads on here and other placed that above 25c your beer will taste kinda off! AHHHH
There is NO way that I can get an extra fridge or anything like that, can bairly afford to eat! so any more $$ is right out of the question. 
The brew is the typical Coopers lager, 
But here's a question, If the temp in Brisbane is "always" going to be this hot (the last 3 months it has) is there a type of brew which handels the hotter temps "better"?


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## reviled (4/3/09)

Hey mate, sorry to hear about the hard times...

Your brew most likely will taste like shit because of the hot ferment, you might get fusel alcohols coming through and it will probably be unpleasent, but it will still be beer...

Cheapest and easiest option to keep the temp down, is simply a bucket, any kind of bucket that the fermenter will fit in, fill with water, ice, and throw a wet towel over the fermenter.. Other people have used broken fridges and just replaced ice blocks inside made with 1.5litre PET bottles (ive done this before), or if you dont have a broken fridge, any old box or polystyrene container that will fit the fermenter and has a lid will do the job... Freeze a whole bunch of old soft drink bottles with water in them, and rotate... 

Hope that helps..


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## Jakechan (4/3/09)

Gday Ade,
Welcome to AHB mate. Sorry to hear about the work stuff, hopefully the homebrew will help to a take your mind off it if nothing else.

The broken fridge idea is a goodun. You should be able to get one for nix, either at the dump, or just ask around. It works great. Anb esky will work better if you had one large enough to house the fermenter, but thats unlikely.

your beer will still be drinkable, so I wouldnt worry too much, but at the very least do the wet towel thing as suggested by Reviled. Let us know how you go.


Cheers,
Jake


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## Frag_Dog (4/3/09)

Hi Ade42

I use a plastic storage tub with frozen 2L and 1.25L softdrink bottles to keep it cool. The water makes it up to about 5cm below the beer / wort level. Every day I cycle them out and into the freezer. This keeps the water that surrounds the beer / wort nice and cool. I don't know the temp because I stuffed the temp guage on the side and cant be bothered getting another... Just make sure you clean the tap before bottling because nasties can grow in the water over a week.

I also recently started home brewing and a bloke told me he leaves his 2 months before drinking. I've started doing the same and it makes quite a difference (with the Kit and Kilo jobs anyway).


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## Bribie G (4/3/09)

Hi Ade

Welcome to the forum. I started brewing after a 20 year break because I was a cask wine drinker through finances not choice and reckoned I could make a decent drop at a fraction of the price charged by the breweries. Good move as well because I believe casks are going to be slugged in the next budget and will probably disappear. I can empathise with you, having been variously a single dad on a pension, a mature student on Austudy and later a carer on a pension again but now working as many hours as allowed by Centrelink so I'm not all that badly off compared to many. Count blessings hey.

I'm currently brewing out two batches and starting a third this afternoon, and I'm on Bribie. Fortunately I have a spare fridge in the garage. I use this to store my hops and grains and yeasts, to chill my drinkables and it can fit a 'cube' for secondary fermentation (you'll learn all about that later, for kit brewing it's not critical). However the main chore of the old fridge is to produce 2L frozen PET bottles. 

I have a free dead fridge I wheeled from up the street, and I feed it two frozen PET bottles, changed morning and night. Currently sitting on 18 degrees fermenting a UK Bitter.





In the working fridge is a bunnings jerry can (what we call a cube) of American Amber in cold conditioning prior to bottling. 

I'm doing another brew this afternoon, there's no room in the dead fridge so what I'm going to do is:

put a beach towel on the garage floor.
place fermenter and surround with three frozen PETs
Wrap the whole thing in a doonah.
Change PET's morning and night.
After about a week I'll cube it and cold condition it.

This is my 'backup' system and works fine without messing around with water baths, wet towels etc. However it's only going to keep the brew at around 22 degrees, but for what it is, that's a reasonable temperature. (a honey ale using an ale yeast). With the reported drop in temp next week after the change, I might get 20.

If you can get a supply of three frozen PETs at a time going, it's a workable system and April and the cooler weather is just round the corner.

Cheers


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## glennheinzel (4/3/09)

Your beer will probably be okay because the kit yeasts are generally designed to run at warmer temperatures. Refer to your instructions for the prefered temp range. 

Besides the other (excellent) suggestions on ways to control temperature, you might be better off letting the warmer weather work for you. By that I mean that there are beer styles/yeasts that require the warmer temps (sometimes up to 40 deg C) to get the right end result. 

Check out the following information on saison-
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style16.php#1c

Of course you then need a specialty yeast such as either-
http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=60
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp565.html

If price is an issue, you can buy the specialty strain (around $15) and then split it (as per the following instructions) to minimise costs-
http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/webcontent26.htm 


I'm not sure what kits would work well with a saison yeast so my apologies if this turns out to be a red herring.


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## mwd (4/3/09)

Frag_Dog said:


> Hi Ade42
> 
> I use a plastic storage tub with frozen 2L and 1.25L softdrink bottles to keep it cool. The water makes it up to about 5cm below the beer / wort level. Every day I cycle them out and into the freezer. This keeps the water that surrounds the beer / wort nice and cool. I don't know the temp because I stuffed the temp guage on the side and cant be bothered getting another... Just make sure you clean the tap before bottling because nasties can grow in the water over a week.
> 
> I also recently started home brewing and a bloke told me he leaves his 2 months before drinking. I've started doing the same and it makes quite a difference (with the Kit and Kilo jobs anyway).



As above and get an old towel or cloth to drape around fermenter with the ends in the cold water bath. Keep the towel nice and wet and the evaporation will keep the fermenter a few degrees cooler. Replacing the frozen bottles twice a day should get a manageable 20C without too much difficulty. Using the cloth you don't need to fill the storage tub right up with water, half the height should be ample. Good airflow will also keep the temps down a little bit and aid evaporation cooling.


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## marlow_coates (4/3/09)

I agree with all above suggestions which will keep the temp down and improve the brew.

However, I really only brew at whatever the temp is downstairs so go with the above option of making the weather work for you.

Get a good yeast for hotter weather (search sponsors above), and split it into many.

If you are diligent you can make a single specialty yeast stretch for a long time.

Have a search and read on culturing and building yeast farms (cheap and very cost effective).

Good luck,

Marlow


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## geoffd (4/3/09)

Get a second hand freezer and put a mashmaster tempmate on it. (freezers are the same as fridges but with way better efficiency due to better insulation. You then dont have the constant worry and labour intensivity with cooling in laundry tubs etc.
Bottles - get em for free either ask your local pub to keep the bottles you want or go along to the next brew comp in Brissy, there's always loads of bottles discarded.
Find (probably through AHB) brewers who might live near you, you never know you might find a brew buddy to share equipment costs with or someone who does all grain brewing to learn from.
Good luck on the job front, hope it all works out...you were right to tell him where to shove his $28k...lifes to short to be a slave to an unapreciative employer, no one else will buy you a house and 28k a year wont do it either.


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## staggalee (4/3/09)

Father Jack said:


> Get a second hand freezer and put a mashmaster tempmate on it.



Did you read his first post? What did he say?
He said there is NO way he can afford a frdge, he can hardly afford to eat etc etc.
And you tell him to buy a freezer and tempmate?

Sometimes, I wonder..  

stagga.


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## Ade42 (4/3/09)

Thanks !
will go looking for cheap containers (living in a friends half renovated house) or there might be one outside! 

how about the sudden "shock" of lowering the temp. Do you do it gradually or just go for broke!
Just found the answer , large plastic box which has ample room to put a few frozen bottels around the wort (right name, don't wanna sound like a fool!)

Ill go past the servo after GF has come back from job interview (she's got a degree but cant find work, even thouth spent the last 4 years "temping" Job's are THAT scarce at the moment)
Its been at 30c since 8pm last night 18 odd hours, and was at least 34 when I did the Yeast thang.
Been reading a LOT of this fourum today (a lot of it goes over my head at the mo but i'll learn!) and its the best thing since sliced bread!
I wish there was somthing like this 15 years ago when i helped create a "go blind" Beer/Moonshine, My brother insisted in 3kg's of sugur!

And yep *BribieG*! I am a bit of a cask wine drinker due to finances and had the same thought, I could do this!! and give up the red gutrot! 

How much salt per Lt would you use in the "frezzing blocks"

Now I want this beer to imprese the GF, so should I chuck the lot out and buy a kit (is that the name for the Can?) from a Brew shop? or a better "store" one, This might be off topic, But I like my beers strong % 5+. and sont want to be making any 3-4% stuff. 
would it be wise to get rid of this one and start with ice bottles at the ready and buy some real yeast and tim from brew shop? 

From what ive read here, the Kits that come with the coopers kits (see my kit problem) aparently arnt any good? or from what ive read using a "real" kit and some liquid yeast would be a great improvement?!?!? 

I know you probaly get a load of newbies asking the same questions day by day, and apologise if it seems a bit naff!

But your ideas for cooling are top noch and far better than the other (US of A) forum I asked at today. Damm Yanks

Yeah I put the "life story" bit in (sadly its all true) so i would not get swamped with people trying to sell me their old fridges, 
Yep Im on the dole (until I have to do a Work for the dole course) 
But I can stretch to getting a new can etc. 
Its amazing what you can live on if you eat everything from ALDI !!


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## geoffd (4/3/09)

staggalee said:


> Did you read his first post? What did he say?
> He said there is NO way he can afford a frdge, he can hardly afford to eat etc etc.
> 
> Sometimes, I wonder..
> ...




DID YOU READ MY POST: "GET" A FREEZER - did i say "buy"

I picked up a fridge for nowt, sometimes people just get rid of them. Sometimes, I wonder...  
Tempmate is about $55 - a good investment. If he's that hungry he should be growing his own veggies or give up drinking until he has a job.


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## Bribie G (4/3/09)

:icon_offtopic: 

Yup it's amazing what you can get from ALDI 

My bottling system.




Actually since my finances improved I've migrated a lot of my brew to glass and Coopers PET so I'm not completely feral


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## Ade42 (4/3/09)

"If he's that hungry he should be growing his own veggies or give up drinking until he has a job."

Yep Ive done all that, But can you imagine a life of looking for work 8 hrs a day (yep it takes THAT long) and get 10-20 knockback letters a day,, how long could your soul not crack at that rate. Ive been doing it for 4 months at the moment and yes gave up the grog for a time. but life's or should i say Existance not much without a brew to ease your mind at night! 

and Aldi has loads of cheap Noodels I kinda like at the moment (with a chopped frankfurt and some chili sause) Cheap and filling. 
this is why im trying to brew, I used to shop at coles now only shop at aldi, and had after a few weeks enought to get myself a grlorous kit!

And How many Archive audio Restorere's do you know! there Aint any work even in IT helpdesks or at servo's 
Ive applied at Bunnings but it takes 3 weeks till they grat youi an interview!


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## staggalee (4/3/09)

Father Jack said:


> DID YOU READ MY POST: "GET" A FREEZER - did i say "buy"
> 
> I picked up a fridge for nowt, sometimes people just get rid of them. Sometimes, I wonder...
> Tempmate is about $55 - a good investment. If he's that hungry he should be growing his own veggies or give up drinking until he has a job.



you can buy a lot of frankfurts for $55 tho. and it`s a bad time to be trying to grow vege`s in this heat.

stagga.

,


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## mwd (4/3/09)

BribieG said:


> :icon_offtopic:
> 
> Yup it's amazing what you can get from ALDI
> 
> ...



:icon_offtopic: P.S. Don't drink the 'Cola' at Bribie's house after two bottles you may get dizzy and fall down.


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## wakkatoo (4/3/09)

interesting thread. Here I was thinking it was about it being too hot in Brisbane <_<


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## Gavo (4/3/09)

Ade42 said:


> how about the sudden "shock" of lowering the temp. Do you do it gradually or just go for broke!



Don't worry about the sudden shock as that large a volume won't cool suddenly even if put in the fridge. You are only aiming at getting it close to 18 - 20 degrees anyway. The yeast will handle it.



Ade42 said:


> should I chuck the lot out and buy a kit (is that the name for the Can?) from a Brew shop? or a better "store" one, This might be off topic, But I like my beers strong % 5+. and sont want to be making any 3-4% stuff.
> would it be wise to get rid of this one and start with ice bottles at the ready and buy some real yeast and tim from brew shop?
> 
> From what ive read here, the Kits that come with the coopers kits (see my kit problem) aparently arnt any good? or from what ive read using a "real" kit and some liquid yeast would be a great improvement?!?!?



If you can, get some more bottles you may want to store this brew for a few months in the bottle to settle any off flavors out. I used to brew at 27 degrees C before I knew any better. h34r: A month or two in the bottle made them drinkable. Get more bottles, glass ones can easily be sourced from a myriad of places for nix. Clean and sanitize them they will be good.

Coopers supermarket kits shouldn't be overlooked. Treated right they make a good inexpensive beer. Use dextrose instead of sugar and you will get better results. Use a quality dry yeast like US-05, which you would get from most HB shops and you will get even better results (clean and reuse the yeast for multiple brews). Watch your sanitation and temps. Do these things and you will get a better beer than most mega-brewery's. 

I got into home brewing originally because it is cheaper. I have gone past kits and still do it because it is cheaper, oh and its a good obsession hobby.

Cheers and welcome to AHB

Gavo.


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## Benbrewer (4/3/09)

Hey Ade,

Good to see you brewing. I do kits, now in kegs (as of 2 weeks) and you can make a great beer straight out of the kit. I'm in Perth and it's not as hot as Brisbane, but can get warm.

My two cents,

Don't throw out the beer. Did you take an initial specifc gravity from the fermenter? If not, then take one now. If it drops over the next few days, then you haven't killed the yeast and will end up with beer. Next batch if it's hot use less boiling water and top up with cool water to keep your temp lower. My last batch of Coopers lager went in the fermenter and was 30C and the next day the fermenter temp read 32. I am drinking it now and it is excellent.

My Dad is in Coopers plains and he has been brewing for about 11 years. His brew is kept outside and his bottles in cupboards in his shed and it gets hot. End result, an excellent kit beer.

I prefer glass, but plastic bottles are ok. I used to do party packs in 2 litre coke bottles, just put in 2 an 1/2 teaspoons of sugar in the big bottle. You can collect up soft drink bottles as you use them to supplement your bottle collection. You will need more than 30 botles otherwise you will be waiting in between batches and have no beer to drink. I used to work on having 150 bottles ready to drink. Sounds a lot but have a few mates over on a weekend and a batch will disappear. Don't use Fanta bottles because even after washing them out the smell stays in the lid. You can use the same lids over and over, just sterilse properly. I used to use a tea towel and really screw the lids on tight. Also very hard to blow up a plastic bottle from too much sugar.

Try and wait a minimum of 2weeks before drinking once bottled. Personally, once my bottles got to 3 months they weren't any better at 12 months. Some will disagree but except for stouts, my beer was good at 1 month, great at 2 and excellent at 3 months.

So stick with this beer if the SG drops and bottle it. Brew another immediately afterwards and work on your bottle collection. Try and make it cooler. Keep it in the coolest place you can. When it is hot in Perth, I can get a batch fermented in 4-5 days according to the SG and it is still ok.


Bout 10 years ago, I was really strapped for cash to the point that I could only afford to buy Coles Homebrand homebrew. The lager turned out great and was cheaper than any other beer. I just used normal sugar and it was a good beer, although was beer at 6 weeks than at a month, so don't rule it out.

Label the caps of the bottle so you know how old it is and what brew. 

Anyway, even if the beer tastes average, it's still beer. :beer:


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## Steve (4/3/09)

Mate

If your up for it you should hassle the National Sound and Archive Museum here in Canberra. Anything, and I mean anything on film with or without sound that is Australian they've got it. I work near there and go in there quite often to see the old classic australian docos etc etc in my lunch break. They are always after qualified people to look after our film history. THOUGH you would have to move to Canberra!  

Grab yourself a dead fridge from somewhere, stick your fermenter in it, get a few old 2 litre bottles filled with frozen water and circulate them every morning and night to keep the temps of your fermenter down. Or stick it in one of those plastic storage boxes half filled with water and frozen bottles of ice.

Good luck fella
Cheers
Steve


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## Fatgodzilla (4/3/09)

BribieG said:


> :icon_offtopic:
> 
> Yup it's amazing what you can get from ALDI ... so I'm not completely feral




He is completely feral.


But he is ingenious and his progressive brewing systems is a great role model for new brewers. 

If only he's stop killing the local flora and flora with that acid cola !



> Grab yourself a dead fridge from somewhere, stick your fermenter in it, get a few old 2 litre bottles filled with frozen water and circulate them every morning and night to keep the temps of your fermenter down. Or stick it in one of those plastic storage boxes half filled with water and frozen bottles of ice.



Simple advice and it works. Done this method in Alice Springs, Wodonga and here on coast. It'll work well in Qld.


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## bowie in space (4/3/09)

> life's or should i say Existance not much without a brew to ease your mind at night!


 
Too right buddy :icon_cheers: . 

Something will turn up, just hold tight. Sometimes i'd rather a drink than something to eat. Afterall, beer IS life.

+1 for the wet towel trick. I am yet to purchase a tempmate so until then a cold wet towel draped around my fermenter with a pedastel fan blowing right on it and keep the towel wet by soaking it twice a day. Keeps it a fair bit cooler than the ambient temp.
Checked the other day and the ambient temp was 28C, but fermenter read 20C. B) 

Cheers
Bowie


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## Ade42 (4/3/09)

"If your up for it you should hassle the National Sound and Archive Museum here in Canberra. Anything, and I mean anything on film with or without sound that is Australian they've got it. I work near there and go in there quite often to see the old classic australian docos etc etc in my lunch break. They are always after qualified people to look after our film history. THOUGH you would have to move to Canberra!"

Yep that's the plan, Ive been doing this kind of work for 5 years and have developed hardware + Software that leave most "transfers" for dead (examples on my blog!) and moving to canberra would be no prob. Im making them a "demo disc" etc at the moment. 

Thanks for all the great comments, I havent chucked the brew out and will preserve over the next few days just to be sure. 

Ive found some 2L fruit juce containers and filled em with salty water and am now frezzing them. 

IN the meantime I placed the wort into a large plactic container and plonked 2 3kg "servo Ice" into it. Now its at 22c and all the Ice is melted. hopefully Ill have 4 "ice bricks" in the moring!!


















Hope the pics arnt Tooo Big!! 

I found this outside and gave it a bit of a scrub!! Tomorow Ill put the Ice blocks in and see

How far should the water level Be?

the SG before yeast was 1.040
and now it's 1.031 (I think!!) 

and thanks again for your help. most fourms (esp archive audio ones) are pretty bloody rude and self centered , what a breath of fresh air this one is thanks again


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## mwd (4/3/09)

Water Level looks good get it wrapped up in the wet towel pronto.

The stick on thermometers are only good as an estimate within about 5C or so.


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## Ade42 (5/3/09)

wow this morning expecting it to be at 30c again It's not! It's still at 22c, But it's only 10am and things only START to get hotter from here on in! 

Ive put 2, 2lt frozen bottles in for the moment, Have 2 more 1.5lt in the freezer for tonight and another 2 2lt just put in to replace the others! 

But I spose I now have another question!.

I had to move the wort,fermenter,barrrel thang, about 3 times (to find a container that the "Tap" would Like) and now this morning there's no "bubbles" on the surface, Its pretty much clear with a little Froth but nothing like it was yesterday when it was 1-2 inches high. 

Ive made precautions of buying a new "Tin" a Tooheys Draft variety (8$ at wollies) and some more dex. Im going into a brew shop to ask all about good yeast today, 

As far as i have read, Can you make a "tin" Better with "real" yeast? 

Ive also warned the GF about trying to get a cool drink from the salty bottles, nearly caught her filling a glass!!


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## Frag_Dog (5/3/09)

I have the water in mine as high as i can get it. I usualy leave about 2-5cm around the top so removing and added bottles doesn't spill water all over the place.

I did the towel method once and it seemed to work quite well, but now I have a container that will fill up to within a few cm of the top of the wort so I don't bother.

I figure with this setup (and I might be wrong) that if you go a bit too cold for the yeast, all it will do is extend the amount of time it will take to ferment out.


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## Ade42 (5/3/09)

Thats what I was thinking, Leave it a bit longer, Its almost completely clear (the surface, looking though the lid) hardly any "foam" left now. Im gonna give it a move while taking a reading so it might kick the yeast back active again, If not Ill leave it a few days and bottle it anyway, Ill save my "coopers bottles" for the next brew! 

The towel method has worked very well, Ive used a old double bed sheet and wrapped that around it, Its now sitting at 20c and the two Frozen 2lt bottles are now complety thawed out. 
Ill keep checking it tonight and Add some more water to bring the level up, I can probaly get the water about half way before the "handels" of the box leak water out. The other idea I had was a Plastic Garbage, But the tap gets in the way!


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## chappo1970 (5/3/09)

Ade42 said:


> Thats what I was thinking, Leave it a bit longer...
> 
> The towel method has worked very well, Ive used a old double bed sheet and wrapped that around it, Its now sitting at 20c and the two Frozen 2lt bottles are now complety thawed out.
> Ill keep checking it tonight and Add some more water to bring the level up, I can probaly get the water about half way before the "handels" of the box leak water out. The other idea I had was a Plastic Garbage, But the tap gets in the way!




Looks the goods now! Your next brew will be even better. You just might want to watch that tap being sumerged in water, it's open to infection IMO so a quick squirt of sanitiser before bottling would be the go to stop the nasties getting into the bottles.  

Otherwise your half way there.


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## Gavo (5/3/09)

Ade42 said:


> this morning there's no "bubbles" on the surface, Its pretty much clear with a little Froth but nothing like it was yesterday when it was 1-2 inches high.



Sounds like its close to being finished. The high temps it has been at will make it ferment out very fast. Lower temps will take longer but with far better results. It looks like you have your temp control sorted now. Use your hydrometer and check it over the next few days. Three stable readings the same over three days will tell the story. Most kits with dex will finish around 1008. Leave it for a week to let it settle out and be sure its finished.



Ade42 said:


> As far as i have read, Can you make a "tin" Better with "real" yeast?



A better yeast will improve a tin. US-05 (American ale yeast)is a good inexpensive dry yeast. Nottingham is a good English dry yeast, it also settles out very well.

Cheers
Gavo.


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## Ade42 (5/3/09)

Thanks, will try to get me some US-05 for the next brew,

Now its at about 19c and the "top" of the fermenter has stopped (I think) no froth just some small bubbles and pretty clear. Will Try to leave it a few more days before taking any readings (will have to lift it out and it will be "shaken" but not stired)

When I take readings I let some run out of the tap first, (perversely) drink it and then fill the "barometer' 

I think that seeining ive now decreased the temp some 15c the yeast may be a lot "slower" than before and will leave it to do it's job. Christ it's bloody hard not poking about with it! 

Here's a curly question ive not found (sofar) here 

I have a few 375ml glass bottles and they are of the Twist Type variety, Can i fill some of these and twist the Lid back on (after "sanitising") Ive had a go with one, filled it with soda water and shook the hell out of it and nothing "came out" Is this OK? can i use these or do i need to just stick to Plastic (which is fine with me) just bought some more Plastic cooper bottles at 13$ for 15 Or am I mad


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## Pollux (5/3/09)

Go the BribieG route, 2L bottles for $1, if you have no Aldi nearby, try the traffic stoppers range at GoLo....


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## Bribie G (5/3/09)

I just bought a pack of Coopers PET from IGA for $16 so you aren't mad  

Up to now I have bottled in 2L PET and have had great results, but now migrating to smaller bottles and find that the smaller Coopers type bottles are good for taking beer to places and for club competitions. The 740ml bottles are good and reliable and of course you don't need a capping machine and crown seals like you need with glass tallie bottles.

I bottled a brew today and it perfectly filled an ALDI carton of six 2L PETs plus a carton of 15 740ml Coopers PETs.

Ideal setup IMHO


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## Gavo (5/3/09)

Ade42 said:


> Christ it's bloody hard not poking about with it!



Patience grasshopper. It will all happen in good time, best to leave the yeast do their thing. Although I still look at my brew each time I am in the shed. 



Ade42 said:


> Here's a curly question ive not found (sofar) here
> 
> I have a few 375ml glass bottles and they are of the Twist Type variety, Can i fill some of these and twist the Lid back on (after "sanitising") Ive had a go with one, filled it with soda water and shook the hell out of it and nothing "came out" Is this OK? can i use these or do i need to just stick to Plastic (which is fine with me) just bought some more Plastic cooper bottles at 13$ for 15 Or am I mad



I only bottle in glass stubbies. I would never reuse the caps as IMHO it would pose to easy a risk of infecting the beer. You need to use new crown seals each time. They are only a couple of dallars per 100 pack. A good capper is essential for your sanity though.

Cheers
Gavo.


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## mwd (5/3/09)

Coopers PET bottles are usually $13.99 at Kmart or less on special $15.99 at Coles if I remember correctly. 

1.25L soft drink bottles are a handy size for a brew. Pick up loads of those for nix. Pity most are clear though. Coke a Cola seems to be the toughest material.


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## geoff_tewierik (5/3/09)

Ade42, PM me, I've got a fridge for you, just needs a new plug on the end, and if I can get to Bunnings I might even fix it for you.


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## reviled (6/3/09)

geoff_tewierik said:


> Ade42, PM me, I've got a fridge for you, just needs a new plug on the end, and if I can get to Bunnings I might even fix it for you.



Dont you just love the brewing community :wub:


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## Gavo (6/3/09)

Can't pass up an offer like that. Get it before he changes his mind.

Gavo.


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## Pollux (6/3/09)

Jesus, thats awesome community spirit there...

Anyone in Sydney want to give me one?  oh, and I'll need it shipped to my place.


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## geoffd (6/3/09)

geoff_tewierik said:


> Ade42, PM me, I've got a fridge for you, just needs a new plug on the end, and if I can get to Bunnings I might even fix it for you.



Good on ya. that should make life a whole lot easier for him, has anyone got a spare thermostat?


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## RobboMC (6/3/09)

Never fear about your first batch, it'll be the best beer you've ever tasted, simply because it's yours!

My first batch came out at 31 deg C. It tends to come with getting a fermenter for Xmas and starting in Feb.
I used my hot jug to decant tap water into the fermenter, transferring all the emboddied heat from the jug casing
into my brew, aaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh!

A brewing buddy of mine says that if you're learned something from the batch then it isn't wasted, so always look to
learn and improve next time.

If you want to impress your GF get a Muntons kit and add a full can of liquid malt AND 1/2 kg of brew enhancer mix.

This will be about $40 for the batch, which is not cheap and could be too much for you at the moment. Ferment it at 20 deg C
in April or May, Autumn is a good time for making beer. Be warned, making superb beer can get more expensive.

The Traditional Bitter kit has enough bitterness to carry all that malt and the result should be the best beer she's ever seen or tasted. The Muntons Yorkshire Bitter kit also makes a very good beer, smooth and caramelly.
I make it with just a single kg of stuff called Morgans Caramalt and make up to 20 litres, not 23.
If you like dark beer, the Muntons Nut Brown Ale is great as well.
Otherwise, go to the Home Brew Shop and buy any of the Morgans kits or Thomas Coopers range. They are a couple of dollars more, but worth it.

If you want stronger beer, put 3-4 litres less water in the fermenter. You can add extra malt, but the 'kits' will only balance out about 3/4 kg of malt, some a touch more but not much. If you want to add lots of malt to get stronger beer, use a kit with the word bitter in the name. Don't just add lots of dextrose, it thins the beer, adds alcohol without flavour, and turns what would have been a nice drop into something similar to the commercial offerings of the major brewing companies.

PS on bottles..
No you're not mad, I have er, eh, um, about 160 Coopers PET bottles, best part is over 100 of them are full.
It took me a couple of years to build up, just bought a box every now and then. Oh and 30 in the in-laws garage as well, for when we go over there.


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## Ade42 (6/3/09)

Wow thanks Geoff for your very kind offer!! Unfortunately I'm kinda in Rental Limbo at the moment and am staying at relo's unfinished renovation. they want to sell pretty soon so ill have to keep my possessions kinda "light", It cost a small fortune moving from Newcastle NSW to here in December and If we have to move interstate again I'm trying to have as less as possible! I had to leave my massive LP/Acetate/78rpm collection in the back of a mates shed as the cost of moving a sevral boxes of these cost more than what I paid for originally! 

So Until we both have jobs were stuck in this limbo like existence, partner has just secured 1 month Temp job with tax department but even that is not "good enough" for any real estate agent! But I "could" have a job at Bunnings Ill just have to wait and see. 

But thanks again, This is what forums (on any topic) should be about, People with a passion for a topic helping each other with their built up knowledge of the subject. 
Since being "online" some 16 odd years ive been a member of many thousand forums and in all that time ive never seen a bunch of top blokes anywhere, Offering such advice at the drop of a hat. 

Ive been on all kinds of forums where a "newbie" asks some (to him) valid questions and gets abused and ends up giving up. 


The Temp issues look pretty good at the moment, I use 6 Ice bottles in rotation and the temp never seems to go above 22-24, It Looks like its around 19-20 most of the time. The Thermometer i think is stuffed kind of. 
Its getting all "steamed" up and stuff, well it is underwater, Ill see what's on offer at a BrewShop if I get the chance,

Ill have a look using some Aldi Bottles as well.

Thanks Guys

and thanks RobbieMC Ill keep that in mind. Might make a few "Regular" Tin ones first before venturing into "better beer land"!


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## Brisfox (6/3/09)

What about 750 ml wine bottles with the screw cap lids. Would they be any good or are the lids no good under pressure?


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## scoundrel (6/3/09)

all i ever do is 2-3 frozen coke/juice bottles and the drape a wet towel over the top and sit the hole lot in the bath tub.

but my first batch was a morgans stout, that sat in a shed at my last rental that got up to 38c and dropped to 11c at night. it still tasted great after a couple months in the bottle. the moral of the story, there's no such thing as a bad beer(most of the time) and kits are ******* hard to kill.


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## Benbrewer (9/3/09)

Brisfox said:


> What about 750 ml wine bottles with the screw cap lids. Would they be any good or are the lids no good under pressure?


You probably won't get a seal on the wine bottles that you could guarantee unless you can get screw top sparkling wine bottles and I don't know if they can take the same pressure as beer or soft drinks. You could give it a go if you are prepared to waste some beer. If it works or doesn't post it on the forum so we can all learn. You never know, it might be a new untapped resource!


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## slowlearner (9/3/09)

Hey ADE.
I'm down in tamworth where it's jusy as hot as up there, except it's dry as a nun's nasty.
I had the same problem as you on my first brew, pitched the yeast @ 26deg, thought I'd killed it, but was not toooo bad once I got to the end of the batch after 3 months.
Over the course of my brewing days I've experimented with a few cooling set-ups. I tried the* A*)towel trick, but couldn't get the temp down past approx 21deg. Tried sitting it in *B*)a shallow tray made of MDF with water in it with the towel around it soaking up water, same thing. Tried *C*)adding a small reseviour of water with a small pond pump circulating water to the top of he fermenter and letting it run down the outside with a fan blowing on it, still not better than 20deg approx.

I remembered seeing a thread elsewhere on this site mentioning a can-cooler that can fit 100 cans that are perfect for the job. I set out to all the camping stores but the best I could do was still way too small. I eventually stumbled across one at Bunnings for $32. It's collapsable, made of flexible esky material with a zipper lid. The COOPERS fermenter fit in it perfectly, I just had to cut a small slit in the lid for the airlock to sit thru. I experimented with different size bottles of salty water, finding 600ml coke bottles not enough. I'm currently using 2.4ltr juice bottles filled with salty frozen water. They fit in snuggly around the fermenter. I had a crack at a wheat beer a month ago, I was using 3 bottles which I would replace every morning to keep the temp low and stable thru the day. I found I had approx 7-8deg, a bit low. I had to knock it back to just the 1 bottle to get approx 13-14deg. 

If you want a good cheap way of cooling, I reckon the cooler bag is king.

I would love to go the old fridge and a temp controller, but alas, selling my wares on the street corner isn't what it used to be. May have to invest in the back, sack and crack again.....


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## Bribie G (9/3/09)

Ok, here's a method I have been using for brewing at around 21 degrees in SEQ in a garage that gets up to 37 when locked up. Now that we have lost the hot nights I reckon this will see me through till the cooler months.

I have a dead fridge plus PET bottles and this is great for my 18 degree brews, change only once a day at the moment or twice a day if I want to hit 14 or so.

However to ramp up production I'm doing some ales and have, for some time, been using this 'overflow' area for the brews that don't need to be in the main ferm. fridge. Currently an old ale and a braggott (honey beer) both using US-05. They can sit quite nicely on 21 degrees or a tad less depending on ambient using the following system:

Here's the sequence using a towel on the floor, a big beach towel and a single doonah (chinese feather variety, cheap as chips from reject shop or wherever) and a couple of frozen 2L pets. You can just see the other PET through the crack between the fermenters.







No water baths, wet towels etc. 

Floats my boat.

The general principle is that once the brew gets down to about 20 then there is a fair amount of 'thermal inertial mass' there and it's easy to hold the temperature there fairly constantly provided the brew is well insulated.

Change bottles morning and night.


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