1st time home brewer- couple quesitons

[mongey]

so late last night had a look before bed and all water in the airlock was pushed into 1 chamber and had a little bubbling.Looked at the carboy temp and it had bumped up to 19 , so I figured I'd take the bags off overnight while dark and see if it stabilises the temp a little as it went up 4 degrees yesterday . temp had dropped back down to 18 this morning but the water had dropped back into both chambers , so not as much co2 pressure I guess. so bagged it back up for the day



was a little dissapointed. the bubbling is a good visual sign for a newbie . may take a hydrometer reading tonight just to see how far its come

oh and has anyone ever found and lids to fit duvel 750ml's in austarlia ? did some searhcing and it looks like the bigger size you can get here wont fit . but doesnt hurt to ask as I have 4 or 5 of the bottles .also have 4 or 5 tres monts bottles but guessing you'd have to cork those as they come corked

 

[angus_grant]

Way home from work bought a case of coppers stout longies. Will polish them off in time for bottling and will now have enough 750ml to cover it . Will just use the drops in 750 mls for the 1st brew. Will use the 660ml and bulk priming for the next batch. Happy to play it simple for 1st bottling.

48 hours in , brew is looking good. No bubbling yet but it has jumped up to 18 degrees. Will keep my eye on the temp now. Really interesting process.

No-one has mentioned this yet, but don't sweat the no bubbling thing. It's quite easy to not get an absolute seal on the fermentor and the result is that the air-lock doesn't bubble.
waaahhh, no fermentation, my yeasties are dead, i've got an infection, etc, etc..

Go with visual signs like krausen on top of the wort, condensation on inside of lid, temp increases not tied to actual temp (meaning yeast is busy gobbling sugars and producing heat), and the most accurate sign: decreasing specific gravity with your hydrometer.

At some point do some research on using glad wrap to replace the lid and decide whether it is for you. it's mesmerising being able to watch the krausen through the clear glad wrap.

And +1 for bulk prime, but only when you're comfortable with the carb drops priming method.

And when I was purely bottling I had a silicon tube which I put on to the fermentor tap and the racking wand in the end of the tube. I had the bottles stacked in front of the fermentor and simply put the wand into each bottle. Was much easier than picking up each bottle to fill it up.

Welcome to brewing! :super:

 

[angus_grant]

oh, and every hydro reading you take is lost beer, although you should drink the contents for quality analysis.

Just leave it alone to do it s thing until the krausen starts collapsing. Then you can start thinking about taking a hydro reading.

The most important lesson for new brewers is patience.

 

[Grott]

good advice from angus there.

 

[Pogierob]

It's also the hardest to learn..

It's been in the bottle 24 hours, I wonder if it's carbed and ready to drink yet. He he

Nope ok I'll wait a week ish.....

 

[Grott]

That's why when I first started I acquired three fermenters and just collected/drank long necks and brewed like hell. Only way I could get in front so to speak. My regular drinking brews are English Bitter which I have been drinking at 6 to 8 weeks in the bottle. Other varieties at various months and years.
Cheers

 

[angus_grant]

I was debating whether to say patience or sanitation was the most important. I think sanitation is the most important lesson, and patience is the hardest and 2nd most important (but only just).

Grott has got the idea though. You just need to be brewing faster than you can drink it. Before you know it, you've got full kegs, bottles stashed around your home, bottles stashed at your parents and in-laws in case you drop in, some big alcohol beers aging, etc, etc

I've yet to reach that stage.... :lol:

And the QLD case swap tomorrow is going to clean me out of the 7 or 8 bottles I've got stashed around the place as well as a full keg. So I'll be back to waiting for my fermentor to finish so I can get a beer back on tap again. And then brew and get one into the cube. Luckily I'll have 21 bottles of other people's brew to knock off... :beerbang:

 

[Grott]

Short of being a "seasoned drinker", a partial alcoholic and drunk I now have in stock a total of around 500 various brews in long necks.Before you think "pig" I am 62 and may not be able to brew in 20 years time! What am I going to drink then if no stock???
:chug: :beerbang:

 

[mongey]

So on the 4th day today it seems to have slowed right down. Kaursen layer has gotten smaller. Temp is still stable at 18 degress.

Took a hydrometer reading last night just cause I was curious and it read 1022 at 18 degress. So I figure 4 or 5 less adjusting to 20 degress.

Is a slow down normal 84 or so hours in ?

 

[Grott]

Yes, in general the sugars left are now far less therefore slower activity. Everything seems fine
Cheers

 

[mongey]

Thanks mate

Really appreciate the tips from all you guys.

 

[mongey]

Heya. So today is 7th day. It looks like it's done.
Took a hydrometer reading yesterday and today and they were pretty much the same. Today was 1.012 at 15 degrees on the carboy thermometer so adjusted I guess that about 1.011 if I understand right. Target is 1.008 according to the brew shop for this kit. If it has stopped is 1.011 ok to bottle?

Have no time to bottle till the weekend anyway so will have a few days to see if falls more just curious if I'm too short cause my hydrometer instructions say never bottle under 1.010

 

[angus_grant]

If you are able to bring the temp up a couple of degrees this might help knock off a couple more gravity points. It might also rouse the yeast a bit so they do a bit of a clean up after themselves. Have a read up on diacetyl rests when you've got some time (quick google and this seems ok: http://beerme.com/diacetyl.php)

I generally aim for fermenting my ales at 18 degrees and bring the temp up to 20 once estimated final gravity is fairly close. Leave it at 20 for a few days.

Edit: given you can't bottle until the weekend, if you can move it to a warmer room say Wednesday night this might get the yeasties to do their last little bit of work ready for bottling on the weekend.

 

[mongey]

Thanks man. I'll move it into the lounge room where it's warmer and see what happens.

Wife is gonna love that. Lol.

 

[mongey]

Me again

So it seems to have stopped at 1.010 just short of the 1.008 it's supposed to be. Going to the brew shop tomorrow to get my next fresh wort kit and am going to get a heat belt to help with the temp as my back room is cold in winter.

Should I go ahead an bottle tomorrow if it still read 1.010 or should I try putting the heat belt on it for a day to see if it drops further. In my lounge room struggling to keep it over 17 degrees now fermentation had slowed right down

 

[luggy]

Wouldn't stress too much over two points, give it a bit of heat if you like.

 

[Grott]

Hi again, if hydro reading steady at 1010 the bottle away.

 

[yum beer]

fair chance your hydro is out, have you tested it in plain water.

My hydro reads 3 points under.....

other than that you sound like your ready to bottlle.

 

[mongey]

So got my 1st batch bottled on saturday . all went well I think apart from a smashed hydrometer .bloody plug fell out the end of the tube putitng it back in.

now just need to let it sit and see if its drinkable in a couple weeks.I did moslty longies but a did a couple stubbies as testers. may crack a test bottle this weekend just to see

already cleaned up the carboy and put a new wort kit on yestedray


thanks everyone for the tips. helped allot

 

[Grott]

Let us know how the brew turns out and pleased to see your on your next brew.
Cheers