2nd brew

[thebigtwist]

Just Made my second brew followed a recipe off the coopers website authentic pale ale http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/strong/authentic-ipa pitched the yeast at 24-26 degrees dunno if this is too high was hopping it would be lower but the room I have it in is usually cooler it's a bottom floor laundry all brick so nice and cool. And also what FG should I be looking for with this brew ? Now all I have to do is clean up a heap of filthy long necks I have going to give a soak in the pink stuff for 24 hours. Also cracked a bottle from my 1st brew at the 1st week mark early I no but couldn't help myself wanted a taste see how was going , mangrove jacks classic blond I surprised my self it tasted Pretty good I was very skeptical and was expecting something watery. Time to think about what my 3rd will be .

 

[wbosher]

If my experience is anything to go by, I suspect you'll want to do this one again. Your temp is pretty high, were you able to get it down?

 

[thebigtwist]

What do u mean by do it again ? The whole brew ? Or the yeast ? The room is cooler then that normally 19-20 and cooler at night only just put down at 3 will go and check temp again soon for my knowledge what is the problem with pitching at that temp ? And what is best ?



Happy drinking


You've only been drunk if you've **** ya self.............

I've been drunk twice

 

[wbosher]

By do it again I mean you'll probably like it and want to do it again some time down the track. I've been doing AG for about a year now and still do this one from time to time.


Try to keep the temp around 18 to 20 if you can, hard to do if you don't have temp control though. High temps can give you some off flavours, sure it will be fine if you managed to get it down.

 

[thebigtwist]

Aaahhh got ya now yea a few people I've spoken too have said they like this recipe, easy too , once I check the temp I'll post


Happy drinking


You've only been drunk if you've **** ya self.............

I've been drunk twice

 

[user 31093]

Try to keep the temp around 18 to 20 if you can, hard to do if you don't have temp control though. High temps can give you some off flavours, sure it will be fine if you managed to get it down.

I built myself a temp controller for about $40 and got a second hand bar fridge for $50. Cheaper than a lot of bits of brewing hardware, and arguably the most important.

Get a free/cheap fridge off gumtree, the only reason I paid $50 was I needed one that was a specific size to fit where I wanted it.

 

[thebigtwist]

Brew seems to be coming along good fermentation Is going on thou the gases are escaping though the lid seal not the airlock , might having to look into fixing a Better lid seal some how . Smells great love walking into the laundry smelling It straight away.

 

[Alex.Tas]

hey big twist. Brew setup looks good! Milk crates are perfect for beer transport aye.

Firstly i wouldn't worry about the airlock not bubbling. i doubt there would be much air making its way back into your beer at this stage. Sometimes over tightening the lid can be counter productive, so if you back it off a little it may seal. if not, doesn't matter. For your next brews you can smear a little Vaseline on the o-ring of the fermenter and the airlock grommet. Should help you get a decent seal.
Or you could take the o-ring out of your lid, pull some clingfilm over the top of the barrel and secure it with the o-ring. There will be pressure build up in the barrel, but before the glad wrap pops like a balloon, it will vent the excess pressure.
The reason i like the clingfilm method is you can see the brewing take place. you can see the foam on the top of the beer. This makes determining when your fermentation has finished easier. Still use your hydrometer of course.

To answer your original question, i calculate with Ian's spreadsheet you would get an OG of 1.063 and an FG of 1.011, bulked primed with 131g of dex for 2.5 vol CO2, giving you an ABV% of 7.1

 

[thebigtwist]

Ok so have taken fg reading and it's sitting around 1.020 taken 2 readings now but still seems high . In the testing tube it is frothy and lots of bubbles in the brew hard to get a good reading and a bit fizzy , is this normal ? is fermentation still happening even thou the air lock is not bubbling and the top of the liquid has cleared and no real signs left of karusen apart from a dirty top ring on the fermenter .

 

[thebigtwist]

TTT

 

[of mice and gods]

Your FG seems high, I'd let it keep going for a few more days and re-test it.

Try pouring your hydro sample a bit more slowly to avoid the froth and bubbles, if that can't be avoided then let it sit for 10 minutes for the froth to die down. A good idea is to give the hydro a little spin in the tube which should release any bubbles that are stuck to it. If you sample is bubbling hard and there are lots of bubbles stuck to the hydro, this will distort your reading.

Al

 

[thebigtwist]

thanks ill leave a bit longer then retest still very caustious and anxiouxs only being 2nd brew in :chug:

 

[of mice and gods]

Out of curiosity, have you checked your hydro?

If not, look on the side to see whether it is calibrated for 18 or 20 degrees, fill your test tube with tap water, use a thermometer to test the water temp and take a reading with your hydro. If your hydro is rated to 18 C, the sample is 18 C then your hydro should read 1.000 (if your sample temp is different to the calibration temp you can use this little calculator to adjust the reading - http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/ )

 

[user 31093]

Out of curiosity, have you checked your hydro?

If not, look on the side to see whether it is calibrated for 18 or 20 degrees, fill your test tube with tap water, use a thermometer to test the water temp and take a reading with your hydro. If your hydro is rated to 18 C, the sample is 18 C then your hydro should read 1.000 (if your sample temp is different to the calibration temp you can use this little calculator to adjust the reading - http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/ )

I usually bring my samples up to 20C by putting the test flask into under some warm water, takes about 20 seconds to bring the water up a couple of degrees.

 

[thebigtwist]

Day 8 of fermentation not much activity FG reading 1.020 couple days now , was thinking it should be down around 1.010 should I wait longer and test again in few days or has fermentation stopped or stalled or is it taking longer because it's a stronger brew ? Should I ad more yeast ? Or is it time to bottle but I was expecting a lower FG reading


Happy drinking

 

[Spiesy]

1020 is pretty high. I wonder if you've had some cool nights that have sent the yeast to sleep?

Have you checked the calibration on your hydro, as suggested?

 

[thebigtwist]

Yep checked the hydro all good it's sitting on 0 in water , the temp is 17-20 on the fermentor ? Probably gets bit lower over night I suppose


Happy drinking

 

[boybrewer]

Day 8 of fermentation not much activity FG reading 1.020 couple days now , was thinking it should be down around 1.010 should I wait longer and test again in few days or has fermentation stopped or stalled or is it taking longer because it's a stronger brew ? Should I ad more yeast ? Or is it time to bottle but I was expecting a lower FG reading


Happy drinking

Don't be in a hurry good beer takes time . I usually leave it for a week or so to let the yeast clean up after itself, this leads to a clearer beer . I then chill it before I bottle.

 

[thebigtwist]

What about the FG in that time does it usually still drop is fermentation still going on ? Even if in some minor way . Even thou there are no signs ?


Happy drinking

 

[boybrewer]

Leave it be for a couple of days then check the gravity if it still hasn't dropped any more give it a swirl to try and wake the yeast up . 1.020 is still high . Your starting gravity of 1.063 should finish around 1.017 - 1.018 . It just depends on the attenuation of the yeast . You might have to get the temp up to 20-21*C to get the yeast to finish off fermentation . This will not hurt the flavour at all for the first 3 days of fermentation is the most critical, try and keep the temp around the 18-19*C for ales.

 

[user 31093]

Leave it be for a couple of days then check the gravity if it still hasn't dropped any more give it a swirl to try and wake the yeast up . 1.020 is still high . Your starting gravity of 1.063 should finish around 1.017 - 1.018 . It just depends on the attenuation of the yeast . You might have to get the temp up to 20-21*C to get the yeast to finish off fermentation . This will not hurt the flavour at all for the first 3 days of fermentation is the most critical, try and keep the temp around the 18-19*C for ales.

I've only a few brew finish that low and they we're both using S-04.I've heard it likes to flop out around this point.

The kit yeasts I've used have give ape **** and eaten all the fermentables very quickly even at lower temps.

 

[thebigtwist]

Went checked this morning 5:15 to see what temp was holding at, was18-20 . I them gave it a good swirl then left it see what's happening tonight or in a couple days see if any changes

 

[Tahoose]

I had some s-04 that finished at 1020 FG after starting around the 1060 mark

 

[thebigtwist]

going to wait few days see if any changes then go from there