A "Newbie" after a 50 year break

[jhmtaylor]

I have started home brewing again and I have a few questions.
I am mainly brewing ales using FWIKs at the moment. I am in SE Queensland and due to the hot weather I have re-purposed an ancient Rubbermaid 80 litre cooler I had (on its end) to regulate the temperature during fermentation. I beefed up the insulation by adding some "rubber" seals to the inside edge of the lid and two levered (aka Highfield) latches to ensure that the door closes tightly. See attached It is working well and it is easy for me to take outside and sanitize after each brew. My fermentor is a 30 litre MJ stainless steel type and I use frozen coke bottles to keep the temperature around 21 degrees C when needed

. The brew goes into 750 ml bottles when ready.

1. My first batch took about 10 days to finish fermenting. My next 2 batchs took 18 days before the fermentation stopped enough to bottle. Is this something I should be concerned about? I found gently stirring in the yeast before sealing the fermenter started the fermentation process sooner and it was initially more active, but it did not reduce the time.

2. I made a ginger beer using a MJ pouch and juiced up the flavors, but it took nearly 3 weeks for the fermentation to slow down enough (FG 1010) for me to bottle. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

3. When a batch is nearing the end of fermentation. Can I transfer it to another (plastic) fermenter to finish it off. If so, could I dump the sludge in the bottom? How long could I leave it in the 2nd fermenter for. I am I correct in assuming the brew will continue to condition in the 2nd fermenter and reduce the time I need to allow after bottling? My problem is that the beer is being consumed faster than I am producing it at the moment.

Finally my contribution to the funny story/knowledge base. With my 2nd batch I discovered some faulty caps on the Coopers PET bottles. They were beer-tight but not airtight, so they did not carbonate at all. To avoid throwing them away I had this "wonderful" idea that I would carbonate them manually using CO2 from the Sodastream. OMG, this created a runaway foam bomb that went everywhere throughout the kitchen. A few days later I had this much better idea of replacing the faulty caps and putting in more carbonation drops, which worked perfectly. The alcohol content will be a little higher because of the extra sugar but otherwise a good outcome.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[livo]

My problem is that the beer is being consumed faster than I am producing it at the moment.

If your anything like me, you'll find a balance. Buy more fermenters and work in the shed 7 days a week.

 

[bradmcm]

I like your fermenting box. Very clever.

 

[Nick the Knife]

I have started home brewing again and I have a few questions.
I am mainly brewing ales using FWIKs at the moment. I am in SE Queensland and due to the hot weather I have re-purposed an ancient Rubbermaid 80 litre cooler I had (on its end) to regulate the temperature during fermentation. I beefed up the insulation by adding some "rubber" seals to the inside edge of the lid and two levered (aka Highfield) latches to ensure that the door closes tightly. See attached It is working well and it is easy for me to take outside and sanitize after each brew. My fermentor is a 30 litre MJ stainless steel type and I use frozen coke bottles to keep the temperature around 21 degrees C when neede The brew goes into 750 ml bottles when ready.

1. My first batch took about 10 days to finish fermenting. My next 2 batchs took 18 days before the fermentation stopped enough to bottle. Is this something I should be concerned about? I found gently stirring in the yeast before sealing the fermenter started the fermentation process sooner and it was initially more active, but it did not reduce the time.

2. I made a ginger beer using a MJ pouch and juiced up the flavors, but it took nearly 3 weeks for the fermentation to slow down enough (FG 1010) for me to bottle. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

3. When a batch is nearing the end of fermentation. Can I transfer it to another (plastic) fermenter to finish it off. If so, could I dump the sludge in the bottom? How long could I leave it in the 2nd fermenter for. I am I correct in assuming the brew will continue to condition in the 2nd fermenter and reduce the time I need to allow after bottling? My problem is that the beer is being consumed faster than I am producing it at the moment.

Finally my contribution to the funny story/knowledge base. With my 2nd batch I discovered some faulty caps on the Coopers PET bottles. They were beer-tight but not airtight, so they did not carbonate at all. To avoid throwing them away I had this "wonderful" idea that I would carbonate them manually using CO2 from the Sodastream. OMG, this created a runaway foam bomb that went everywhere throughout the kitchen. A few days later I had this much better idea of replacing the faulty caps and putting in more carbonation drops, which worked perfectly. The alcohol content will be a little higher because of the extra sugar but otherwise a good outcome.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

@jhmtaylor , greats on ending your 'brief' hiatus from brewing. I think it's great that you've adapted your methodology to utilise FWKs as you still have ample scope to 'personalise' them any number of ways to your tastes and needs. Great thinking.

Love your brew fridge - thats very smart of you and surprised more folks don't do the same. Get a good quality large esky and them use upright to brew out of - between brews you can use it as a normal esky. Terrific thinking and am sure it's working a treat in those temps.

Another trick you could use is going with a yeast more tolerant of higher temps e.g Kveik - this thread was placed by a fellow also in FNQ and so is another option for you this time of the year: High temp yeast for extract

RE #1. You'd really have to state all the variables e.g OG, FG, yeast used etc for anyone to really be able to say if it was a 'concern' or not. If the end result tested prior to bottling was fine I'd say its nothing to worry too much about.

RE #3. Yes, you can do that - you'll find this discussed as 'racking to a secondary'. has it's pro's and con's - but you can definitely do it if you WANT to. The sludge at the bottom of the primary fermenter is generally referred to as trub. If you decided that you wanted to get another brew underway ASAP and racked the current one off to a secondary you could either 1) discard the trub, reclean the fermenter and use - or 2) repitch another FWK right on top of the old trub.

#1 is safer but more work.....#2 has a element of risk, if you had an infection in your fermenter, if the previous brew doesn't mesh up well with this new one (previous one was a stout, new one is a lager) - but you will not need to pitch any yeast - as there will be ample in the trub to kick of the new brew super rapidly.

You can even go half way and in a sanitised container capture a decent amount of the old trub, then discard the rest, clean the fermenter and pitch - tossing the trub in as the 'yeast'.

Again there's pro's and cons for each of these - depending on the variables involved but all up to you and will work out 'fine' the vast majority of the time.

 

[Brads Biabs]

Hi Jhm looking at your innovation and you do what you gotta do.
Here's another idea if you can get your hands on a 2nd had fridge preferably 500lt plus then just get yourself an Inkbird controller.
They are plug and play in that hook the controller in to your power then the fridge into the controller dead easy.
Strip your fridge out add shelves I use marine ply and you can fit heaps inside I can fit 4x 30tt fermetors in an old 520lt kelvinator.
Would upload some pictures but I'm an old computer gumby.

 

[Drubbing]

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Good idea with the esky. A fridge for brewing is essentially just an insulated box that has a cooling system.

You might consider getting a old fridge instead, given the temps you're dealing with. Add an inkbird controller (plug n play, no sparky's required). Then set your fermenting temp and forget until fermented. This is less faff than frozen coke bottles and will give you consistency from brew to brew.