Absolutely newby from Eltham Victoria

[Siborg]

So that puts you at 4.73% ABV (calculated here: http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/)

Congrats, you have beer! It sounds like you had a pretty fast ferment. Which isn't a bad thing. Give it another couple of days and, if you can, let the temperature rise a little, but no more than 20 degrees. Take a reading every day.

The idea is: you want to make sure that every bit of fermentable sugar in the brew is eaten by the yeast. Otherwise, the yeast will wake up when fed the carbonation drops, eat the sugar from the drops and keep eating anything left in the brew. This is the process that can cause bottle bombs. But, don't be too concerned - I would say this is more likely if you bottle and add carbonation drops with a FG of more than 1.016.

I remember being the same with my first brews - just so damned anxious to get it in the bottle. Don't be afraid to leave it in the fermenter longer. Even, after it's finished, try crash chilling it. Get it as cold as you possibly can for 2-3 days, THEN bottle.

Or, don't. It sounds like it's probably finished anyway:
Reading of 1.012 on 30 Jan
Reading of 1.012 on 4 Feb (today)

My advice: Leave it at least one more day, and take another reading. If it's still at 1.012, then either crash chill/condition it for a couple of days (if you can wait a little longer), or just go ahead and bottle it.

 

[Woggy_g]

If the reading is still at 1.012 of Saturday then I will bottle it on Sunday. I raised the temperature a bit to 20C.

Thanks for all the advice so far. Almost tipped the lot on the lawn this afternoon.

Can't wait for the next batch to go in.

 

[Woggy_g]

OK. it came out well. nice drop. went through 3 liters myself in the first session. now to try the boiling and adding hops at different timings. one thing I still don't understand how to do is the boiling part. how many liters should i be boiling with the liquid extract and added malt? i want to make the stone and wood clone that mentions adding galaxy at the different intervals. i dry hopped the last batch and it can do with some more flavour. any pointers would be welcome.

 

[Siborg]

Don't quote me on the exact volume you want for the boil, but you need a decent amount of liquid while boiling to effectively extract bitterness and aroma/flavor compounds from the hops. I believe a cheapo 19L stock pot from big w should do the trick. For exact volumes and calculators, there are a few online calculators which should help. Or ask around in the recipe forum. The best thing you can do here is start a new thread along for advice on the recipe/process/equipment on here before buying.

 

[wereprawn]

If you're looking for something a bit quicker, try Nottingham yeast @ 16c. Ferments out in 3-5 days,then a couple of days to clean up after itself , while you dry hop. No real need to cold crash , as it drops reasonably clear. I crash mine for 2-3 days because I like to let the hops swim free, but if you were using a hop sock, there's no need for that step with Notto . Being a beginner, I hope that makes sense to you.

 

[Rocker1986]

Ditch the 1kg dextrose addition to kits as well. You'll get far better tasting beer by using a majority of malt extract and small amounts of "simple" sugars like dextrose than using shitloads of it. Or even all malt extract. If I've read that wrongly and it meant a 1kg mix of dex and malt extract then ignore the first sentence, however the rest does ring true in any event.