Hello again all, just thought i would keep a diary here of my first brewing experience, so i can get advice on what i may be doing (wrong or right) and so others may learn from my (Frequent) Mistakes. I am open to flames, suggestions, critique (harsh or otherwise) and anything else.
It is my very FIRST brewing so please forgive my 'noob-ness' and lack of knowledge of all the brewing acronyms and what not, so here goes.
It is my very FIRST brewing so please forgive my 'noob-ness' and lack of knowledge of all the brewing acronyms and what not, so here goes.
-------------------------AEREN'S BREW DIARY VOLUME 1-------------------------
First i started off with a Coopers HomeBrewing Kit, it comes with a lager Mix tin and Brewing Sugar and all the gear to 'brew your first batch'... URL for this item; [post="0"]Coopers Kit[/post]
I also bought a Brew Enhancer 1 and 'Mexican Cerveza' mix tin, with views to making a 'custom brew' after this first test/practice brew
Everything has so far and will be followed to the 'T' as stated in the brochure given, my reasons for this, ive never brewed before and want to have a brew to compare to, so i know where i go wrong etc etc. which also contrary to what i have read so far, will include a 4-7 day time in the fermenter before being bottled. I like to have a basis for comparison, being 'sciencey' and all.
I started this brew 2 days ago, in 30+ degree heat days of Bendigo, firstly by sanitizing everything in bleach and giving it a big rinse in hot water. Then i prepared the Coopers Lager wort concentrate by leaving it in my kitchen sink in boiling hot water for 10-15 minutes. I put 2 litres of hot water in my fermenter and added the wort tin, Brew enhancer 1 and proceeded to mix it. After it was well mixed in, i filled it to 23 liters with tap water from the cold tap, which really isn't that cold in this weather. With the data gathered from previous tests (i filled my fermenter with a mix of 4 litres of hot water and 19 litres from the cold tap, in an effort to test how well or bad this weather was going to affect the cooling and/or temperature regulation) i carried the full (and very heavy) fermenter to the bath which contained cold water and some ice bottles. After about 40 minutes or so the temperature of the fermenter (via stick on temp guage) had dropped to 22-24 degrees. I then added the Coopers yeast packet and promptly sealed the lid. Within 2-3 hours the air-lock began to bubble and whatever space was left in the fermenter was now filled with lots of froth (which i am told is normal).
The following morning i took a reading with the hydrometer (for curious' sake) and recieved a reading of 1034. Nothing else of note happened this day.
This eventfull day, day 3, saw the loss of not 1 but 2 hydrometers. Nothing much has been happening, the brew has held a stable tepmerature between 22-26 degrees but i decided to take some hydrometer readings so i can have a bearing of where my brew is heading. After my wife and i finished taking the reading i decided to amuse her (more so me) with how cool it is that it always stands up in the bath water, after that i decided to see if it could stand up on the ledge of the bath, obvioiusly it did not and it fell onto the floor and smashed into little pieces, whilst my wife cast upon me the dirtiest of looks for breaking my new toy. We then drove to the local brew shop and bought a replacement which we promptly broke only after its first reading.
This is where we are at now, end of day 3, working with no hydrometer, and no replacement.....and no idea of how to know when to bottle!!! what a great 1st brew!!
super sorry for the really long post, but its day 3 and i had a lot to report, ill try to make daily reports on how the brew is going, feel free to advise, bag out, pay out, knock, critique or lambast my methods.
Happy Brewing
Aeren(Josh) and his most gracious typist wife Shona
First i started off with a Coopers HomeBrewing Kit, it comes with a lager Mix tin and Brewing Sugar and all the gear to 'brew your first batch'... URL for this item; [post="0"]Coopers Kit[/post]
I also bought a Brew Enhancer 1 and 'Mexican Cerveza' mix tin, with views to making a 'custom brew' after this first test/practice brew
Everything has so far and will be followed to the 'T' as stated in the brochure given, my reasons for this, ive never brewed before and want to have a brew to compare to, so i know where i go wrong etc etc. which also contrary to what i have read so far, will include a 4-7 day time in the fermenter before being bottled. I like to have a basis for comparison, being 'sciencey' and all.
I started this brew 2 days ago, in 30+ degree heat days of Bendigo, firstly by sanitizing everything in bleach and giving it a big rinse in hot water. Then i prepared the Coopers Lager wort concentrate by leaving it in my kitchen sink in boiling hot water for 10-15 minutes. I put 2 litres of hot water in my fermenter and added the wort tin, Brew enhancer 1 and proceeded to mix it. After it was well mixed in, i filled it to 23 liters with tap water from the cold tap, which really isn't that cold in this weather. With the data gathered from previous tests (i filled my fermenter with a mix of 4 litres of hot water and 19 litres from the cold tap, in an effort to test how well or bad this weather was going to affect the cooling and/or temperature regulation) i carried the full (and very heavy) fermenter to the bath which contained cold water and some ice bottles. After about 40 minutes or so the temperature of the fermenter (via stick on temp guage) had dropped to 22-24 degrees. I then added the Coopers yeast packet and promptly sealed the lid. Within 2-3 hours the air-lock began to bubble and whatever space was left in the fermenter was now filled with lots of froth (which i am told is normal).
The following morning i took a reading with the hydrometer (for curious' sake) and recieved a reading of 1034. Nothing else of note happened this day.
This eventfull day, day 3, saw the loss of not 1 but 2 hydrometers. Nothing much has been happening, the brew has held a stable tepmerature between 22-26 degrees but i decided to take some hydrometer readings so i can have a bearing of where my brew is heading. After my wife and i finished taking the reading i decided to amuse her (more so me) with how cool it is that it always stands up in the bath water, after that i decided to see if it could stand up on the ledge of the bath, obvioiusly it did not and it fell onto the floor and smashed into little pieces, whilst my wife cast upon me the dirtiest of looks for breaking my new toy. We then drove to the local brew shop and bought a replacement which we promptly broke only after its first reading.
This is where we are at now, end of day 3, working with no hydrometer, and no replacement.....and no idea of how to know when to bottle!!! what a great 1st brew!!
super sorry for the really long post, but its day 3 and i had a lot to report, ill try to make daily reports on how the brew is going, feel free to advise, bag out, pay out, knock, critique or lambast my methods.
Happy Brewing
Aeren(Josh) and his most gracious typist wife Shona