Beer not bubbling much unless I coax it.

[acrow]

Howdy all,
Firstly, what a great site this is and I look forward to visiting often.
I am only a beginner with 4 brews under my belt so far and so definitely no expert.
I'm trying to understand the terms used in brewing and also my need to move away from the "ah that'll be right" with the brews.

Now hopefully someone can advise their thoughts on what might/might not be happening, or something I have done to my brew.

I have a Coopers kit and only used the Coopers beers - draught and pale ale tins.

My first 2 brews were quite good (I thought) with bubbles holding well in the glass and the head was 'ok' - taste was good also.

With my third brew and when I put the sugar in it had solidified (it was a brick) but it dissolved slowly and seemed ok.
3 months later to try and it poured ok but tasted a bit flat. Bubbles didn't last long - but drinkable (but not to offer to someone).

(I have used the supplied hydrometer but it doesn't go up or down much and has never got the 1.006 mark - usually sits 1.015 t o1.020)

Now, my current brew was made last week in October and nothing much has happened with it - it is still 'brewing' in the kit.

I find it hard to know what temp the water is when starting - I have gauge on it but not sure if it is accurate.

However, this brew didn't bubble much, and I find if I heat the brew using a heat belt it will start the air-lock water bubbling - stop the heating and bubbling stops.
(the air-lock water has not evened out).

I have again today (1 month from the start) used the hydrometer and it is sitting at halfway between the start/finish (1.020) - it's just not happening.

I don't know if it is lost and I ditch it or leave it longer or bottle it.

Any thought would be much appreciated (and sorry this is long winded).

Geoff

 

[squirt in the turns]

Welcome.

First of all, a friendly warning: you'll get no love from anyone here by talking about your airlock Throw it in the bin and while you're at it, forget about using the lid too. Cover the fermenter with glad-wrap and secure it using the big rubber o-ring that goes inside the fermenter lid. Unless you've got one of those new-fangled Coopers fermenters with the collar thing, in which case you may not have the o-ring - I don't know as I've never seen one of the new Coopers kits. Note, this advice applies from your next batch onward. Don't go unduly opening the fermenter and exposing your beer to oxygen or potential contaminants.

Check that your hydrometer reads 1.000 in pure water at 20°C. If it's out, adjust accordingly when taking readings of wort/beer. That might explain your beer's apparent lack of attenuation (in other words, its failure to ferment out fully).

Get a decent thermometer to check temperatures. Even a cheap digital one from eBay for $15 should be sufficient to help you calibrate your hydrometer and get you in the ball-park for fermentation temperatures. Remember: 18-20°C is generally recommended for ales. It's a bad idea to deliberately heat your beer beyond that. What I suspect is causing your airlock to bubble when you heat the beer is simply CO2 coming out of solution. Most likely fermentation has finished, or you've got a stalled ferment.

Check your hydrometer, and post again with an accurate gravity reading, plus exact details of what ingredients went into your latest batch. We'll then be able to advise if you have a stalled ferment or not, and what you might be able to do about it.

 

[Westo]

what temps are you fermenting the beer at? and what yeast are you using? what was the original gravity when you first made the beer?

grab a digital thermometer easiest way to check the temp before pitching yeast.

possible causes based on your info:

a) stuck fermentation
b) fermentation temp is too low for yeast
c) if it was a high OG then 1.020 might be ok to leave and move on depending on what abv% you are chasing, though given that you say it picks up with heat could be fermentation temp is too low... are you fermenting in a fridge? or just leaving it to mother nature in the garage?

 

[menoetes]

Hey Acrow,

Welcome to the forums and to homebrewing sir, once you get started it is awfully hard to stop. It sounds like you have been doing ok so far but have run into some troubles. I wouldn't be throwing away the lid of my fermentor just yet because there could be a few reasons why it's not bubbling and your specific gravity is so high.

It sounds like fermentation has stopped, after so long in the fermenter that's no surprise and if you specific gravity isn't changing then that is a solid indicator that it has stopped (a much better indicator than bubbles).

Specific gravity can be a little tricky as a couple of different factors can affect it and I'd need a wee bit more information to have an idea of what happened.

For instance, what type of sugar are you using? Different sugars have different levels of fermentability (is that a word?), if you are using Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 for instance it will give you a slightly higher Final Gravity reading than plain ol' dextrose as the maltodextrine mixed into it (for extra 'body' in your beer) doesn't ferment and leaves you with a higher specific gravity. If you are using table sugar, brown sugar, honey or syrups - they will all have different effects on your final SG reading and so your sugar could be having some effect.

Do you know what your Original Gravity was? If it was quite high ei; 1050 that could account for your high Final Gravity, in this case it could mean that your yeast has exhausted itself early (eating through the huge load of sugar in such a high gravity beer) or, like before, you have a high level of unfermentable sugar in there.

You mentioned that putting a heat belt on the beer got bubbling going again? What temperature is your beer usually sitting at? To high or two low will dramatically effect your yeasts performance (and the final taste of your beer).

I'm no far from the most veteran brewer but from my experiences I can offer you a few things to check.

1. Your hydrometer. A simple test to make sure it's calibrated (or close enough) is to pop it in some clean water. It should read 1010 on plain water, if not that might be your problem right there.

2. Taste the beer out of the vat as you might have got an infection in your wort. Next time you are checking the gravity give the stuff a sniff and a sip. It won't hurt you and you'll get a sense for the taste of the brew. If indeed you have picked up an infection you can often taste it. You beer might seem sour or just really 'off' and a wild yeast infection could account for a high FG.

3. Keep an eye on your temperature. Sure the sticker thermometer on the side of your vat isn't a fine tuned scientific instrument but it is a solid indicator and usually accurate with a centigrade in my experience. If you beers temperature has been down below 15'c or above 25'c it's gonna make it tough on your poor yeast and effect the performance of the lil' beasties. A lot of brewers aim for somewhere between 18 -20'c (depending on the yeast) for best effect and final outcome.

Well that's my 2¢ and all the rest. I hope some of it is helpful, no doubt some of the older wiser brewheads on here will be able to help you out too. This site is a mine of information and support for the new brewer. Keep at it my brew-brother and don't let a troublesome batch discourage you. So long as you anjoy the process of brewing as much as the results you can't go wrong.

 

[acrow]

Thank you Squirt in the turns, Westo and Menoetes for your quick replies/help.

Here is some answers that you have asked and am thinking from your consistent thoughts - temperature.

Ingredients:-
- Coopers Beer Draught syrup
- Coopers supplied yeast
- Coopers Brewing sugar enhancer 1 (1kg)

After sterilizing, emptied syrup in container with 2 litres boiling water, mixed, added sugar and dissolved, topped up with luke warm water (total 23 litres). Water probably around 28C, added yeast, quick stir, lid on and put that thing on top that I'm not allowed to say).

Current Gravity is 1.022 / Temp on side gauge 22 (in green) to 24C (in darker colour) - so don't know which is right.

Hydrometer test @ 20C showed 1.004 (using a digital coffee gauge and a meat gauge)
(Squirt said 1.000 @ 20C and Menoetes said 1.10 in plain water so presume due to a temp difference)

Squirt
- I do have an O-ring on this system and could try glad wrap as you suggest. (getting beer temp? lift g/wrap slightly and to a min. get temp and seal quickly)

Squirt/Westo
- 18 to 20C / woops. If it got to around 18/20 I actually heated it up thinking it is too cold (got up to 28ish)

Menoetes
- I don't know what the Original Gravity was (didn't check it)
- I smelt it (smelt ok/beery) and taste seemed ok - nothing 'off' tasting.
- temp never gone below 18C


Think I covered it all, so hoping it gives the answers you're looking for. (but I am thinking temp was/is the problem).

Thanks again.
Geoff

 

[Westo]

With the ingredients listed and im just guessing here your og was possibly somewhere between 1.040 and 1.050 given that your hydrometer is showing 1.004 @ 20c means your reading of 1.022 is probably about 1.018.(rough estimate without temp adjust and knowing the real og)

So your alc% would be sitting on the low side, if you want u can just go with it or you could even try pitching a bit more yeast to try get the alcohol up a bit.

18-20 c with the kit yeast is fine for fermenting 28 is way too high in my opinion.
If it smells like beer and tastes ok and u have had 2 hydro readings over 3 days the same then id just bottle it if you dont mind a low alc drink

 

[sp0rk]

(Squirt said 1.000 @ 20C and Menoetes said 1.10 in plain water so presume due to a temp difference)

menoetes is incorrect, it will be 1.000 in plain water

 

[acrow]

sp0rk - my reply showed 1.10 by mistake, should have been 1.010 - however I have read it is 1.000 elsewhere - so agree with you.

I'll do readings over the next 3 days and see if steady/same and if so I'll bottle it - but I have the feeling it will turn out like my 3rd batch (flattish taste).

Lessons learnt:
- use a digital thermometer (I presume a non digital 'coffee' gauge is ok to use - above I said digital but is not or best to use the meat digital - sterilise both of course)
- make sure temp is correct and constant
- maybe get 'better' yeast
- possibly use glad wrap cover (but will try this if next couple of batches are iffy)
- continue to look over this forum for hints/advice

Thanks
Geoff

 

[slcmorro]

If you have a flattish taste, I'm not sure what you're basing that on? Flattish/soapy in the beer itself, or just flat in the bottle once you open it?

Once your beer has finished it's primary fermentation (by hitting it's FG or easier, hitting a steady gravity reading over 3 consecutive days), you're meant to then 'prime' it when bottling, to start secondary fermentation. That is, adding another form of sugar either with carbonation drops, dextrose, table sugar etc, to allow the yeast to then 'eat' those sugars, and create a little more alcohol (bonus) along with CO2 which is what gives your beer carbonation. Once the yeast has eaten away all available sugars, being that the bottles are sealed and (hopefully) chilled before consumption, the pressured CO2 in the bottle as a by product of the yeast should dissolve into your beer, and give it carbonation.

If you've done this right, and primed with enough/adequate sugars, you should achieve a good carbonation result and not have flat beer.

 

[acrow]

Thanks slcmorro for your advice.

I'm basing the flattish beer on my 3rd brew I did and presuming that seeing that wasn't perfect (due to the 1kg sugar brick put in - due to having the packet not stored properly in the garage) that this 4th brew will be the same (could be even worse or having a fat chance of being better) and once opened from the bottle.

I have my bottles store in foam containers on the Southern side so no sun hits that side of wall - they seem to keep cool enough and never had any explosions.

When I bottle the brew I add 1/4 teaspoon of castor sugar - no exact measurement instrument used - just 'about' 1/4 teaspoon.

Is castor sugar ok or is carbonate drops better ? Or no real difference.

But definitely put in fridge to get cold before opening.

 

[slcmorro]

Carbonation drops are going to give you a more consistent (arguably more 'sanitary' practice) carbonation rate.

To carbonate your bottles, you're going to want to give them a couple of weeks at around 16-18 degrees ideally. This allows the yeast to eat the extra sugar you added and turn it into alcohol and CO2. Lots of people say the longer you leave the bottles to condition, the better your beer will be with most styles, to a point.

I keg my beers now, but I always have a little extra which gets bottled. For a handful of bottles leftover from kegging, I still use carbonation drops. On the rare occasion that I bottle a whole batch, I bulk prime (google it) because it's cheaper and I can control the carbonation rate better.

 

[acrow]

Yes, had thought the drops but when reading to be used in 375 or 750ml bottles I didn't worry - mine are 600ml bottles.

I googled as you suggested and it seems too much/hard for me - at this stage of my brewing career

And generally I have left my limited brews for 2 months up to 10mths.

 

[yum beer]

in all honesty mate, ditch your current brew and get another in the fermenter, brewed at the right temp, with the knowledge you now know.
Current batch at 28c pitch and brew temp will be horrid.....don't give a **** what any one else has to say, it is not going to be good...put it down to a lesson learned.

If bottling 600ml bottles, use 1 and a half carb drops, should be fine....or look into bulk priming down the track a little, get a handle on the temps first
Start using Light Dry Malt for you 'sugar' and maybe some BE2. Avoid Dextrose and Brewing Sugar for kit beers.

 

[menoetes]

Yup sorry about that Acrow, plain water should be 1000 - my mistake. I'm pegging that one up to my hang-over from last nights homebrew drinking session.

...and don't ditch the old fermenter even if you think it might be the problem, worst case scenario you can use it as your bottling bucket for bulk priming (when you get around to that stage; it's easier than it sounds, believe me).

 

[slcmorro]

Not being picky or an elitist, but bulk priming is not hard. It's really really easy bud. Honestly.

I'm still a newbie myself to home brewing, only having done maybe 10 kits and 5 all grain but hell, you don't learn if you don't try stuff. Have a crack. Ask question on here if you're unsure. Even better, locate your local brew club and draw from their experiences.

 

[clintlee]

+1 for bulk priming. Ive done for my last few beers and a cider i made and it was easy. less mucking around and not worrying if you put carb drops in or not. Ive also found it produces a better head on the few bottles ive sampled.