Coopers Micro - Brew

[Slightly]

Hey everyone,

last night I set up my first micro-brew kit (Coopers Lager) and I'm finding myself going to check on it every hour hoping for fermentation - I know I'm ridiculous but I'm pretty excited, it's great fun.

I'm not worried about temp as it's been sitting pretty close to 23 degrees. My main concern is whether fermentation will actually start, it wouldn't be nice if nothing happened. I struggled a little with the airlock to get it right so I'm on the look out for other signs of fermentation.

I'm inexperienced with the whole micro- brew scene, so as you probably know when you first started, I'm happy to take on any information from experienced brewers.

Sooo, I ask you, what was your first experience with the Coopers Micro-Brew kit like? What concerns did you have? What were your brewing conditions? How was the result? etc. etc.

 

[Gout]

G'day mate. the rule is malt wants to be beer - and most the time it is! try not to stress

signs that its started - bubbles in the air lock (only if there is no leaks which often happen if the lid doesnt seal etc)

look for a forming 'head' of cream colour foam. that means its working.

as per my first brew experiance - maybe 10 years ago - i was given an old can of coopers Munich (well out of date) but i was young and followed the instructions - the result was horrid
I did not give up tho and bought some fresh kits and tried again. i then moved away from sugar which back then was not as well known as today with the ready packs. tried a mini all grain brew then on to all grain.

now days its all grain, HERMS and a fancy rig. Not because i had to, to produce good beer but i just love to play with brewing and its been my hobby ever since ( and friends hobby is to drink it)

welcome to brewing

 

[chillihilli]

Hi Slightly, and welcome to the forum from a fellow newbie.

I've done a handful of brews, and the only time I got it wrong was in a ginger beer when the liquid (wort) in the ferment was too hot (over 28 deg c) and I thought I had killed the yeast. As soon as I cracked the seal to chuck in (pitch) more yeast I got an effervescence on top, telling me it was coming along anyway.

Your temp is spot on for fermentation to take place if you put the yeast in at this temp.

I found with my Coopers kit that the airlock shaft had a little plastic ridge on it from where it has come out of the mould. I filed this down (your Mrs nail file will do it) to make it all smooth and get a good seal with the grommet. You may have to do it if its not sealing properly. Easy way to tell is that you seal it all up nice and tight (really crank the lid) and then squeeze the sides of the fermenter. If it's sealed, the airlock water level will move. In any event, you will still get fermentation, you just won't see the bubbles.

Most of all - be patient - it's one of the hardest things about the hobby (I'm genetically engineered like a bull in a china shop).

By the way: this forum is awesome :super: - everyone is very helpful, friendly, and down to earth.

Cheers Chilli :beer:

 

[Fester]

What I do to test for seal integrity is to put a small object on top of the lid so that liquid in airlock moves a bit. If seal is working properly the liquid should stay at the new level without equalizing.

 

[Slightly]

By the way: this forum is awesome :super: - everyone is very helpful, friendly, and down to earth.

True!

Thanks everyone for your input, very helpful!

The airlock has started bubbling, and has been bubbling since last night! There is a head, and some residue at the top (don't know the technical term) so I'm happy to say that fermentation is underway!

 

[manticle]

True!

Thanks everyone for your input, very helpful!

The airlock has started bubbling, and has been bubbling since last night! There is a head, and some residue at the top (don't know the technical term) so I'm happy to say that fermentation is underway!

Krausen is the technical term for the foam.

It's important to remember while it makes a nice sound when it gloops, that airlocks are a particularly unreliable sign of fermentation. I use mine simply because it's an easy way to seal my fermenter but many people dispense with them all together.

In future signs like condensation on the lid and the appearance of foam at the top of the brew are more reliable than airlock bubbles. Sometimes krausen is minor though (some yeasts like lager yeasts tend to throw out less and it can drop right back towards the end of ferment) so even the absence of these does not necessarily mean the brew is not fermenting. The way to really find out is to measure the brew with a hydrometer. If it's dropping points day to day then the yeast is eating the sugars.