agarmeister
Member
- Joined
- 5/1/12
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
Well, after being told of the virtues of homebrew by mates, and being convinced by actually tasting it, I went out and bought myself a Cooper's 23l kit. Bog-standard, I know, but it'll do for a start. Anyway, here are my issues;
1) What is the normal timeline for fermentation? I know that "normal" can be very different on each occasion, but you know what I mean. I did the mix as instructed (it's my first brew, so I won't be too adventurous. Next time out, however, I might..!) It ended up at about 24 degrees before I added the yeast (probably a couple of degrees higher than ideal, but you gotta let me away with it this time, I was excited!) OSG was about 1038 I think, dropping to maybe 1028 after 24 hours. My problem is that by about 12 or 15 hours in there was a good 7 or 8 cm of Carbon Dioxide foam on the top, and now, 36 hours after addition of the yeast this foam is dropping quite quickly. Is this normal? Also, temp has been at about 26 degrees for most of the process. I've put a wet towel on it to cool it down but it hasn't helped a whole lot. I know that the Cooper's kit says 21-27 degrees, but I also know that the closer to the lower end of that scale the better... And putting the whole thing into a water bath ain't gonna happen this time, unfortunately... You guys reckon it should still turn out okay?
2) I have to go out of town for work in a week or so, and will be gone for about 10 days. When I go, the brew will have been down for 8 and a half days, meaning that when I return it'll be about 18 days post start of fermentation. Now here's my choice; do I bottle just before I go, assuming FSG has been reached, or should I leave it as is until I return? Normally I'd have no qualms about leaving it in the bucket, but I'm slightly apprehensive due to the higher than ideal temperature, plus my not knowing if it'll get even warmer when I'm away.
Your help and advice will be greatly appreciated!
1) What is the normal timeline for fermentation? I know that "normal" can be very different on each occasion, but you know what I mean. I did the mix as instructed (it's my first brew, so I won't be too adventurous. Next time out, however, I might..!) It ended up at about 24 degrees before I added the yeast (probably a couple of degrees higher than ideal, but you gotta let me away with it this time, I was excited!) OSG was about 1038 I think, dropping to maybe 1028 after 24 hours. My problem is that by about 12 or 15 hours in there was a good 7 or 8 cm of Carbon Dioxide foam on the top, and now, 36 hours after addition of the yeast this foam is dropping quite quickly. Is this normal? Also, temp has been at about 26 degrees for most of the process. I've put a wet towel on it to cool it down but it hasn't helped a whole lot. I know that the Cooper's kit says 21-27 degrees, but I also know that the closer to the lower end of that scale the better... And putting the whole thing into a water bath ain't gonna happen this time, unfortunately... You guys reckon it should still turn out okay?
2) I have to go out of town for work in a week or so, and will be gone for about 10 days. When I go, the brew will have been down for 8 and a half days, meaning that when I return it'll be about 18 days post start of fermentation. Now here's my choice; do I bottle just before I go, assuming FSG has been reached, or should I leave it as is until I return? Normally I'd have no qualms about leaving it in the bucket, but I'm slightly apprehensive due to the higher than ideal temperature, plus my not knowing if it'll get even warmer when I'm away.
Your help and advice will be greatly appreciated!