Davo from Toowoomba

[noddysevens]

Hello Fellow Brewers,


I have waited a long time to say that, but as of last night I have begun my first brew!!

Exciting times indeed, I look forward to asking many questions and spending hours devouring the mountain of wisdom on this site.

Down to the nitty gritty, I love hops. Pale ales in all their different forms are in my personal opinion the greatest beverages on earth, but don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoy many other styles of beer and can't wait to start making them.

Attached it my "brew rig" and temp control fermenter fridge. It's a pretty darn basic setup but it's a start.

STC 200


Fermenter area with STC probe


"Brew Rig"


First brew - Beginner's Luck APA

As I mentioned at the start I did my first brew last night.. Here's the recipe:

Recipe: Beginner's luck APA
Extract: Coopers Australian Pale Ale
Enhancer: Brew Enhancer 2
Yeast: Safale US-05 (I chucked the stuff in the can)
Water: Toowoomba tap water(untreated)

Yeast prep: 15mins in tepid water.

Yeast pitch temp: 30 C (yep you saw that right. I didn't manage to get the wort cool enough and the instructions said get the yeast in straight away...)

Fermenter Fridge set temp: 18 C (STC 200 with probe strapped to the side of the fermenter with a layer of insulation tape, pic will be added later)

OG: 1.033 (I was expecting 1.038)


That's about it for now, I would love any feedback on what I've done so far and can't wait to be more involved in the Aussie Home Brewer community.

Cheers, Davo

 

[Red Baron]

Looks pretty good Davo. Your 1st beer will be far better then many (myself included) people's 1st attempts due to temp control and a good yeast. If you like hops, look at dry-hopping your brew with some cascade- 40g should be a good start, but if not, don't worry your beer will be fine.

Cheers,
RB

 

[noddysevens]

Brilliant tip RB!

I was very seriously thinking about dry hopping but hadn't done much research. Time to head down to the brew shp and grab some hops. I'll give the cascade a crack and see how it goes.

 

[Red Baron]

When you're down the brew shop, ask about tins of un-hopped malt extract or dry malt extract. Use either of these in your next brew instead of the brew enhancer for an even better beer.

Cheers,
RB

 

[wynnum1]

Precool the tap water in the fridge in your fermenter and the exract and Brew Enhancer 2 if mixed and heated up in a stock pot can be cooled in a water bath from very hot only need room temperature water..

 

[noddysevens]

RB: yeah when I was there the bloke suggested exactly that so my next brew will be done with one of those! It looks like a better way to go.

Wynnum1: I didn't realise I could precool the extract, but that is a great idea. My main mistake was I thought it would get too cool.. Lol clearly I was wrong.

When I woke up this morning the brew was down to 18c so I think it will be ok, but next time I'll try pre cooling it.

Is it true that I need to pitch the yeast ASAP? Or can I wait for the temp I need?

 

[wynnum1]

Need to pitch the yeast as quickly as possible as the yeast protects from infection when the brew is first put in fermenter its ok to splash and get oxygen as yeast starts off it multiplies and needs oxygen but when finished brewing oxygen is bad.

 

[noddysevens]

Cheers for the advice.

I pitched within a minute or two of mixing the ingredients and I made sure I got a lot of oxygen into the brew.

I know I'm probably using up my question quota lol.. But, has anyone had the yeast sit on top of the krausen and if yes, did you mix it in or leave it? The instructions I had were quite vague.

 

[wynnum1]

Have a google "rehydrating yeast"

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/rehydrating-dry-yeast/

 

[noddysevens]

Thanks wynnum1, I had a look at the link, that is much better than the one I had.

I did most of that, but I didn't realise I could stir it, so my starter probably had a couple of small clumps.

I am very glad I bought quality yeast instead of using the coopers stuff, I got that idea from skulking around this website for a while haha

 

[Dae Tripper]

No need to get it in super fast like you did. Doing no chill I regularly put stuff that is 40 degrees or more in the fridge overnight, then pitch the yeast in the morning.

 

[noddysevens]

It is my understanding that the primary reason for getting the yeast in quickly is to prevent infection, so I'm guessing when you pitch comes down to how confident you are in your hygiene, Does that sound about right?

As far as I can tell a lot of brewers here like to pitch at about the same temp they ferment and up to 5C more, so it makes sense to chill the beer before pitching. I just don't trust my fridge to be clean enough to survive that long with no yeast action.

 

[Moad]

It's more that the alcohol generated from the yeast munching the sugars is what protects against infection. That and once you pitch, the chance of any wild yeast outnumbering your desired yeast will decrease. If your sanitation is good you can leave it a few hours to cool...no dramas.

 

[noddysevens]

Thanks for the advice I'll do a bit more research on yeast before the next brew. I've recorded as much information as I can think of for this brew, so hopefully i can get some consistency and make some tidy beer.

As a bit of an update:
I now have some krausen staring to form and as of tomorrow I'm off the the LHBS to grab some 40g of Cascade hop pellets.

Here's my plan;
-Ferment at 18C to final gravity
-throw in the hops pellets and leave for 2 days
-drop temp to 2C for two weeks to cold condition
-bottle prime with Coopers carb drops
-leave for another 2 weeks @ 18C
-Crack open a coldy and enjoy

 

[Beamer]

Seems like you know what your doing noddy especially for a first brew, my only tip would to get you bottles in a warmer spot for carbonation or wait a little longer before cracking one. Just to avoid dissapointment on your first brew nothing worse than under carbed beer.

 

[Weizguy]

Cheers for the advice.

I pitched within a minute or two of mixing the ingredients and I made sure I got a lot of oxygen into the brew.

I know I'm probably using up my question quota lol.. But, has anyone had the yeast sit on top of the krausen and if yes, did you mix it in or leave it? The instructions I had were quite vague.

Just be aware that oxygen is more soluble in cold wort than warmer wort. So it's possible that you didn't actually get much oxygen in the brew this time, at 30°C.
When I pitch yeast, I like to stir the wort with a drill-powered sanitised paint mixer from the auto shop. You can actually whip up the entire batch into a moussy consistency if that's what you're after

 

[wynnum1]

When you're down the brew shop, ask about tins of un-hopped malt extract or dry malt extract. Use either of these in your next brew instead of the brew enhancer for an even better beer.

Cheers,
RB

Working with some grain may be worth looking at and retail sellers on site can courier to replace malt extract or brew enhancer is not that hard to do .