Few Questions From A Newbie

[Deja_vu]

Hey all,

I bought a copy of how to brew and went out and bought all the ingredients for the sample beginner's recipe 'Cincinatti ale' but haven't sourced a decent sized stockpot to boil it all up as yet. I really couldn't wait so I thought I'd put those ingredients aside and bought a coopers pale ale kit and some brew booster 2 from kmart and pitched it with some brew cellar American Ale Yeast.

Took about 28 hrs for the airlock to start bubbling, but it's been going ever since - pitched it about Last Sunday afternooon. Anyway it's been at around 18 degrees the whole time, didn't take a gravity reading thinking that I'd keep it in the fermenter for atleast 2 weeks. I'll be bottling straight from the primary.

I have two packs of those Morgans 12g cascade teagbags - and i thought I'd dry hop with them, probably after 7-10 days. Should I add both of them or will one do? I'm also worried about opening the fermenter, should there be a concern?

Anyway the LHBS guy sold me some finings, not 100% sure what to do with em, but my question is will it be a problem if I add the finings and the hops at the same time, or is there a schedule?

Cheers

 

[lokpikn]

This was asked today so here is the link for the finning question.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=15930

With the fermentation still going is it firing slowly or still very active it should slow down to a few blows of the air lock every minute or less. As long as you made sure every thing that you used to make the brew including the fermenter was clean you shold be right. Dont worry to much about a OG it the FG you need to keep check off to make sure it has stopped fermenting.

I have not used tea bag hops before but i would think to steep them in some hot water for about 5 mins to help drw out the oils and put the lot into the fermenter but maybe see what some one else thinks of this idea

 

[mika]

Hop teabags are pretty much useless, they make bad tea and they're not much good in a brew either. Ideally the hops should be steeped in a light sugar solution to help release all the goods, though hot water will work at a pinch. Personally I'd stay away from dry hopping with them.

Opening the fermentor should generally be considered as a no-no in less during times of extreme panic, like "Why isn't my brew bubbling yet ?!"
As long as you approach it with some caution and due respect, should all be good, try not to agitate it too much, there will exist a light blanket of CO2 over the top of the brew that will act as an oxygen inhibitor and you want to disturb this as little as possible.

 

[boingk]

Don't worry about the finings, if you plan to keep it in the fermenter for 2 weeks you will be set. After 10 to 12 days it should be ready to be bottled anyways, but the extra few shouldn't hurt at those temps. Finings are basically gelatin granules you dissolve in boiling water and then tip into the fermenter to clear it quickly. I did this once and noticed sweet bugger-all difference - except for disturbing the fermenter...which you don't want.

Hop teabags aren't too bad from my experience, but they're costly compared to pellets or whole hops, and you can't adjust your amounts of hops too well with them. But having said that, if you have them - use them! I steeped them in a coffe mug of boiling water [rinse well with boiling water first] for 10 to 12 minutes, then tipped the entire contents of the mug into the fermenter at the start of the brew. Do one this way and leave the other dry to put in for aroma. Maybe a 2 minute steep.

If you want to do this now and leave another week or so, you still can - just be very careful whilst removing the lid: once its free of the threads don't lift it off, use more of a sliding motion so it comes off level and to one side. This way you won't suck up any carbon dioxide with the upwards motion of the lid! Excellent...

Hope this isn't too daunting, and that all goes to plan.

Cheers - boingk

 

[Deja_vu]

Thanks for your advice guys! Will leave the finings I think...

boingk, you advise against disturbing the fermenter, but I planned on moving the fermenter into the kitchen for the bottling ( it's currently in the spare bathroom.) Will picking it up and taking it for a walk be an issue?

 

[boingk]

If you've got something with wheels, use that and go very slowly. Otherwise, I'd move more towards sitting it on a ledge/sink/table close by and bottling from there. I sanitise all my stuff in either a shower with one of those moveable corded heads [great for rinsing fermenter], or a bathtub [rinsing/cleaning bottles under tap].

As long as the area is relatively clean you'll be fine.

The reason I'm going against moving the fermenter is that you'll disturb the yeast cake on the bottom, and the beer will be cloudy. Its not a huge issue, but if you can avoid it you'll notice clearer beer, and less sediment when getting to the end of the bottle. This means less of a yeast-taste and marginally more beer in each bottle due to there being less sediment-fouled beer at the end.