First brew first beer from it

[Troy294]

I get ya now . It's 1010, 1020 .
And goes up in twos. That clears it up 100 % now . So basically if I can get two consistent reads on 1010 - 1008 it's ready to bottle .

 

[manticle]

Two consistent reads at the number you reasonably expect given the ingredients yes BUT

your beer will improve if you give it two or so more days after you have hit terminal gravity.

Yeast make all sorts of farty, stinky things while they eat sugar and make alcohol and carbon dioxide. If you give them time, they will clean up some of their mess. If you don't, the mess is stuck in your beer. Patience (and a second fermenter so you can make more while being patient with the first) are key factors in a good, clean tasting beer.

 

[Troy294]

So there is no way it will over ferment ! It's been down 4 days now . I'm gonna buy another fermenter this week so I can always have one down

 

[manticle]

Over ferment? No.

Under ferment is what you want to look out for.

Beer left too long with oxygen access can spoil and left too long on dead yeast can taste bad but we are talking many weeks/months. Your main concern is making sure it has finished properly so you don't get glass shards in anyone's eye (and so your beer tastes good and clean).

 

[Troy294]

Sweet as . So leaving a brew ferment two weeks is completely fine . Oh that good then . Thanks soooo much for the advise .

 

[S R F]

Why isn't my beer holding it's head. I'm new at this and used a coopers draught kit with dextrose and 2 carbonation drops in 750ml bottles. I'm not liking it the way I liked the guy's who gave me the bottles. He used his own grain though and had a keg set up so the tap was in his fridge door. It was awesome but I don't know how he did it. His was as nice as any pub beer I ever tasted.I feel like Ive got so much to learn.

 

[Troy294]

Good question and I hope someone can answer it because I can't get head on my beers either . I got coopers lager .

 

[thylacine]

Sweet as . So leaving a brew ferment two weeks is completely fine . Oh that good then . Thanks soooo much for the advise .

+1 About twelve months ago I stopped worrying about OG, SG & FG. ie. no hydrometers anymore. Why? Because my detailed brewing notes revealed consistency of OGs and FGs due to to my standard processes and grain bills. eg my total base malts always falls within 200g from one recipe to another.

In other words, my brewing diary has shown me that two weeks fermenting (ales 18-20c; lagers 10-12), followed by one week cold conditioning, then one week carbonating at ambient temps (longnecks) works for me. eg no bottle bombs. As I gladwrap my fermenters, I simply have a daily visual to check temps (Fridgemate) and what stage the krausen is at. No sampling, no stirring, no interferring, no impatience, etc.

And no reference at all to some beer focused ferrier or the like. ;-)

Cheers

 

[sp0rk]

I pity for you if you ever have a stuck ferment and don't notice it...

 

[Troy294]

So it's been 12 days and its slowly getting better and it's holding its head better . Coopers lager - tastes real bitter . Just bottled the same beer today but was fermented at a way way way cooler temp and with us-05 yeast . Still can't fully drink the coopers lager one yet that's been sitting 12 days but ill try it again on weekend

 

[thylacine]

I pity for you if you ever have a stuck ferment and don't notice it...

"...because my detailed brewing notes revealed consistency of..." including practices which follow pursuits of 'prevention is the best cure'. ie stuck fermentations


If you comment is based on your own experiences, you may be interested in the link below.

Cheers

http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=89541

 

[sp0rk]

I've never had one personally, but I've met a few kit brewers who are so stuck in their weekly brew ritual, I can see they'd never notice during their autonomy
Just saying it's a possibility and I like to check to make sure it's finished first

 

[Troy294]

Yeah I can't drink this first batch of mine coopers lager wit kit yeast . I think I did to high of temps . Just tastes to bitter . I can stand one . Then second I need to ditch it . Going down is ok but just the after taste . I did exact same brew with us-05 yeast and fermented at about 18 degrees and I have has this one bottled 2 days and already looks clearer then the first one which has been bottled for 15 days . First one yuk .

 

[Troy294]

Wow this beer Fromm second brew with different yeast and fermented at a lower temp is soooooooo much different to my first one . I enjoy drinking it so much