Troy294
Well-Known Member
So do u guys have any ideas of keeping brew cool consistently ?
First brew some concerns
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djar007
Well-Known Member
Troy294 said:
Leading with the chin mate. :lol: People have been called names for making such admissions.
Two methods of keeping the brew cool, which I used for over a year till I got a proper fermenting fridge:
edit: you'll need some spare freezer space for this.
Get an old dead fridge and clean it out well, remove the shelves, trays etc and the thing to keep the eggs in, strip it down as much as possible.
Freeze down some 1.25L bottles full of water and swap the ice bottles in and out of the fridge, a couple of bottles a day should keep the brew at below 20°
If you don't have room for a dead fridge, make up something similar with a beach towel and a cheap doonah - you can get perfectly good doonahs from Big W for $10.
place a 1.25L ice bottle both sides of the fermenter. Wrap in old beach towel (to absorb condensation and stop the doonah staining) the wrap the whole lot in the doonah and finally a couple of bungee cords with hooks.
Swap ice bottles daily.
Won a few competitions with brews done that way. If you have room, you could maybe get a free dead fridge from Good Guys etc for a delivery fee.
Later if you decide to stick with the hobby, get a second hand fridge off gumtree etc and a temperature controller so that you can keep the brew at exactly the temp you desire.
temp controllers come in various types and prices, some of which you need to wire up yourself but not hard.
edit: you'll need some spare freezer space for this.
Get an old dead fridge and clean it out well, remove the shelves, trays etc and the thing to keep the eggs in, strip it down as much as possible.
Freeze down some 1.25L bottles full of water and swap the ice bottles in and out of the fridge, a couple of bottles a day should keep the brew at below 20°
If you don't have room for a dead fridge, make up something similar with a beach towel and a cheap doonah - you can get perfectly good doonahs from Big W for $10.
place a 1.25L ice bottle both sides of the fermenter. Wrap in old beach towel (to absorb condensation and stop the doonah staining) the wrap the whole lot in the doonah and finally a couple of bungee cords with hooks.
Swap ice bottles daily.
Won a few competitions with brews done that way. If you have room, you could maybe get a free dead fridge from Good Guys etc for a delivery fee.
Later if you decide to stick with the hobby, get a second hand fridge off gumtree etc and a temperature controller so that you can keep the brew at exactly the temp you desire.
temp controllers come in various types and prices, some of which you need to wire up yourself but not hard.
Troy294
Well-Known Member
I just dropped my hydrometer I'n the sample tube and this is the 6th day being down and on the hydrometer it says beer finih and the bracket goes from 20high-1000low sg and mine is sitting 2.5 marks above ten . So what is the ideal level .
wbosher
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??? I have no idea what you just said, but take a couple of readings a few days apart, if they are both the same then bottle. If not, leave a few more days and take another reading. No rush remember...personally I'd give it two weeks in the fermenter before bottling.Troy294 said:
I think from memory (which ain't that reliable), the Coopers Lager (I'm assuming kit ale yeast?) finishes at around 1.008 or thereabouts.
hellbent
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Troy may I make a some suggestions? As temperature is pretty important and if you can possibly afford it, look about for a cheap fridge & temperature controller in ebay/gumtree, they make life so much easier for all year round brewing and you will get consistent temperatures, (one less headache to worry about)
Secondly read up ..... not only this site (AHB) but every site you can find, eg: Palmers how to brew is a classic, http://www.howtobrew.com
Google for sites such as "beer forums" (that alone gives you 55,900,000 results) "making home brew" (18,900,000 results) all with some intriguing reading and they all have valuable information, after that, if your like me, there will be a lot of trial and error until you get it to suit.
Enjoy your home brewing it can be a wonderful experience and nothing is more satisfying than opening and sampling your first successful Home Brew.
Cheers.
PS: take a look at this site regarding Hydrometers http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html
Secondly read up ..... not only this site (AHB) but every site you can find, eg: Palmers how to brew is a classic, http://www.howtobrew.com
Google for sites such as "beer forums" (that alone gives you 55,900,000 results) "making home brew" (18,900,000 results) all with some intriguing reading and they all have valuable information, after that, if your like me, there will be a lot of trial and error until you get it to suit.
Enjoy your home brewing it can be a wonderful experience and nothing is more satisfying than opening and sampling your first successful Home Brew.
Cheers.
PS: take a look at this site regarding Hydrometers http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html
