First Brew Story Complete With Mistakes :d

[KarvEm]

First post, after much (belated) forum reading.

Years ago i used to love helping a mate who knew how to brew his beer (by help i mean i would stand around sinking pints and paying too little attention to the finer points). Haven't seen him in years so i decided this summer that i'd lash out and build a setup and learn whatever i can't remember from those days.

So i bought some stuff, fermenter, keg, beer/gas lines and connections, various sanitation chemicals, soda stream adapter(too poor for much else atm) and a little 'fisher and paykel P120' bar fridge.

I found this simple looking Coopers kit (Mexican Cerveza) at kmart and got straight into it, bypassing the "read AHB.com forums" step.

I did sanitize the s**t out of everything, made sure of that. But then as i'm cooking up the wort i walked away to my kid for a tick and it boiled over. Not much, about 1/4 cup, so i thought big deal and continued on. I went ahead and used 1.25 KG normal(sucrose) sugar too. Probably not the best way to go, but hey it's my 1st brew and the supermarkets real close.
So i filled the fermenter, took an OG reading of '1046' and pulled out the instructions to the part where it says "Once the wort is at ideal temp 21 - 27C pitch the yeast. If it is between 17 - 32C it is more important that you pitch now as the wort is vulnerable". The temp was 30C so i went ahead and pitched, sealed her up and put her in the end room which is always around 18 - 25C.

When i checked the following day to see if the airlock was crackin away much to my disappointment..........it was not.
I *finally* had a quick peek around on this forum and found some conversation about yeast burning in hell and figured that was my problem. So i went and bought another kit and used the identical yeast packet to re-pitch this time at a fair 22C, all the while being as careful as possible not to infect the batch.

When i came back the next day again the airlock was as stagnant as Wagga Wagga's Lake Albert.
Stumped, i returned to this board to find a conversation about 'not trusting the airlock'. I went back to my brew armed this time with the hydrometer.
'1006' was the reading and the swill out of the tube tasted surprisingly decent if a touch fruity. Shitty seal i thought to myself. Given that my readings were now my only gauge of the process i decided to leave it a couple of days and test again: '1004'- still dropping. Another couple days: '1004' and holding.

Still sitting at '1004' today (8 days later) so i decided to rack it via tap and tube to bottom of cube and fridge it. I gotta say it didn't smell like a disaster at all, and was already very very clear.

Is it possible that i haven't destroyed my beer after all of this or do i have a surprise coming? Thoughts?

Either way i have been reading this forum a lot over the last 8 days and will be doing things a little different next brew......

 

[yum beer]

You may well get a suprise when you crack that first brew, but it may not be a good one..initial temps will probably have created some nasty tastes that will be
quite noticable in a low flavour beer like Cerveza...but you may be lucky.

I am interested to know why you were 'cooking the wort' on a basic kit brew.

Yes you now know not to go the sugar route, get malt in there instead, try and use dextrose if you must and keep it to 200-330gm at most if you can.

Anyway I hope it comes out well and you certainly will put your 2nd brew down with a lot more knowledge under your belt.

 

[Thefatdoghead]

First post, after much (belated) forum reading.

Years ago i used to love helping a mate who knew how to brew his beer (by help i mean i would stand around sinking pints and paying too little attention to the finer points). Haven't seen him in years so i decided this summer that i'd lash out and build a setup and learn whatever i can't remember from those days.

So i bought some stuff, fermenter, keg, beer/gas lines and connections, various sanitation chemicals, soda stream adapter(too poor for much else atm) and a little 'fisher and paykel P120' bar fridge.

I found this simple looking Coopers kit (Mexican Cerveza) at kmart and got straight into it, bypassing the "read AHB.com forums" step.

I did sanitize the s**t out of everything, made sure of that. But then as i'm cooking up the wort i walked away to my kid for a tick and it boiled over. Not much, about 1/4 cup, so i thought big deal and continued on. I went ahead and used 1.25 KG normal(sucrose) sugar too. Probably not the best way to go, but hey it's my 1st brew and the supermarkets real close.
So i filled the fermenter, took an OG reading of '1046' and pulled out the instructions to the part where it says "Once the wort is at ideal temp 21 - 27C pitch the yeast. If it is between 17 - 32C it is more important that you pitch now as the wort is vulnerable". The temp was 30C so i went ahead and pitched, sealed her up and put her in the end room which is always around 18 - 25C.

When i checked the following day to see if the airlock was crackin away much to my disappointment..........it was not.
I *finally* had a quick peek around on this forum and found some conversation about yeast burning in hell and figured that was my problem. So i went and bought another kit and used the identical yeast packet to re-pitch this time at a fair 22C, all the while being as careful as possible not to infect the batch.

When i came back the next day again the airlock was as stagnant as Wagga Wagga's Lake Albert.
Stumped, i returned to this board to find a conversation about 'not trusting the airlock'. I went back to my brew armed this time with the hydrometer.
'1006' was the reading and the swill out of the tube tasted surprisingly decent if a touch fruity. Shitty seal i thought to myself. Given that my readings were now my only gauge of the process i decided to leave it a couple of days and test again: '1004'- still dropping. Another couple days: '1004' and holding.

Still sitting at '1004' today (8 days later) so i decided to rack it via tap and tube to bottom of cube and fridge it. I gotta say it didn't smell like a disaster at all, and was already very very clear.

Is it possible that i haven't destroyed my beer after all of this or do i have a surprise coming? Thoughts?

Either way i have been reading this forum a lot over the last 8 days and will be doing things a little different next brew......

Sounds a lot like my first brew. It was drinkable and thats all i'll say. :icon_vomit:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Dude, we've all been there. The big advantage you have is that AHB was around when you started - like when I did 13 years ago (and I'm young).

I'd have started AG about 12 years ago and be an absolute expert, instead of a self-appointed one.

Good luck, read lots, you'll go far.

Goomba

 

[Rowy]

Dude, we've all been there. The big advantage you have is that AHB was around when you started - like when I did 13 years ago (and I'm young).

I'd have started AG about 12 years ago and be an absolute expert, instead of a self-appointed one.

Good luck, read lots, you'll go far.

Goomba

Evening my lud. A little late tonight if I may say.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Evening my lud. A little late tonight if I may say.

Usually it's day time as I attempt to get out of doing some work.

Not much doing here.

Drinking a low abv% version of my house ale. It isn't that good, comparatively. I like the higher abv% version, and not just for it's effects. It's just a way better beer.

I like windsor yeast and high temp mashing, but not on APA.

Lesson learned and I won't kill too many brain cells emptying this keg.

Goomba

 

[Rowy]

Usually it's day time as I attempt to get out of doing some work.

Not much doing here.

Drinking a low abv% version of my house ale. It isn't that good, comparatively. I like the higher abv% version, and not just for it's effects. It's just a way better beer.

I like windsor yeast and high temp mashing, but not on APA.

Lesson learned and I won't kill too many brain cells emptying this keg.

Goomba

First Biab tomorrow using the 20litre pot. I'm like the virgin bride the night before her wedding at the moment.

 

[DJR]

Sounds fine, the seals on top of fermenters are pains and usually let air through before the airlock - no need to worry. Plenty of guys just grab out the big rubber O-ring from the lid, cover the lid with gladwrap and use the o-ring to keep the glad wrap on top of the fermenter.

We all have to start somewhere and AHB is a good resource... keep on going

Was back there in the beginning all over again tonight - due to time i brewed a kit again, first I have used a kit in about 5 years - a coopers canadian blonde, minimash of 300g Vienna and 200g Caramalt, with 45g Amarillo and 800g Dex. Just used 2x Coopers yeast sachets

 

[peaky]

The seals on my fermenters must be shot. I haven't had an airlock bubble for the past 15 brews or more. I just watch for the krausen, and I've never had a yeast that didn't fire. I've gotten used to nothing happening for a day or two and then up comes the krausen. All good.

 

[KarvEm]

Thanks for the words of support, I'm thoroughly enjoying the learning side of things anyway.

I've had it clearing in the fridge for 2 days now and this morning i realized that i had the cube touching against the ice box/freezer compartment of the little P120 bar fridge i'm using. Huge big ice block in the center of the cube.

Thawed it out and stuck it back in, ah well.
I have now removed the fittings from the ice box and bent it out flat and positioned it against the back wall of the fridge. Not touching my brew now!

Put another kit on today, this time i added dextrose, light malt extract, maltodextrin and hops. I pitched a sachet of Morgan's Lager yeast at about 20C, sealed her up and put it up in the studio where it will sit for a week or two at about 17 - 19C.

Might be better this time!

 

[yum beer]

Thanks for the words of support, I'm thoroughly enjoying the learning side of things anyway.

I've had it clearing in the fridge for 2 days now and this morning i realized that i had the cube touching against the ice box/freezer compartment of the little P120 bar fridge i'm using. Huge big ice block in the center of the cube.

Thawed it out and stuck it back in, ah well.
I have now removed the fittings from the ice box and bent it out flat and positioned it against the back wall of the fridge. Not touching my brew now!

Put another kit on today, this time i added dextrose, light malt extract, maltodextrin and hops. I pitched a sachet of Morgan's Lager yeast at about 20C, sealed her up and put it up in the studio where it will sit for a week or two at about 17 - 19C.

Might be better this time!

Hey karvem, your certainly learning some lessons, 2nd bre sounds a bit more like it,
all the best and good brewing