Newts
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
First post and first home brew currently fermenting so I'm a very inexperienced homebrewer.
I have a question relating to my brew. I brought a keg kit off Ebay and it came with a Cascade tin and additional brew enhancer packet. I went and bought a Coopers home brewing kit from Kmart to ferment the beer. It came with a DVD explaining how to put the brew together and I attempted to follow the instructions exactly.
Being honest it was a nightmare experience as I made a mistake (rushing) and didn't put the tap on the keg before mixing the wort :huh: . As a result I lost a bit of the initial wort that I put in the container but I continued with it anyway. I'd say I lost about 2-4%. I'm unsure how this will affect the brew but it was a silly mistake.
Now my question, it's been brewing for a week now. The kit came with a hydrometer and I've been taking readings each day. I also went to the local brew shop and bought a higher quality hydrometer to make sure the readings are correct. It started at 1036 and is now sitting at 1012 and has been for a few days. Could this have anything to do with the spillage? The temp is sitting between 22-26 most of the time, I'd say it's cooler overnight as I've put the container outside. It says not to bottle/keg unless it's below 1006 as this may be an incomplete fermentation.
I'm unsure as to whether I should throw the brew and start again or if there is something I can do to continue with this one. It smells like beer, it looks like beer it just doesn't meet the criteria for kegging.
Any ideas/comments would be appreciated.
Cheers
First post and first home brew currently fermenting so I'm a very inexperienced homebrewer.
I have a question relating to my brew. I brought a keg kit off Ebay and it came with a Cascade tin and additional brew enhancer packet. I went and bought a Coopers home brewing kit from Kmart to ferment the beer. It came with a DVD explaining how to put the brew together and I attempted to follow the instructions exactly.
Being honest it was a nightmare experience as I made a mistake (rushing) and didn't put the tap on the keg before mixing the wort :huh: . As a result I lost a bit of the initial wort that I put in the container but I continued with it anyway. I'd say I lost about 2-4%. I'm unsure how this will affect the brew but it was a silly mistake.
Now my question, it's been brewing for a week now. The kit came with a hydrometer and I've been taking readings each day. I also went to the local brew shop and bought a higher quality hydrometer to make sure the readings are correct. It started at 1036 and is now sitting at 1012 and has been for a few days. Could this have anything to do with the spillage? The temp is sitting between 22-26 most of the time, I'd say it's cooler overnight as I've put the container outside. It says not to bottle/keg unless it's below 1006 as this may be an incomplete fermentation.
I'm unsure as to whether I should throw the brew and start again or if there is something I can do to continue with this one. It smells like beer, it looks like beer it just doesn't meet the criteria for kegging.
Any ideas/comments would be appreciated.
Cheers