Frequently Asked Questions For The New Brewer

[Wildman]

This is a fantastic resource.
Have only been brewing for a couple of months but am loving the results and am keen to learn more of the brewing craft.
Was surprised to read that the temperatures you recommended for fermentation were quite a bit lower than what's printed on the extract cans. They suggest a range of 18-27 degrees yet you mention temps as low as 10-14.
Am curios cause i had a coopers pale ale fermenting at temp of approx 16 degrees and the process seemed to stall. got hydrometer readings of 1022 left it a bit longer but nothing more happened. Any suggestions, help or otherwise.
Cheers

 

[manticle]

Temperature is probably a bit low. Bump it up to around 20, give it a gentle swirl, see how she goes. General range for ales is suggested to be 18-22 as a rule of thumb. Some styles do well with higher temperatures, as do some yeasts but as a basic guide that's the best range. Higher than 22 for most ales leads to a quicker ferment but accompanied by undesirable flavours.

Lagers are a different kettle of fish (provided the 'lager' you're brewing utilises and actual lager yeast). The 10 - 14 you've been reading is probably for lagers. Lagers generally 7 - 12. Can hit 14 but any higher will lead to the wrong flavours.

 

[Slightly]

Recently set up my Coopers Micro-Brew kit. I was a bit worried about a few things but after reading the FAQs, I'm pretty content with it all. Very, very helpful. Thank you!

 

[waggastew]

Just begun homebrewing but this thread (and the site) has been an amazing resource!

On the topic of keeping your fermenter at the correct temperature I cannot speak highly enough of the 75 can cooler (aka the SMASH cooler from Bunnings). I got mine two days into the ferment after struggling with the laundry tub/wet towels/fan/ice/water mess. Two 2L bottles of ice on rotation once a day keeps the brew at a perfect 17-18 deg C, no hassles. Given that temp is one of the most critical factors in brewing good beer I really think they should come as a standard item. If your new to homebrewing and don't have one get it. For ~$30 its a cheap way to make much better beer before your sure you want to commit to thermostats/fridges etc. (One thing: you might have to muck around with the airlock to get the lid shut properly, you can cut a hole or I just put the airlock in upside down, still works the same way, you just can't watch it)

I am brewing a CPA can, Brew Enh 2, Saaz hops and some US-O5 yeast for my first brew (thanks to someone on here for coming up with that combo). SHould hopefully be a nice innocuous introduction. Over winter I might try a recipe with lager yeast as the cooler will be more than capable of getting to a constant 10degC.

Thanks again one and all. I will hopefully post some reviews of planned beers once they are brewed/bottled/conditioned. Its a pity thats at least 2-3 months away!

In The Fermentor: CPA can, BE2, Saaz Hops (finishing), US-05 yeast
Waiting to Go In: Muntons Export Stout, 74 brewcraft Irish Stout converter, Muntons Gold Yeast (any hops suggestions?)
After That: Bavarian Helles style, still researching on the recipe, any ideas welcome!

 

[beerbog]

I use an old 600l fridge (not working) with frozen water bottles in the garage. With an ambient temp of 35 deg, 1 bottle will keep my brew at 20 - 22 deg, 2 bottles even lower, that includes during the rigorous initial ferment when a couple of deg are added due to the natural heat of fermentation.

In winter i can get 12 deg with 2 bottles for lagers.

Regards.

 

[Hatchy]

What an awesome thread, I wish I'd seen this 12 - 13 years ago when I 1st started brewing. If I'd had better results then I wouldn't have been an "on again - off again" brewer for that time. I've currently got 2 of my fermenters in the bath, I put in 2 5kg bags of ice to get it cool enough to pitch my yeast & have 6 take away containers rotating in the freezer to try to keep the fermenters under 25 degrees (it's an uphill battle). I'm hoping that I'll have enough of a stockpile that I won't have to brew next summer & can just enjoy the fruits of a winter of having 3 fermenters constantly going but I may grab a spare fridge from a mate & stick a fermenter or 2 in there (I've got a mate who knows how to change over the thermostat). Good work by every poster on here. I'm looking forward to some much better beer now that I have such an awesome online resource. I'm looking forward to having some spare time to sit down with a beer or 2 & my laptop to have a good look around here.

 

[DKS]

What an awesome thread, I wish I'd seen this 12 - 13 years ago when I 1st started brewing. If I'd had better results then I wouldn't have been an "on again - off again" brewer for that time. I've currently got 2 of my fermenters in the bath, I put in 2 5kg bags of ice to get it cool enough to pitch my yeast & have 6 take away containers rotating in the freezer to try to keep the fermenters under 25 degrees (it's an uphill battle). I'm hoping that I'll have enough of a stockpile that I won't have to brew next summer & can just enjoy the fruits of a winter of having 3 fermenters constantly going but I may grab a spare fridge from a mate & stick a fermenter or 2 in there (I've got a mate who knows how to change over the thermostat). Good work by every poster on here. I'm looking forward to some much better beer now that I have such an awesome online resource. I'm looking forward to having some spare time to sit down with a beer or 2 & my laptop to have a good look around here.

Same for many brewers in years gone by Hatchy. I started early 80's. It was a bit of a secret like a good fishing spot, or just home brew shops were opening without any knowledge. Around that time emu farming was all the go, and look at that now. My brother and I were advised to boil grains to make better kit beers but they meant boil as in 100* boil with a 2 pound rock in the kettle, with obvious results. We were none the wiser and reverted back to plain kits, then gave it away.
There was no internet then. Now its all there and for free. Best use it to your advantage eh?
BribieG has some good history on the home brew scene.Check out some of his posts if your interested.
Anyway glad you have found a top resource here. Let us all know what your brewing and results. :icon_cheers:
Daz
Edit : Fill out your details it'll help people help you.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Hi guys, this is my first post here. Im new to brewing and this thread has helped me a lot. I had a similar problem with getting the lid of my fermenter as did greenie. I found that if you use rubber gloves you can get a much better grip on the lid, and it is possible to open the fermenter without using a hammer and screwdriver.
Anyhoo....thanks for all the info on this site. It has helped me heaps!!!!!!

 

[DKS]

Hi guys, this is my first post here. Im new to brewing and this thread has helped me a lot. I had a similar problem with getting the lid of my fermenter as did greenie. I found that if you use rubber gloves you can get a much better grip on the lid, and it is possible to open the fermenter without using a hammer and screwdriver.
Anyhoo....thanks for all the info on this site. It has helped me heaps!!!!!!

Zapp
I refused to wear wife's pink rubber gloves (grunt grunt ) so....
Chucked the lid and air lock in storage. Now use glad wrap with "O" ring from lid.To easy and you can see whats going on in fermenter and not embarrassing.
Using hydrometer anyway so bubble / air lock is not required.Always found air lock a PITA.
Daz

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Zapp
I refused to wear wife's pink rubber gloves (grunt grunt ) so....
Chucked the lid and air lock in storage. Now use glad wrap with "O" ring from lid.To easy and you can see whats going on in fermenter and not embarrassing.
Using hydrometer anyway so bubble / air lock is not required.Always found air lock a PITA.
Daz

Thanks DKS.
Do you poke a hole in the glad wrap?
Or does the gas push past the O ring to escape?
Rubber gloves are available in other colours.

 

[warra48]

Thanks DKS.
Do you poke a hole in the glad wrap?
Or does the gas push past the O ring to escape?
Rubber gloves are available in other colours.

No need to poke a hole in it.
The CO2 gas will find its own way to get out.
The rubber seal doesn't seal it airtight anyway, it's not strong enough, and there's enough of a gap around the outside threads at the top of the fermenter to allow the gas to escape.

 

[Bribie G]

I'm glad this thread has been revived, it should really be kept alive by referring new brewers to it more often, re airlocks not bubbling etc, it's a thread that tends to slip below the radar of more experienced brewers.

 

[bum]

It is the only sticky in this forum.

 

[MarkMc]

I'm glad this thread has been revived,

It reminds us old senile poms what they are doing in the garage with all these stainless pots and bags of museli ;-)

 

[uncleBez]

Hi.

I made a few homebrews from coopers kits a couple years back and they all turned out nice enough. (Just following basic instructions
from the coopers kit).

Ok so I have just started another brew which is currently fermenting and feeling new again have been reading ALOT of information
over the passed few days, on the internet and books from the library (I just might burn myself out ).

So I have a few questions about my brew.

Here is my current situation.

On the 07/04/2010 here is what i did.

I activated the dry yeast from the kit in warm water.
it frothed up very nicely in the steralised jar with glad wrap over it.
I believe this is a combination yeast of lager and ale and that is why they recommend a fermentation of 21 - 27deg?
If i used a saflager of safale yeast I would brew at a lower temp and probably get a better result?

I dissolved in hot water the kit malt and a tin of Tooheys brewing sugar (which says ingredients: maize starch on the tin). The tin says to use in place of sugar and dextrose.
I don't think this was the best choice, but I am interested to see how it turns out, maybe
i should use on of coopers brew enhancers?

The temp was then at 25.6deg C, I added the yeast (I forgot to take the SG reading, but did it instantly after adding yeast) and I got a reading of
1.041

The mix cooled quickly in the garage to about 22deg C and is fermenting away nicely now.
The garage seems to remain at a constant 22 degrees. Its always the coolest part of the house.

Ok so.. bottleing...

I have been reading about finings (gelatine), racking, lagering etc...
So i don't want to get to complicated but want to improve my results.

I am planning to..

after fermenting as finished (hydro reading stable for 3 days) rack the beer (syphon into a vessel and back into the cleaned fermenter

I only have one fermenter but would like to rack as I have read this is a big contibuter to better quality.
Is it too risky to transfer to say a steralised esky and back to the fermenter?
And what benefit has racking on my brew?

I then plan to add the prepared gelatine and leave for a couple days (in current location), and then bottle to primed bottles.
Are the finings going to effect my carbonation, and if so how much?, in what way?

I will leave the bottles in the same location for 3 weeks and then cool before drinking.


Also any home brew clubs around the north ryde area of sydney?

Love to hear if I have planned well, or if I am going off track.

 

[Adro85]

This is my first post here too; as everyone else has said there's some awesome information. I'm just starting to get my head around all the terminology!

I bought my Coopers kit a couple of weeks ago and have just finished bottling the results of the lager can that came with it. Truth be told, it didn't taste all that bad out of the fermenter so I imagine after a few weeks of conditioning in the bottles I'll have a drinkable brew. At the end of the day that's all I'm after - it doesn't need to be award-winning to impress me (a former VB drinker!)

I'm really looking forward to trying some more interesting recipes, slowly working my way up from kit&kilo to hop additions and stuff. I was stoked to see the pictures and read the results of the 100-can cooler too - I was picturing it as a big esky rather than a giant stubbie cooler. I'll be buying one of those ASAP!

Cheers,

Adrian

 

[bobbylugino]

hi all great site.
i am new to brewing and have my first batch on the go, was just wondering what exactly is the correct procedure for pouring off the beer to take a hydrometer reading, should i leave the airlock attached while i do it or take it off? any info would be a great help.
cheers

 

[carrollfromwork]

Hi,

Im sort of new to home brewing and ive had a bit of trouble with my last 2 batches. I bottled a batch of Tooheys special lager using coopers brew enhancer 2 with a final gravity of 1016. Stuck them straight in the fridge and checked them after a few weeks and they didnt carbonate (just read now thats a big mistake so ive taken them out of the fridge and am hoping they will be ok). Ill check on those in a couple of weeks to see if thats fixed them.

I have another tooheys lager down using coopers brew enhancer2 and this time i checked the instructions on the can more carefully. It says to keep brew between 18-28C and FG should be 1006.

The batch has been down for 7 days with temps between 22-26C and my SG has been constant at 1016 for a day now (starting SG was 1038). It seems that it has finished and is ready for bottling but im worried about the FG. Do you think this is ready to bottle?

Also in your post you said lagers brew at much lower temps? Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Hi,

Im sort of new to home brewing and ive had a bit of trouble with my last 2 batches. I bottled a batch of Tooheys special lager using coopers brew enhancer 2 with a final gravity of 1016. Stuck them straight in the fridge and checked them after a few weeks and they didnt carbonate (just read now thats a big mistake so ive taken them out of the fridge and am hoping they will be ok). Ill check on those in a couple of weeks to see if thats fixed them.

I have another tooheys lager down using coopers brew enhancer2 and this time i checked the instructions on the can more carefully. It says to keep brew between 18-28C and FG should be 1006.

The batch has been down for 7 days with temps between 22-26C and my SG has been constant at 1016 for a day now (starting SG was 1038). It seems that it has finished and is ready for bottling but im worried about the FG. Do you think this is ready to bottle?

Also in your post you said lagers brew at much lower temps? Any thoughts?

Thanks

Hi Carroll,

If the brew tin says keep it at that temp, then you'll need to keep it at that temp.

When it uses the word lager, it won't be in the "official" sense of lager - more that they want you to do a lager-style beer. If the recommended temp is 18-28C, then highly probable that you'll have an ale yeast on your hands. Ale yeasts have a higher brewing (and carbonating) temp, than lager yeasts.

1.016 might be a little high. You won't hurt anything by leaving it another week, in fact, it will probably help as the yeast "cleans up after itself". Constant SG needs to be tested over a minimum of 3 days.

Don't worry, we all started this journey in the same place. My other piece of advice is to do some yeast research - find out what brewing temps are better for what yeasts (and your climate - I won't use a lager yeast in Qld in ambient temps, even in winter), terminology such as flocculation, attenuation, esters and so on.

I found it helped me heaps to select a yeast that was appropriate for the result I was trying to acheive (once I got to that stage). Given the yeast is what a) farts (therefore gives you bubbles) and B) provides alcohol, as well as being the centre of the process, knowing a bit more is always a good thing. It goes from being that thing under the lid in the silver packet, to a key ingredient in any brew.

Even when I was just Kit & Kilo (which is what you are - kit, plus extra malt), I very quickly figured out that the "under the lid" yeast wasn't too crash hot.

Hope this helps you out.

Goomba

 

[carrollfromwork]

Hi Carroll,

If the brew tin says keep it at that temp, then you'll need to keep it at that temp.

When it uses the word lager, it won't be in the "official" sense of lager - more that they want you to do a lager-style beer. If the recommended temp is 18-28C, then highly probable that you'll have an ale yeast on your hands. Ale yeasts have a higher brewing (and carbonating) temp, than lager yeasts.

1.016 might be a little high. You won't hurt anything by leaving it another week, in fact, it will probably help as the yeast "cleans up after itself". Constant SG needs to be tested over a minimum of 3 days.

Don't worry, we all started this journey in the same place. My other piece of advice is to do some yeast research - find out what brewing temps are better for what yeasts (and your climate - I won't use a lager yeast in Qld in ambient temps, even in winter), terminology such as flocculation, attenuation, esters and so on.

I found it helped me heaps to select a yeast that was appropriate for the result I was trying to acheive (once I got to that stage). Given the yeast is what a) farts (therefore gives you bubbles) and B) provides alcohol, as well as being the centre of the process, knowing a bit more is always a good thing. It goes from being that thing under the lid in the silver packet, to a key ingredient in any brew.

Even when I was just Kit & Kilo (which is what you are - kit, plus extra malt), I very quickly figured out that the "under the lid" yeast wasn't too crash hot.

Hope this helps you out.

Goomba

Ok so after a couple more days, the SG hasnt changed (still at 1016) and there is now a white film forming on top of the brew? is this possible infection? should i just bottle and hope for the best or toss it out and start again?

I just opened a bottle from the previous batch which was about 1016 FG and it seems ok but it wasnt left this long (this batch has been down for almost 11 days now)

I dont think ill be using the tooheys lager kit again (ive been recommended the morgans blue mountain lager or something and ill be giving that a crack)

 

[pk.sax]

to my limited understanding, the white film is just yeast krausen. Did you give the fermenter a shake/swirl? That might've woken the sleepies up. Also, letting the temperature come back up to the higher side of what is recommended on the can did that to my first one too, got it fermenting again.
My current beer has hit 11 days just now, tastes fine... ppl have been recommending leaving the beer on the yeast for 2 weeks anyway. Its cold weather still

 

[bum]

to my limited understanding, the white film is just yeast krausen.

Forming at eleven days when the hydrometer is saying terminal gravity?

Does the film look a little bit spiderwebby? Or just like a bunch of little bubbles? Or something else entirely?

 

[Lodan]

Hi Carroll

I used Ian's Spreadsheet to calculate your FG and got 1011 (edit: assuming a 23L batch)
The can says 1006 most likely because they're refering to the can mixed with 1kg sugar or dextrose. COopers BE2 is a mixture of 500g dextrose, 250g Maltodextrin and 250g of Malt. Malt is less fermentable than dextrose and maltodextrin is generally only 30% fermentable; which gives you a higher FG than using 1kg of dex alone.

I have left brews in the fermenter for about 3 weeks with no hassle (many others on the forum say the same) so it will be ok to leave it a bit longer.

A light swirl as suggested may wake the yeast up. Try keeping temps at no greater than 22, despite what the can says they prefer to be on the lower side of the temperature scale

Lodan

Edits: Ian's spreadsheet is a great resource for kit and extract brewers
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...st&p=644029

 

[pk.sax]

Forming at eleven days when the hydrometer is saying terminal gravity?

Does the film look a little bit spiderwebby? Or just like a bunch of little bubbles? Or something else entirely?

Thats why I asked straight after if he/she gave the fermenter a shake/swirl. I noticed on my last one that when I moved fermenter from where it was to a spot closer to the heating duct outlet it started foaming up again, could be the movement, could be the temp... or maybe I was :drinks: and happy

PS: How is 1.016 a terminal gravity for a made to recipe K&K?? for a Lager too... hmnnnn... maybe u missed that one.

 

[bum]

The yeast kicking back in at 1016 is not going to spur the critters back into full-on growth mode - they'll just start chewing on them tasty sugaz again.

Your result sounds reasonable as there could easy be a layer of fine, foamy bubbles forming. That's why I was asking about the consistency of the "film". We're sorta on the same page. Ish.

 

[bum]

PS: How is 1.016 a terminal gravity for a made to recipe K&K?? for a Lager too... hmnnnn... maybe u missed that one.

1. I said "when the hydrometer is saying terminal gravity". This is different to "when the beer has reached terminal gravity.' The hydro is not reporting any movement - how is a krausen being formed? Maybe you missed that one?

2. The tin comes with an ale yeast. Maybe you missed that one? Plenty of reasons why the yeast might have put this beer in the too hard basket. Not saying that is certainly the case but it is well within the realms of possibility.

[EDIT: One sentence wasn't saying what I meant. Made sure this edit doesn't change the context of pf's reply below.]

 

[pk.sax]

We're sorta on the same page. Ish.

O MA Gosh! I gotta bookmark this page and keep it for posterity
Actually, I have my beer @ 1018 right now and thinking of transferring it to secondary to help it along a little, taste is already clean so doubting if any more 'sitting' on the yeast cake will do it more good. Same, 11 days since it went in.

 

[pk.sax]

1. I said "when the hydrometer is saying terminal gravity". This is different to "when the beer has reached terminal gravity.' The hydro is not reporting any movement - how is a krausen being formed? Maybe you missed that one?

2. The tin comes with an ale yeast. Maybe you missed that one? Plenty of reasons why the yeast have put this beer in the too hard basket. Not saying that is certainly the case but it is well within the realms of possibility.

I'm thinking since her kit says it should drop another 10 points, its sleepy yeast. And the yeast was supplied with the kit, yeah? so I guess the ppl at Tooheys did some calcs on it b4 selling it with those instructions. That said, I have a feeling it is the less fermentable sugars that get fermented very slowly once it hits a certain SG. Maybe 1016 is it for her's.. dunno... out of depth here.

I have another tooheys lager down using coopers brew enhancer2 and this time i checked the instructions on the can more carefully. It says to keep brew between 18-28C and FG should be 1006.

 

[Screwtop]

I'm thinking since her kit says it should drop another 10 points, its sleepy yeast.

Hang around this site for a bit longer and read as much as you can.

Screwy

Being nice tonight eh!

 

[pk.sax]

Hang around this site for a bit longer and read as much as you can.

Screwy

Being nice tonight eh!

very, just downed whatever was left of my 'accidental' cider and then tasted the wheat I'm fermenting very very happy happy.