Frequently Asked Questions For The New Brewer

[bignath]

Thanks Darrtoo

I'm actually not gonna do it until tomorrow arvo... i just got my wine fridge today and need to leave it 24 hours before starting it up

Does anyone have temp and ferment times recommendations as per my questions above?

Should i get the fermenter temp to say 20degC, mix, pitch yeast, then cool to 18degc before throwing it in the wine fridge?

also, my fermenter fits into my wine fridge fine, but the airlock only fits in diagonally on an angle of about 15 degrees, the top of the airlock still has access to full air (only one side of it touches the roof of the fridge)... Does anyone know if the airlock will still function properly like this on an angle, or should i switch to abandoning the lid & airlock all together and use glad wrap ?

once again, thanks to everyone for the help and sorry for all the beginner questions

Dr Pepper,

don't apologise for the questions fella, that's how we all learn. We all had to start somewhere mate...

I personally would go the glad wrap option for a few reasons...

1. the lid can potentially be a breeding ground for bacteria (in particular around the rubber seal and the interior of the lid). Glad wrap can remove this potential problem.
2. it's so cool to be able to look into your fermenter and see exactly what is going on. Don't know until you've tried it, and the one's that do use glad wrap will know exactly what i mean. When you use the lid, the condensation build up on the underside of lid can often make it really hard to see the fermentation cycle progressing.
3. Space. If you are low on space, not having an airlock protruding above your fermenter can make or break the ability to ferment in tight fit areas (wine fridge for example). Or you can CAREFULLY stack one fermenter on top of the other and ferment two batches at the same time - i don't do this but i read a post about someone who does....

re: temps.
if you're going to cool it to ferment at 18, then instead of cooling to 20, mixing and pitching, you could always just throw your fermenter into the fridge and wait until it reaches 18 and then pitch yeast. There's no rule that says you have to pitch the yeast as soon as you have created your wort. In fact, in processes like All Grain brewing, there are many (myself included) who after boiling the wort and adding our hops to a timed schedule, let the wort cool itself instead of using a chiller. It goes straight out of boiler, into a storage "cube" or jerry can (both food grade of course) and we wait until it reaches the temp we want, then transfer to a fermenter and pitch yeast.

the amber ale your intending to brew should be a nice drop i reckon. I use US05 yeast a lot. It works really well at 18. As for times, it will be done when it's done. Keep an eye on your hydrometer readings. 2 or 3 in a row around 1008/1012 will most likely indicate it's finished. Leave for a few extra days to let the yeast clean up it's crap and your good to go.

Follow your instincts as it seems to me like you've got a good grip on things in general, and you'll make beer. You certainly understand a lot more about brewing than me when i started......

Happy brewing mate,

bignath

 

[kelbygreen]

ok so planning to lay down my first brew tomorrow

making an amber ale with.....

*morgan's royal oak amber ale
*morgan's caramalt amber malt extract
*safale us-05
*morgan's fuggles finishing hops

i've got my wine cooler fridge with a 7-18degC temp range, one fermenter, bottling into plastic bottles

and i've got some questions.....

*what temp should i get water in the fermenter to before i add the goo & malt extract, and then hops & yeast?
*what temp should i keep it in the wine cooler at?
*do i need to cool it to a certain temp BEFORE putting in the wine cooler (if so, how so? ice bath?)
*how long should i ferment for? (i've seen mixed suggestions...everywhere from 1 week to 2 weeks or more?)
*how long should i leave it bottled in a dark cupboard before drinking optimally? (obviously i know the longer the better, but any general guidelines?)

i am in no rush to get this done and drink it...will take as long as i need to make it good..if that means longer fermenting and bottling time before drinking...then let me know what you suggest

anything im missing here? any tips / suggestions?

please no "get better ingredients" or anything like that... this is what i've got and i'm doing it regardless...just wanna get this first batch down!

thanks heaps

dr pep

Ok if this is what you refer to then here it is:

1: best to add go and malt to boiling water prob add 2lts into fermenter and add it to that or you could boil up say 6 lts and add the malt extract into the boiling water take off heat add the goo then put lid on and straight into the sink and fill with water so the water in the sink is over the wort in the pot (dont go to high or it will float and wanna tip). leave for about 5-10 mins feel water in the sink if its really hot drain and fill again until its about luke warm to touch the pot. Then dump in fermenter and fill to desired mark.

add yeast at around 22-24 deg but put yeast out of the fridge (if its been in the fridge) as you want the yeast within 10c of the wort it goes into and you dont want the wort to hot or it will kill the yeast so 22-24 get them kicking but you dont want to keep them there for to long (why fridge is good) I leave them sit till the yeast sinks from the surface then put in the fridge by the time fermentation starts its already to temp.

Add hops when the fermentation is complete or almost complete so say 5-7 days in and leave in few a few days at least.

2. for ale yeast 18-20 for lager yeast 10-14c

3. covered above just set cooler to the temp to ferment and put it in the cooler will cool it down

4. thats a open subject 1 week min but till you get 3 days of same gravity (close to what you expect) should be around 1.009- 1.012 for standard kits. But its good practice to leave it longer for the yeast to clean up 10 days I think. But I also cold condition for 3-7 days after that to drop yeast and clear the beer out.

5. 4 weeks it will be carbed 6 weeks it will taste alot better. so 4 weeks is about when to try it if you got time leave it try one 6 weeks see how it improves if you wanna drink it then do so but try leave a few aside and try at 8 and 10 weeks to see what conditioning can do

hope that helps

 

[dr_pepper]

thanks bignath and kelbygreen....really great and informative help from both of you.. cheers

 

[djt]

Thanks Darrtoo

I'm actually not gonna do it until tomorrow arvo... i just got my wine fridge today and need to leave it 24 hours before starting it up

Does anyone have temp and ferment times recommendations as per my questions above?

Should i get the fermenter temp to say 20degC, mix, pitch yeast, then cool to 18degc before throwing it in the wine fridge?

also, my fermenter fits into my wine fridge fine, but the airlock only fits in diagonally on an angle of about 15 degrees, the top of the airlock still has access to full air (only one side of it touches the roof of the fridge)... Does anyone know if the airlock will still function properly like this on an angle, or should i switch to abandoning the lid & airlock all together and use glad wrap ?

once again, thanks to everyone for the help and sorry for all the beginner questions

How did you go mate? All good?

 

[Samuel Adams]

There's no rule that says you have to pitch the yeast as soon as you have created your wort.

Ok thats good, bloody instructions in kits say "it is important that you add the yeast straight away as the wort is vulnerable" or something similar.
So yeah I've always been pretty hasty when pitching the yeast, I won't stress anymore !!

 

[Samuel Adams]

12g of hops is not very much, so you really should use the whole lot. This would be done a few days after fermentation starts. Put them in a teacup, fill with boiling water to make a 'tea' then add to your fermenter. This is called dry hopping and is typically attributed to the aroma quality of your final beer.

As you progress you'll find that its good to play around with other hop additions, like a 20 minute boil to add more flavour. Those 12g packs are not good value, and down the track you might want to think about buying 100g packs for around 10-12$ so you have the versatility to use more.

D'oh, I've always added my hop teabag at the start.
Would this just give it less aroma or any other ill effects ?

Probably won't be bothering with the 12g bags anymore and step up to big bags and doing a boil etc.

 

[bignath]

Ok thats good, bloody instructions in kits say "it is important that you add the yeast straight away as the wort is vulnerable" or something similar.
So yeah I've always been pretty hasty when pitching the yeast, I won't stress anymore !!

SA,

one thing i should have added just to be sure, is that for obvious reasons, make sure your wort is sealed in cube/jerry can/fermenter/whatever before you pitch the yeast while you wait for the temp drop.

Absolutely your wort is vulnerable, but only if it's not sealed well.

Don't be afraid of oxygen getting into your wort when you take the lid off to pitch. In fact, you SHOULD make sure you aerate (stir heaps, use aeration stone/pump etc...) your wort as you pitch as the yeast needs oxygen to multiply. Once the yeast has taken off and your batch is fermenting, the yeast activity makes it harder for any infection risk to take hold.

Oxygen in batch post fermentation = BAD.
Oxygen in batch pre fermentation = GOOD.

I know this sounds obvious about the lid, and not trying to make you feel stupid, just thought i would cover all bases. My grandfather used to brew in an uncovered but "clean" plastic rubbish bin type thing. Would hate you to get an infection if i didn't clarify myself.

Cheers mate, happy brewing!

 

[Samuel Adams]

Cheers Nath,
I now get why they put that info on the instructions, but they don't really make it clear why it is vulnerable.
Thanks for clarifying for me

One more thing though, when dry hopping you would be letting air into the brew post ferm.
Is it just a case of being quick and clean to minimise the risk of infection when doing this.

Cheers

 

[bignath]

Cheers Nath,
I now get why they put that info on the instructions, but they don't really make it clear why it is vulnerable.
Thanks for clarifying for me

One more thing though, when dry hopping you would be letting air into the brew post ferm.
Is it just a case of being quick and clean to minimise the risk of infection when doing this.

Cheers

Yeah pretty much.

Hops are naturally antibacterial so the risk is always there but minimal i'd say. If i have this correct, IPA's were initially heavy handed on the hops to guard against the beer going bad on long journeys by boat. They naturally preserve beer (to a point) and help against many things other than balancing the sweetness of malt and other ingredients we put into our brews.

If you rack beer to a "secondary" vessel (spare fermenter, cube, jerry can etc...) you can kill two birds with one stone by putting your "dry hops" into the bottom of your secondary vessel, and carefully racking the beer on top of it. Careful not to splash though, as this risks oxidisation (too much oxygen) of your brew and can stale it. Some rack, some don't. Some will tell you it's a waste of time, as others praise their results. I rack a lot (not all) of my beers, and if i am going to dry hop, this is the perfect opportunity to do it, as apposed to adding hops to primary fermentation, and then racking later.

I know what you mean about the "instructions" that come with a can. I started making much better beer when i threw the instructions in the bin, and followed the experienced brewers' info on this site, of which there are many. You'll very quickly learn who is good with the advice, and i learn a tonne of stuff each time i log in from those exact people.

Nath

 

[dr_pepper]

How did you go mate? All good?

still haven't got started.

wine fridge doesn't seem to be working after i transported it. i waited a full 24 hours before turning it on, but didn't feel any change in temperature after another 24 hours... put it onto the coldest setting earlier today and 5-6 hours later still no sign that its even gone above room temp. (ie. nothing seems to be happening in there at all)

anyone got any ideas?

 

[felten]

You should be able to hear the compressor kick in if its running. The aldi webpage says its compressor driven anyway.

 

[pk.sax]

Freeze a couple of juice/soda bottles/icepacks and use the fridge as an insulated box with the frozen stuff sitting by the fermenter to keep temp down. I stick ~6 small ice packs around the fermenter and it beats the temp down to 16, sitting on the laundry shelf, no insulated box. Try to distribute evenly the cold stuff around it for max cooling.

 

[dr_pepper]

You should be able to hear the compressor kick in if its running. The aldi webpage says its compressor driven anyway.

I didn't get the Aldi one in the end...got a 2nd hand Mistral. The motor is running, and when i change the temp gauge to a cooler setting you can hear the motor kick in harder, but there is definitely no temperature change inside the fridge

 

[bignath]

I didn't get the Aldi one in the end...got a 2nd hand Mistral. The motor is running, and when i change the temp gauge to a cooler setting you can hear the motor kick in harder, but there is definitely no temperature change inside the fridge

If you can hear it doing it's thing, and trying harder to do it's thing when you change the thermo, then it sounds like it needs to be re-gassed.

 

[dr_pepper]

If you can hear it doing it's thing, and trying harder to do it's thing when you change the thermo, then it sounds like it needs to be re-gassed.

thanks bignath

anyone had any experience in this type of thing?

do i get a fridge repair call out thing, or take it somewhere?

 

[dr_pepper]

well i got my money back and on the hunt for a new fridge.

meanwhile, my stockpile of brewing related ingredients and accessories is growing by the minute....and i haven't even made a brew yet!!!!

 

[dr_pepper]

hey guys,

got my wine fridge and got my first batch down this morning.

ended up going with the coopers canadian blonde honey recipe.

fermenting away nicely at 18-19degC and had first reading looked fine at 1.041 (right?)

couple more questions...

1. considering buying a secondary fermenter. can someone explain the procedure involved? do i need some sort of tube setup to transfer, or do you just pour it into a 2nd fermenter?

2. what are the advantages of finings? when would i use them? any recommendations?

3. I'm using an ale yeast on the canadian blonde, but i have seen people still mentioning cold condition for ales..correct? if so, is it worth it, and what temp would i cold condition the secondary at and for how long?

4. i'm going to leave fermenting until hydrometer readings are the same for 3 days, once i've done that, do i leave for a few more days then transfer to secondary, or just go to secondary as soon as fermentation has finished?

i think thats it for now, thanks again for all the help

 

[dr_pepper]

also, anyone know of any way to dry bottles after a no-rinse sanitizer.....besides buying a bottle tree?

 

[dr_pepper]

PLASTIC bottles that is

 

[Silo Ted]

also, anyone know of any way to dry bottles after a no-rinse sanitizer.....besides buying a bottle tree?

Don't worry about drying them. Just shake as much out as you can before bottling.

As for secondary, there might be other opinions, but Im going to suggest that you dont worry about it at this stage of your brewing experience if youre doing ales. By all means get a second fermenter (Bunning for about $15, dont waste your money on one from elsewhere) because its handy to bulk prime in, or as you will soon discover, putting another beer down because you cant wait for the first one to finish