Have I Done Something Wrong?

[Lazzz]

Hey guys,

A few weeks ago I decided to take up a new hobby and bought a beginners kits from brewcraft. I used the munich lager and the Brewcraft #15 sugar/dextrose mix. It fermented at between 20 and 24 degrees for a week on a heatpad, and then i was advised to turn the heatpad off and let it ferment at around 15 degrees for a few days (its in the garage).

I have now bottled 15 bottles and the colour is a bit worrying to me. Its a deep orange colour and there seems to be a fair bit of yeast or something that has come through. Is it something that will clear as it ferments again with the sugar in the bottle? Or is it likely that there is some sort of infection in the mix?

I took a photo of a bottle, next to a bottle of corona to compare. There is barely any transparency in the liquid....

Any ideas?

 

[Neill]

I have NFI - what does it taste like?

awesome colour though - looks great!

taste one and see. if it tastes like beer, all is well.

 

[Pennywise]

I wouldn't worry mate, it'll stay a liitle cloudy untill the yeast eats up the sugar in the bottle, it should come quite clear, and providing you don't get any chill haze it'll get even clearer once chilled in the fridge. RDWHAHB

 

[Mcstretch]

Hey guys,

A few weeks ago I decided to take up a new hobby and bought a beginners kits from brewcraft. I used the munich lager and the Brewcraft #15 sugar/dextrose mix. It fermented at between 20 and 24 degrees for a week on a heatpad, and then i was advised to turn the heatpad off and let it ferment at around 15 degrees for a few days (its in the garage).

I have now bottled 15 bottles and the colour is a bit worrying to me. Its a deep orange colour and there seems to be a fair bit of yeast or something that has come through. Is it something that will clear as it ferments again with the sugar in the bottle? Or is it likely that there is some sort of infection in the mix?

I took a photo of a bottle, next to a bottle of corona to compare. There is barely any transparency in the liquid....



Any ideas?

I don't know if you should compare what you've brewed to a corona. They are completely different, would be like comparing an apple to a banana

If it smells and tastes good then It's probably Ok.

Im no expert though

 

[Lazzz]

Thanks fellas. As I said, this is my first ever brew. I'm a young'un (20y.o.) and don't have anyone around me that has ever brewed before.

I though it might be infected because once or twice when i was taking a reading from the hydrometer I forgot to take out the airlock and a tiny bit of that water went in.

Cheers

Dan

 

[Pennywise]

Fill up your airlock with a solution of no rinse sanitiser, at least then you know if the airlock bubbles backwards it's sanitised water and not stale water thats been sitting there for a week or two with possible bugs in it.

 

[Philthy79]

Thanks fellas. As I said, this is my first ever brew. I'm a young'un (20y.o.) and don't have anyone around me that has ever brewed before.

Cheers

Dan

Welcome, and use this site dude. It (and the members of course) has taught me soo much with Homebrewing. Search the forum Wiki for Noob hints - best thing you can do is use better yeasts at the correct temps and get a secondary container...

Good luck

 

[brettprevans]

ahh brewcraft you've done it again. telling some poor bloke to ferment a lager at 20-24C. just dont expect it to taste anything like a lager and you'll be right.

the colour is from the brewcraft converter. it looks like it may have some unfermented sugars left. leave it to age a bit and she should be fine.

also read up more on the beginners guides etc on AHB. that will give you heaps of info on brewing.

welcome to AHB

 

[Supra-Jim]

DOn't stress, it should be fine. Just let it carb up/condition in the bottle for a few weeks. Chill em in the fridge standing up and then pour gently into a glass (attempting to leave as much sediment behind as possible).

Don't be stressed about infections until you've tasted it.

Cheers SJ

 

[Pennywise]

Don't be stressed about infections until you've tasted it.Cheers SJ

+++1, I've read too many posts about people tipping brews for no reason other than they "thought" it was infected. If it is, you'll know when you taste it thats for sure.

 

[petesbrew]

Hey guys,

A few weeks ago I decided to take up a new hobby and bought a beginners kits from brewcraft. I used the munich lager and the Brewcraft #15 sugar/dextrose mix. It fermented at between 20 and 24 degrees for a week on a heatpad, and then i was advised to turn the heatpad off and let it ferment at around 15 degrees for a few days (its in the garage).

I have now bottled 15 bottles and the colour is a bit worrying to me. Its a deep orange colour and there seems to be a fair bit of yeast or something that has come through. Is it something that will clear as it ferments again with the sugar in the bottle? Or is it likely that there is some sort of infection in the mix?

I took a photo of a bottle, next to a bottle of corona to compare. There is barely any transparency in the liquid....

Any ideas?

Don't worry about it. Coopers has bits of yeast floating round in it too... you can reculture that to use in your future brews.
The truth is in the tasting... but why did you only get 15 bottles? What volume did you fill it to?

as for the water dropping in from the airlock, i make that mistake all the time too.

 

[buttersd70]

as far as the temp is concerned, was it the kit yeast that you used, or did you buy a different yeast?

If it was the kit yeast.....many "lager" kits actually have ale yeast anyway. I don't know about this one specifically, though. But if it was, in fact, an ale yeast, the temp was slightly high, but not high enough to really get your knickers in a twist, so it should be OK. 18C would have been better, though. If it was a true lager yeast, then it was way too high.....but either way, don't stress untill it's been in the bottle for a bit, then tasted.

 

[manticle]

Best advice for a young, new brewer is to read as much as you can from this site: http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html. It's an entire, step by step, free instruction book that covers everything from basic kit brewing to more advanced All grain Brewing.

If you have any questions, search this site (the one you're on) although it can be best to search through google as the search engine here doesn't work for a lot of people. If you can't find the answer then ask the question. As long as you've made an effort to find out yourself, people are usually very helpful.

Lagers usually ferment much lower and longer (betwween about 7 and 12 degrees) and then go through a second conditioning stage (usually around 2-4 degrees)
Ales will ferment best between 18 and 22.

The munich lager kit might actually contain a yeast that is technically an ale yeast designed to be fermented at slightly lower temps. Understanding temperature control will make your home brew taste much better, regardless of whether it's kit based or grain based.

Don't expect too much from your first brew but don't stress too much about it either. Keep brewing, keep learning, keep improving. You can make superb beers yourself. Certainly don't worry about the colour not being like Corona: Corona looks (and tastes a bit) like water.

 

[brettprevans]

The truth is in the tasting... but why did you only get 15 bottles? What volume did you fill it to?

im hoping he's in the middle of bottling (ie only bottled 15 so dar and lots left to go) and that he hasnt made rocket fuel.

 

[manticle]

The other worthwhile bit of advice is don't rely on time to tell you when to bottle. Make sure the hydrometer readings are stable for 2-3 days and at least in the ballpark you're aiming for (eg if it's 1011 and you expected 1009 don't get alarmed, if it's 1026 and you expected 1005, start asking questions)

 

[tcraig20]

ahh brewcraft you've done it again. telling some poor bloke to ferment a lager at 20-24C. just dont expect it to taste anything like a lager and you'll be right.

the colour is from the brewcraft converter. it looks like it may have some unfermented sugars left. leave it to age a bit and she should be fine.

also read up more on the beginners guides etc on AHB. that will give you heaps of info on brewing.

welcome to AHB

Brewcraft Munich lager comes with ale yeast.

#15 bre pack is the same as BE2.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Corona looks (and tastes a bit) like water.

:icon_offtopic: I reckon if Corona actually tasted like water it would be an improvement (and a reason to drink it), but as it is :icon_vomit:

Cheers SJ

 

[the_yobbo]

Brewcraft Munich lager comes with ale yeast.

#15 bre pack is the same as BE2.

Ok, only another beginner's question/suggestion, if it is an ale yeast and it was fermented at 15 degree, could the yeast have gone dormant during primary and has now been bottled with considerable excess fermentables?

 

[petesbrew]

Ok, only another beginner's question/suggestion, if it is an ale yeast and it was fermented at 15 degree, could the yeast have gone dormant during primary and has now been bottled with considerable excess fermentables?

I guess the question is, what were your initial & final gravity readings?
15c would definitely make it work slower. (but generally would give you a better taste IMO)
a rough guestimate with your ingredients, for a 23L batch would be around 1008.
Manticle said it all above.

 

[Lazzz]

im hoping he's in the middle of bottling (ie only bottled 15 so dar and lots left to go) and that he hasnt made rocket fuel.

Haha this is correct. I'm at uni at the moment and this whole process has been the epitome of procrastination.

Rocket fuel sounds kinda interesting though... :beerbang: