Hello From A Newbie

[MarkMc]

Gday all from a Pommy in Coomera (QLD)

Started my first Coopers brew yesterday.

Starting slowly with a Coopers Lager and 1kg of Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 in place of the sugar. Its about 28 degrees in the bathroom today, so the brew is in there. The kit said 21-27 is ideal but up to 32 is ok. Just been advised on another forum to stick it in a bucket and add some ice to cool it a little, so it is now in 100mm water in the bath and some bottles of water are in the freezer.

Mark

 

[mckenry]

Gday all from a Pommy in Coomera (QLD)

Started my first Coopers brew yesterday.

Starting slowly with a Coopers Lager and 1kg of Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 in place of the sugar. Its about 28 degrees in the bathroom today, so the brew is in there. The kit said 21-27 is ideal but up to 32 is ok. Just been advised on another forum to stick it in a bucket and add some ice to cool it a little, so it is now in 100mm water in the bath and some bottles of water are in the freezer.

Mark

Hi MarkMc,
Yes, keep the temp down around 20 for an ale. Welcome to the forum. Why not search for the "introduce yourself" thread and give us the full run down. There are a ton of helpful threads on here re temp control and best fermenting temps for different yeasts. Generally, lager (genuine lager) yeasts want to down around 10-12C and ales around 18-20C. I reckon the 'lager' you have from coopers is not a genuine lager, actually an ale, so 18-20 is the go. I think Coopers do have a genuine lager in one of their kits though. I think its a 'premium selection" or something like that. Maybe someone on here that is a K&K will know better.
mckenry

 

[wabster]

Gday all from a Pommy in Coomera (QLD)

Started my first Coopers brew yesterday.

Starting slowly with a Coopers Lager and 1kg of Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 in place of the sugar. Its about 28 degrees in the bathroom today, so the brew is in there. The kit said 21-27 is ideal but up to 32 is ok. Just been advised on another forum to stick it in a bucket and add some ice to cool it a little, so it is now in 100mm water in the bath and some bottles of water are in the freezer.

Mark

The advice from the other forum is quite sound.

The lower the fermentation temperature the better quality beer you'll get in terms of taste. Lets say 18-21 would be ideal for a kit yeast.

All the rest comes with time, but you are off to a great start doing some form of temp control.

Welcome to the Forum you will learn a lot here.

Cheerz Wabster.

 

[MarkMc]

Thanks guys, got the temp down nearer 26 and hope to get it down nearer 24 with some more ice and frozen bottles.

Just got back from Bunnings, a big enough esky was over $130 - too expensive for now. so its staying in the bath.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

chuck a t'shirt over it too - the shirt will wick up the moisture from the bath and evaporate, taking away a bit of heat along with it "Coolgardie safe" style. Just this in unchilled water can keep a brew a few degrees cooler than ambient. Pointing a fan at it makes it even more effective. A few ice bottles for good measure and you will be set.

Welcome to the hobby

Thirsty

 

[andrewl]

Welcome to brewing Mark... No turning back now!!!
Wait till you get a bit more involved in it and $130 on an esky is nothing! Do a search on here and see some of these guys setups! Amazing to say the least.
Soon enough you'll be trying to perfect any brew you do!
+1 to what Thirsty said too... Try and get the temp down a touch and your tastebuds will thank you for it.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[bconnery]

chuck a t'shirt over it too - the shirt will wick up the moisture from the bath and evaporate, taking away a bit of heat along with it "Coolgardie safe" style. Just this in unchilled water can keep a brew a few degrees cooler than ambient. Pointing a fan at it makes it even more effective. A few ice bottles for good measure and you will be set.

Welcome to the hobby

Thirsty

Although I haven't confirmed it I've read that this method isn't very effective in more humid places, of which Coomera would qualify at this time of year...
I know it's a method that is used well around the place, I just remember reading that somewhere...

The dead fridge method would be another option. A few south QLD based brewers use this method, a few ice bottles around the fermenter in a fridge, which you are essentially using as a big esky.

 

[MarkMc]

Thanks again.

It is very humid here, but I will try the old T shirt method anyway. I'll let you know how it goes. Its down to 22-24 on the stick on thermometer. I imagine some of the damage has been done already but I will still bottle and see how it is in a month or so.

Must clear some space and keep an eye out for an old fridge then.....

 

[CDJ]

Welcome Mark

For my first lager I got one of those container boxes from bunnings (~15 bucks or less) fill it up with water and chuck the fermenter in there. Put some ice in there and cover your fermenter with a wet towel. It worked fine but after that I got a second fridge and a tempmate...

 

[Tony]

You can ger a second hand fridge for under $100

Add a 0 - 40 deg thermostat for about $40 and its the same price as an esky..... and you can brew lagers at 10 deg with it in the summer!

the first 3 or 4 batches will pay for it in savings over buying cartons of coopers and then its all proffit..... and much better beer.

It will be a necessary bit of kit now that your here. You will be experimenting with all sorts of stuff in no time!

Welocme and get a fridge!

 

[MarkMc]

temp is creaping up again today 24-25 at the moment, I'm just waiting for the next lot of water bottles to be completely frozen. Its warmer outside again today. Definitely will be heading to bunnings for a cheap temp control method for the next brew. I have a Coopers Draft kit with Coopers brewing sugar on standby. I'm reluctant to go for a better yeast I know I can keep the temp down. The kit yeast can apparently handle up to 32 degrees, but will a better ale yeast manage if the temp rises?

Its had 3 days so far and bubbling is starting to slow. Might think about taking a gravity(?) reading at the weekend. I've read that I need 3 readings the same before bottling and "might" be in the 1008 area?

I didn't take an initial reading, it was forgotten with all the excitement. I guess I'm lucky that this is all from a kit and I can guessstimate the initial from what the kit says?

 

[CDJ]

It does happen but you can estimate your OG. I don't know whats in the Brew Enhancer though.

Get a copy of ianh spreadsheet http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...0&start=200
put in your kit and other ingredients. It is easy to use and will give you an idea.

 

[Screwtop]

I'm reluctant to go for a better yeast I know I can keep the temp down. The kit yeast can apparently handle up to 32 degrees

:blink:

These guys are all trying to help you brew better beer, their advice is good and..........free.

 

[MarkMc]

It does happen but you can estimate your OG. I don't know whats in the Brew Enhancer though.

Get a copy of ianh spreadsheet http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...0&start=200
put in your kit and other ingredients. It is easy to use and will give you an idea.

Brew Enhancer is 250g maltodextrin + 750g dextrose. Ill have a play with the spreadsheet....


EDIT:
OG 1.039
FG 1.011

 

[MarkMc]

:blink:

These guys are all trying to help you brew better beer, their advice is good and..........free.

Sorry, I meant "until I know I can keep the temp down".

I'm glad of the advice and want to get a better yeast.

 

[Bribie G]

eeyup lad, which part of Pomland are you from?

If you have a freezer that can produce a couple of frozen two litre pop [soft drink] bottles per day and have a spare beach towel and a duvet ['doonah'.. Australians can't say French words] then this system will keep one or two brews down to 19 degrees all summer long. However you need an area where you can do it, say in the garage, as it looks ugly. However it's far less messy than ice and wet t shirts etc. Just change bottles once a day, although twice during heatwaves. The current 29 to 30 degrees is nice and mild and typical Xmas weather.






cheers
BribieG (Yorkie / Geordie hybrid)

 

[MarkMc]

eeyup lad, which part of Pomland are you from?

If you have a freezer that can produce a couple of frozen two litre pop [soft drink] bottles per day and have a spare beach towel and a duvet ['doonah'.. Australians can't say French words] then this system will keep one or two brews down to 19 degrees all summer long. However you need an area where you can do it, say in the garage, as it looks ugly. However it's far less messy than ice and wet t shirts etc. Just change bottles once a day, although twice during heatwaves. The current 29 to 30 degrees is nice and mild and typical Xmas weather.

BribieG

From Coventry.
Done 12 months in Sydney burbs <-Sydney = great place to visit for a weekend, **** place to live .... IMHO
3 months in Coomera so far....

I noticed your pics in antoher thread. Thanks for posting them again. Still working out where I can have some more permanent brew space. I have a little bit of room in the shed but it gets hot in there. Might try your set up in the bath.

(Yorkie / Geordie hybrid)

Is that you or the Yarky bitter/Newkie Brun brew thats on the bubble in that doonah?

 

[manticle]

['doonah'.. Australians can't say French words]

Au contraire, l'anglais (oh contrair longlaiz)

 

[Bribie G]

Au contraire, l'anglais (oh contrair longlaiz)

Apparently the word "Doonah" was coined by the Australian Soft Furnishings Association in the 1970s because at that time they considered that the Australian Redneck Hayseeds at that time would be very embarrassed to have to pronounce Duvet as doo-vay as opposed to duvvut - note the fact that many Aussies used to pronounce cans of champignon mushrooms as 'cham pig nong' .. and even to this day many Catholics still refer to "Xavier" (who comes up often in St Xavier's colleges etc around Australia) as Ex - Avior . cringe cringe cringe.

However I agree that things are getting better.

MarkMc - I use that towel and doonah system for ales only, I do lagers in the fridge but you wouldn't believe it, both the brews in the picture are all-grain takes on Midland Ales, of the Banks's peresuasion :lol:

 

[manticle]

I had a school friend whose mother was French Algerian. His parents intended to call him Ian (pronounced Y-aan in French accent which is always sexy) but they were told it would be more like eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean here so they called him Pierre instead.