Hello, New Member And Tropical Temp Question.

[Nicko_Cairns]

G'day guys,


New to the forum and I've been brewing for a few years down south, now I've moved back home to QLD and I have a couple of questions.


1. I'm aware that Lager brews better in cooler climates, does that mean my Lager will be crap-house if brewed here or quite drinkable? Should I really take the time to make the wort cooler or don't bother? The best way I've heard of is a towel soaked in water, drawing extra water from the wort lid with a fan blowing on the towel. Any better ideas, or don't bother.


2. The first brews I put down here (in ambient temperatures of about 30 degrees celsius) only bubbled for about 1.5 days then went quiet, they bubbled along nicely so I'm guessing that the heat made fermentation happen very quickly, so should I still wait for about 7 days before bottling or just a few days?

I'm only using kits (Brewcraft and Blackrock) at the moment and generally use the packet yeast, although sometimes I include better yeasts and hops etc.

Thanks guys, keen to hear from some other brewers up here in the tropics (Cairns).


Nicko.

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

G'day guys,


New to the forum and I've been brewing for a few years down south, now I've moved back home to QLD and I have a couple of questions.


1. I'm aware that Lager brews better in cooler climates, does that mean my Lager will be crap-house if brewed here or quite drinkable? Should I really take the time to make the wort cooler or don't bother? The best way I've heard of is a towel soaked in water, drawing extra water from the wort lid with a fan blowing on the towel. Any better ideas, or don't bother.


2. The first brews I put down here (in ambient temperatures of about 30 degrees celsius) only bubbled for about 1.5 days then went quiet, they bubbled along nicely so I'm guessing that the heat made fermentation happen very quickly, so should I still wait for about 7 days before bottling or just a few days?

I'm only using kits (Brewcraft and Blackrock) at the moment and generally use the packet yeast, although sometimes I include better yeasts and hops etc.

Thanks guys, keen to hear from some other brewers up here in the tropics (Cairns).


Nicko.

quick couple of points, wort is sitting on about 30 degrees celsuis and after about six days brew is looking very clear as if it was sitting down south for 10 days... cheers.

 

[ShredMaster]

Hey Nicko, welcome to AHB!

30'c is too hot to get a good ferment really, you will get alot of off flavours and make some pretty ordinary beer. I would like to say it is drinkable, but only just....

I've heard of a few others up here doing the trick with the towel like you mention but evaporative cooling will only cool a few degress below ambient temp. What you really want is a spare fridge and wiring up a temp controller (a box with a temp probe in the fridge and turns the fridge on or off to keep the temp steady at say 15'c or 18'c etc). If not a fridge, I'm using a cooler-bag style collapsible esky which fits my fermenter inside and using some frozen softdrink bottles every morning and evening and keeping the temp around 18-20'c (which is still way too hot for a decent lager).

I've been waiting to get my fermenting fridge delivered so I can keep the temp constant and controlled. Could be another couple of weeks

As far as waiting to bottle, make sure you get a steady reading on your hydrometer over several days before bottling, don't trust length of time, bubbles or any other superstition or you risk exploding bottles.

Good luck!


Cheers,
Shred.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

welcome fellow Qlder, I'll answer your qu's in some other colour

G'day guys,


New to the forum and I've been brewing for a few years down south, now I've moved back home to QLD and I have a couple of questions.


1. I'm aware that Lager brews better in cooler climates, does that mean my Lager will be crap-house if brewed here or quite drinkable? Craphouse Should I really take the time to make the wort cooler or don't bother? Always bother. The best way I've heard of is a towel soaked in water, drawing extra water from the wort lid with a fan blowing on the towel. Any better ideas, or don't bother. Cheap fridge and buy an STC-1000 from ebay (HK special) - alway bother with temp control


2. The first brews I put down here (in ambient temperatures of about 30 degrees celsius) only bubbled for about 1.5 days then went quiet, they bubbled along nicely so I'm guessing that the heat made fermentation happen very quickly, so should I still wait for about 7 days before bottling or just a few days? The heat would have made them brew quickly. At 30 degrees, they will taste like bum-spider juice - unless you used a Saison yeast of course.

I'm only using kits (Brewcraft and Blackrock) at the moment and generally use the packet yeast, although sometimes I include better yeasts and hops etc. Always include better yeast - more of it means less stress. Look at the temp range on the packet and aim at the lower end (so if it says 14-21, aim at 14 degrees). Temp control is the no. 1 issue for any brewer, but more so for a Qld based brewer, whether you're doing kits or all grain. After all yeast turns sugary malt juice into beer - shouldn't it be looked after?

Thanks guys, keen to hear from some other brewers up here in the tropics (Cairns). Look for FNQ_Bunyip. I'm in Brissie, myself, but given it's been 30 degrees this week - the issues are currently the same.


Nicko.

Goomba

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

thanks Shred,

just read the tips section and i've got a massive esky, so i'll put the wort and some ice bottles in there.. is it worth doing now for a few days or too late? should i bother bottling the lager i just made or just tip it out and start again? i've made a ginger beer in another wort so hopefully that will be okay?


still keen to chat with others up here in the tropics, fridge and controller might be the go...

cheers,


Nicko.

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

thanks Goomba,


looks like i might throw those two out, buy an old fridge and controller and start again

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

thanks Goomba,


looks like i might throw those two out, buy an old fridge and controller and start again

We've all done it, don't worry.

Any brewer, any method, anywhere, but especially in sunny QLD needs temp control. Yeast it the most important ingredient of any brew and yeast health is something that everyone needs done right.

I had crap house brews last summer without it (and that was all grain as well) - and learned my lesson the hard way. And I've been brewing a long time. So as far as newb mistakes go, it hurts (especially if you pour 4 hours into a brew day), but it isn't a dumb mistake, so don't feel too bad.

Goomba

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

We've all done it, don't worry.

Any brewer, any method, anywhere, but especially in sunny QLD needs temp control. Yeast it the most important ingredient of any brew and yeast health is something that everyone needs done right.

I had crap house brews last summer without it (and that was all grain as well) - and learned my lesson the hard way. And I've been brewing a long time. So as far as newb mistakes go, it hurts (especially if you pour 4 hours into a brew day), but it isn't a dumb mistake, so don't feel too bad.

Goomba

thanks, will the ginger beer be okay or like spider-bum-juice too?

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

It might be okay. Ginger beer tends to be more forgiving from my experience.

Worst case scenario, you waste a couple hours bottling. That's a risk probably worth taking.

Goomba

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

ok, thanks appreciate it but the lager is going down the sink-hole and i'm off to find a cheap fridge and to spend some quality time on eBay...
must keep repeating to myself "I love beer"..

 

[ekul]

If you've used lager yeast that beer is going to taste pretty bad. Lagers like fermenting around 12C. If it was me i wouldn't bother even bottling it, but taste it first out of the fermenter to see first. If you used ale yeast there's a slightly better chance that it may be alright because they are generally fermented higher (18-20C). Best way to see if its alright is to taste it.

With ginger beer i've found it to be pretty forgiving. I usually ferment it at ambient temp in the coolest place i can find so around 22-25C.

Using an esky to keep temps down sounds like a lot of work. You'd be surprised how cheap you can find bar fridges for. I have 2 and together they cost me $50 (one was free). The temp controllers cost me around $30 once i had wired them up.

Spending a week or two hunting for a really cheap fridge and wiring up an stc1000 is infinitely easier then fermenting in an esky and having to change ice bottles every day indefinitely. Filling the fermenter with wort and whacking it in the fermenting fridge till its finished is by far the easiest way to go in the long run.

The three best things i did for my brewing were

1. Brewing at the correct temperatures (10-12C for lagers and 16-18.5C for ales)

2. Using norinse sanitiser (cost me $7 for my first botle of iodophor and there's still some left 1.5years later)

3. Going all grain (fresher ingredients = fresher beer)

If you nail the fermenting temperature and the sanitation you're 80% on your way to making great beers that you and your mates will love. The other 20% is recipe formulation imo (yeast and wort choices)

Good luck and welcome to the obsession!

 

[ShredMaster]

Nicko, I would still bottle the lager and store it away for a bloody long time. If you run out of beer, stick a few bottles in the fridge and test them out, they may be drinkable or they may be a great reminder about good fermenting temp control.

They can also be used to keep mates away. If you make a really really nice beer and let your mates have some, they keep coming back and your really really nice beer runs out pretty quickly. Throw them a few of those lagers next time they come round and they freak out about how bad it is. They will not like your homebrew anymore and you then get to keep all your really nice beer for yourself! :beer:

Cheers,
Shred.

 

[Bribie G]

Even here in the frigid South East of Queensland I can't brew without temperature control, apart from the odd freak winter like we had this year when I could brew unprotected in the garage from Mid May to late July. Depending on how much you are brewing, a good option could be a "fuller size" bar fridge to hold a single 30L fermenter, which you can often get for sub $200 brand new.

Edit: my couple of second hand fridges have come from trusted sources - often when buying second hand you're buying the last guy's problems.

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

okay thanks guys, some very good info.


no-rinse sanitiser? i'm there mate, one of my pet hates is rinsing sanitiser and the next is washing/rinsing/sanitising bottles, takes ages but it's worth it, the no-rinse will be gold thanks!


i'm going to throw the lager, i have a fridge for free, i just have to move it, should fit two worts possibly?!?! and will buy a controller. i was lucky (?) enough to live in canberra for five years so winter was pretty constantly cold, so my bathroom was the perfect brewing location during winter.


i had some mates around in canberra for a "taste" which i meant have a beer or two and bring some of your own but they heard "hey, come and drink all of my beers", anyway started at lunch and went into the early evening and 66 tall-ies later it was over and my supply was gone, except for a few i'd hidden in the cupboard and forgot about until later (thank god). so yeah i'm aware of how much mates can drink lol.



anyway bloody good info, thanks guys. just have to look up how to rig up the control device, will start searching on here, cheers.



Nicko.

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

ps unsure of yeast type, in a brewcraft dutch lager so i'm guessing it is a lager yeast, will try a sip and if it truly tastes of the bum then it's going down the sink.

cheers.

 

[Diesel80]

ps unsure of yeast type, in a brewcraft dutch lager so i'm guessing it is a lager yeast, will try a sip and if it truly tastes of the bum then it's going down the sink.

cheers.

i knocked up a munich lager brewcraft kit 1st brew, used a true lager yeast and also temp controlled in fridge.

Tasted like ass after 7 weeks maturing in a keg. Turfed the lot.

Don't hold your breath.

Suggest you look at partials section of the forum or jump straight into some method of All grain. I have only 1 batch under my belt and was crap efficiency i achieved, but already, 1 day after completing fermenting it tastes miles ahead of the brewcraft can.

Get the fridge mate.

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

just bought the stc1000 and have lined up a fridge so it's all going to plan.. my second brew in canberra was a munich lager with the provided yeast and it was absolute gold, tasted a bit like becks but my mates drank most of it unfortunately! yeah i've been looking at partials, that would be very interesting... thanks.

 

[Yob]

Nice one... you will never look back..

there is a topic HERE which discusses them and there are loads of pictures n such on how to wire them up.. it's a bit of a read at 21 pages but many of the solutions you need are in there

Happy reading and brewing mate.

Yob

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

thanks Yob (and everyone), saw that article which made me pull the trigger and buy an stc1000 straight away, plus looks like i'm getting a fridge for free from family which is gold.

cheers, talk about successful brews soon lol

 

[Nicko_Cairns]

Thanks for the info guys, I got a mate to wire temp control onto an old fridge, worked like a dream for a week until the fridge compressor died (murphy's law!), anyway long story short I got in contact with a group of homebrewers here in fnq (fnqbrewers) and they've given me some great info. One of the members is unfortunately heading back to the UK so I bought one of his temp control fridges and it works like a charm. I wish I'd bought two now as I think two is ideal to run different brews/temps.

I'm finishing off the last few k&K brews then I'll go to mini-mash on the stove, have seen one all grain brew via the fnqbrewers and will see another on saturday, looking forward to it.

End result was that the ginger beer was actually really nice after about six weeks of lagering and the lager was disgusting, really really bad.. it did taste like what I guess spider bum juice would taste like (someone mentioned that on here).