Help With First Brew

[Tom909]

Hi all,
I started my first home brew just over two weeks ago. It was a Tooheys special draught made following the directions. After one week i took a reading with my hydrometer and the SG was 1020. It was still bubbling through the air lock so i left it to keep fermenting. OVer the last week I have taken a couple of more readings, and it is still sitting on a SG of 1020, even though it is still bubbling. My question is should i bottle it considering the SG isnt changing? Or should i leave it to stop bubbling? I have checked the hydrometer in tap water and it is accurate, and the temp of the fermenter has been 22-24 degrees the whole time.

Thanks!
Tom

 

[Yowster]

1020 seems awfully high for a kit beer to be finishing
Can you give a few more details as to what went into your fermenter? Did you you 1kg of dextrose or did you use some dry malt extract? This might give a few more knowledgeable than me an idea as to where your brew should finish

 

[Tom909]

I only put 1kg of Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 into the fermenter, along with the supplied yeast.

 

[mrmatt]

should finish at least ten points lower yeah

 

[Tom909]

Thats what i thought, but it doesnt seem to be lowering. So should i wait a bit longer to see if it will go down, or bottle it?

 

[Pennywise]

Try giving the fermenter a gentle swirl (without spashing the beer around) to get the yeast working again. I'd expect it to finish anout 1010 if made to 23 litres, and at those temps it should be finished in a week. If swirling the fermenter doesn't work, you could transfer (rack) the beer to another fermenter (if you have one). Worst case sanitise your paddle/spoon and give it a bit of a stir. I wouldn't be bottling it at 1020, especially if you're botling in glass.

 

[roverfj1200]

Your fg looks very high for this kit. And if you hydrometer checks out there are other things you can do.

1. Look in to the top of the fermenter. You may have to unscrew the lid. Has the foam gone from the top of the brew. This is a sign the brew is done.

2. Color Has the brew cleared and look like beer. If the brew looks filled with particles ( Muddy) it is most likely still fermenting. If it is clear ( Dropped bright ) it is most likely done


I have found the cheep Hydrometers supplied in kits can be right in water but wrong further up the scale. Mine has never finished a beer lower than 1012.. even a kit and Dex brew.

Cheers

 

[Tom909]

Thanks guys. Ill have a look at all those things tonight and let you know.

Cheers.

 

[Tom909]

I gave it a bit of a swirl last night and the bubbling seems to have picked up speed again. So i might leave for a couple more days and see what the SG does. Is this a good idea?

 

[Pennywise]

Yep, good idea. Don't pay any attention to the airlock though, it's only purpose is to keep bugs and shit out of the fermenter, not a very reliable indication of fermentation. See what the SG is like tomorrow, hopefully it's dropped a little

 

[Tom909]

Turns out it was infected.... not sure why. But I'll start all over and try again tomorrow i guess!

 

[zoidbergmerc]

How do you know it was infected?

 

[Tom909]

I tasted some and i could taste it, so i opened the lid it smelt off

 

[zoidbergmerc]

I remember making a tooheys draught and it was far from the nicest smelling thing when I bottled it but few weeks later it was quite acceptable.

You know when you get an infection because it'll make you want to chuck your guts up and rip your tounge out.

Can you describe the taste\smell?

 

[manticle]

Not saying it wasn't but when beer ferments it releases a large amount of volatile organic compounds that concentrate. If you smell the whole beer you get a mass of gas and esters in the face which doesn't smell too good.

Better to draw a sample from the tap and smell that. Also fermenting beer doesn't taste that great, particularly when you don't know what you're looking for. It may taste like a big glass of yeast, or bananas and baby vomit etc while it's fermenting but ferment out fine and taste great after a few week's conditioning.

Anyway don't be put off.

 

[dawesy666]

this could be useful or useless info.. i have just bottled a tooheys special larger and it took about 3 weeks before it finally got the right reading, but also in saying that i bought myself a new hydrometer and it was the one that said the reading was right. maybe try checking out your hydrometer and make sure its giving you the right reading. mine wasn't bubbling tho anytime after the first week that i saw, and i thought mine smelt alright. bottled mine at 1010


edit: sorry didnt read your post properly about how u checkd ur hydromyter already. i need sleep.