How Much Is Enough

[verynewtohomebrew]

Hello all

I am very new to the home brew scene. I have done some brewing at those overpriced pretty boring brew it onsite and we will charge you a million bucks places but was not overly happy with the results, so after trying a freinds home brew i have decided to give it a go. After some advice from a local HB shop i decided on a simple setup and a Pilsner stlye beer, I have followed the instructions to the letter and now my brew is bubbling but I would like to know how often it 'should' be bubbling. Temp atm is 24deg and is probably bubbling once every 15 - 20 seconds. My mate says that his bubbles almost constantly I am a bit worried that maybe i have done something wrong or maybe the yeast was 'off' as it was sitting on a shelf right near the front window of the shop in direct sunlight and when i picked it up the tin was pretty hot so the yeast in the top would have been very hot too and my mate says he keeps his yeast in the fridge to prserve it.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Regards very new to home brew - but very very keen

 

[GSRman]

i wouldn't stress too much, it might just be fermenting a little slow, you could also have a small leak or something, as long as its ticking along, it should be fine..

24 is usually a pretty high temp...

 

[verynewtohomebrew]

yes i was a little worried about the temp so i now have it surrounded by water (its in a tub) so the temp should drop a little - what would u say optimum is - the leaflet i was given says 22 - 27deg c


cheers

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

vnthb, welcome to the forums.
You are not brewing a true Pilsener at those temperatures and it probably wasn't a lager yeast you bought with your kit. Don't worry too much. Best advice is to ask as many questions as you can on here.
What ingredients did you use to start with?

TDA

 

[verynewtohomebrew]

i started my brew with a Malthouse bitter can and a bag of beer ultra sugar which contains light malt dextrose and corn syrup with 2 tea bag style bags one of halertau (spellling?) and saaz apparently these ingrediants are the go according to the guy at the shop. any advice you can give on hopefully turning this into something other than off petrol (thats what a few of my mates firdt brews tasted like) it will be much appreciated im totally addicted to the home brew system i cant keep my eyes off the airlock watching it bubble away.

BTW I now have temp at around 22degc just filled up the sink its in with cool water and down it went i havnt changed yet but will do before bed so hopefully overnight will be ok (it was 40degc here in perth today!!)

cheers

 

[joecast]

first of all, welcome to homebrewing. as you will learn, its a lot of fun and there is heaps to learn.

it sounds like you brew is going fine, i wouldnt worry about the yeast since it is fermenting ok and there are no "off" smells to it. i would try to keep the temp down as much as you can since a lager is meant to be fermented at lower temps. the first pilsner i tried was fermented at pretty high temps (about 22C) and there is a definite sweet buttery taste to it so i think i will stick to ales for now! good luck!

 

[GSRman]

22deg is probably a good temp to aim to keep it at..

 

[Batz]

Welcome from me as well
As the guys said don't stress , plenty of time for that when you start grains

 

[johnno]

Welcome verynewtohomebrew

I've only been brewing about 6 months myself so I'm fairlynewtohomebrew.
I'm with Batz on this about the grain.
While I havent made the greatest beers on earth , I havent had one go off yet and at least they were till drinkable. And a couple have been very tasty....mmmmmm
Just ask heaps of questions. I've found everybody on here very helpful and had really good advice.

Cheers
B)

 

[mike]

Hi

I would not worry about the airlock..mine has not bubbled for over 6 mths !! Im told that the fermenter has a airleak somewhere but this will not harm the beer. Sometimes if u overtighten the lid this will occur.

I would not use the bubbling as an indication of when the fermentation finished anyway.. use hydometer or go by the colour of the beer.

I think the more u stress about all the particuiars when brewing the less chance of having a winner !

As long as you clean well and ferment ? store in a clean place you cannot go wrong !!

one suggestion is don't brew up a batch while you are drinking !!

I had an experience once and lets just say the batch ended up having a few issuies !!

Relax..follow instructions loosly and be prepared to try new ideas !!

I made up a coopers bitter once with white sugar and gave them out at a party and people acually got stuck into that rather than their bought stuff !!

 

[volcano]

My only suggestion is listen to these guys. They know what they are talking about.
I had no idea and am now trying stuff that never thought I would.

Actually, just cooking dinner tonight I ground up some lemon grass and ginger with a mortar and pestle. Had a sniff and thought "this would go awesome in a brew!"

Pulled a glass, dropped a smidgen in and oh my god. How good is this.

I would never have tried this sort of stuff without the input from these guys...

 

[GMK]

Volcano

Add the lemon grass and ginger to a coopers Canadian Blonde.
Also, try some cinamon and a touch of cloves.
Use dextrose.

Dry hop with cascade....

Trust me - it will come out tasty.

 

[verynewtohomebrew]

Thanks all for your advice

I have invested in a hydrometer so i can measure and determine bottlig time, all seems to be going ok just keeping the brew at 21 in perths stinking hot weather has been a challenge.

Once again thanks for your advice so far i will no doubt have another question or two before this batch is finished but im learning alot and having heaps of fun

Mike

 

[verynewtohomebrew]

Hi again I now have that second question for you all.

I am thinking of racking my brew as I have read a bit on the net in regard to racking and it semms like the way to go as one of the things I didnt like about my mates home brew was the sediment and the obvious way to reduce the sediment is to rack my beer I am considering buying a second container so I can do so. I am wondering if anyone can give me some advice on when to do so (i have read a lot of conflicting storries some say at 75% some when fermentation is complete some say leave for a day or two after completion then rack) my fermentation has nearly finished (bubbling once every ten mins) so im considering racking now

Any advice will be much appreciated

Mike

 

[Murray]

Your safest bet is to wait until fermentation has finished (plus day or two if you like), then rack. If you rack during fermentation, ensure a good tubeful of yeast goes through with the beer, or you will face the dreaded stuck ferment.

 

[verynewtohomebrew]

So is racking as simple as transfering my brew from one fermeter to another (whilst taking precautions to minimise oxygenation etc) and storing it in there for around a week or two? Lots of people on the net seem to have information about how the racking works but no real good explanations on how to do it properly.

I understand that like bottling you leave a layer of sediment in the original container, but should my second fermenter have an airlock or just a sealed lid, can I just use another HB kits fermenter or is there a better container?

Any advise and any pointers would be much appreciated

Thanks guys youve all been a great help so far

Mike

 

[Trough Lolly]

Rack the wort into a secondary fermenter - if you use a cleaned / sterilised jerry can that's fine - if you want to use a fermenter, make sure you insert an airlock and seal well to keep the oxygen out of the brew's way.

If possible, store the secondary in a cool place - a fridge at 8C is ideal for lagering worts for several weeks. You will appreciate the improvement in the brew...

You might also want to consider dry hopping the secondary before you bottle or keg it.

Cheers,

TL