I Think I F&^k'd It.. Somehow..

[Ryath]

Hey guys,

still on my first brew, just using the coopers lager with a store bought lager yeast since it was quite cold in my house..

Started off at ~25C and slowly dropped and lvl'd off at about 15C.. during the first week while it was cooling it had foamy crap on top "Krausen?" and seemed to be going along fine..

then it just seemed to stop.. no foam, and its very cloudy and yeasty atm...

Ive been advised to warm it up a tad and leave it for a few more days.. so ive bought a heater belt and have it wrapped up now..

couple of days ago i took a reading and it was about 1017, 1015 the next day and now its down to 1010.. but its still so cloudy and yeasty, tastes almost like liquid vegemite!!

what do u guys think, is it ruined or am i just worrying too much due to it being my first..

(attached is a pic of the cloudiness)

Jim

 

[Gavo]

Welcome to the forum. Your beer seems fine to me.

At a SG of 1010 I would say, for a standard kit, that it still has a couple of points to drop. I would expect it to get down to 1008 ish. Any case leave it for a few more days and check the hyrdro reading a again if the hydro reading has'nt change then it is finished fermenting. If it has finished then leaving it a few more days will give it a chance to settle and clear. It will still clear after bottling as well.

Kit brews also benifit from about a month of storage in the bottle, after this time tha flavors will settle out somewhat.

Gavo.

 

[crundle]

Welcome to the forum Ryath.

It seems to be fine from the picture. Check the hydrometer sample and when it hasn't changed in 2-3 days then it is done fermenting.

Lagers need time in the bottle to clear up and really benefit from at least 4 weeks storage before drinking, so if you are able to, get another brew going to keep you occupied and start to build up your stocks.

Hope to hear after some lagering time that it all turned out well!

cheers,

Crundle

 

[bum]

Who advised you to heat up a lager yeast further than the 15 degrees it was already sitting on? I would have thought dropping it a couple degrees would have been better advice. With the heat belt and the insulation what temps were you getting?

When you say it tastes almost like vegemite do you just mean a bit yeasty or literally almost like vegemite?

 

[rackemup]

I just laid down a lager and i got it down to about 15c before i pitched and now it is in the cellar at around 9c, and i think maybe your temps were too high( aim for somewhere around 10-12, no higher) - whether this is what caused the cloudiness i don't know? do a bit of research on lagers and you will see that they arent like ales and need longer to ferment at lower temps and then should be stored for a couple months at even lower temps. the word lager is german for cellar as this is where they were conditioned back in the day. When i was in Germany i went to a town called Nuremberg and done a tour of the tunnels that are underneath the village where people went during the bombings of ww2 and before that where they stored their lagers. i think the temp was at a constant 5C. If you have been to Europe then you will know that what we consider 'cold' in Australia is warm over there. Lagers are like polar bears, they love the cold lol :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

I take it that you would have drawn off the sample from the tap, and got a fair amount of sediment with it. The beer clears from the top down, I wouldn't worry about it, should be fine in a few more days.

 

[GMK]

Might help if we new what store lager yeast it is.

But so far - I dont see anything wrong.
15C is a bit on the high side for lager.

Raising the temp up at the end for 48hrs is known as a diacetyl rest...this is good.

I would now rack into a secondary - dry hop if you some more hop flavor - then in the fridge at 2 c for 2-4 weeks then bottle/keg.

 

[sinkas]

Yeh man it's F&^k'd big style

 

[krusty_oz]

Mine looked like that. I added finings, let it sit for a few days and it really cleared up for bottling. Now its carbed up and been sitting for 6 weeks its crystal clear in the glass if you don't stir the yeast up pulling it out of the fridge.

 

[cloudy]

i'd be more worried about the vegemite flavour rather than if it is clear or not. infection?

 

[loikar]

Yeh man it's F&^k'd big style

Yeah for sure, i reckon throw in another kilo of sugar and another 2 packets of kit yeast, maybe some golden syrup to counteract the vegemite taste....
crank it up to 27-28deg

When your airlock stops bubbling, bottle it and let it sit for 3 days and enjoy






























:icon_vomit:

 

[Tony]

after this time tha flavors will settle out somewhat.

Dont you mean.... fade away!

If its a kit lager yeast, its not really a lager yeast, as most kit brewers dont have fridges and temperatire control to run the brew at 9 or 10 deg. its just a different ale yeast that will run a bit lower.

hell i have a pale ale going with US-05 at 15 and its loving it!

It sounds like it will be fine to me. It wont be a super clean lager with that yeast at those temps but shold come out ok for what you have .

if you want better, ditch the kit yeast and get a fridge with a new thernostat and use a propper lager yeast at 9 or 10 deg!

34-70 is a good..... great starting point.

cheers

 

[bum]

Wow, if his LHBS sold him an ale yeast as a lager yeast it must be even worse than my nearest!

 

[Cocko]

Hey Ryath,

Do you remember what the yeast packet looked like? Was it blue, pink or maybe even yellow? Do you remember exactly what brand and type it was?

It will help is all....

 

[rackemup]

Dont you mean.... fade away!

If its a kit lager yeast, its not really a lager yeast, as most kit brewers dont have fridges and temperatire control to run the brew at 9 or 10 deg. its just a different ale yeast that will run a bit lower.

hell i have a pale ale going with US-05 at 15 and its loving it!

It sounds like it will be fine to me. It wont be a super clean lager with that yeast at those temps but shold come out ok for what you have .

if you want better, ditch the kit yeast and get a fridge with a new thernostat and use a propper lager yeast at 9 or 10 deg!

34-70 is a good..... great starting point.

cheers

coopers euro lager comes with a genuine lager yeast.