Im New At This

[WHYPSI]

looks like its comeing down. its close to 22 now. will keep the fan and wet towels going. i just wanna drink it already

 

[Renegade]

That`ll be near nuff.
You`re wanted on the nothing thread, by the way.

stagga.

teeheehee yes. Philosopher, Strongman and now Lawyer. Anyway, please stay on topic Staggalee.

 

[WHYPSI]

update... been sitting at about 20 for a while now. heard the first few bubbles from the airlock. got excited, cracked open a coopers pale ale.

 

[WHYPSI]

been stable at 20 deg for about 7 hours now. bubbling lots more now. some water is getting pushed out of the airlock, this normal to top up the airlock every now and then? quick check with the hydrometer came up 1038 from a sg of 1040 so its working

 

[Mantis]

No need to check with hydrometer till the bubbling (sorry butters) stops , or the krausen (frothy stuff on top of brew), dissapears.
Try and keep it at 20 or lower if possible now that fermentation has started. Wet towels or whatever (we can talk about fermentation fridge/freezers when you are hooked

Enjoy the Coopers :beer:

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

If the temp stays around ( or under ) 20*c then you are on track to make a good beer. Just let it go for a week and it will be fine.

Dont pay to much attention to the bubbling airlock, as it will slow down . Just cause the bubbling stops, does not mean that the fermentation has stopped.

Wait untill the foamy stuff on top dissapears, then wait a few days before bottling...Beers have a bad habit of going slow when you least expect it..

You can leave a beer in the fermenter for weeks as long as the conditions are right...But that method comes latter when you have done a few brews.. :icon_cheers:

 

[Hitman]

From one novice to another Whyp, keep as many of those Cooper's bottles as you can manage and then some. I was in your situation about 10 months ago and became hooked because i had 200 clean, ready to go stubbies, so by the time i filled those my virgin brew had been maturing for over a month and was mint. Now i just keep rolling the cycle through so every time i have to re-stock the fridge i am doing so with month old, tasty grog.

 

[WHYPSI]

will put the fan on a timer to start stop air over the fermenter so it dosent get too cold or too warm.

i do have around 70-ish empty stubbies and about 8 longnecks. more in the fridge to still be drinkied

 

[Brewman_]

Lots of good advice.
You have just started so keep it simple as many people above have said.
Give your brew plenty of time to finish fermenting, and measure it with your hyrdometer to confirm it is finished, don't judge completion by the bubbles.

Your focus on temperature sounds good.

Watch the method for carboanting. I have seen some new brewers over-carbonate using the carbo-drops. I have never used these, rather other various methods that I won't detail, except keeping it simple with white sugar using the measuring cups that come with the kits. This is cheap and easy and always works.

Fear_n_Loath

 

[buttersd70]

No need to check with hydrometer till the bubbling (sorry butters) stops , or the krausen (frothy stuff on top of brew), dissapears.

Just bear in mind....sometimes the bubbling will continue even after fermentation has finished; or it may stop even though fermentation is continuing. Also bear in mind that sometimes the krausen will hang around for ages, even after fermentation has finished. This depends on the yeast; with a lot of english yeasts, its very common for this to happen. But even with kit yeasts, it can occasionally occur.

My advice would be, for a new brewer, until you get a 'feel' for it, is to ignore pretty much everything other than temp control until day 7. Then check it, and again on day 8. If it's steady, check it again the following day. If it's still dropping, give it 3 more days, then start your checking again.

 

[Pennywise]

One thing I think should be mentioned is that a stable temp is just as important once fermentation has started, if you can only manage to brew at even 22 then it's best IMO to leave it there rather than have it go from 22 to 18 and back up and down all the time as this could stress the yeast, of course, if you can keep it at 18 then thats perfect. Personally, in the middle of summer I can't get my brews down to 18, so 22 is usually the norm, and I still make beautiful brews at those temps, I just leave it on the yeast cake for a bit longer so the yeast can clean up a bit, and I also pitch a bit more yeast to start with.

Sorry if it's already been mentioned and I've missed it, in which case, don't mind me, I'm hungover.

 

[WHYPSI]

thanks for all the advice from 20 it went down to 18 overnight. so might try only covering half of it with a wet towel tonight see if that makes it more stable at night

 

[staggalee]

only 19 days to wait and you`ll be drinking it :chug:

stagga.

 

[WHYPSI]

19 days? thats not so bad. so in the fermenter and when the gravity is stable for 2 days, prime some bottles and bottle it, then leave it for 2 weeks?

 

[staggalee]

yeah that`s assuming it`s finished after 7 days, if you can leave it longer all the better to clear it, but most new brewers want to get it into the bottle and then into themselves in short a time as possible
When you bottle it try and keep the bottles in a warmish spot to help carbonation.

stagga.

 

[WHYPSI]

ive maintained the temp at 20, the airlock bubbled alot for 24 hours though now the airlock has stopped bubbling but its still fermenting right?

 

[Pennywise]

Check the gravity, only way to tell really.

 

[WHYPSI]

If the temp gets too low what would happen?

 

[WHYPSI]

its ok worked it out. my brews been between 18-20 the whole time so looking good, checked with hydrometer this morning and night to make sure it hadnt stopped fermenting as it stopped bubbling last night. morning reading 1022, tonight 1019. i couldnt help myself had to taste it hahahaha

 

[raven19]

If the temp gets too low what would happen?

Yeast will stop munching the sugars and you will get a stalled ferment. Then you have to raise the temp slowly to get it going again...

Sampling is a must! :icon_cheers: