Kimba , Simba And Mischeif 3 Brews

[Azooma]

Hiya Folks!

I started my first brew from a coopers kit last Sunday and after reading quite a bit I thought I would go out and buy 2 more kits and experiment a bit Called em 3 names Kimba Simba and Mischief got a few questions on em though :

Kimba Coopers lager Mix followed the instructions to the letter the brew got a nice foam head on it but 2 days later this disappeared, I shined a torch on the side and still can see little bubbles rising so I knew the yeast was working ( I think I didnt have a good seal on this one as Airlock isnt bubbling ) Looks like a slurry has formed on the bottom and Temp has been 20 first day 18 next and remainder 16.

Q: Is it normal for the foam to disappear like that?

Simba Off I went to Coles and brought 1KG Dextrose , 500G Malt and some Yeast ( Couldnt find the one starting with S so I got normal tinned stuff ) Started a new coopers larger Kit, Ive learnt that maybe I should drop dry ingredients into the fermenter first as the steam from the water clogged up the Malt as soon as it hit it ( Hard to mix too ) Placed the 1 Kilo of Sugar and the measured to OG for the yeast I guestimated it to be about a tablespoon so I sprinkled that on the top and shut the Lid. I stuffed up on filling the vat ( Needed to do this in the shower ) as it foamed up too much and I put 25 liters instead of 23 so I drained 2 liters out.

Q: Is Yeast just Yeast or was there a special beer yeast I needed ? I woke up this morning Temp still 16 no visible bubbling in the Vat could this one be a bin Job? In hindsight I think tossing the additional 2 liters made no difference I think also.


Mishief - - Started my third brew and used 2 tins of the coopers larger mix added nothing else but water to bring up to 23L and then the same yeast I used in Simba Mix ( Bread Yeast ) this morning after checking I had a dense foam maybe 5mil think and toffee like appearance. ( I think this should be norm cause of double ingredients )

Q : Can I grab a sanity check on if this will be ok? If not can it be rescued ( Yeast could be wrong type maybe ? )

Both on Simba and Mischief I forgot to put the sediment reducer on em will this impact my Brews too much ?

Loving this new hobby hell of alot to learn though hehe

 

[Borret]

Yes, brewing yeast is different. And although bread yeast will still ferment it will not give you desirable results.
Why didn't you use the yeast that came with the can which is a brewing yeast?

Borret

 

[Azooma]

Yes, brewing yeast is different. And although bread yeast will still ferment it will not give you desirable results.
Why didn't you use the yeast that came with the can which is a brewing yeast?

Borret

[post="67272"][/post]​

I read everwhere the yeast provided is not much chop i think i should have asked before makin the batches

 

[Duff]

Azooma,

Have a look at:

www.whitelabs.com
www.wyeastlab.com

Go to your local HBS and look for either of these liquid yeast brands, and also ask about the Saf range of dry yeast. Different beers, different yeasts.

IMO go for the liquids as early as possible and use the specific style of yeast for the specific style of beer you are aiming to produce.

Cheers.

 

[Gough]

G'day Azooma,

All I'd add is something that usually comes up in these posts, but definitely bears repeating. If you are really wanting to get a good handle on the processes required to improve your brewing, as well as on the various ingredients used and the reasons you are using them, have a read of the first few chapters of howtobrew.com It is an online book that you can also buy locally if you want your own copy. The first few chapters go through kit and extract brewing in detail and will fill in a lot of gaps for you. The later chapters give you an idea of where you can take things if you are keen.

Give it a look. It will help you a lot.

Good luck,

Shawn.

 

[Azooma]

Tnx ill do that guys

Should i toss the bews that i used normal yeast in?

 

[Guest Lurker]

Tnx ill do that guys

Should i toss the bews that i used normal yeast in?

[post="67287"][/post]​

Nope, not if its fermenting. All the books say beer made with bread yeast doesnt taste too good, but when I was about at your stage I did exactly the same thing, didnt have any beer yeast so used bread, and I found kit beer made with bread yeast to be perfectly drinkable.

I wouldnt deliberately do it now though.

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

Is Peter from Wagga still around?

 

[fergi]

wow you really do need to read up a bit,BREAD YEAST,SUGAR,TAKE 2 LITRES OUT,etc,etc are you kidding us or are you for real
fergi

 

[Borret]

Is Peter from Wagga still around?

[post="67331"][/post]​

Funny you say that but the briefness of my first reply was in light of that exact same thought. It does reek of it a little.

Borret :blink:

 

[Azooma]

Tnx for the advice guys i ended up tipping the brews and restarting again after alot of reading as suggested. Bottled the batch with Non Bread yeast


BTW what does a guy from Wagga have to do with post?

Fergi yep 100% for real im sure others have done some silly things too i think the questions i asked though are not out of this world or anything.....

Thanks
Steve

 

[fergi]

yes azooma we have all done some silly things at the begining,probably trying hard to get my head around the bread yeast most of all,still cant work out why you didnt use your can yeast,any way welcome to this site ,im sure you will begin to make some really drinkable beers if you follow the hints on this forum,lots here to work with,
cheers
fergi

 

[Azooma]

hehe thanks , Thumbs up for the beer in my fermenters now Bubbling ok and with the correct yeast this time

Tnx
Steve

 

[Borret]

I am still curious.
Did you really go and buy 3 fermenters on your first homebrew outing? All's well if you did as you will end up finding them usefull, but it's a bit of an enthusiastic purchase!

Borret

 

[Darren]

Smells of Monkey around here

 

[Azooma]

I brought one at first and the following week i brought 2 more kits to assist in secondary fermentation, after further research I think the risk of infecting the beer was too high for me to try at this stage so best option was to start fresh brews in em. Like a mini production line now hehe

I might have a go at making a ginger beer or apple cider as well so im sure the fermenters will get a workout!

The missus shakes her head cause every time I get into a new hobby I go nuts at it! Shes pretty good about it though and she helps me sterilize the bottles , For value for money though home brew kits are pretty cheap coopers ones are a tad more expensive than a couple of cases of coldies

Another lesson I discovered is the plastic caps that are provided in the Coopers kit do not go well being sterilized in boiling hot water

 

[Jazzafish]

I got a coopers kit a while ago... fair value for money I guess.

Best advice I can give you is to ignore any instructions that came with the kit. And also the can.

The best starting instructions come from: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter1.html

This is like the brewing bible. The way to better beer.

Boiling your can of extract with everything else is not essential for the wort, just the coopers method of boiling water mixed in works. However, boiling will give you a good stepping stone to grain beers. I recon boiling helps though.

Basically, follow the links input and your beer will reward you for it!

Cheers,
Jarrad

 

[ryanator]

Azooma,

First of all, welcome to the site and brewing. I've only been brewing for a year and am still doing kits but am loving it.

Just a quick simple tip for improving kit beers:
Try using a hops infusion bag. They're really simple to use and can greatly improve a kit beer.

Good luck!

 

[muga]

Seems like another one has been hooked.

I started brewing around 8 months ago and over the past 2 months I have been getting more and more in to it. Still using kit stuff but it tastes good so I don't see me changing any time soon.

The best purchase I have made over my time of brewing has been a keg system. I have got a basic setup up and running with a simple beer gun in fridge setup.. with a 3-way tap system on mobile bar in the works. I just need the extra funds to get the right equipment and I'll be as happy as larry.

I hope it all goes well, it's a great hobby to have.

One other thing I have learnt, there is no need to get to advanced - you are still able to make great beer using a very basic and simple setup, just remember that everything needs to be clean - the room I have dedicated for brewing is like a surgery room.