My 1st Batch-disaster

[zuluwarrior]

Hi guys!

Im so excited about brewing :chug:

Ive just taken advantage of the fathers day sales and bought myself a coopers home brew kit from kmart.

I followed all instructions, started sunday night. by yesterday (wed) there was still no bubling through the airlock. But, there was foam and gunk on the top of the brew, condensation on the underside of the fermenter lid and a slight sediment at the bottom. Id been brewing at 22-24 degrees, keeping it there with a hot water bottle strapped to the side of the fermenter. It was all looking good until...Yesterday when i went to change the hot water in the bottle. I returned to my room to see the tap open and half of my brew was on the carpet in my room.... :angry: My room now smells like a brewery.

other than being stupid and opening the tap by accident, was i on track?

I poured out the rest, sanitised all equipment with bleach and left to soak for an hour. I repeated the same steps, but am using the Mexican Cervesa, and used the Brew enhancer 2. however, this time, straight after i filled to about 22L, and added the yeast and sealed, i took an OG reading- 1.056.

Is 20-22 a good temp for this brew?

Any tips or advice on anything, procedure, cleaning, extra hints etc would be much appreciated :beer:

heres to many more beers in the future!

 

[Steve]

Welcome to AHB Zulu

All sounds on track apart from get rid of the hot water bottle. Best temp for ales is roughly 18-20. Dont worry about the airlock not bubbling. As long as you have a krausen (foam and gunk) on the top of the brew its going great. When using bleach make sure you rinse and rinse and rinse again with hot water. Try getting some iodophor from your local home brew shop or even try non-scented napisan. Sorry to hear about your first brew leaking. Have fun....

Cheers
Steve

Edit: have a read of www.howtobrew.com

and

www.hbkitreviews.com

 

[RobboMC]

Air locks can be difficult things to get sealed, that's why Coopers include a hydrometer in the brewing set. Always depend on hydrometer readings before bottling, preferably two readings the same at least a whole day apart. I rinse the ring seals in boiling water to soften them just before sealing.

You seem to be on the right track.

1.056 is a decent OG reading.

Nothing wrong with 20-22 deg C, though some might suggest 18-20 deg C for things like Pale or Sparkling Ale.

Clean, clean, clean is the main thing at this stage, use cooled water and get that yeast in ASAP when you mix up the brew.

Get to a home brew shop and check out the higer quality brew kits and recipe kits.

 

[KGB]

Sounds all good. First thing you learn on here is to throw away the Coopers instructions, the principle is all there but as stated you will get a better tasting beer down around 20 degrees, and even lower for lagers (~12 degrees) but thats with a proper lager yeast, not the stuff that comes with the cans.

Read all the Wiki sections on here, they are great info for the new brewer.

 

[merlinthehapypig]

I followed all instructions, started sunday night. by yesterday (wed) there was still no bubling through the airlock. But, there was foam and gunk on the top of the brew, condensation on the underside of the fermenter lid and a slight sediment at the bottom.

Sounds like it was going fine but the fermenter lid or airlock probably wasn't sealed properly. It's quite common.

I poured out the rest, sanitised all equipment with bleach and left to soak for an hour. I repeated the same steps, but am using the Mexican Cervesa, and used the Brew enhancer 2. however, this time, straight after i filled to about 22L, and added the yeast and sealed, i took an OG reading- 1.056.

Just remember to take the OG reading before adding the yeast.

Aside from that everything else sounds good. Once you've done a few brews it's pretty hard to mess things up and create something that's undrinkable. My top four tips are:
1. Sanitise and clean everything
2. Try and keep the temperature control as consistant as possible ~20degC for ale yeasts ~12degC for lager yeast
3. Make sure its finished fermenting completely when you bottle and don't be impatient (use hydrometer readings when it stops bubbling and wait till they are the same over three days)
4. Never use sugar for the brew (you should use it to prime bottles though)

Once you can master those things and can make something that is consistant then you can concentrate on using different kits/sugars/hops/yeasts to improve your brews.

 

[Keifer]

Why did you pour out the rest? it would have been fine, now you have to wait eveeeeen loooonngger for the hiss of your first HB bottle opening

Where you taking a sample and left the tap open?

Also the weather here is great for ales, no temp adjustment required, 20c ambient today, prolly a bit hot still but i aint fussed too much lol

 

[zuluwarrior]

Welcome to AHB Zulu

All sounds on track apart from get rid of the hot water bottle. Best temp for ales is roughly 18-20. Dont worry about the airlock not bubbling. As long as you have a krausen (foam and gunk) on the top of the brew its going great. When using bleach make sure you rinse and rinse and rinse again with hot water. Try getting some iodophor from your local home brew shop or even try non-scented napisan. Sorry to hear about your first brew leaking. Have fun....

Cheers
Steve

Edit: have a read of www.howtobrew.com

and

www.hbkitreviews.com

Thanks so much guys!! So 18-20 C for ales are ideal- should be easy as thats what it is sitting in my room anyway.

Do i need to worry about dips in temp overnight?

Do i need to worry about any of the coopers cans coming with a lager yeast? and hence needing to brew around 12 C?

Im so excited about it today i bought a can of Coopers canadian blonde, a can of Coopers Lager and 2 packs of brew enhancer 1-Im gonna try out the lawnmower recipe and strawberry blonde recipe found at http://www.coopers.com.au/homebrew/makeBee...d=3&bid=108 and http://www.coopers.com.au/homebrew/makeBee...d=5&bid=116

I figure i can brew all 3 in the next 1-2 months and have a nice 60L ready for summer.

Once i bottle the beer, is it best to store at room temp for a few days then cool it?

Cheers for all your help and sorry for being such a newbie. Appreciate all ur help guys. :beer:

 

[discoloop]

Neither of those cans come with an actual lager yeast.

The Pilsner and Bavarian Lager come with lager yeasts, the Mexican Cerveza apparently comes with a hybrid lager/ale yeast. The rest are ale yeasts, so stick with the 18-20 range....

I figure i can brew all 3 in the next 1-2 months and have a nice 60L ready for summer.

Trust me, you'll drink tonnes of that between now and summer!

I condition my beers at room temperature. Once carbonated, I've tried "lagering" the bottles for several weeks at fridge temp. Side by side tests with non-'lagered' bottles from the same batch revealed little to no discernible difference so I don't bother now. IMHO the biggest factor in flavour maturation is time, not temperature.

 

[snagler]

Zulu, another thing to try is to use gladwrap and a big rubber band over the top of the fermenter with a pin hole in the gladwrap instead of the screw top lid and air lock. It will give you the opportunity to see the fermentation at its different stages (for educational purposes) without opening the lid potenially exposeing the brew to infection.
Forget about what your air lock may or may not be doing, use your hydrometer

 

[simpletotoro]

hi..thought i'd make up a list of things for you to look at (at your pace )
let it be known i am NO expert ! but many of these things below i was doing wrong until i came to
this site...
the info is all on this site but most of it is scattered about the place ...
hopefully these things will get you off on the right foot..
okay

[1]sanation...this link is excellent will help you understand that this is the #1 concern....

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...?showtopic=9233

also this one

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/ineo...;showarticle=18

[2]fermenting tempatures: ...ales-ferment at 18-20/c is standard practice...why you ask when the
instructions under the lid say something like ?24-27/c....
well yeast is a living organism and it doesn't like to be stressed out...
at 18-20/c its all happy and happy yeast helps produce good beer...

unhappy yeast on the other hand freaks out (say when you raise the temp to 24+/c) ..
now a freaked out yeast ferments the sugars in your wort differently and produces something called a fusel ..this is a higher order alcohol that at best will make your beer taste bad and give you nasty hangovers...

now i personally ferment my ales with different yeast from the kit yeast...
[look in the wiki or your local home brew shop (lhbs) there's heaps of different strains out there]...

and i tend to ferment them on the temp range of 16-18/c...just cause i like to sure ...
you probably have one of those sticky thermometre things stuck on the outside of your fermenter..well if you do there not super accurate and by brewing at 16-18/c this way i can be resonablely sure that my brew temps will be ok...

see one of the things that happens when your yeast goes to work is that the chemical reactions it preforms
will start to create some heat...sometimes this heat is bugger all and sometimes if its really active it maybe be quite substainal say 1-2/c...(not sure on the actual amounts in degrees)

now lagers are a different story and be careful here ...
most kits contain an ale yeast not a true lager yeast no matter what the beer type says on the outside of the can ...
as mentioned two exceptions that I know of are coopers pilsner and barvarian ...these are both true lager yeasts.beware there may be others do a search or ask if in doubt/

a true lager yeast as mentioned should be fermented anywhere between 8-12/c depending on the strain..its up to you but youll probably be best off sticking to ales for your first few brews

for temp control there heaps of options more specific later (try search for temperature control and 100 can cooler)

[3] airlock activity...as you have discovered the airlocks don't always seal properly..
to fix this i use plumbers tape..that white gear for taps is about $1 or less a roll this is applied to the stem of the airlock before i sanatise it (if you don't have any use gladwrap or something)...
just apply it before you sanatise...it tends to fix the problem of leaks around the airlock...

don't freak out about the lack of bubbles the main thing to look for is the foam you've mentioned...

[4]hyrdometre use...when you want to bottle this is the way to tell if your beer is ready...
your hydrometre basically measures the density of liquids ...

the hydrometre reading of water @20/c should be 1.000 ...
to try a test on your hydrometre get some water @ 20/c immerse your hydrometre in it say half-wayish and drop and spin the hydrometre in it...
do it a few times to get the hang of it...it should settle out to be 1.000 ...
if it doesn't note the reading and use it as a calabration for your real readings...

okay as i've said your hydrometre basically measures the density of liquids ...
and a liquid with sugar dissloved in it is more dense then water thus when you make up your wort it reads higher ..a lot higher then 1.000 on your hydrometre...
(wort=the kit and the sugar mixed with water in your fermenter)

now when your yeast eats up the sugars during fermentation two of the things produced are co2 (some of the co2 leaves the liquid and some remains dissolved in it ) and alcohol...
this in turn lowers the density of the wort until it becomes beer and the yeast stop...
so when you want to bottle the trick is to use your hydrometre over the period of several days and obtain a result that is the same on 3 seperate occasions...
just note if your readings are above say 1.012 you may ...read may have whats called a stuck fermentaion ...
a stuck fermentation is when for some reason or another the yeast has stopped doing its job even though some unfermented sugars still remain..
to fix this ,gently swirl the fermenter around until you have disturbed some of the yeast cake (that white gear at the bottom of your fermenter)...
do not swirl it violently as you want to minimise the amount of air you allow back into your wort ...though if your lid is on and airtight this shouldn't pose much problem...then leave it for the day and take another reading...


[5]bulk priming and bottling...bulk priming is just dissovling the required amount of sugar in boiling water .....then putting the dissolved sugar solution in an empty fermenter... and then racking (racking=transfering) transfering the beer you want to bottle to that same vessels as the dissolved sugar...
this is from another post i wrote but its step by step...
... but heres the go...up to you if you want to try it...but seriously theres buggerall
to it...probably best to scroll down and bring up my crappy flow chart pic when you read this

1. get your self another fermenter...
(at bunnings you can get a 25 litre camping container and a tap to fit it...make sure you get the one that
takes a tap as theres one just like it with out the threaded hole...later you can drill a hole in the lid
and then you'll have two fermenters ...above container $15 tap $2)

2.get some food grade clear hose (a couple of metres will do) that will fit over the tap
(i got mine from clark rubber...about $3)

3.always sanatize everything...

4.dissolve required amount of sugar in boiling water (say 200-250 ml)
(sugar amount from grumpys page....no copyright issues intended)

Final Gravity Grams
1006-1008 180
1008-1010 160
1010-1014 140
1014-1018 120
1019-1025 100

link to grumpys
http://www.grumpys.com.au/m1.php3?manualid=13

5. pour dissolved sugar into the empty fermenter

6.connect hose to original fermenter (now called #1) and place other end in the fermenter with the sugar
solution (now called #2) (make sure the hose rests on the bottom of the #2)

7. place #1 on a table or bench so it is higher then #2 (gravity will do the work for you )

8. remove airlock from #1 ... open tap and allow beer to transfer to #2 (you can whack some glad wrap over
#2 if you like to stop any nasties getting in if you like)

9.try to avoid splashing (in other words don't mix craploads on air into the liquid when you transfer it
...they tell me it can cause oxidation...)this is why you need the hose to rest on the bottom of the
fermenter.

10. the swirling motion of the transfer should mix the sugar evenly through out the transfered beer (but
if you like you can at the end give it a gentle stir with a sanatised long handled spoon)

11. now just put the lid on #2 (leave loose if you've not drilled a hole in the top of it ...so as not to
create a vaccuum when you bottle)

12.bottle


note just remember to take hydrometre readings close to 20/c ...it doesn't hurt to let you brew warm up by sitting on the bench for a day or so before your ready to bottle anyway as fermentation is clompleted anyway...


heres my crap pic flow chart below







goodluck hope its some help
cheers simpletotoro

ok heres the easiest way to explain these things above lets assume you have everything sanatisedyou got your recipe say this one for examplea really basic one

one tin of goo (ale)
500 g light dried malt (ldm)
500 dextrose
yeast from kit (ale)

ok heres how I went about it when I started..
1.put tin of unopened goo in a container pour in some boiling water to soften her up a little...set it aside till you need it ....DO NOT BOIL UNOPENED TINS
2. put 2 litres of water in a saucepan and bring to boil
3.dissolve ldm and dextrose in saucepan constantly stirring so as not to scorch the sugar and watch for boil overs..
4.remove from heat and tip into fermenter
5.open tin of goo and tip into fermenter..mix well add a little hot water to it if you must..
6.using water you froze or cooled (in sanatised containers) fill up fermenter till desired level
7.stir the crap out of it ..you want lots of air mixed in with it lots of froath
8.check temps if its under 20/c pitch your yeaststir if you must I usually dont I just add the yeast while the liquid is still like a little whirlpool
9.bung on your lidfit you airlockferment at 16-20/c
10. watch and learn from your brew over the coming days
11.when you think it has fermented ...no airlock activity check with your hydrometer
12.bulk prime as above when ready
13.bottle
14.condition bottles for say 3 weeks then cool one down and sample if its not ready wait another week
drink as desired

lets assume youve got bugger all money or want at this stage to spend bugger all money on brewing gear there will be plenty of time later on when you have more knowledge of the art of brewing to spend money believe me
and perhaps space is limited. .
here is my advice its only advice do what you wish its your beer and hobby

for starting out controlling your fermenting temps this options pretty cheap and basic as ....collect and freeze as many 2litre soft drink bottles as you can.....
go to Harvey Norman or someone like that and get a large carborad box....big enough to fit you fermenter in with room to spare....
go to your green grocer and get some foam boxes from him 2-4 is heaps.....
get you box seal up top and bottom with heaps of heavy duty tape....take a stanly knife and cut a door in one side of it just.... cut it on three sides yeah leave the other side as a hinge..cut it big enough to get your fermenter in and out of it easily.....
line the inside with the foam boxes that you have cut up ..tape them to the sides ,bottom and top securely ....if its hot just put some frozen 2 litre bottle in the box with your fermenter .....youll have to work out what works for you best ok.....
do not stress if the temp go down below 18/c it'll just take longer for the brew to ferment out....
after some trial and error you will work out basicly how to maintain the temp in the box.....
I agree it's a pain in the arse but it does workan old fridge that doesn't work, works even better but the box is in every ones budget free

theres heaps of other stuff you can do as well ...add specialty grains ...use better yeast ...add extra hops ...without a doubt in my mind you'll end up doing these things in the future...if you want to know how...try a search or post message me and i'll give you what info i know about ok
cheers

 

[KGB]

^^^ Yeah, what he said...

IMHO the biggest factor in flavour maturation is time, not temperature.

Agreed. Just keep them somewhere dark and where they won't get too warm like bottom of the cupboard or something. Just be careful you dont overcarb the bottles - beer exploding over all your clothes isn't very fun.

 

[zuluwarrior]

simpletotoro thanks for the comprehensive reply!!! So much ive been wondering about has been answered through this thread, thanks so much to all!

Looking forward to opening that 1st brew, ill keep you all updated. Thanks again from one happy beer drinker! :beer:

 

[BOG]

Zulu,

You need to be aware that this site some some serious beer junkies on it.
Most would spend more on this passion than they would on their childs education.

This time of year is warm enough to brew just about anything. They'll tell you it must be this temp or that because of the flavour difference it produces and they are right. But it's because they drink so much of it thay can taste the difference.

Until you have brewed over 100 brews (approx 2000 litres) {I'm not there yet} you won't have the beer palet to taste any difference. You won't really understand the "Artistry" that is beer making. But you have commenced down the path and that's what matters. You'll be amased how fast you'll learn and how additive beer making can be.

I suggest for now you grab a can, follow the instructions and drink the result.
Then do it again and again.

When your ready, visit your local Home Brew Shop and get some decent quality cans. The stuff at the supermarket is garbage in comparison. You'll be amazed at the quality of what you can make at home.

Welcome to Home Brew.


BOG

 

[Steve]

Until you have brewed over 100 brews (approx 2000 litres) {I'm not there yet} you won't have the beer palet to taste any difference. You won't really understand the "Artistry" that is beer making. But you have commenced down the path and that's what matters. You'll be amased how fast you'll learn and how additive beer making can be.

I suggest for now you grab a can, follow the instructions and drink the result.
Then do it again and again.

I have to totally disagree with both these paragraphs....except the sentence: "You'll be amased how fast you'll learn and how additive beer making can be"

Cheers
Steve

 

[Haroldo]

Zulu,

You need to be aware that this site some some serious beer junkies on it.
Most would spend more on this passion than they would on their childs education.

This time of year is warm enough to brew just about anything. They'll tell you it must be this temp or that because of the flavour difference it produces and they are right. But it's because they drink so much of it thay can taste the difference.

Until you have brewed over 100 brews (approx 2000 litres) {I'm not there yet} you won't have the beer palet to taste any difference. You won't really understand the "Artistry" that is beer making. But you have commenced down the path and that's what matters. You'll be amased how fast you'll learn and how additive beer making can be.

I suggest for now you grab a can, follow the instructions and drink the result.
Then do it again and again.

When your ready, visit your local Home Brew Shop and get some decent quality cans. The stuff at the supermarket is garbage in comparison. You'll be amazed at the quality of what you can make at home.

Welcome to Home Brew.
BOG

Bog,

As a first time brewer also, well done on these instructions! Am in the middle of my first brew (not bottled yet) and I must admit that reading some of these comments at times is very informative but at the same time overwhelming. I guess you have to learn to walk before you can run...

Haroldo.

 

[beernography]

Hey Bog,

What exactly are "decent" cans? Is more expensive necesarily better? My local home brew shop has a selection of brands, so does the supermarket next door, I've spent a few hours staring at them and reading the backs like a kid in a porno shop but they all look the same to me.

I got a coopers Ale can for free which is going to be my next brew, after that looking @ Munton's or ESB, but some brands of cans are cheap with nice labels, others are expensive with ugly labels, is there any way to tell which is a good can?

I have read the HB kit review site, but it doesn't seem to be very informed with some people's reviews, just them saying if it was drinkable or not.

 

[zuluwarrior]

I was also wondering, what is the difference if i have a secondary fermentation adding the sugar to that, or bottle the beer once SG is constant and use carbonation drops ie secondary fermentation in the bottle?

which is better and why? I think for this batch ill bottle ferment with the carbo drops until i get a bit more education on secondaries and racking etc...

 

[simpletotoro]

i take exception with this statement ....

Zulu,


Most would spend more on this passion than they would on their childs education.

they are my children
cheers totoro

 

[capretta]

I was also wondering, what is the difference if i have a secondary fermentation adding the sugar to that, or bottle the beer once SG is constant and use carbonation drops ie secondary fermentation in the bottle?

which is better and why? I think for this batch ill bottle ferment with the carbo drops until i get a bit more education on secondaries and racking etc...

some brewers never secondary! jamil zainasheff from the brewing network who is also a multi award winning brewer thinks secondarys are completely uneccesary. i never do unless i am brewing a high gravity lager. racking to secondary doesnt involve adding sugar tho! it is just putting it in another fermenter so it is off the yeast cake. supposedly stops off flavours caused be autolysis or dying yeast. :beerbang:

 

[simpletotoro]

some brewers never secondary! jamil zainasheff from the brewing network who is also a multi award winning brewer thinks secondarys are completely uneccesary. i never do unless i am brewing a high gravity lager. racking to secondary doesnt involve adding sugar tho! it is just putting it in another fermenter so it is off the yeast cake. supposedly stops off flavours caused be autolysis or dying yeast. :beerbang:

i think he may have been confusing secondary with what i wrote about bulkpriming not sure though...i agree i never rack to a secondary either unless i'm cc or lagering...and then its not really a secondary at all is it...just seems like to much trouble for the result really imo..