My First Brew

[mandrake70]

Hi all,

Started brewing my first batch of Brewcraft Munich Lager on Saturday and checked my FG reading tonight as the fermenter had stopped bubbling at the airlock. Will monitor over the next couple of days to see if it continues to drop as I thought it was a bit high. One concern that I have is that I have had to move the fermenter to the shed outside and am concerned that the temp of it has dropped too low. Tonight I checked and it was around 18-20 although I think it dropped to 16 over night - is this likely to affect the beer alot ?

thanks,
Simon

 

[bum]

Depends. Is it a real lager yeast? If so then yeah all those temps are too high. If not then the 18/20 is near enough to spot on for a kit and the 16 isn't a huge problem - just warm it back up and she should be apples again.

[EDIT: wait, you didn't mention the actual gravity readings. Is it still dropping?]

 

[raven19]

And make sure your gravity is steady for a couple of days, then it is ready to bottle.

Then get brew #2 cracking asap!

Congrats on brew #1, welcome to the forums also.

 

[thesunsettree]

Hi all,

Started brewing my first batch of Brewcraft Munich Lager on Saturday and checked my FG reading tonight as the fermenter had stopped bubbling at the airlock. Will monitor over the next couple of days to see if it continues to drop as I thought it was a bit high. One concern that I have is that I have had to move the fermenter to the shed outside and am concerned that the temp of it has dropped too low. Tonight I checked and it was around 18-20 although I think it dropped to 16 over night - is this likely to affect the beer alot ?

thanks,
Simon

hi mate,

did u use the kit yeast or a lager specific yeast. either way it wont be an issue. depending on whether it was an ale or lager yeast,i wouldnt worry about checking gravity until the average brew time is almost complete ie roughly 10 days with ale yeast (i like to leave my ales in fermenter for 18days) or 3weeks for lager yeast (low temp ferment 12-14deg or there abouts). if the yeast momentarily gets a little on the cool side it wont really effect it, obviously not too cool for ales as the yeast will go to sleep (say above 17/18 deg in most instances. but advoid high temps as much as possible ale yeast can handle up tp 30 deg in a pinch but not advisable 18-24 seems to be ok, lager yeast depending the type usually wont like it any warmer than 16-18deg. if u think the yeast has slowed prematurely agititate the fermenter to effect a stirring motion inside as this can 'wake' the yeast up and get it going again. a lot of guys will open the fermenter and stir with sanitised spoon, all the theory says its fine to do but i'm too much of a pussy to do it

cheers
matt

 

[mandrake70]

I have used the yeast that came with the kit. The gravity reading was 1010 , I will measure again tonight and on Friday and see if there is any change. Also felt that the beer was alittle yeasty on the nose and cloudy - will see if it continues to clear as well over the next few days.

Am already working out what to brew next and have been trying to find a recipe that is going to be close to a Bernard Dark Lager.

 

[mandrake70]

Depends. Is it a real lager yeast? If so then yeah all those temps are too high. If not then the 18/20 is near enough to spot on for a kit and the 16 isn't a huge problem - just warm it back up and she should be apples again.

[EDIT: wait, you didn't mention the actual gravity readings. Is it still dropping?]

Hi Bum,
Tonights gravity reading was around 1.011 which is probably what last nights was as well. Think I will bottle it on the weekend and then leave it a few more weeks before testing a bottle. Just wondering if the cloudiness will change once the beer has been bottled ?

 

[thesunsettree]

Hi Bum,
Tonights gravity reading was around 1.011 which is probably what last nights was as well. Think I will bottle it on the weekend and then leave it a few more weeks before testing a bottle. Just wondering if the cloudiness will change once the beer has been bottled ?

eliminating cloudiness will envoke a 20 page topic . has the brew only been down for 5 days? if so dont bottle yet, even if it seems to have finished, just imo. leave at lest for 10 days, it wont hurt it, i leave my ales for 18 days, they seem to be more balsnced in the glass - just my experience. but dont be hasty, 1 day too long is better than 1 day too early, espec if ur bottling
just realised u said bottle on weekend, if u must do it sun at earliest. yes the beer will settle in the bottle but the more 'settled' prior to bottling the clearer it will be at end product, my 2c

cheers
matt

 

[jiesu]

Funilly enough my second brew was the very same kit.
I also reccomend leaving a while in the fermenter. You can rack to a secondary if you like but it probably isn't worth the risk of Oxidisation.
Just leave that Puppy in the fermenter for another couple of weeks. I left mine in the fermenter for about 2 1/2 weeks after I reched final gravity. The beer has come out crystal clear after It settles in the bottle. Much better then my first Cevaza which turned out cloudy and poor Good Luck.

 

[kelbygreen]

I dont care if beers are a little cloudy its the taste that matters. but most of mine after 4 days at FG reading and 1 day cold condition at 4 deg then bottle they are clear to me I wouldnt say crystal but bloody close enough for me it comes down to how you pour the beer to, try not to get the sediment in suspension again. But I agree leaving it in the fermenter longer is better as beer is meant to mature better in bigger lots so there is a plus. But if your like me and want to replace commercial with home brew I just cant leave a batch sit for 3-4 weeks in the fermenter lol.

In saying that I got a fridge that will fit 2 cubes and another fridge that can have one beer going but it wont cool enough to cold condition so when I get some money in will be doing double batches

 

[thesunsettree]

I dont care if beers are a little cloudy its the taste that matters. but most of mine after 4 days at FG reading and 1 day cold condition at 4 deg then bottle they are clear to me I wouldnt say crystal but bloody close enough for me it comes down to how you pour the beer to, try not to get the sediment in suspension again. But I agree leaving it in the fermenter longer is better as beer is meant to mature better in bigger lots so there is a plus. But if your like me and want to replace commercial with home brew I just cant leave a batch sit for 3-4 weeks in the fermenter lol.

In saying that I got a fridge that will fit 2 cubes and another fridge that can have one beer going but it wont cool enough to cold condition so when I get some money in will be doing double batches

each to their own and i'm not saying ur wrong in any way, but there is no way i would pull a ferment after 4 days regardless of cc. if cloudy beer is ur thing, suspended yeast and shit, i dont call that flavour. sorry just not for me. i polyclar and filter (and thats not the only or best way, btw), i have had plenty of coloured and thickly textured beer but they have always had clarity. i'm not saying u do, but i know plenty of guys that hide poor techniques behind the guise of "flavour" and "ur not used to proper beer" - tug tug. u don't have to be perfect to make a great beer but being slap happy, mmm dunno

 

[Hatchy]

I don't bottle until at least 10 days. That's partly because I've got 3 fermenters going so struggle to find the time. A couple of things that I reckon are worth mentioning, don't pay any attention to the airlock. There are a number of reasons it may not be bubbling. I had a brew that was bubbling vigorously & then stopped, I thought about getting a SG reading until I noticed that the water had bubbled out of the airlock. Go with the SG reading to tell you if fermentation has finished, not the airlock. The other thing I feel is worth mentioning, get away from kit yeast, you'll be able to make beer with kit yeast but it's unlikely you'll make nice beer. Spend s couple of dollars on proper yeast, it's probably the cheapest thing you can do to go from making beer to making good beer.

 

[mandrake70]

Just thought I would update, after having the beer in bottles for the last couple of weeks I thought I would try one. It was rather ok to drink, however there didn't appear to be much flavour - just a nice crisp clean taste. Will let the rest sit and age a bit more as I make my next batch over the easter weekend.

 

[Hatchy]

If yr after more flavour I'd suggest some hop additions. I don't think you mentioned what you put in with the can. If you used dextrose then maybe try some LDME next time. Buying a sachet of yeast will give you better results than the kit yeast as well. Good luck with brew # 2. Let us know how you go. If you want a good recipe, I'd heartily recommend Dr Smurto's golden ale. The recipe is under AG in the DB but there's a kit version on there.

 

[zxhoon]

I reckon you should give all the beer to that giant ginga bloke you know, I hear he is a pro at beer tasting

Welcome to the forums, been meaning to send you the link but I'm too late haha

I rekcon if your first brew from a kit is drinkable you are doing fairly well