N00b - 8 Days On, Still Going?

[aimre]

Hey guys

Im a complete noob at brewing, i recently bought a kit and am currently brewing Coopers classic draught

I started Friday night
Using Can of Draught, its yeast and 1kg of coopers brewing sugar.

After mixing it all up and topping the fermenter to 23L i noticed the temp was still pretty high, so i stuck the fermenter in a cool water bath. i then went to sleep for about 3-4 hours. Forgot to take SG reading.

When i woke up, temp was 18'C and i pitched the yeast. ('bout 5am sat morn) then i went back to sleep.

The airlock didnt start to bubble till about 20-24 hrs later.

The brew has been at a constant 21'C in my cupboard since then.

Tonight i took a SG reading of 1016 with bubbles still going through the air lock. Should it be taking this long, or has something gone wrong. Ive read places that brewing can take as short as 4 days till bubbling subsides and the coopers instructions says at 21'C it should take 6 days.

Thanks for any info

Also could someone tell me what it means to "rack" a beer

 

[goatherder]

G'day aimre,

It sounds like you've done everything right and the beer is fermenting correctly. It just hasn't finished yet. The time taken to ferment the beer can be quite variable - factors such as temperature, initial health of the yeast and the amount of oxygen in the wort will affect this.

A rule of thumb which I find useful is to ferment for 14 days when using an ale yeast (your kit contains an ale yeast). The bubbling may subside after 4-10 days but the extra few days will allow the yeast to clean up some fermentation compounds which may give you unwanted flavours. There are no side effects from leaving your beer this long provided you keep the temperature controlled. Another advantage is that you can be sure that you have a complete fermentation, negating the risk of bottle bombs should you prime and bottle an unfinished beer.

Racking is the process of removing the beer from the yeast after the primary fermentation is complete. Some people like to rack their beers and put it through a secondary fermentation. This may help to give a clearer beer but comes with an increased risk of infection and oxygen ingress from the extra handling. Do some searches on "racking" or "secondary" to learn more. My advice would be to not rack to a secondary - I think you still get a clear beer without doing it and it is certainly not needed to make good beer.

Welcome to the forums and enjoy your brewing.

 

[aimre]

So leaving it in there for about 2 weeks is ok?

I also read that the longer u leave it in there, can inrease the chances of infectio, so i was getting worried.

I was hoping i could bottle on wednesday, i guess i could wait a little longer

 

[pint of lager]

Two weeks in primary fermenter is a very good strategy for ales.

There is no extra risk of infection by leaving it in the fermenter.

There is risk of infection if you keep taking the lid off. Leave the lid on and take sg samples from the tap.

If you leave it too long in the fermenter, you run the risk of autolysis, where the yeast canabilses itself in order to replicate. This produces a vegemitey or rubbery flavour in the brew.

If the sg is stable over three days, you are right to bottle, but it does help the beer to leave it 14 days in the fermenter.

Don't try and rush the bottling, you may end up with bottle bombs. If you are keen to put down a brew, buy another fermenter.

Great to see a new brewer starting off on the right foot by keeping the temperature controlled. If possible, aim for 18-20 for the generic yeasts that come with ale kits.

 

[aimre]

Two weeks in primary fermenter is a very good strategy for ales.

There is no extra risk of infection by leaving it in the fermenter.

There is risk of infection if you keep taking the lid off. Leave the lid on and take sg samples from the tap.

If you leave it too long in the fermenter, you run the risk of autolysis, where the yeast canabilses itself in order to replicate. This produces a vegemitey or rubbery flavour in the brew.

If the sg is stable over three days, you are right to bottle, but it does help the beer to leave it 14 days in the fermenter.

Don't try and rush the bottling, you may end up with bottle bombs. If you are keen to put down a brew, buy another fermenter.

Great to see a new brewer starting off on the right foot by keeping the temperature controlled. If possible, aim for 18-20 for the generic yeasts that come with ale kits.

The lid stays on all the time. SG went to 1014 today, so i guess its still going

I got the Coopers kit of ebay for $40 with the draght and a can of Coopers Mexican Cerveza, so that will be my next brew.

After that, i got no ideas what to brew, my only limitation being i can only keep the temp @ 21'C

Beers a usually brink are, Tooheys xtra cold, Extra dry and carlton draught, if that helps. I hate pure blond.

Thanks for all ur help guys

 

[Mr Bond]

Beers a usually brink are, Tooheys xtra cold, Extra dry and carlton draught, if that helps. .

14 days in primary is fine!

As long as you realise you will never brew anything like the above beers with kits you will be fine.

 

[aimre]

14 days in primary is fine!

As long as you realise you will never brew anything like the above beers with kits you will be fine.

Oh yeah, i know that. Its just i havent been drinking long, and i dont really know the diffrences between a wheat beer, draught, ales lagers etc etc.

I know i dont like stout or n e really dark beer, and pure blonde

 

[0M39A]

do yourself a favour, and if you arent much of a beer drinker but want to be, go to your local bottle-o and buy a couple of mixed sixpacks of some nice beers and find out what you do like.

stay away from the big name macrolagers like carlton, tooheys, boags, cascade, lion nation and all that, and get some nicer micro/boutique beers, like james squire, little creatures, coopers, and try a couple of belgians, although you said you dont like dark beers, but you never know.

 

[Mr Bond]

micro/boutique beers, like james squire, little creatures, coopers,

micro/boutique :lol: (yeah right),small scale commercial for the first 2 and as for coopers

 

[brettprevans]

I got the Coopers kit of ebay for $40 with the draght and a can of Coopers Mexican Cerveza, so that will be my next brew.

Dude, $40 for a can of coopers cervesa and 1 can of draught? thats way too much. you can pick that up at the supermarkets for about $22.

Im really hoping you bought an entire 'kit' (including fermentor etc) for $40. If you got jibbed check out your supermarkets (cheap coopers kits) and homebrew shops.

 

[Barramundi]

also AIMRE fill in youir location for more area specific advice , ie brew shops and the like

 

[aimre]

Dude, $40 for a can of coopers cervesa and 1 can of draught? thats way too much. you can pick that up at the supermarkets for about $22.

Im really hoping you bought an entire 'kit' (including fermentor etc) for $40. If you got jibbed check out your supermarkets (cheap coopers kits) and homebrew shops.

For $40 i got. The coopers 'kit' (like the one u get from Big W) with 60 PET bottles, 1 can of Cervesa, 1 bag of BE2 (which turned into 3 when i email coopers asking if i can still use BE2 if its gone hard. They sent some out for free) , 1 can of blackrock whispering wheat and 2x500g bags of 'spray malt' (i think its called).

Also the coopers sanitizer, and an unoped "Pink stain remover" from brewcraft

Also 30 bottles were filled with coopers stout, which i dont like though.

Unfortunatly the whispering wheat is out of date by a month, though i read that date usually only refers to the yeast. But i bought the Draught at Kmart as i wanted something really easy to start with.

And i fixed my location, Inner City, Sydney.

I think theres a brew shop near tempe, like 10 min from my house

 

[aimre]

Hey guys, just a little update.

I bottled it about a week and a half ago. spent about 2weeks and 1 day in the fermenter.

 

[brettprevans]

For $40 i got. The coopers 'kit' (like the one u get from Big W) with 60 PET bottles, 1 can of Cervesa, 1 bag of BE2 (which turned into 3 when i email coopers asking if i can still use BE2 if its gone hard. They sent some out for free) , 1 can of blackrock whispering wheat and 2x500g bags of 'spray malt' (i think its called).

Also the coopers sanitizer, and an unoped "Pink stain remover" from brewcraft

Also 30 bottles were filled with coopers stout, which i dont like though.

Unfortunatly the whispering wheat is out of date by a month, though i read that date usually only refers to the yeast. But i bought the Draught at Kmart as i wanted something really easy to start with.

I think theres a brew shop near tempe, like 10 min from my house

Thats not a bad deal for $40. Just chuck most of the stout if you dont like it, might pay to keep a couple to taste over time and see if your tastes change. The can of Whispering wheat will still be ok. It just might meant that some of flavour is lacking. fresh is best. Use it with another can of something (toucan) and you've got a cheap beer that you can give to mates. or it might be a good lawnmower beer.

 

[Pandreas]

Hey guys

Tonight i took a SG reading of 1016 with bubbles still going through the air lock. Should it be taking this long, or has something gone wrong. Ive read places that brewing can take as short as 4 days till bubbling subsides and the coopers instructions says at 21'C it should take 6 days.

Thanks for any info

I'm new to brewing also, but have noticed on a couple of occasions that the airlock will still bubble even though my hydrometer readings have stabilised, indicating that fermentation has finished. I think this is probably due to residual CO2 in the beer. This MAY be why your brew is still turning the airlock.

As others have suggested though, leave your beer a couple of weeks before bottling to be sure.

Cheers!