New Brewer - First Brew Down

[Mr Grumpy]

Hi All,

I'm new to the brewing game and looking forward to some intense learning.

I'm statring out with a simple kit looking to progress to a more permanent setup and looking to experement along the way.

I put first bacth down last night a - Cascade "Master Craftsman" Pale Ale - so am looking forward to the results over the coming weeks.

As always Knowledge is Power so I am keen to get any advice on offer.

Cheers

Mr Grumpy

 

[raven19]

Welcome to the Forums Mr G.

Plenty of great info and advice here, when you have time, have a look through the beginner articles here: Linky

Best pointer I can give is to keep your ferment temperature under control - this will improve your beer to no end.

 

[Siborg]

Hi Mr Grumpy

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the hobby!

Without knowing too much about the kit, the best advice I can offer when your starting out is temp control. What ingredients you put in won't make any difference if you don't know how to control the fermentation. Ie. you could spend the good part of a day making an all-grain monster of a brew. Ferment that with a packet of yeast from under a tin and ferment at 27 degrees... you get the picture

What ingredients did you throw in besides the can? What is the fermentation temperature at the moment? Note that when yeast activity kicks in, it generates a bit of heat inside the brew.

 

[Siborg]

Best pointer I can give is to keep your ferment temperature under control - this will improve your beer to no end.

Beat me to it!

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks Chaps appreciate the welcome.

The kit I got was the Cascade (Master Craftsman) Pale Ale had Brewcraft #20 Malt+ booster 1kg, as well as 150g of Crystal grain and 15g of Amarillo Hops and SAF ale Yeast (i didn't use the yeast provided with the can)

Added the yeast at 25 Deg in line with instructions and currently temp is at 22 deg. Instructions say optimum brewing between 18 and 24.

I have a submersable heater set at 22 deg but have not turned that on yet.

 

[DU99]

You will have watch the temps over next day or so in melbourne..above 30..

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks Chaps appreciate the welcome.

The kit I got was the Cascade (Master Craftsman) Pale Ale had Brewcraft #20 Malt+ booster 1kg, as well as 150g of Crystal grain and 15g of Amarillo Hops and SAF ale Yeast (i didn't use the yeast provided with the can)

Added the yeast at 25 Deg in line with instructions and currently temp is at 22 deg. Instructions say optimum brewing between 18 and 24.

I have a submersable heater set at 22 deg but have not turned that on yet.

Thanks for the heads up,

I have the brew in the Laundry which seems to be the coldest part of the house, so here's hoping it will be O.K.

Cheers

 

[Pennywise]

I have a submersable heater set at 22 deg but have not turned that on yet.

And keep it that way :icon_cheers: You really shouldn't need a heat element this time of year, and the actual temp of your beer is a degree or so highr than what the stick on bit of crap says

Welcome to the forum Mr Grumpy

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks for the heads up,

I have the brew in the Laundry which seems to be the coldest part of the house, so here's hoping it will be O.K.

Cheers

Thanks Pennywise, I'll bear that mind. Thanks for the welcome.

Cheers

 

[beerandgarden]

You've come to the right place, I've learned a lot in the last day on this forum especially in last day or 2. Two of the guys here on this thread, pennywise and siborg have been especially helpful. One of the biggest revelations for me was Beersmith and the Kit & Extract Beer designer spreadsheet available from this forum. Playing around with recipes in those tools taught me a lot and also brought up a lot of questions which I bombarded these guys with and pretty much got to the root of.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

You've come to the right place, I've learned a lot in the last day on this forum especially in last day or 2. Two of the guys here on this thread, pennywise and siborg have been especially helpful. One of the biggest revelations for me was Beersmith and the Kit & Extract Beer designer spreadsheet available from this forum. Playing around with recipes in those tools taught me a lot and also brought up a lot of questions which I bombarded these guys with and pretty much got to the root of.

Thx Beergarden,

I have got advice from both and being new to the game am very happy with the help.

I want to do this brew thing right so a mate put me onto this site straight away.

I'll have a tonne of questions along the way and wont hesitate to utilise the resource thats so freely available.

Cheers..

 

[Yob]

Thanks Pennywise, I'll bear that mind. Thanks for the welcome.

Cheers

If you do see the temps start to creep up, there are a few ways you can help get it under control, Freeze a few milk bottles (in advance) filled with water and sit next to the fermenter and then drape a wet towel over it all, rotate the frozen bottles as required.

There are quite a few threads devoted to Temperature Control so if you have trouble a search will turn up a few ideas for you.

Good luck and Welcome to the very slippery slope of HB

[edit]... of course a small bar fridge would be better still

Cheers
:icon_cheers: