New Brewer In Need Of A Hand

[chrisxr695]

Hi guys,
I'm new to brewing and having a few probs. Wanted to get into brew for years and about a month ago i took the leap. Got a brewcraft starter kit with a tooheys extra dry style kit. Did a lot of reading on here befor i jumped in. Then got it all preped and going, got it to temp, pitched the yeast(s23 saflager) and the dry enzyme. Kept it a 12c, took 10 day to ferment +1 day to be sure. Then got my bottles preped, primed with carb drops and bottled. Kept Them in the warm livingroom. Now its 3 weeks later, grabed 2 long necks put them in the frige this morning cleaned and rised my new schooner glass's, got the kid's in bed and grabed mixed nut. Jump in front of the tv and cracked a bottle of my pride and joy. But oh no,

IT DEAD, ok not to worry grabed the other one, dead no life at all. What did i do wrong. I enjoyed brewing my beer but WOW what a kick in the ball.

Can anyone tell me if i can save it or is it DOA. Or can anyone help me find what i've done wrong. Don't think i can handle another heart braking moment like that again.

cheers
chris

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

What do you mean dead?

No carbonation. No flavour?

 

[keifer33]

If you could elaborate on IT DEAD you might get some more answers..is it flat, dead in taste, off tasting? Keeping in mind you've used a lager yeast 3 weeks is definitely a little early to tell. Some say up to 4 months...I cant comment as all my lagers are still bottle conditioning and at least 2 months away from a true tasting.

 

[Cube]

I'm no lager brewer ( and welcome to the forum ) but as far I as recall S23, lager yeast, will take about min 2 weeks to munch through a brew , even at your 12 deg. Lager also benefits from crash chilling and ....well...... lagering especially hand crafted lagers like yours and ours. You done nothing wrong except maybe brewing a lager first which takes maybe three times longer brewing ale grain to brain...... in other words, you are on track like most of us :lol:

 

[bum]

First thing, Chris, welcome to the board and congrats on actually doing some research before doing your first brew (I didn't).

Now I dunno where you are but most heavily populated places in Australia are kinda bad places for carbing at this time of year so don't panic just yet. Give them some time (trying them periodically, of course) and they will come good.

Well done on starting off with a good yeast. So many of us here didn't and you're lucky to have the opportunity to possibly not know the difference. Having said that, it might be worth your while to do a search here for the term "lagering" and maybe give it a crack for your next lager (not that it would have changed your carb levels on this one.

Your beer will get better with a bit of patience. But don't hang about waiting for that to happen. Get cracking on the next one!

 

[chrisxr695]

thanks guys that was quick. my beer is flat. it taste ok but no carb at all. thanks for the help and keep it coming. my mind is a sponge at the moment. any helps good help because i'm really enjoy brewing but hope i can brew something worth drinking
cheers
chris

 

[chrisxr695]

i'm in roseworthy about 40 kms north of adelaide cbd. and it bloody cold here at the mo lol

 

[jakub76]

Stick your bottles on your water heater for a week or two.

Starting out with a lager is ambitious, power to you. While you wait for brew #1 to sort itself out grab a simple ale kit based on something you like and try the US-05 ale yeast. It'll be ready to drink in 3-4 weeks. Keep us posted

EDIT: Also make sure your crown seals are good. I have a mate who was really timid with his hand-capper, you really got to belt that bad boy till your crown seals are well sealed! None of this ginger tapping bullshit. Assuming you are bottling in glass and use a hand capper of course.

 

[bum]

i'm in roseworthy about 40 kms north of adelaide cbd. and it bloody cold here at the mo lol

That's probably your answer then. Give them some more time and maybe try to keep them a tiny bit warmer and you'll get the carb you're after.

 

[bum]

Starting out with a lager is ambitious, power to you. While you wait for brew #1 to sort itself out grab a simple ale kit based on something you like and try the US-05 ale yeast. It'll be ready to drink in 3-4 weeks. Keep us posted

As long as he has some sort of temp control set up. Otherwise it is pretty much ideal lager temps right now.

 

[chrisxr695]

i've got a soild brick house with brick internals some temp stays same day or night so was really easy to keep the temp the same. but got a old frige in the shed so might set that up. any ideas on some good kits to try anyone

 

[chrisxr695]

i used plasic for the first one. not by chose come with the kit but i work for amcor glass and we make coopers longnecks and stubbies, also boggs stubbies so going to grab a heap from work

 

[bum]

Dude. You need to repay me for my invaluable advice with factory Cooper's longies.

(This is a joke. You owe me nothing for my repetition of things I've been told by better brewers in the past. It is more a suggestion that you needn't bother with any of the stubbies - if you can get the Cooper's crownseal longnecks you've pretty much got the best homebrew bottles money can buy (aka employees can steal). Lucky *******!)

[EDIT: Having said that, unless you wish to keep your brews for about a year there is no reason not to use PET bottles apart from personal preference.]

 

[Acasta]

Is there any possibilty you can 'get' some bottle for the public? I/we would pay postage and reasonable compensation.

 

[scoundrel]

suggestions for kits to try, basically avoid the supermarket stuff, try morgans amber or stout, dark beers will cover a multitude of sins for a newbie brewer, they'll be ready in 10 days +3 weeks to carb. good on you for using a decent yeast, id recommenf US -05 (yank style) or S-04 (pommy style).
everyone has (at least) one dud brew, but i don't brew lagers so i dunno if yours is saveable.
happy brewing mate.

scoundrel

 

[MaltyHops]

... any ideas on some good kits to try anyone

Hi Chris,

Firstly, welcome to the forum (tho I still feel like
a recent house guest here myself). A recipe I highly
recommend is DrSmurto's Golden Ale - there is the
all-grain version of course but I have brewed the
2-can version twice and all who have tried it have
really enjoyed it.

The toucan version ingredients I've used are:
* 1 Thomas Coopers Selection Sparkling Ale
* 1 Coopers Malt Extract - Wheat
* 45g of Amarillo Hop pellets
[think the original recipe I got called for 60g
but I find 45g quite bitter enough - I've also
been informed Chinook could be used instead]

Standard instructions for brewing with cans apply,
strict hygiene measures are always a good idea and
the following are a few more tips:

* If you can, put about 20 litres of brewing water
(eg. filtered) in a fridge day before brewing.

* Prep the hops by adding 15g to 500ml boiling water,
wait 10mins then add another 15g, wait another 5mins
and turn off the heat and add final 15g of hops. This
is then ready to be added to the wort mix.
[ie. a 15g@15min, 15g@5min & 15g@0min hop schedule]

* The warmed up can contents mixed with some hot water,
and the hot hop solution in the fermenter can then be
quickly cooled with the fridged water to yeast pitching
temperature.
Top up the wort to 20 litres - or maybe add another
half a can of the wheat to make 23/25 litre batch.
[The TCS Sparkling Ale yeast is quite good BTW]

* I've also been bulk priming which I wrote about before
- see:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...mp;#entry596335

Good luck.

 

[kelbygreen]

no need to put water in the fridge in winter I do 12lt boils then cool the pot in the sink till its about 30c and top up with tap water comes out about 19c. but if you have room in the fridge and it works for you thats alright

I would try coopers aussie pale ale kit, I never tried it on its own always add hops to it maybe 20g amarillo, cascade, centennial or some other hop like that in last 20mins of the boil to bring the IBU up and a bit of flavour

 

[DU99]

Get a coopers canadian blonde and use the brew enhancer recommended on the can..total cost under $20

 

[thylacine]

Can you get some head on that 'flat' bottle you just opened? Try a syringe. No needle, plunger type, cheap and available from chemists. Has worked for me. http://www.byo.com/stories/techniques/arti.../747-head-games

 

[petesbrew]

Get a coopers canadian blonde and use the brew enhancer recommended on the can..total cost under $20

I've had good results with all the Supermarket Coopers kits (apart from the lager & draught, but thats just personal preference).