New Brewer

[cyal08]

G'day, i am a new brewer and bought my first kit last friday.
I made my first brew up and followed the instructions to the letter.
I live in the Hunter Valley and it is getting pretty cold now and i have my fermenter in the garage and in the instructions it stated not to let the temperature fall below 21 deg.
I have been checking it and the average temp it has been sitting at is 18 deg and this morning it was 14-16 deg. I have a blanket around it to stop the chill geting to it.
Besides buying a heater pad does anyone have any advice with getting an ideal temperature or is it ok to brew at slightly colder temps.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Hunterbrewer11

 

[petesbrew]

G'day, i am a new brewer and bought my first kit last friday.
I made my first brew up and followed the instructions to the letter.
I live in the Hunter Valley and it is getting pretty cold now and i have my fermenter in the garage and in the instructions it stated not to let the temperature fall below 21 deg.
I have been checking it and the average temp it has been sitting at is 18 deg and this morning it was 14-16 deg. I have a blanket around it to stop the chill geting to it.
Besides buying a heater pad does anyone have any advice with getting an ideal temperature or is it ok to brew at slightly colder temps.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Hunterbrewer11

Welcome aboard Hunterbrewer11.
It's okay to brew it at lower temps, it just takes longer for the yeast to work. You just need to let it sit for an extra week or two in the fermenter.
I love this time of year as I make my best beers with the lower temperatures.

 

[DU99]

old fridge with a globe in it
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...mp;#entry774277 this subject might help

 

[tones0606]

Hey there, and welcome!

I have a large fridge (that doesnt work) that i use as a large esky
In summer i freeze some 2L bottles of water and just sit a couple in the bottom and replace twice a day. Thsi keeps my brew fermenting at 18 degrees nicely

In winter (this is my first winter brewing) i'm currently wrapping my fermenters in woolen jumpers and also through a thick doona in there, last night i had to put hot water in 2L bottles in the botom of fridge overnight. Seems to have sit pretty good at 16 degrees.

G'day, i am a new brewer and bought my first kit last friday.
I made my first brew up and followed the instructions to the letter.
I live in the Hunter Valley and it is getting pretty cold now and i have my fermenter in the garage and in the instructions it stated not to let the temperature fall below 21 deg.
I have been checking it and the average temp it has been sitting at is 18 deg and this morning it was 14-16 deg. I have a blanket around it to stop the chill geting to it.
Besides buying a heater pad does anyone have any advice with getting an ideal temperature or is it ok to brew at slightly colder temps.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Hunterbrewer11

 

[pimpsqueak]

Hey there, and welcome!

I have a large fridge (that doesnt work) that i use as a large esky
In summer i freeze some 2L bottles of water and just sit a couple in the bottom and replace twice a day. Thsi keeps my brew fermenting at 18 degrees nicely

In winter (this is my first winter brewing) i'm currently wrapping my fermenters in woolen jumpers and also through a thick doona in there, last night i had to put hot water in 2L bottles in the botom of fridge overnight. Seems to have sit pretty good at 16 degrees.

Or you could take advantage of the cold weather and brew some lagers.

 

[cyal08]

Hey there, and welcome!

I have a large fridge (that doesnt work) that i use as a large esky
In summer i freeze some 2L bottles of water and just sit a couple in the bottom and replace twice a day. Thsi keeps my brew fermenting at 18 degrees nicely

In winter (this is my first winter brewing) i'm currently wrapping my fermenters in woolen jumpers and also through a thick doona in there, last night i had to put hot water in 2L bottles in the botom of fridge overnight. Seems to have sit pretty good at 16 degrees.

I currently have a blanket around it and it has kept a lot of the chill out.
I will persist with and let you know how my first attempt goes. Trial and error i guess.

 

[Pennywise]

No problem fermenting at lower temps (16-18 for ales), but with out any temp control you should be mindfull that if it drops too much over night then the yeast could drop out and go to sleep. I'd be a little concerned about that if the brew has dropped to 14 over night, but as always a hydometer test will tell you what you need to know.
Also, more to do with yeast health/stress, if you end up having the temp swing all over the shop it can cause the yeast to produce some stuff you may not want in the beer, Aceteldahyde being one of them (tastes like fresh green apples).

 

[cyal08]

No problem fermenting at lower temps (16-18 for ales), but with out any temp control you should be mindfull that if it drops too much over night then the yeast could drop out and go to sleep. I'd be a little concerned about that if the brew has dropped to 14 over night, but as always a hydometer test will tell you what you need to know.
Also, more to do with yeast health/stress, if you end up having the temp swing all over the shop it can cause the yeast to produce some stuff you may not want in the beer, Aceteldahyde being one of them (tastes like fresh green apples).

I have bought a heat pad, are these worth investing in.

 

[pimpsqueak]

I have bought a heat pad, are these worth investing in.

Creating heat is not quite as important as controlling it. Read up about a temperature controller HERE

 

[Fodder]

I have bought a heat pad, are these worth investing in.

Sure. Just make sure you dont turn it on and leave it on or you may end up in the too high temp range. I use a brew belt on mine in winter and only have it on for a few hours overnight to stop it from dropping right down. Otherwise around 18 degrees is about perfect for brewing. Anything too warm (say: 22 degress plus) and it may start to be detrimental to you final product.

There is plenty of discussion on here about optimum brew temps, and pretty much everyone would advise the cooler end of the scale being the place you want to be (18 degrees for ales). The temp ranges given on most instruction booklets will tell what range the yeast will work at, but not necessarily what produces a nice beer...

 

[Pennywise]

I have bought a heat pad, are these worth investing in.

Really depends on how you use it. As already mentioned, it's prolly not a good idea to have it on 24/7, the brew might be at 20 but the actual pad is quite a bit warmer, and this it heating the yeast cake pretty much directly (that's not a good thing). If I remember correctly, in my heat pad days, if it was left on all the time the brew was always about 22 degrees, too warm for me. I'd suggest not sitting the brew on it, but rather leaning it on the side of the fermentor & moving the bottom section away from it (the fermentor), so it's more of a radiant heat & not directly on the brew. I'd guess this way you prolly could leave it on 24/7. Just keep an eye on it and move the heat pad furthur away if it's still getting a bit warm.

 

[cyal08]

Really depends on how you use it. As already mentioned, it's prolly not a good idea to have it on 24/7, the brew might be at 20 but the actual pad is quite a bit warmer, and this it heating the yeast cake pretty much directly (that's not a good thing). If I remember correctly, in my heat pad days, if it was left on all the time the brew was always about 22 degrees, too warm for me. I'd suggest not sitting the brew on it, but rather leaning it on the side of the fermentor & moving the bottom section away from it (the fermentor), so it's more of a radiant heat & not directly on the brew. I'd guess this way you prolly could leave it on 24/7. Just keep an eye on it and move the heat pad furthur away if it's still getting a bit warm.

One last question, plastic or glass?
The kit came with 30 pet bottles and said it is fine to bottle in plastic and the only fear i have with glass is cleaning exploded bottles up from my garage floor. Any advice with this one?

 

[petesbrew]

One last question, plastic or glass?
The kit came with 30 pet bottles and said it is fine to bottle in plastic and the only fear i have with glass is cleaning exploded bottles up from my garage floor. Any advice with this one?

Plastic works fine. I've bottled some in 2L coke bottles, but just keep them out of sunlight, so it doesn't get hurt by UV rays.
I know all too well about exploding bottles.

 

[Yob]

One last question, plastic or glass?
The kit came with 30 pet bottles and said it is fine to bottle in plastic and the only fear i have with glass is cleaning exploded bottles up from my garage floor. Any advice with this one?

better the garage than the bedroom mate

PET is fine, but I have always used glass... always been sure to let the brew finish propperly... never had a bottle bomb. All comes down to your equipment I guess at this stage for you, if you have a capper then glass, if you do not and funds are limited, do this one in the PET bottles you have and look to upgrade to glass/capper when funds allow..

Keep an eye out on Evil bay as there are commonly people getting rid of bottles.

Personally I have all Coopers longnecks and rarely if ever use anything else (except for the various swing tops I also have) and in fact threw out my PET bottles very early on in the show.

:icon_cheers:

[edit] spolling and gramma

 

[Spork]

One other point re. plastic bottles.
You need to drink them within about 6 months of bottling (probably not a problem for most of us) as the CO2 will leech out of the plastic over time, leaving your beer flat. So, they are fine for "normal" use, but if you wanted to make something a bit special and age it you need glass. - At least thats what I have been told, and it makes sense. If I pump my bike tires up with air I only have to top them up about once a month. If I use a CO2 cylinder I have to pump them up (with air!) again the next day.

 

[Pennywise]

Plastic is fine, keep in mind after a while (like 12 months+ from memory) they will slowly lose carbonation because plastic is permeable. Glass is something you need to be careful with, as said, let the brew finish & be sanitary & make sure the glass bottles are in perfect condition, the slightest chip in a glass bottle can cause bad shit to happen. Also store the bottle somewhere that wont matter if they do go boom. Forget the mess it will make, think about the personal injury to you, your faminly or friends it might do

 

[poppa joe]

The only thing you have not been told...
THROW THE KIT INSTRUCTIONS AWAY..... <_<
They are useless.....You do not make Beer following them.
CHEERS
pj

 

[cyal08]

The only thing you have not been told...
THROW THE KIT INSTRUCTIONS AWAY..... <_<
They are useless.....You do not make Beer following them.
CHEERS
pj

Thanks pj, i have gathered that from reading different things and talking to my local home brew shop.

 

[yum beer]

The plastic bottles are fine to start out with, just start collecting some glass bottles, try your local recycling centre.
Look for bottles with a crown seal as oppossed to screw top, they are generally a bit stronger.

happy brewing...and drinking

 

[DaKing]

I only use plastic....some people screw up their noses, but I find the 1.25lt perfect drinking size.
They don't explode, they're so much less hassle to wash, you screw the caps on. They take up less room in the fridge. Also you can take a swig during bottle fermenting to see how it's progressing and re-screw the cap on. I always use a 600ml sprite bottle for this.

If you're using brown plastic, they're ok, but any other colour (green, blue, clear) keep them away from sunlight (direct or otherwise) otherwise after about 30mins the beer will get a sour taste resulting from 'light strike' (caused by UV light - http://www.solve.csiro.au/0205/article11.htm), brown bottle are more resilient to it. (I mostly use green or blue ones, because beer clear pastic doesn't look as nice). To clean them out, just use a cap of bleach in about 40l of water. rinse out with clean water. Or if you can fit them in your dishwasher, put them through there.

To me when it comes to the boring chores of cleaning & bottling, it's all about saving time & being easy.