New To Brewing

[Silo Ted]

And leave the citrus out.... forever :lol:

 

[TmC]

Yeah i think thats pretty standard from now on, tastes ok but smells like fruit cordial. I will bottle it anyway and see what it tastes like in a month or so.

 

[Fodder]

Hi TmC,

Great tip I picked up from this site for keeping temps down and stable was to sit my fermentor in the bath and fill with water till level with the wort/beer in the fermentor. Place a thermometer in the bath water (a dial thermometer on a metal spike from your kitchen works well) through a piece of foam to keep it afloat.

I ended up adding a bag of ice to the bath water to get a starting temp of 20 degrees, and have added ice bottles and blocks from the freezer every 24/48 hrs to maintain 20-22 degrees. Even when left for a couple of days, temp fluctuation is minimal.

Very cheap, (thermometer should only be about $10-15 if you dont have one handy - I pulled mine off an old milk frothing jug that doesn't see anymore use) easy and effective method that I will continue to use until I find a fridge of my own.

Good luck! :icon_cheers:

 

[TmC]

Thanks for that, i was thinking of getting a bin of some sort and doing what you mentioned, because my wort has been at 26 for 4-5 days, is there any point in me doing this for 2-3 days? If not i will give it a go on the next batch Might try a coopers ale.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Thanks for that, i was thinking of getting a bin of some sort and doing what you mentioned, because my wort has been at 26 for 4-5 days, is there any point in me doing this for 2-3 days? If not i will give it a go on the next batch Might try a coopers ale.

Realistically, this brew has been too high too long, most of the fermenting is already done.

Plan the next brew, put together all you've learned and create a beer that you can really be proud of.

Goomba

 

[TmC]

Ok cheers. I suppose my coopers lager is in the same boat.

 

[Fodder]

Thanks for that, i was thinking of getting a bin of some sort and doing what you mentioned, because my wort has been at 26 for 4-5 days, is there any point in me doing this for 2-3 days? If not i will give it a go on the next batch Might try a coopers ale.

Dont see why a bin wouldnt be able to work the same way. Just be mindful that because your bin is likely to hold less water than a bath, it will be more easily affected by the ambient temperature. So more frequent additions of ice may be necessary.

Also, the first 2-3 days are probably the most important ones for your brew to be at optimal temps as this is when the majority of the activity will be taking place. At least at the temps your talking about at the moment anyways. As others have said, wouldn't bother for now. But a good setup for the next one should yeild better results.

As an aside note: You will also notice that fermenting at these lower temps will take longer for the full fermentation to take place. Expect a good week for full fermentation at 20 degrees. Check with hydrometer for consistent readings till you get at least 2-3 days stable.

I just had one down for 6 days, measured with hydro and unexpectedly still sitting at 1020 (although i rushed the reading and didnt knock the bubbles off the hydro properly, which may have thrown it out a little). Obviously still had quite a bit to go before being finished. In total took 9 days to get down to 1008. Will test again tonight (day 10) to check stability...

 

[TmC]

Ok, i have some frozen milk containers in the freezer so i will use them. I may also buy a bag of ice to start the cold water off, i can get 7kg for $4 so i might do that. Because i use mostly can's is 20C a good average temp for most brews? I wanted to try a stout or a dark ale, something sweet

 

[bradsbrew]

Your not related to a fellow called Chappo are TmC?

 

[TmC]

Not that i know of, would it be something to do with the sweet part?

 

[Pennywise]

TmC, you'll be fine just freezing a couple of 2L water bottles and sitting them next to the fermenter in the bath or something, then wrap a few towels around it like a skirt. In 40+ degree wether my fermenters used to keep at a pretty constant 20 degrees

 

[TmC]

Thanks i will give it a try, was thinking of trying a malt extract recipe that ekul put me onto, using a large processing bin and frozen milk bottles. My fruit "stuff" is finished fermenting, SG has been 1008 for a few days, but the fruit flavour is a bit over the top. I was going to wait and bottle but i think thats a waste of time, i have a 10L cube that im going to rack some of it in because i think its going to be a waste of bottles to be honest.

 

[Pennywise]

Personally I'd bottle the lot and leave it for 6 months, it might not get to be great, but it may just turn out to be drinkable.
The bin and forzen bottles will work just as well, if not, better. I wouldn't be wasting money on buying ice from the shops though, just imo

 

[TmC]

Ok thanks for that, Was going to go for this sort of thing:

2x 1.5 Coopers LME Tins
500g Dextrose
20g of Centennial @ 30
20g of Amarillo @ 20
20g of Amarillo@ 10

Try to ferment at 20C for at least 5 days. Thoughts?

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Ok thanks for that, Was going to go for this sort of thing:

2x 1.5 Coopers LME Tins
500g Dextrose
20g of Centennial @ 30
20g of Amarillo @ 20
20g of Amarillo@ 10

Try to ferment at 20C for at least 5 days. Thoughts?

Looks like a good beer, though I would probably replace the dextrose with Dry Malt Extract.

What yeast are you using for this?

Goomba

 

[going down a hill]

Ok thanks for that, Was going to go for this sort of thing:

2x 1.5 Coopers LME Tins
500g Dextrose
20g of Centennial @ 30
20g of Amarillo @ 20
20g of Amarillo@ 10

Try to ferment at 20C for at least 5 days. Thoughts?

Try this- http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=867
It's a forums favourite.

 

[Pennywise]

Looks very good IMO. You'll just need to be careful with how much malt/water you boil your hops in because that will determin the utilisation of bittering compounds, what's the AA% of the hops?. I'd leave the dextrose in, add it to the boil at flame out. I'd also go for a nuetral yeast like US-05, but you'll need to keep that temp stable and low (20c will be fine).

Edit: quckie for ya

23L batch
In the boil: 10L
1 tin LME & boil hops as per recipe (I'm assuming AA% the same as Promash)

After boil:
throw in other tin & dex. Done. All in fermenter and top up to 23L

This should give you an OG of aroung 1.050, and 30 odd IBU's (depending on hop AA), and IMO a damn nice APA

Edit: How do you feel about steeping a small amount of grain? IMO it's needed for some malt complexity

 

[TmC]

I was going to use 6 Litres of water with 600gm dex and yes using US-05. That sounds even easier, i was going to try this one but because my LHBS only has the teabag hops. Would it still work? I was keen to try steeping grain couldn't find a steeping bag, probably havn't been looking hard enough.

 

[Pennywise]

Mate, jump on one of the sponsors sites, they'll have everything you'll need to make a good beer great. Those t-bag things are rip-offs and most of the time aren't all that fresh in my experiences (admitadly, a while ago now, so things may have changed). Unless you know the AA% of the hops, I would NOT use them, but if you do, cut the bags open & let the hops move around in the boil pot. I'd also try & boil the hops in some malt extract, apparently you'll get better isomerisation, to be honest I don't think I've ever boiled my hops in plain water or dex so I can't really speak from experience, I've always used malt with good results.

 

[TmC]

I was given some hops from a friend so i was going to try and use them until the good stuff arrives. This is what i have lying around.

I have 2x 1.5kg Morgans Pale Lager Malt Extract
1kg Dextrose
24g of Cluster, 12 g of Cascade, and 12g of Saaz
US-05 yeast

Anyone know if any of those combined with work?