New to home brewing and a little confused

[TonyF]

I'm sure the missus won't be too happy if one of the PET bottles explodes in the laundry hehehe

All that went into this brew was the can of Morgan's Premium Blue Mountain Lager, 1Kg of Morgan's body blend (Dextrose, Maltodextrin blend, though can't find any info on the percentages of each) and 408gm of LDME.

I did see this post (http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/35417-final-gravity-wont-drop-under-1010/) from back in 2009 where this bloke said his Morgans Blue Mountain Lager had stalled at 1015 (don't know what he ended up getting for it)

 

[TonyF]

Bugger it ... after doing a bit of reading I might leave it till Sunday before taking another reading.

Should I give it a swirl in the fermenter to see if there's any "sleeping" yeast and giving them a wake up?

 

[wobbly]

I'm sure the missus won't be too happy if one of the PET bottles explodes in the laundry hehehe

Pet bottles are unlikely to "EXPLODE" like glass does. They will just split or crack and release the pressure.

One of the good points about using PET bottles is that you can tell (with a bit of experience) if they are becoming over carbonated as the bottle will become firmer and firmer to the point that you will not be able to squeeze the bottle at all as pressure builds up where as with a glass bottle you don't have the ability to judge the pressure build up until it explodes/shatters

On another point how do you intend priming the PET bottles when you do get around to bottling. If you haven't thought about "Bulk Priming" it would well worth your while to do a search and have a read. It's far easier and much more consistent than trying to add a "Measured" amount of priming sugar to each boittle

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[TonyF]

On another point how do you intend priming the PET bottles when you do get around to bottling. If you haven't thought about "Bulk Priming" it would well worth your while to do a search and have a read. It's far easier and much more consistent than trying to add a "Measured" amount of priming sugar to each boittle

Hi Wobbly!

It's good to hear the PET bottles are unlikely to explode, I guess that's why they give them to us noobs in the starter kits

With regards to carbonation, the kit came with carbonation drops. Says to drop 2 of them little carbonation lollies into each 740mL bottle. To do bulk priming I'd need a secondary fermenter or bucket (or can i mix it up and pour it directly into the primary and gently stir it in?). Either way, I think i'll keep it as simple as possible for the first few lots of bottling and use the drops that were provided (and eventually maybe look into getting a kegging system hehehe).

Speaking of that... I really do need to get a second fermenter and some more PET bottles so I can have more than one lot fermenting at a time

Cheers,
Tony

 

[TonyF]

2nd gravity check 19/02


3rd gravity check 20/02

Doesn't look like the gravity has changed much, if at all, since Thursday's initial check.

Sure seems pretty gassy though.... Hope it doesn't "blow" any bottles
Might leave it for today and then throw it into bottles tomorrow morning seeing the gravity doesn't appear to be changing.

 

[contrarian]

Have you checked your hydrometer in water to make sure it is reading correctly. Still seems high to me for a kit and kilo, would be anticipating 1.010 or maybe even lower for a standard but measuring error explains a decent percentage of brewing conundrums!

 

[superstock]

As keen as you are to try your first brew, rushing it won't make it better. Time allows the yeast to clean up off flavours and then settle out making the beer clearer. I usually leave the brew in the fermenter for 14 days. Don't take what's written on the can as gospel. Remember it's written by spin doctors. Ferment your ales at 18-20"c for 14 days will give the best results. Leave for at least 14 days at ambient temps, the PET bottles should be nice and firm when carbed, like a soft drink bottle.

 

[TonyF]

Have you checked your hydrometer in water to make sure it is reading correctly. Still seems high to me for a kit and kilo, would be anticipating 1.010 or maybe even lower for a standard but measuring error explains a decent percentage of brewing conundrums!

Had some boiled water in the kettle (the best I can do for now)...


Looks pretty much bang on to me. Would the 400g of LDME (on top of the kit's 1Kg of "Body Blend") make a difference?

 

[TonyF]

As keen as you are to try your first brew, rushing it won't make it better. Time allows the yeast to clean up off flavours and then settle out making the beer clearer. I usually leave the brew in the fermenter for 14 days. Don't take what's written on the can as gospel. Remember it's written by spin doctors. Ferment your ales at 18-20"c for 14 days will give the best results. Leave for at least 14 days at ambient temps, the PET bottles should be nice and firm when carbed, like a soft drink bottle.

Yep I know you're speaking wise words superstock.. but damn patience has NEVER been one of my virtues
I guess I'm going to have to learn if I want to stick at this home brew thing ... *Sigh*

For the record this one is a "lager".. Supposedly it does actually come with lager yeast (saw a post from years ago where somebody contacted Morgan's and they confirmed it).

 

[SBOB]

For the record this one is a "larger"..

sure its not a smaller?

 

[TonyF]

sure its not a smaller?

Nice one ... Seeing it's the first it's larger than my previous hehehe

 

[contrarian]

Had some boiled water in the kettle (the best I can do for now)...


Looks pretty much bang on to me. Would the 400g of LDME (on top of the kit's 1Kg of "Body Blend") make a difference?

I can't read that at all but would stand by what I said. Even with what you've chucked in I would be thinking 1.016 would be too high to bottle. I'd be aiming for 1.012 at a minimum.

Have you given the fermenter a swirl?

 

[Chridech]

I can't read that at all but would stand by what I said. Even with what you've chucked in I would be thinking 1.016 would be too high to bottle. I'd be aiming for 1.012 at a minimum.
Have you given the fermenter a swirl?

Remember also TonyF there is a temperature correction for hydrometers. Most are calibrated to read true at 20c, it should be written somewhere on it. If your cooled boiled water was at a signicantly different temp then you could be a few points out.

http://www.captainbrew.com has lots of useful calculators including hydrometer temp correction. I found this useful as a fellow newb.

 

[TonyF]

I can't read that at all but would stand by what I said. Even with what you've chucked in I would be thinking 1.016 would be too high to bottle. I'd be aiming for 1.012 at a minimum.

Have you given the fermenter a swirl?

Yeah.. I kinda stuffed that up a bit. Basically where the water level is, is 1000.

I didn't give the fermenter a swirl, wasn't sure if I had to worry about washing all the gunk on the side of the fermenter into the beer.

I just checked it again and it's definitely at 1000 for the boiled water (if anything it's a smidgen under).

So swirling the fermenter is all ok?

 

[TonyF]

Remember also TonyF there is a temperature correction for hydrometers. Most are calibrated to read true at 20c, it should be written somewhere on it. If your cooled boiled water was at a signicantly different temp then you could be a few points out.

http://www.captainbrew.com has lots of useful calculators including hydrometer temp correction. I found this useful as a fellow newb.

Thanks for that Chirdech... some great info on that site.

No there wasn't any indication on the hydrometer of what temp it's calibrated for. There wasn't actually any instructions on it or in the tube, those only appeared in the Morgan's instruction booklet which came with the kit.

The water was pretty much at room temperature which is 23C. I might do a better test of the hydrometer by using my food thermometer to check the water temp.

 

[TonyF]

Went to another homebrew store today to buy a second starter kit (picked up a Mangrove Jack's starter kit with 30 PET bottles for $79.90!). Comes with their Traditional Series Blonde Lager and a bag of straight dextrose monohydrate rather than a dextrose/maltodextrin blend like the Morgan's kit and a sachet of beer finings (will have to read about that one).

Also picked up what I THINK is referred to a partial mash kit made by the LHBS (they called it "Sierra Nevada" Pale Ale - seems to come with a bag of grains, some kind of malt/sugar pack and finishing hops) and of their can's of Pale Ale to mix with it.

So now I'm set for 4 lots of brews... the Mogran's Lager going at the moment, the Blonde Lager that comes in the Mangrove Jacks starter kit , the Morgan's Sheafed wheat kit that I bought with the Morgan's starter kit and the partial mash kit I bought today. Need more bottles!!! hahahaa

 

[superstock]

As I said previously, go to Officeworks and buy 2 bottles of Aqua to Go 12L for about $11 a bottle. Use the water to brew with and end up with 2 x 12L PET fermenters. Being clear you can helicopter and watch the yeasties rise and fall while they do their thing.
The other benefit is you have 2 small fermenters so that you can split a brew and use different additions/late hopping etc to learn the effects and taste.

 

[butisitart]

leave it till next weekend if you work mon-fri. it won't go away and you get into a routine. plus the brew will clear a bit, the fermentation will settle, and you can spend an extra week wondering what it must be like to be me, sitting here with a delicious wheat beer bottled 12june, and a nice cold doppelbock to follow, bottled 19june. patience. :beerbang:

if your brew paws are itching, you can always go and buy another fermenter and get a second brew going.

 

[Diesel80]

Just noticed your a Perthie tony. My kegs are empty, hope you made enough to go round!

What Homebrew shop do you visit? Can PM me as it is a little O/T.

Cheers,
D80

 

[TonyF]

superstock.. I remember your post to do with the water... Don't remember you mentioning using it as a fermenter but damn that's a good idea. And I can stare through that clear plastic like a school boy wandering the red light district of Amsterdam!