Newbie Questions

[hughyg]

barfridge

Thanks for the advice. I think it is just the seal on the fermenter, as the brew is foaming and has sediment at bottom. what did you mean by rack to cube for cold stab? What is a cube? And also if i go ahead and rack for a secondary should i add anything or just let it brew by itself? And how long should I weight prior to bottling?

Another question- Should I use PET bottles or try and get my hands on 30 longnecks? What are peoples thought on PET?

Cheers
Hughyg

 

[Screwtop]

Racking to secondary assists with producing a clearer beer and reduces the risk of off flavours from being left to long on the yeast cake. A cube is the generic name for a food grade plastic container, cheaper option than another fermenter. These come in cubic shape or jerry can shape. People use what suits their storage space or fementation fridge. No need to airlock as active fermentation has ceased, cap can be released every couple of days if need be. These are harder to clean than open top fermenters. Simply sanitize a container (another fermenter or cube) and a length of plastic hose. Connect the hose to the fermenter tap making sure that the transfer hose reaches the bottom of the secondary container and transfer the brew with as little airation as possible.

Rack when SG reads the same on two consecutive readings. Don't add anything, just pop back into the fridge for 7 days before bottling. Use the same method to rack to another container to bulk prime for bottling.

PET bottles are fine, they are usually cheaper in bulk from your LHBS, where I live Woolies had the 15 pack on special last week.

Cheers and Hoppy Brewing

 

[peas_and_corn]

I'd say go longneck, purely because I don't like the feel of plastic on my lips (which prepares me to taste something sweet, mostly coke) and tasting beer (this is subconscious, but it still has an effect)

 

[hughyg]

How fastly should a brew ferment? Been brewing my Hoegaarden style since Sunday and just checked the SG (should have checked it earlier but bloody hydrometer was broken and had to buy a new one). This SG was only 1030 :blink: . With the brew at 21C how many SG drop per day?
Hughyg

 

[dreamboat]

How much yeast did you pitch, and from what source?
What was the pitching temperature?
How big is your batch?
What was you OG?
What is on the brew, what was the mash temp/rest temp?

That will give us something to work from anyhow.....
But you are still unlikely to get an answer like 5 points/day, but you may get an indication as to whether it is "sluggish" or ok



dreamboat

 

[hughyg]

ok here goes
I used a brewcraft kit of
Black Rock Whispering Wheat
1 kg brewcraft dry wheat malt
safwheat-ale yeast pack
coriander and oange peel

The brew was 23 litres and hte starting temp was 18 C

Cheers

HG

by the way are the brewcraft kits im using much good? Or should I head up to grumpys for the next batch? Sorry bout all the questions but im from a wine background where we just let the fruit and yeast do all the work!!

 

[Screwtop]

ok here goes
I used a brewcraft kit of
Black Rock Whispering Wheat
1 kg brewcraft dry wheat malt
safwheat-ale yeast pack
coriander and oange peel

The brew was 23 litres and hte starting temp was 18 C

Cheers

HG

by the way are the brewcraft kits im using much good? Or should I head up to grumpys for the next batch? Sorry bout all the questions but im from a wine background where we just let the fruit and yeast do all the work!!

[post="99350"][/post]​

Made a similar one recently. 30 Min Boil: Can of Blackrock WW, 250g Dex, 250gDME, 300g Honey. (5 Min Boil: 15g Tettnung, 1 Teaspoon of Corriander Seed ground using mortar and pestle and 50g orange peel). A 2L starter using the beer wort and a sub of Wyeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat. 10 days in Prim @ 20deg then 8 in secondary @ 20deg, attenuated beautifully from OG1042 to FG1005. Now only 2 weeks in the bottle, beautiful clarity, rich red colour and tastes great, would change the peel to the dried chinese type for next batch and leave out the honey. For me Orange needs suppression and no noticable flavour or aroma from honey. Find honey provides better effect when used as carbonation primer. The improvement from week to week has been amazing, at bottling you would not have given it a chance. Will taste next at 4 and then 8 weeks.

What was your FG using the Saf Wheat ?

Edit: add ferm temps

 

[dreamboat]

I would say that your ferment is sluggish, far slower than i would expect, but maybe your yeast has been abused before you got it.... I am sure that most homebrew stores could easily kill three quarters of your yeast and not know about it.
At least it is on the right track. I didn't see your OG there, and without pulling out promash, I would punt you had around the 1045 mark, so you are getting there. If you do not already, I would recommend that you aerate your brew before pitching, and again around 12 hrs after pitching to get your yeast to multiply, and save you from any not-quite-right yeast. Too late to aerate this one though... do not even think about it!



dreamboat

 

[hughyg]

Yeah I thought it might be a bit sluggish! Its gravity is down to 1028. It is only lossing about 2 a day is that too slow?
BTW Screwtop what is FG??
Cheers
Hugh

 

[rhydz]

hey guys i also have a newb question about capping.

i bought those el cheapo wooden cappers things. exactly like this:

problem is when i am capping screwtops (all i have at the moment) with crown seals, they come off with barely any movement when twisting them.

trying to pull them off is impossible but.

will this cause problems?

 

[DrewCarey82]

G'day all.

Last night I put down a batch of beer makers ginger beer around 7pm.......

1kg of dextrose, + a big chunk of ginger peeled and boiled for about 40 minutes.

Poured the dextrose in then 2 litres of boiling water stirred it, then 2 litres of cold water added kit and stirred more, kept on adding water to 20 litres stirring the entire time.

I added yeast and nutrient dumbly enough even though it said to add to a cup of warm water for 15 mins before adding - did I stuff up?

This morning @ 5:30am it still hadnt started bubbling so I gave it a swirl, I know that ginger beer brews slowly could that be why it isnt bubblin yet"?

 

[Ross]

G'day all.

Last night I put down a batch of beer makers ginger beer around 7pm.......

1kg of dextrose, + a big chunk of ginger peeled and boiled for about 40 minutes.

Poured the dextrose in then 2 litres of boiling water stirred it, then 2 litres of cold water added kit and stirred more, kept on adding water to 20 litres stirring the entire time.

I added yeast and nutrient dumbly enough even though it said to add to a cup of warm water for 15 mins before adding - did I stuff up?

This morning @ 5:30am it still hadnt started bubbling so I gave it a swirl, I know that ginger beer brews slowly could that be why it isnt bubblin yet"?

[post="100960"][/post]​

Drew,

Been a lot of talk lately about "proofing' yeast - it's beneficial if you do, but it's certainly not essential, it'll be fine - patience ...

cheers Ross

 

[DrewCarey82]

Thanks mate.

 

[BeerIsGood]

hey guys i also have a newb question about capping.

i bought those el cheapo wooden cappers things. exactly like this:

problem is when i am capping screwtops (all i have at the moment) with crown seals, they come off with barely any movement when twisting them.

trying to pull them off is impossible but.

will this cause problems?

[post="100647"][/post]​

Those things make great landfill. Seriously, they are pretty useless on screw-tops, as you've discovered. I've heard they can cause the tops of screwtops to break apart. Buy a bench capper if you're going to stick with bottling for a while. Good $50 investment.

 

[DrewCarey82]

Picked one up for $45 @ big W brigalow and never ever broken a bottle or had a loose cap!

 

[pint of lager]

Make sure you get a bench capper with a single lever, like a superautomatica. It will cap twist tops all day long.

The cheaper versions with two handles that squeeze down will crack twist tops.

Get rid of the wooden handcapper, I have spoken to a fellow who sports very nasty scars on one hand from using one of them.

 

[Martin]

G'day all.

Last night I put down a batch of beer makers ginger beer around 7pm......

.....This morning @ 5:30am it still hadnt started bubbling so I gave it a swirl, I know that ginger beer brews slowly could that be why it isnt bubblin yet"?

[post="100960"][/post]​

I made a ginger beer kit with added real ginger just before Christmas. Like you, I just chucked the yeast in. It took a couple of days to start bubbling, but then it bubbled really well for at least a week before gradually slowing down. So don't worry, it'll probably start soon. My final gravity was only 0.999, the lowest I've had from a kit yet!

 

[DrewCarey82]

It was bubbling very slowly last night, so its probably kicked off today so I'd say when I head home today it will have a pretty good rythym going.

Cant wait to drink some of it, smells u beaut.

 

[DrewCarey82]

It was bubbling very slowly last night, so its probably kicked off today so I'd say when I head home today it will have a pretty good rythym going.

Cant wait to drink some of it, smells u beaut.

[post="101268"][/post]​

Guys my GB has stopped bubbling altogether opened up and had a geeze and had black stuff around the top like scum you'd see on the top of a pond.

If it was bubbling @ one stage then that means the seals good doesnt it?

What could this black stuff be? I only put it down on the 4/1 I was under the impression that should bubble for 10 days and this only bubbled for like 12 hours with the sydney temps it should be around 20 degrees.

Should I pitch more yeast? - Or try to warm the fermentor? Cheers.

Have tried swirling daily but no avail.

Cheers.

 

[pint of lager]

Do not trust your airlock as a guide to fermentation. Use your hydrometer.

No idea what your black floaties stuff is.