Newbie With First Brew

[bigandhairy]

Did you use a dry enzyme? It could make it go that low. If thats the case and its not an infection you can still drink it. Sure you mightnt be happy with it but you will learn from it. If the sample tastes ok then chances are as a beer it will be as dry as a nuns nasty but you'll understand what happens to a beer when it ferments that low. If you didnt use a dry enzyme than i'm not sure why it went so low.

bah

 

[scooza]

hi, most of my kits finish around 1008 / 1006. worth checking hydrometer. temps up here have been around 15c and it has been taking 12-14 days to ferment.
coopers sanitizer contains sodium percarbonate which needs to soak overnight with all equipment then washed out thoroughly.
good luck

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

coopers sanitizer contains sodium percarbonate which needs to soak overnight with all equipment then washed out thoroughly.

That being the case, it's glorified Napisan - that means the Coles/Woolies brand will be cheaper (per gram/kg) than coopers.

If you use sodium perc at above 60 degrees, it sterilises immediately.

As for me, for bottles and fermenters and all stuff I use cop a spray with undiluted bleach, then a wash with semi-diluted bleach. Never had an infection with this methodology. Yes, I do have to rinse, something that starsan avoids, but I'm satisfied for the price v effort. That and everytime I'm at CB, I forget to buy it (tucked away in the corner, whilst I drool over the 10 taps on the wall, and the FWK).

As another post yesterday noted - you won't brew your favourite beer, but you may end up changing your tastebuds for the better with better and better quality beer (if you stick with it), over and above your 'house' commercial beer.

I can't drink Oettinger any more, and whilst it isn't the best example of any beer, I used to happily suck down a couple of tins in quick succession watching the footy.

Finally, don't let anything knock your confidence - although this hobby has that ability. I had a couple of beers last year (I AG brew) go bad - worse I ever had - and it battered me around. I sat down, a little bit of reseach, fixed a couple of flaws in my method, and I'm brewing some of the best beers I've ever made. If you stuff up - look for the cause - and change it.

Goomba

 

[Strange Dog]

So...

I had the day off work today so I decided I would empty the fermenter onto the lawn, wash everything down and start again. I decided I would first check the hydrometer against water to be certain it wasnt just a faulty hydrometer. The reading I got from cold tap water was...off the charts. It was literally off the scale. Warm water made it submerge completely. So, looks like the hydrometer was at fault.

I ran off and bought myself a nice new glass hydrometer and the reading for my beer came back as 1014! So the coopers hydrometer was out by 21! So assuming the error is linear I believe my new numbers are these:

OG: 1036 + 21 = 1057
FG: 993 + 21 = 1014
% ABV = ( 1057 - 1014 ) / 7.47 = 5.76%

The FG is higher than I was expecting but I am happy with the alcohol content and it falls within the middle of the band marked on my hydrometer as "Finished Beer" so I will have a go at bottling tommorow. Wish me luck

 

[thelastspud]

Yeah those hydrometer numbers were pretty much impossible.
I think it might drop a few more points if you leave it a few days more.

Plus if you leave the beer on the yeast cake for a few days after it's finished fermenting you'll get a better brew

Then if you can fit it in the fridge for 24 hours or so most of the yeast that's floating around in the fermenter will drop to the bottom
and you'll have a clearer, cleaner beer.

get something decent to clean and sanitise the bottles and the bottle caps.

 

[bigandhairy]

So...

I had the day off work today so I decided I would empty the fermenter onto the lawn, wash everything down and start again. I decided I would first check the hydrometer against water to be certain it wasnt just a faulty hydrometer. The reading I got from cold tap water was...off the charts. It was literally off the scale. Warm water made it submerge completely. So, looks like the hydrometer was at fault.

I ran off and bought myself a nice new glass hydrometer and the reading for my beer came back as 1014! So the coopers hydrometer was out by 21! So assuming the error is linear I believe my new numbers are these:

OG: 1036 + 21 = 1057
FG: 993 + 21 = 1014
% ABV = ( 1057 - 1014 ) / 7.47 = 5.76%

The FG is higher than I was expecting but I am happy with the alcohol content and it falls within the middle of the band marked on my hydrometer as "Finished Beer" so I will have a go at bottling tommorow. Wish me luck

Great news. Good luck

 

[Kieren]

Do not use the coppers hydrometer, I bought the new coppers kit a while ago and first thing I did after finding a plastic hydrometer was check it against my two glass hydrometers and refracometer. I found it to be around 0.003 lower.

What were the ingrediants and volume of the batch of beer? 1.057 seems high for a 'standard' 23L kit brew.

Most importantly, how does it taste? Is it 'beery' or is it sour, vinegary and just unpleasant?

Follow the other good advice given. Get a good no rinse sanitiser (hot water won't cut it) and pitch and ferment your ales around 18-20 (in general).

We all have tipped a bad batch, we are all still learning, keep at it and don't be put off.