Second Brew

[mrmatt]

Time for my second attempt at hb. This time its a coopers real ale kit plus 1kg of brigalow extra malt brewing sugar.
I also went and got some morgans sanitize..do i need to let it completly dry before i can put the brew down?
Im also going with cling wrap instead of the lid and airlock..prick a hole or not?
Also a little question about yeast is two packets better then one? Ive read the talk about rehydrating and pll who culture thier own
but the quantity of yeast is not really discussed as a factor?

Thanks to all that help with my first brew soz to be a pain again
Matt

 

[Marchaos]

As long as you clean, sanitise & rinse your fermenter well, i don`t think it matters if it`s not fully dry before adding your ingredients.

I would use the lid and airlock, but if you`re covering with glad wrap you`ll need to prick a hole for the gas to escape while fermenting.

1 packet of yeast will be enough for that brew. Use 2 packets if your making a very high gravity brew (lots of fermentables to chew through).

Search "yeast starters", "yeast rehydrating" & "yeast culturing" you`ll find lots of useful info when you`re ready.

Cheers

 

[mrmatt]

thanks marchaos

brews on im just hoping it stays cool with all this rain i went bought some of those can coolers..time will tell

 

[thesunsettree]

Time for my second attempt at hb. This time its a coopers real ale kit plus 1kg of brigalow extra malt brewing sugar.
I also went and got some morgans sanitize..do i need to let it completly dry before i can put the brew down?
Im also going with cling wrap instead of the lid and airlock..prick a hole or not?
Also a little question about yeast is two packets better then one? Ive read the talk about rehydrating and pll who culture thier own
but the quantity of yeast is not really discussed as a factor?

Thanks to all that help with my first brew soz to be a pain again
Matt

hi matt,

in a perfect world it would be best to let dry, that being said i never have as i put a new brew down immediately after kegging one. i just rinse, wash/scrub, with pink cleaner and/or sanitiser, drain and lightly rinse. i leave the fermenter upside down until its needed, have not had any problems doing it this way over a couple of years. if u want to cling wrap go for it, i use lid and airlock. i know some blokes prick it but some say if ur rubber band holding it on is not air tight than it can burp from there, bugt i havnt done it to know exactly. i have for a long time rehydrated yeast (1 pkt is all u need) in room temp water and small amount of dry malt and sometimes dry enzyme, iits a great way to kick off the yeast and reduce lag time in ur fermentation. i do it in a tupperware container with a screwtop and shake the shit out of it from time to time while preparing the rest of the brew. make it the first thing u do so it has at least 15/20 mins to kick off, u will see it start to activate, there are many different ways to do this and no doubt ppl will tell u on here but i find this is a simple no hassle way to re-hydrate and improve lag. i am just starting to get in to harvest yeast so cant really comment too much, but its fun doing somthing new.

good luck
matt

 

[maxmcbain]

No need for holes in the cling wrap the gas will make it's own way out
If you search the site you find a topic from a few weeks ago that has some info on cling wrap

 

[kelbygreen]

wouldnt the sanitiser be better when wet if its a no rinse??? as if it dries you could get bacteria on it (could be wrong but thats what I always thought)

for the glad wrap dont prick it the air will find its way out. one reason I found is that when its in the fridge when you bottle (if fridge is a old one like mine with exposed freezer) all the melting ice on the freezer drops onto the glad wrap and if pricked may let some nasty freezer juice in lol

1 packet of yeast for ales (good quality yeast) its usually 12g where the kits they are 8g???? (not sure the exact prob changes to the kits to) and also its better yeast if you buy good stuff and has a used by date and if bought from the right place should be stored in a fridge not on a shelf

and of coarse you need 2 packs for lagers (ferment at 10-12 deg)

 

[manticle]

Yes you should let it air dry after appropriate contact time (what do the instructions say?)

No you don't need a hole.

 

[Hatchy]

G'day mrmatt & welcome to the world of cheap beer. I read the thread you had about yr 1st brew & figured it may be worth posting here.

The 1st rule of brewing is sanitation. Wether yr using the lid & airlock or gladwrap keep it sealed. Don't worry about the pinprick. As far as starting yr yeast, if yr using the kit yeast it won't matter, my results from kit yeast have been described as "drinkable", "I've tasted worse" & "it's ok if yr already pissed". Using bought yeast my beers have been described as "that's pretty good", "that's way better than yr last batch" & "it's ok if yr already pissed". It turns out that pretty much any beer is ok if yr already pissed. Buy decent yeast, it makes a massive difference!

Temperature control is the reason some of my brews are drinkable rather than nice. An Australian summer isn't the best time & place to brew. I've been fighting a losing battle to keep my fermenters under 25. Frozen ice cream containers and bags of ice from the petrol station will only go so far.

Following on from yr previous thread, did you end up having to get a new hydrometer? If it came in a test tube sort of a thingy, pour some beer in there to get a SG reading. I can't think of a reason apart from dry hopping to open a fermenter until after I've bottled. I reckon my hydrometer would be the least sanitary piece of brew equipment I own. I certainly wouldn't drop it into 23 litres of beer.

Happy brewing mate, let us know how you go.

Edit: most importantly, don't get disilusioned if you brew a carp beer. I've been mixing my carpy dark ale with coopers pale. It gets rid of the (kit yeast) dark ale and gets me some new coopers bottles at the same time. I had a few of those & now I'm drinking a little creatures pale. It's way nicer beer & I'll have another reusable stubbie when I've finished it.

 

[mrmatt]

thanks guys
yeah not much useful info on the sanitize bottle had to ask you blokes

I went and got two of those can coolers got the suggested from someones post, i'll sit the fermenter in one and slide another over the top, hopefully that will be better then sitting in a dirty laundry sink full with water. The boss isnt too keen a second fridge just yet

Didnt get a new hydrometer yet, will get one before i bottle this though.

matt

 

[floppinab]

A few posts here mention to rinse after sanitising I'm pretty sure Morgans is a NO RINSE sanitiser. I would suggest that the process of rinsing may (although probability is small) introduce potential contaminants if you are doing this just prior to filling with your brew.

Process should be to dilute to required concentration, soak kit to recommended contact time, drain off as much as possible, then fill with your brew. Don't rinse or wait to air dry prior to filling with your brew. Potential of contamination is probably small depending on your environment but is still there.

 

[thesunsettree]

A few posts here mention to rinse after sanitising I'm pretty sure Morgans is a NO RINSE sanitiser. I would suggest that the process of rinsing may (although probability is small) introduce potential contaminants if you are doing this just prior to filling with your brew.

Process should be to dilute to required concentration, soak kit to recommended contact time, drain off as much as possible, then fill with your brew. Don't rinse or wait to air dry prior to filling with your brew. Potential of contamination is probably small depending on your environment but is still there.

while i don't disagree that rinsing possibly introduces some contaminents, it does after all come from the same water supply that hydrates the wort. bearing in mind there is only a momentary gap between the rinse and the combination of the wort ingredients i dont see any major issue. any homebrewer from basic can extract to advanced ag (or whatever) will have some sort of contaminent in there beer. replicating an operating theatre, as some breweries might, would be the only way to have no (or next to no) contaminents in the beer

cheers
matt