To start or not to start

[monkey brewing]

Hey guys back in the game after 10 years or so, getting impatient, i wanted to wait for temp control before dropping down a brew but anyway, my kitchen is probably between 13-20 degrees during day/night, I've just received my brand new mangrove jacks starter kit with a blonde lager (aka ale) included. I am wanting to ferment this starting this saturday, after ideas as to hop edition(s), & yeast that can handle between temps above, any ideas? Or just wait till i get temp control sorted.

 

[Pale Ale]

So is your brew going to be in the kitchen or a fridge in the kitchen?

 

[monkey brewing]

I have a dead fridge it could go in for insulation, but yes in kitchen, yet to find a working 2nd hand fridge, gumtree has stuffed me around with 2 dud fridges.

 

[Thomas Wood]

mangrove jacks starter kit with a blonde lager (aka ale) included. I am wanting to ferment this starting this saturday, after ideas as to hop edition(s)

Add 500g LDM, 500g Dex
Yeast that comes with it

Dry Hop:
15g Ella
15g Citra
15g Galaxy

Delicious Pacific Ale. I have personally done it with this exact same kit as well.

 

[monkey brewing]

Add 500g LDM, 500g Dex
Yeast that comes with it

Dry Hop:
15g Ella
15g Citra
15g Galaxy

Delicious Pacific Ale. I have personally done it with this exact same kit as well.

So just chuck hops in after about 5 days fermentation?

 

[Thomas Wood]

So just chuck hops in after about 5 days fermentation?

Yeh mate, once fermentation is nearly complete just chuck them in. I personally use a hop sock/SS hop ball so I fish them back out after 3 or 4 days. If you're not cold crashing I would recommend the same. Hop Balls are only a couple of bucks each, reusable and easy to clean. No more than 20g of hops per sock/ball either.

 

[monkey brewing]

Yeh mate, once fermentation is nearly complete just chuck them in. I personally use a hop sock/SS hop ball so I fish them back out after 3 or 4 days. If you're not cold crashing I would recommend the same. Hop Balls are only a couple of bucks each, reusable and easy to clean. No more than 20g of hops per sock/ball either.

Alright thanks for the tips

 

[axematt]

Gday Mate. I'd wait for your temp control to turn up, get yourself a good larger yeast that can handle the low fermenting temps ( 9-12 degrees for lagers) and that way it will be,hopefully, a good first brew experience rather than a drain brew. I am just about to put down a lager myself this weekend and a mate who is all over brewing and the members on this forum all agree that temp control is one of the most vital parts of brewing, especially lagers. But I also understand the eagerness of getting going again so up to you, just my two cents worth.....crap, I'm sounding like my old man!

Cheers

 

[jackmarshall77]

The volume of liquid irons out most variations - the actual wort temp will only vary a few degrees, and if it is in fact an ale yeast then you will do fine. In fact most lager yeast will behave fairly well at that temp. You may accentuate a few flavours that some will love and some will hate, but it will be beer.

 

[mr_wibble]

It's still cool enough at the moment that you don't need temp control in Lake Macquarie. Most days are currently around 18C. The fermentation temperature is really only critical (in terms of ester production) for the first few days too. So if you can keep it warm and/or cool by moving it around the house morning & night, well that should be enough.

 

[monkey brewing]

It's still cool enough at the moment that you don't need temp control in Lake Macquarie. Most days are currently around 18C. The fermentation temperature is really only critical (in terms of ester production) for the first few days too. So if you can keep it warm and/or cool by moving it around the house morning & night, well that should be enough.

Id say it'll sit anywhere from 13-20 degrees day/night

 

[mr_wibble]

Id say it'll sit anywhere from 13-20 degrees day/night

True, but worst-case: the yeast gets a little dormant overnight, and 20C is not too hot during the day.

Thus, this level of temperature is not a reason to not-brew.

Pitch your yeast in the morning, wrap fermenter in a blanket during the night.

 

[monkey brewing]

True, but worst-case: the yeast gets a little dormant overnight, and 20C is not too hot during the day.

Thus, this level of temperature is not a reason to not-brew.

Pitch your yeast in the morning, wrap fermenter in a blanket during the night.

I'll get it down today or tomorrow cheers

 

[monkey brewing]

Add 500g LDM, 500g Dex
Yeast that comes with it

Dry Hop:
15g Ella
15g Citra
15g Galaxy

Delicious Pacific Ale. I have personally done it with this exact same kit as well.

I ended up getting all hops except galaxy, I bought chinook purely cause i couldnt remember your list of hops lol, grabbed some so5 yeast some finings and a mix of dex and malt from my local HBS

 

[monkey brewing]

Im off the mark, brew down today, I even rehydrated the yeast before pitching, pitched yeast when fermenter temp was at 20 degrees

 

[Ben Davies]

Another thing you can do is put the fermenter in a large tub of water a large volume of water changes temperature less then a little amount youll find itll reach a happy medium below and above your max and min temps and the water bath should even out the fluctuations. If not the water bath option id put fermenter indead fridge same principles apply as temp will be more even. Hope it turns out great!

 

[monkey brewing]

So with cleaning and sanitizing
What do you all recommend?
Star san for sterilization? I currently just have the mangrove jacks satchels that come with the starter kit

 

[peterlonz]

Look I expect you are interested in getting back into the swing of things & home brewing has developed in the last 10 years or so. Fundamentals remain the same of course.
My recommendations (BTW I disagree nothing anyone has posted in the replies).
1) Use the yeast that came with your kit, if there are temperature restrictions given, try to meet them.
2) Otherwise depending exactly where you are, your average day/night temperature probably needs to be between 20 & 24 C.(depending on yeast). You can blanket your fermenter with bath towels & place frozen 750 ml (thereabouts) bottles of water under to cool if necessary. This insulation will slow down temp changes which you should aim to restrict within a 2 C range (bit easier said than done). You could put your fermenter in a small room with an aircon unit if you have such a thing. You can also use bottles of hot tapwater to raise temp.
These methods work but they are a PITA.
3) If you decide to wait for your temp controller, the next question is where & what will it control if your fridge does not work?
4) Yeast is quite forgiving, especially kit yeast, don't panic if you end up not quite meeting the target temp ferment range.
Good luck

 

[monkey brewing]

Look I expect you are interested in getting back into the swing of things & home brewing has developed in the last 10 years or so. Fundamentals remain the same of course.
My recommendations (BTW I disagree nothing anyone has posted in the replies).
1) Use the yeast that came with your kit, if there are temperature restrictions given, try to meet them.
2) Otherwise depending exactly where you are, your average day/night temperature probably needs to be between 20 & 24 C.(depending on yeast). You can blanket your fermenter with bath towels & place frozen 750 ml (thereabouts) bottles of water under to cool if necessary. This insulation will slow down temp changes which you should aim to restrict within a 2 C range (bit easier said than done). You could put your fermenter in a small room with an aircon unit if you have such a thing. You can also use bottles of hot tapwater to raise temp.
These methods work but they are a PITA.
3) If you decide to wait for your temp controller, the next question is where & what will it control if your fridge does not work?
4) Yeast is quite forgiving, especially kit yeast, don't panic if you end up not quite meeting the target temp ferment range.
Good luck

Brews steady at 18 degrees morning/night temps are staying same, I used S05 yeast going like a charm

 

[monkey brewing]

hey guys to save starting another post, my brewblend i had used from hbs was made up off 500g dextrose, 250g maltodextrine, 250g malt extract, my question is: malltodextrine and malt extract be basically the same thing? whats the difference here?