Unstable Fermentation Temps

[Crusty]

Hi all,
I am new to brewing & bought a can of Coopers international Canadian blonde after a recommendation of a friend. His beer was kegged & tasted really good. I fermented mine & only wrapped a blanket round the fermenter & temps went up & down for the whole time ranging from 18-23 deg c. Fermentation lasted about 11 days & I kegged it yesterday, placed it in the fridge overnight after co2 addition & burping & let it chill to 4 deg c. I then upped the reg to 230 kpa for 48 hours as my friend does & will burp keg to serving pressure tomorrow afternoon. I tasted a sample not totally carbed & not too impressed. Tastes fairly ordinary.
Does fluctuating temps affect the taste of the beer?
I am going to buy a brew belt for the fermenter & a Fridgemate temp controller to avoid this next time round.
Cheers,
Crusty

 

[rimrunner]

fermentation temps affect beer in a major way. fluctuating temps also impact on the result.

if your temps are starting at 18`c and going up to 23`c then i don't think a heatpad will help you much. you'll get a stable temp but it will be too high. 22`c is getting pretty warm for a yeast though i couldn't say whether a constant warm temp is better or worse than a fluctuating colder temp. certain styles may well like the constant low 20s.

i keep my fermenters in the bathtub. the larger thermal mass helps maintain even temps and it's a cinch to raise temps if it falls too low. obviously this still isn't ideal but it will do til i get a temp controlled refrigerator.

also time in the keg/bottle helps iron out some weird flavours that occur. i'd say you should wait a few weeks for the beer to age.

 

[Crusty]

Thanks rimrunner,
I think from memory the instructions for that yeast were to ferment between 18-27 deg c. I fell into that range but temp stability was out the window. I was thinking about the Fridgemate & heat belt to set the temp at 23-24 deg c & keep it at optimum range instead of up & down & all over the place.
Cheers,
Crusty

 

[Cocko]

Yep, Fridgemate + NTC Probe controlling a heat belt or better 2!!!

 

[Crusty]

Thanks buttersd70,
My mates brew was conditioned in the keg & he was drinking it well before I had a taste at two weeks of age. He did say it tasted better after the two weeks. I kegged mine on Saturday & had six keg poured middis last night & it wasn't too bad. If anything, it was a touch bitter & a little yeasty but that should improve slightly over the next couple of weeks. I know i'll get thrashed for this comment, but I kinda like Tooheys draught & wondering what all grain recipe comes fairly close to the taste of this. If I can brew a beer that tastes like the Tooheys I'd be pretty happy. I have the Beersmith programme. I thing my alc % content was up fairly high with the kit Canadian Blonde. I slept like a log :icon_drunk:
Next brew will be an AG.

Crusty

 

[andrewg1978]

Thanks buttersd70,
I know i'll get thrashed for this comment, but I kinda like Tooheys draught & wondering what all grain recipe comes fairly close to the taste of this. If I can brew a beer that tastes like the Tooheys I'd be pretty happy.
Crusty

add 5% Cats P%$# and leave in the sun to ferment. This should give you the desired taste!

 

[DKS]

Hi all,
I am new to brewing & bought a can of Coopers international Canadian blonde after a recommendation of a friend. His beer was kegged & tasted really good. I fermented mine & only wrapped a blanket round the fermenter & temps went up & down for the whole time ranging from 18-23 deg c. Fermentation lasted about 11 days & I kegged it yesterday, placed it in the fridge overnight after co2 addition & burping & let it chill to 4 deg c. I then upped the reg to 230 kpa for 48 hours as my friend does & will burp keg to serving pressure tomorrow afternoon. I tasted a sample not totally carbed & not too impressed. Tastes fairly ordinary.
Does fluctuating temps affect the taste of the beer?
I am going to buy a brew belt for the fermenter & a Fridgemate temp controller to avoid this next time round.
Cheers,
Crusty

Hey crusty, I agree with butters on the temp issue and aging is definately a plus towards good beer. On the AG you mention in other posts Id get more experiance with K&K then move to partials before tackling AG Its worth getting the knowedge and some brewing behind you if you want to make that leap. At least research. Is it worth dong AG if you want to make Tooheys Druaght? :icon_cheers:
Daz
Daz

 

[Crusty]

andrewg1978,
Let me tell ya I have tasted some homebrew made with K&K that tasted as bad as cat pee. I quite like Tooheys draught, I reckon its not that bad. I have never tasted a home made AG before so maybe then I can relate to your comments. As far as experience goes, I am only new to the forum but have previously made probably 30 or more K&K brews & never heard about AG. AG is definately new to me & I think gathering more experience with K&K is really wasting time. Not too much experience needed to make a decent drinking brew with the stuff. The only way to get experience is to jump in boots & all & just do it. I purchased around $1,000.00 worth of gear from G&G to do my first AG. I am planning on doing one next time round & hopefully it will work out ok. I am not trying to win awards with my beer, just want something that tastes good.
What are you making that makes Toohey's that bad?
It's amazing how things can change in a 24 hour period. The Canadian Blonde I kegged on Saturday tastes better tonight than last night & I assume it will be better in a couple of weeks time. Seems a little less yeasty today & is quite good in it's early days.
Cheers,
Crusty

 

[Cocko]

I quite like Tooheys draught, I reckon its not that bad.

I am not trying to win awards with my beer, just want something that tastes good.

Good luck on your quest!! :icon_cheers:

If I spent 1k upfront I would want something that tasted 'good' too!!

 

[boingk]

If you want something that tastes like Tooheys Draught, then I'd try this recipe which I knocked up on the cheap for a quick bottle-filler:

Tooheys Special Draught 1.7kg tin
Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 [500g Dextrose, 250g Maltodextrin 250g LDME]
10g Cluster hops simmered for 10 minutes
Fermented with kit yeast at 18-20'C.

I thought that came out pretty close, and mates said the same. If do it and want more body/malt flavour then try 500g LDME and 300g Dextrose instead of the BE #2. I find that to be a good additive to pretty much any can and a good starting point if you are unsure of possible results. Also 200g or so of Crystal grain [in 1 to 2L water] brought slowly up to just sub-boil and strained into the fermenter will do wonders for taste and is a very cheap improvement. Non-essential, but good anyway.

Welcome aboard the forums, hope all goes well!

EDIT: Whoops, missed your AG intentions. Ok, no more advice from me in that arena as I'm only set up for K&K and partials at the moment. Cheers anyway!

 

[Wardhog]

What are you making that makes Toohey's that bad?

I've found that with AG, the resulting beer will be better than Toohey's x or [Carlton|Melbourne|Victoria][Draught|Bitter] for reasons more than taste. They're two different things, the commercially available megabrewery offerings and a good AG homebrew, but the superiority of one over the other is not always so readily perceived.

Someone who "grew up on" the standard Aussie commercial stuff is unlikely to think a good AG is better than bought stuff at first, because it is so different. AG homebrew is fuller, and has loads more good flavour - something people in Australia don't generally expect from beer, having grown up associating the word "beer" with what comes in a can.

However, after a while on AG homebrew, you start to notice things about the commercial stuff you didn't before. Things you don't like. Things that make you prefer homebrew over something that comes in a can from a shop. It can even get to the point where you turn down a free VB in favour of paying for a lemon, lime and bitters because you dislike some flavours that you find in the commercial product so much.

If you start brewing AG (and I'm not aware of a better way to employ spare money and time), don't go thinking you'll make exact clones of what is sold most often. Instead, you'll learn what good beer is, and how its been kept from you all this time.

 

[barry2]

Hi all,
I am new to brewing & bought a can of Coopers international Canadian blonde after a recommendation of a friend. His beer was kegged & tasted really good. I fermented mine & only wrapped a blanket round the fermenter & temps went up & down for the whole time ranging from 18-23 deg c. Fermentation lasted about 11 days & I kegged it yesterday, placed it in the fridge overnight after co2 addition & burping & let it chill to 4 deg c. I then upped the reg to 230 kpa for 48 hours as my friend does & will burp keg to serving pressure tomorrow afternoon. I tasted a sample not totally carbed & not too impressed. Tastes fairly ordinary.
Does fluctuating temps affect the taste of the beer?
I am going to buy a brew belt for the fermenter & a Fridgemate temp controller to avoid this next time round.
Cheers,
Crusty

I have brewed the Coopers ICB a few times into bottles and the results have been insipid and disappointing.