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OzBox

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Hey. My mates call me Box, and i'm aussie. Thats where the "super original" name came from. But now that I have thought of it I like it as a bottleing name. Anyway. Very new to this been wanting to start for a few years but haven't really been settled anywhere long enough to start. And was given a kit for xmas. ( cheers pete ). But I have finnally got a big plastic jar, full of water and some gooie stuff from a can. It's sitting on the bench so it don't get to hot during the day and suffer dropping too cool au night. Really dont have much idea what i'm doing. Just following what the kit says. But an a4 sheet can only give you so much info. Thats why i'm here. I hope any questions I have on my way from absolute notice to somewhat skilled can be found here. Thanks and i'll be speaking to you soon.
 
Welcome aboard Box, make the search function your friend but when that doesn't help, ask away mate.
 
Cheers carniebrew. Dont worry the search button will be my friend for sure.
 
The a4 sheet says 24 something degrees. That's the first one to ignore. Do it @ 18ish. Search for fermentation temperature.

And welcome.
 
This kit says the yeast is effective between 16 and 35cels and best at 25. And 18 is a hard number to get this time of year in north qld. Thats why its on the kitchen bench. I believe its better to stay around the same temps throughout the process? Even the laundry fluctuates a lot from day to night. But I will have a look for that cheers.
And is there like a dictionary around here? A lot of words are baffling me.
 
Those kit instructions are shithouse.

There is a good reason to keep it cooler. Like I said, search around on here. You'll find plenty of discourse on this matter.

In general, the instructions in the kit are meant to make you feel more confident about your ability to make beer (sub standard beer but ...), not best practice. Yes, it does take some work to keep your brew cool. Best if you can lay hands on a fridge and plug it into a temperature controller with a probe dangling inside the fridge.

You can even put the fermenter in a tub and put some frozen bottles in there to keep it all cool-ish.

18-22C will still be ok. 25 isn't exactly desirable. If you can't get it cool at all, probably wait for cooler weather. I used to watch the forecast for 2-3 days of rain before putting down a brew so the ambient was ~ 23-26 and with a bit of frozen bottle rotation in the tub the brew was ~20C.
 
have a read through >THIS< which also had your 'dictionary' that you are after.. it's a good place to start with much valuable info.

Cheers and welcome
 
Unfortunately the link to the "List of Acronyms" in that article is broken.

Try this or this instead.
 
A d you want an "STC-1000", if you decide to get a digital controller for an old fridge. <$50
 
Thanks guys. Yea I found that one last night, cheers, yob. Will be using that post a bit I think. And cheers, carniebrew. I was spewin that link didn't work. I'm sure that will be a referance for some time.
 
Practicalfool, it would be too late to do any of that now, wouldn't it? Even if it is going to be a less than perfect brew. Leaving it now would be better than changing the temp too much? But will be looking into some options for round 2.
 
Welcome aboard OzBox.
I was in Townsville a couple of weeks ago. Bloody hot this time of year.

Brewing at the higher temperature doesn't mean the brew will be ruined. It will ferment out quickly and will probably be a little fruity for most people.
For your next brew try the tub with frozen water bottles or use a tshirt on the fermenter sitting in a tub with some water ( a fan will add to the cooling effect). If you try brewing the same type of beer this will give you an idea of the different flavours imparted by the yeast when fermented at different temperatures.
I believe the kits give you these higher brewing temperatures to ensure that fermentation is completed within a short time frame. This in turn would reduce the risk of bottle bombs and resultant law suits. That's my theory at least.

Happy brewing.

edit:
PS. If the fermentation process is well under way it may be too late to try and change the temps. I wouldn't bother ( although others with more experience may disagree). Just write some notes so you have something to compare when you do the next batch.
It's also worth noting that lowering the temps can drag out the fermentation process considerably. One of my current brews with White Labs Cali Ale yeast is still not done after 16 days. It looks to have at least a week left.
It's also a much slower start to the ferment if you start with low temps. This can be a problem if you aren't making a yeast starter.
Google John Palmer, How to brew. Not perfect but a really good reference that's easy to understand.
 
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