When To Bottle

[wcurrall]

Wanted to try home brew so bought a coopers kit. As i've noticed in a few posts this isn't considered as brewing but don't know anyone who does so need to start somewhere. i'm probably being impatient, but when should i bottle my beer? did a hydrometer test today and its at 1012. instructions don't give much away so any help would be appreciated. beer is a coopers lager and is 5 days in.
thanks for your time

Will

 

[boybrewer]

Wanted to try home brew so bought a coopers kit. As i've noticed in a few posts this isn't considered as brewing but don't know anyone who does so need to start somewhere. i'm probably being impatient, but when should i bottle my beer? did a hydrometer test today and its at 1012. instructions don't give much away so any help would be appreciated. beer is a coopers lager and is 5 days in.
thanks for your time

Will

It wont hurt to wait . Do another hydro test tomorrow and tuesday if they are all stationary at 1.012 you can bottle any time BUT IF YOU WAIT a few more days this will give it time for the yeast to settle and clean up after itself and will be good to bottle .

Cheers
Mike

 

[Pennywise]

Leave it for at least another 5-7 days, regardless of weather it's reached FG or not, this will help the yeast clean up after itself and leave you with a much cleaner tasting brew. What temp are you fermenting at?

 

[phas21]

+1 for both beer belly and Homebrewer79 - my routine is bottle at around 20 days from starting the brew - it may be hard, particularly on your first brew, patience is usually rewarded.

 

[bum]

Wanted to try home brew so bought a coopers kit. As i've noticed in a few posts this isn't considered as brewing...[snip]...instructions don't give much away so any help would be appreciated. beer is a coopers lager and is 5 days in.
thanks for your time

Will

Welcome aboard, Will!

First of all, don't feel like a second class brewer here. You're in the section for kit and extract brewers and it'd probably the be the busiest section of the board so I assure you there's nothing to be ashamed of.

Secondly, well done on spotting how lacklustre the tin instructions are off your own bat. Many take a few brews to work out Coopers have a different aganda to most of us.

As above, your hydrometer will tell you when it is ready to go. Three consecutive, stable readings - each 24hrs apart. But as already suggested, your beer will benefit from a little extra fermenter time to clean up after after itself but many might not consider it essential for a first brew.

Happy brewing.

 

[manticle]

Secondly, well done on spotting how lacklustre the tin instructions are off your own bat. Many take a few brews to work out Coopers have a different aganda to most of us.

The coopers instructions on the website are generally much better and better explained than the ones on the kit.

 

[hellbent]

I just bottled a thomas cooper lager with LDME and saf yeast that had been brewing for 3 weeks and am hoping for big things here...welcome aboard Will

 

[wcurrall]

mate got it set at 22 degrees. instructions said 21-27. got some heat trace wrapped around container running off a digital thermostat so can be adjusted pretty accurately (i'm a fridgie so thats where the obsession comes with temp control comes from). 22 degrees sound ok?

 

[DUANNE]

sounds like your of to a flying start there. took me ages to realise the importance of temp control,while 22 is reasonably good with the next one try shooting for closer to 18,this will give you a much cleaner beer. as for bottling it i would go with what others have said and even if is finished give it another 5 days or so to let the yeast clean up after themselves.on a couple of beers that i have tried to rush in the past ive noticed a tendency for diacytl (a sweet butterscotch flavour) to set in wich really is not nice.

 

[kelbygreen]

yeah your on the right track not much more to say that others havnt covered really. Just ferment at 18-20 deg and leave it a bit after its finished also I cold condition the beer in a fridge (guessing you have one laying around being a fridgy) at about 2-4 deg for a week this helps drop the yeast and other crap out and will make the beer clearer. Also I think (could be wrong) that it matures better at colder temps and also bigger volumes. but once bottled need to keep temp from 15-25 as the yeast will be dorment in cold weather and they need to be awoken to eat the priming sugar (this is what makes the beer carbonated). If its to cold as i found out last few weeks takes so long to carb up if at all so mine are now inside and my fermenting cabinet and fridge to warm up

 

[Ray43]

Hi Guys,
On 29th June Did a K&K of Black Rock Colonial Lager with 1 kg LME and yeast from can, its been sitting in fermenter at stable temp of around 14-18 degrees. Even though the airlock didn't bubble at all (I know, ignore ignore) plenty of condensation inside lid and gunk on top though. I took a reading today and it was 1016 after 10 days. This is my 14th brew and this is the highest reading I've ever had at this stage, would it be because I've used LME as this is the first time I've done that? Any answers or suggestions as to what I should or should not do would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - casper.

 

[Pennywise]

I wouldn't call 14-18 stable. Alot ale yeasts will go to sleep at 14, especially the kit yeasts IMO. Try giving the fernmenter a gentle swirl (withough splashing), if that fails rack it off to another fermenter and bring the temp up to 18-20. Either way try to keep it at 18-20, don't let it drop below 17

 

[earle]

If you've only ever done kit with sugar or kit with dex before your hydrometer reading will be slightly higher due to the unfermentable sugars in the malt extract. However as HB79 said if your temp has been dropping that low your fermentation could be extremely slow or even stalling - poor ale yeasties are getting too cold and sleepy. A gentle swirl to rouse the yeast and about 18C is the go. Remember that at these temps you can leave an ale on the yeast for 3 weeks with no ill effects (provided your sanitation is up to scratch).

 

[sandjeep457]

Many take a few brews to work out Coopers have a different aganda to most of us.

.

Hey Bum, What do ya reckon Coopers Agenda is ? to make us all brew shiity beer so we never buy their products again ????

 

[Ray43]

Thanks for the help guys....have given it a swirl and wrapped a blanket around it. Hopefully that does the trick. Which beers are best to brew in the lower temperatures that we have down here in Vic at the moment?

 

[earle]

What do ya reckon Coopers Agenda is ? to make us all brew shiity beer so we never buy their products again ????

I reckon the Coopers kit instructions are a lowest common denominator thing - instructions to brew beer quickly with a relatively low chance of infection in case of poor sanitization when brewers first start off, not necessarily taking taste into account. If a new brewer is interested in making better tasting beer they might go to the coopers website where the instructions are a little better, or they might come here, where if they sift through they will find great advice.

 

[the_yobbo]

Hey Bum, What do ya reckon Coopers Agenda is ? to make us all brew shiity beer so we never buy their products again ????

I reckon the Coopers kit instructions are a lowest common denominator thing - instructions to brew beer quickly with a relatively low chance of infection in case of poor sanitization when brewers first start off, not necessarily taking taste into account. If a new brewer is interested in making better tasting beer they might go to the coopers website where the instructions are a little better...

It's a very good point. I would have thought it would be a bad business plan to sell something with instructions (re: temperature) that leads them to creating a sub-standard product. Sure, if someone goes onto their website, or any brewing website they'll get good advice, but surely the right information should be put with the tin to begin with.

Perhaps it is a simple matter of reducing the risk of infection, or fermentation completes quickly without the yeast stalling to reduce the risk of bottle bombs to a new brewer. Maybe it's marketability, people see 21-28degs (is that what it sayes these days?) and think that's easy to achieve, unlike 18-22 degrees which generally is a bit harder to maintain.

Has anyone written to Coopers to ask why? I'd be interested in their official response/reasoning.

 

[bum]

Earle's answer is pretty close to what mine would have been.

I should point out that I have no problems with Coopers - only with their instructions.

 

[RobboMC]

The instructions on the English Bitter seem to be better, actually suggesting that dme should be used and that people should aim for the bottom end of the temp range. And the instructions on the Pilsener actually point out that the yeast will brew down to 12 deg C and hint that this may be beneficial to the end product.

All in all, they are giving people hints if they are able to follow them.

But yes, better instructions would certainly help their cause.