new to homebrew am i doing it right please help?!

hi guys im new to homebrewing and would like some feedback please. i used coopers mexican cerveza with 1kg of brew enhancher dissolved in boiling water as stated . i steralised all my equipment and filled my fermenting bucket to the 23ltr mark, i took a reading with my hydrometer which read roughly 1.042 i then added the yeast when the temperature was 25°c and stirred then put the lid on along with the airlock and electrim 75 immersion heater to maintain a steady temp of 24°c over a 6 day period before i start bottling. can someone please let me know if this i ok so far as i am worrying due to a lot of money invested in it and dont want it to spoil.
thanks for any feedback.

mr.newbie

I can't think of many yeasts that are going to be happy at that temperature - you want to cool that bad boy down! Typical ale yeasts will be much happier at 17-19C. 24C is going to ferment out fast, but it'll probably leave behind a lot of funky esters, which can lead to kind of funky fruity flavors.

Cooler is cleaner!

Also, 6 days before you bottle is WAAAAAAY too fast. If you're really in a hurry, you can start checking gravity readings in 8-10 days, and once you have consistent gravity levels for 3 days straight, it's safe to bottle. Most folks around here seem to leave their beer in primary for 3-4 weeks with good results.

I agree with the above post. You don't need to heat the fermentation up to 24C/74F. You really want the fermentation temp to be closer to 17C/63F.

Leave it in the primary fermenter closer to 2-3 weeks at about 17C/63F, then bottle and condition and carb for another 2-3 weeks at 21C/70F.

thanks for the reply guys much apprecuated. the beer kit i bought states in instruction booklet to keep the temperature between 21°c and 27°c but 24°c is ideal temperature fir this kit and to bottle after 6 days with carbonation drops and to leave them bottled for 2weeks - 3 months depending on desired taste. will this mess it up if i do it like this? thanks so much for the replies.

also its a beer sorry i didnt state lol

You might check out the beginners forum for some reading as well. What's been posted thus far is a start, but it's just the very basics of what we can recommend and there are other factors, like sanitation, that play a huge part in a quality brew.

any more feedback would be appreciated ;-)

thanks for the reply guys much apprecuated. the beer kit i bought states in instruction booklet to keep the temperature between 21°c and 27°c but 24°c is ideal temperature fir this kit and to bottle after 6 days with carbonation drops and to leave them bottled for 2weeks - 3 months depending on desired taste. will this mess it up if i do it like this? thanks so much for the replies.

Click to expand...

What type of yeast was included in the kit, or was it even labeled? It is POSSIBLE that the particular yeast would have an ideal range from 21C to 28C, but it would be HIGHLY unusual for a Mexican Cervesa style. Typical ale yeasts ferment best between 59F and 68F, and I ferment pretty much all of mine at about 63F (17C).


Just as another suggestion, there is nothing wrong with Coopers, especially as one of your first brews, but you have to understand that along with the convenience of the all-in-one that Coopers provides, you are sacrificing a bit of quality. Cooper's kits often sit on shelves for an unknown time before they are sold, and are not always particularly fresh. You'll make decent, drinkable beer with the Cooper's kit, but definitely look into an extract kit using extract + specialty grains + hops for one of your future brews.

Check out Austin Home Brew, Northern Brewer, Midwest Brew Supply for some good, fresh extract kits that will produce a better end product than the Cooper's Kit.

See post #6 above by makomachine. This is an absolutely wonderful hobby. You can make it as technical as you would like and as expensive.

But it does take some very basic understanding about various concepts. My concern here is that if a new brewer does not gain that basic, the will soon stop the hobby.

I always feel so American when I see metric units and just blank out...