ready, settle, wait!

hi guys i am a new brewer from australia and just completed my first mix of a coopers Lager

now i checked the gravity level just after the ingredients were mixed and b4 yeast was added now the reading was 1.058 does this sound right ?

I know after 5-7 days it will go down its my 1st time so I am a little nervous

how long do you reckonmend leaving it in the bottle and is there any1 else on this forum from oz (australia)

Hey jdsaint welcome to the board and to brewing,

I'm not very familiar with the coopers kits, but 1.058 is a reasonable starting gravity. Everything is probably going well if your fermenters airlock is bubbling away, and/or you see a layer of foamy stuff (called krausen) on the top of the fermenting beer.

Like you said check it again in about a week. Then if you have another fermenter to but the beer in, rack it into a secondary for at least a week (two would be better). If a secondary is not possible I would bottle after 10 to 14 days in the primary (only) fermenter.

Bottle with corn sugar or malt extract, and wait another two or three weeks, then you should be drinking homebrew.

In short, relax, dont worry, grab some sort of beer until your homebrew is ready. Check that your fermenter is showing signs of activity, and keep us posted.

Also, I belive there are a few people from Australia on this board, but I am not one of them.

cheers

- magno

G'day Jdsaint, what part of Godzone are you in? NQ myself! Welcome to the forum!
I bottle straight from the feremnter, usually 10 days to two weeks too.
Cheers Alx

I have some carbonation drops which are measured 1-375ml 2-750ml bottles are they ok to prim the bottles brew into second day and air lock bubbling every 5 seconds roughly lookin throught he lid it has a lot of brown substance underneath by lookin through although the brewing temp today is at 20 degrees celcious it has been all day but sounds great with the bubbles i can here comming through the lock Im from newcastle n.s.w

another thing is I have got 24 330ml bottles what amount of sugar should I use to prim them or dextrose? or do u think it would be safe still using 1 carbonation drop which is ment for 375ml?

Sounds like you are right on track. 20 degrees celcius is about perfect. You should be fine carbonating the smaller bottles with the drops you have, just keep an eye on it.

- magno

cheers thanx mate update again tommorow or if theres a change thanx heaps

Yeah dude, 20-21*C is proper. Where in Oz you guys from? I was over in Oz and NZ for 5 months from jan-may 2005 and... now I LOVE the U.S. of A. ... but if I was offered citizenship and an Aus or NZ passport I never would have left. I was all over NZ and basially up and down the east coast of OZ, from about the Great Ocean Road up through Cape Trib and everywhere in between! Hope to make it back soon... Wishfully yours,

Joe

I come from new south wales newcastle/Lake maqaurie


so i am glad that the temp thing is allright cause the weather forcast for were i am is 20-21 degrees all week but I have a couple of towels wraped around my fermenter to keep it at 20* whats the lowest it can drop too?
because on the instructions it says to keep it between 18-32* but others people hav stated that u pay no attention to the instructions as the whole process is always an experiment. I read other peoples posts and get ideas and there troubles take into consideration for my own. I appreciate every1 that helps me on this site and to update my fermenter is into day 3 still bubbling strong although sitting at 18* now which it did over night as it is now 8.30am in the morning it will rise back up to 20-22*by around 1.00pm this afternoon anyways thats my say for today catch up l8ter this afternoon or tomorrow cheers guys


Has any1 tried odinary brown sugar in their brew?thinking experimenting with it next brew with a draught or a bitter

guys its dropped down to 16* now so I hav got my big wollen jacket around it to get the temp up but air lock still bubbling away

16 C is on the low side of most ale yeasts, but as long as you see activity in the airlock you should be ok. Its a good idea to keep that jacket on it to try to keep the temperature stable though.

Ive used brown sugar in a few of m beers with good results. I think you should keep it to at most 30% of your fermentables, or you will mess with the "beer" flavor.

- magno

it has slowed right down a bit to around a bubble every 5-10minutes or so out of the air lock I had the temp back up to 18* but its dropped again to 16* i have had a heater on in the room which rose the temp back up to 18*
I was told that when it stops bubbling give it another 2 days then bottle what do u think?

should i swirl the fermenter around to get some more bubble action as i hav none now what so ever it is though day 4?

It sounds normal to me. Its been four days now, so most of the fermentation is done. The beer is now clearing, and could benefit from being transfered to a secondary fermenter. If that is not in the plans, wait until its been in the fermenter for at least a week then bottle it.

Definitely do not swirl it. That would just disturb the sediment.

- magno

still no bubbling activity so it is now day 5 i am gonna risk bottling 2day only 2 days early tested this morning with the hdrometre the og was1050 and today read 1010 so thats 6% acl/vol i will keep in touch through out the process on this thred as well with my next brew info its gonna be a bitter i am currently sterilising some glass stubbies 375ml to bottle my 1st brew i thank every1 for there help and lets hope its a success oh yer when i tested it this morning there was a good amount of bubbles in the tube and it smelt like flat beer maybe try a bit in a shot glass later


PS my first brews name will be...........DENNINGS LAGER THE PILOT!


pilot in meaning 1st episode

first brew is now bottled! and next 1 is underway its a coopers bitter for my next tryI have had no bubbling airlock though for about 5 hours it has been in fermenter I also am getting another fermenter in a couple of days to hav 2 brews going at once

MORE BEER MAKE ME MORE HAPPY:rockin:

BottledENNINGS LAGER THE PILOT
Primary:WINDALE BITTER
NEXT: DRAUGHT ( no name yet though)

bitter still going sweet smells great out of the airlock which started to bubble 8 1/2 hours after mixed and bubbling every 2 seconds so it is sitting at 24* also alredy seeing bubbling in bottled brew after just 1 day in the bottle

finally got another fermenter 2 going at once now my new fermenter is brewing a draught a brigalow draught.
although the premixed kit was rusty literely i had to scourer back the can but still smelt good although the og was 1.030 it will most likely make a mid or light strength is this the case? also it had dextrose sugar which I used in the brew
whats the diference with the sugars from dextrose to brewing sugar or odinary which i am gonna use next in my real ale

1.030 does sound low, what did the kit say it should start at? Unless there was something wrong with the rusty kit, you probably didnt get a well mixed sample in your hydrometer tube. No worrys though, the fermentation process will naturally mix it up. Your final gravity reading should be accurate, and if you are interested in your ABV, I would just estimate it with the target OG from the kit.

- magno

turns out that the batch of brew pre mix was bad in fact very old like 5 years or so disgarded it this morning and now have sterilized everything and another brew is in another draught back to my origonal brand I prefer to work with coopers draught its been goin for 2 hours and already condensting witch is something the brew i threw did not do the new brew read 1.040 which is the estimated og

anyway back to my 2 batch my bitter going great guns at a bubble now every 10 seconds so its slower now and should see it stop by tonight or tomorrow plans are to bottle on tuesday -wensday it smells great throught he air lock

Hi mate, I have started a coopers lager myself, as with brown sugar the chap in the brew shop said it is not a very good idea to try.
How is your larger fermenting? I added the yeast to mine about 3 hours ago and so far it has just frothed at the top. Has any one tried the coopers bitters?

my lager has been in the bottle for 3 days now and as for bitters i have 1 in the fermenter right now been in for 3 days and airlock goes of every 2 seconds for a day straight I am having problems with a draught from coopers though its been in fermenter for 22 hours with no bubbles so i took the lid of had a peek its foamed up to the top but air lock not bubbling I am thinking with the 3 brews i tried i might stick wit bitter as it went off like mad but i have never tried a home brew my date for my lager is 11/5/2006 and will try my lager then but i know the longer there left the better they taste but back to my draught that wont bubble its not a coopers kit its a brigalow thats never been used but is around 5 years old i sterilized it b4 use but i am gonna let that draught go to the week and bottle and see what happens maybe taking a hydrometre test might tell me if theres any bubbles cheers

my bitter reading 2day read 1.012 so i am close to bottling that 1 2 days or so I am gonna have a go at a coopers real ale next then a dark ale is dark ale black beer? I am a fan of black beer not stout thoughis guiness hard to make?

How long was your lager fermenting for? This morning is the 3rd day and the activity has slowed down, I took a temperature reading and it is now 21c

fermented for 5 days then i bottled it i wait 2 days after bubbling has stopped then bottle but mine was at 16* when it was bottle ur temps better wait tilll5 days

jdsaint.... I know it is hard to wait on a brew, but you would have a better brew if you wait. If you are using only a primary bucket then wait 2 weeks before opening the lid and bottling (of course only bottle if fermentation has finished as you could end up with bottle bombs).
Have you read this site http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html it has a lot of good info for brewers of all levels.
I brew my ales at a lower temperture, around 64f, to get a more lager-like flavor when brewing pale ales, Kolschs, etc.
I have never tried a Coopers K&K even though they are available here. I have used the Morgans K&K with great success.
Anyway have patience with your brews and they will turn out a little better each time as you get the process down.
Cheers.

Hi jdsaint

Not long till your lager is ready, mine has just about finished fermentation. I am going to keg it. Just trying to work out how I can cool the keg each time I want a cold one, I might just fill a jug in the morning and leave in the fridge.

Let me know how it goes on drinking day

Adam