First Brew Attempt

Hi all, I ordered the 'BrewSmarter Premium Starter Beer Kit' few weeks back and set it up yesterday evening after sanitizing it with VWP and the wort is currently fermenting. Coopers Original Lager is what I'm brewing. I know people say not to add the sugar that comes with the kits but I hadn't anything else. Will use either liquid malt extract or dry malt extract in future.

Picture of Fermenter:
http://i.imgur.com/iFhq6.jpg


The airlock is bubbling often enough which is giving me peace of mind knowing that it is actually fermenting and I haven't gone wrong (yet)
I'm fairly sure I took the SG reading wrong which I should have done more research on and it's bugging me a bit now

I'll be updating this thread as I go along for anyone who's interested and it might even be help to some newbies like myself in the future who knows

The OG can be calculated based on the recipe - the amount of fermentables added, and the volume. Or probably, the kit instructions will tell you. More important will be getting the final gravity later on.

You may also want to invest in a non-ported bucket or carboy for your next batch. I'm not a fan of fermenting in the bottling bucket, though I understand that the kit has you doing that.

Cheers!

I would not worry about not having the OG. Use the FG to determine that fermentation is done in a few weeks.

B

Thanks for the advice lads, appreciated.

I've just seen a 23 litre PET Carboy Fermenter for €29.95 which I'll invest in for my next brew if it's gonna make a nice difference to the end product

EDIT: Is there a difference in taste between using a glass container and a plastic container for fermenting? Because I will stick to the plastic fermenter if there is no noticeable difference.

No difference in flavor, glass vs plastic. IMO, plastic is easier to handle, being lighter, and safer as well. But you can suit yourself.

Plastic has an increased risk of scratching on the inside, which gives a place for bacteria and biofilms to hide. Glass is expensive, heavy, and fragile.

Day 3:

http://i.imgur.com/GHLDR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/PKFNY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JVUhP.jpg


It's still at about 20/21 Celsius.

unionrdr said:

The cooper's lager I got with my micro brew kit came with the carb drops & 1kg box of brewing sugar (80% dextrose,20% maltodextrin). Use it,it turns out similar to Sam Adam's Summer Ale. Minus the hops. The SA summer ale tasted to me to have floral hops for one. I'm going to have my wife brew up another batch of the OS lager with the right hops when I figure it out. Have to do more "field research" .
It's a malt forward brew that I think is fairly good,but is begging for some hops to make it way better.

Click to expand...

I have used the 1KG of sugar and I'm going to use the carb drops too, they sound a lot handier than the teaspoon of sugar method I've notice people on here use. This lager is gonna turn out similar to an ale? Meaning it will be darker or just have a fruitier taste? or both? Either way I'm not complaining

Also is this because the temperature I'm brewing at?

Thanks.

Tossie said:

I have used the 1KG of sugar and I'm going to use the carb drops too, they sound a lot handier than the teaspoon of sugar method I've notice people on here use. This lager is gonna turn out similar to an ale? Meaning it will be darker or just have a fruitier taste? or both? Either way I'm not complaining

Also is this because the temperature I'm brewing at?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Well,the thing is,all of cooper's OS (Original Series) cans use a 7g,gold ale yeast sachet under the false lid. I've found that primary ferment temps at 20C-22C (69F-72F) are best for that yeast. Their ale yeast,as do many ale yeasts,produce some fruity esters. The levels of which are determined by initial ferment temps,by & large. Not a bad thing for ales. Light,malt forward flavor/aroma that's rather pleasant. But I really believe it's screaming for some hops. Like Willamette,& other floraly,slightly spicy/earthy hops. Most on here bulk prime,or use carb drops. Some even use DME,honey,& the like.
It won't be dark,but malty,fruity are the key descriptors here.

Tossie said:

I'm going to use the carb drops too, they sound a lot handier than the teaspoon of sugar method I've notice people on here use.

Click to expand...

I love the Coopers carb drops, but they are semi-expensive. I wish they sold them in bulk.

GreenDragon said:

I love the Coopers carb drops, but they are semi-expensive. I wish they sold them in bulk.

Click to expand...

60 drops for €2.85, I suppose it does all add up over time but nothing major.

Day 4:

Ok so I've just got up and went downstairs to check the fermenter and straight away I noticed that the Krausen has started to subside quite a bit. The temperature has also drop a degree or 2 to about 19 Celcius.

http://i.imgur.com/4IWop.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1wNZj.jpg


I also noticed something has has me quite worried. small dark dots around the corner of the lid, seems to be only in two places but I fear it's mold or some sort of contamination.

http://i.imgur.com/fbb7j.jpg

I don't think I sanitized the lid


Can anyone tell me what I've got here? and what can I do (if anything).

I figured I better do something about it so open the lid slightly on the side where the specks of mold were and cleaned 95% of it off with a tissue (there is still about 2 micro specks of mold left and then rubbed some alcohol hand sanitizer on the rim of the fermenter where the mold had grown. I hope this doesn't mess anything up

Day 8:

Everything seems to be fine, just more of the mold specks have formed over last few days so gotta clean and sanitize the lid in a while. The airlock hasn't been as busy as it used to be and the krausen has been faded.

http://i.imgur.com/kr8q1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ESspD.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mliOX.jpg


Should I wait till the airlock has stopped releasing CO2 before I begin to bottle the beer?

As always, tips and advice is always appreciated

a good rule of thumb around here is to leave it be in primary for 3 weeks before bottling or kegging some people do less time, but most benefit from the extra time letting the yeast clean up after them selves.

-=Jason=-

Flomaster said:

a good rule of thumb around here is to leave it been in primary for 3 weeks before bottling or kegging some people do less time, but most benefit from the extra time letting the yeast clean up after them selves.

-=Jason=-

Click to expand...

Will do, thanks man

Well it's been fermenting now for 3 and a half weeks and I'm gonna bottle it tomorrow. Almost at the finish line

unionrdr said:

Have you taken any hydrometer tests? that's the surest way to know. The airlock is not a good gauge,it's just a pressure relief valve.

Click to expand...

I'll take one in a while and report back, thanks, had forgotten about that

I'm using the same setup as Tossie and am in day 4 of fermentation of Cooper's Lager. I used the same ingredients and everything! My wort looks almost exactly the same as Tossie's day 4 photos.

But I'm a bit confused after reading through these forums. The instructions for the kit say to wait until day 6 and then start taking hydrometer readings and when they read the same for two consecutive days, it's time to bottle. They say this will take an estimated 6 - 8 days.

So what's the benefit of waiting the three weeks?

Ok so this hasn't been a good first attempt. I went on hols on short notice and was sick the week I came back and have been busy with work recently meaning I still haven't bottled the beer

I'm going to take a reading now and post the result up here but I'm wondering is it too late by now? It's been in the fermenter for over a month at this stage

Tossie said:

Ok so this hasn't been a good first attempt. I went on hols on short notice and was sick the week I came back and have been busy with work recently meaning I still haven't bottled the beer

I'm going to take a reading now and post the result up here but I'm wondering is it too late by now? It's been in the fermenter for over a month at this stage

Click to expand...

The only difference will be a clearer beer. Hardly a bad thing. The time has only helped this brew.

Hefanatic said:

The only difference will be a clearer beer. Hardly a bad thing. The time has only helped this brew.

Click to expand...

Cheers, relieved to say the least


I've taken a hydrometer reading and pic of inside the fermentor and I'm currently sanitizing the bottles. Wont be long now before I'm




As I can't find the lead for my camera I drew a red line across this picture of a hydrometer (same one I have) to show where it was reading from when I checked 10 minutes ago.

http://i.imgur.com/PrHGF.jpg

Found the camera cable..

http://i.imgur.com/uwOLc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xzsoA.jpg

Bottled it all yesterday. Cheers for all the help and advice guys, much appreciated. Can't wait to test it out

Hefanatic said:

The only difference will be a clearer beer. Hardly a bad thing. The time has only helped this brew.

Click to expand...

There is another difference. After 6 to 8 days, there is a lot of CO2 still dissolved in the beer. After 3 to 4 weeks, there will be much less and this will affect the end carbonation (it will be less carbonated). With the new(ish) Coopers OxBar bottles which are 500ml, this could result in a slightly flatter beer when using one carbonation drop per bottle.

Personally, I rekon Coopers have all this figured out, so I pretty much follow their instructions.

Here's a question re the clear beer: doesn't secondary fermentation in the bottle also cause yeast in the beer and make it a bit cloudy?

I'm a little late to the party, but you said this was a lager kit. However, you fermented at 20-21 C. This is on the high end of ale fermenting temperatures. Did the kit come with ale yeast?

How do you plan to lager the beer?

HomeBrewWest said:

There is another difference. After 6 to 8 days, there is a lot of CO2 still dissolved in the beer. After 3 to 4 weeks, there will be much less and this will affect the end carbonation (it will be less carbonated). With the new(ish) Coopers OxBar bottles which are 500ml, this could result in a slightly flatter beer when using one carbonation drop per bottle.

Personally, I rekon Coopers have all this figured out, so I pretty much follow their instructions.

Here's a question re the clear beer: doesn't secondary fermentation in the bottle also cause yeast in the beer and make it a bit cloudy?

Click to expand...

The refermentation that causes carbonation in sealed bottles will cause the beer to appear hazy while the carbonation process is occurring, but that yeast will settle to the bottom of the bottle after a couple of weeks and make a mini yeast-cake similar to the one that was in the bottom of your fermenter.

The use of a secondary tank, or leaving the beer in primary for a long time has 2 benefits...

1.) More time in contact with the yeast cake = cleaner tasting beer (fermentation by-products are consumed by the yeast after primary fermentation is over)

2.) Leaving the fermenter still and untouched for an extra week or 2 gives good-old gravity a chance to pull all the extra yeast, hop particles, and other "trub" to the bottom of the fermenter (and therefore out of your beer) this results in a clearer looking (less hazy) finished product