First beer brewing Issues

[DTT]

Day1 my yeast went clumpy

Day6
As per the SG readings on the tin mine are too high see photo
I have been at a steady 25 deg C
As it’s in a kegorator fridge


I followed the instructions
But as per the tin I should have finished fermenting

After some googling
Iv added a cup of sugar to try to bring down the SG
However not sure if I have just made things worse


Any advice
Should I dump and try again


Day 6

 

[mac_1103]

So your original gravity was only 1.030-ish? Seems low. What did you add for other fermentables? You have a bit of a krausen ring and the gravity has dropped a few points, so the yeast did something.

 

[jdauria]

1.030 seems low for gravity. Don't put your hydrometer in the beer, buy a wine thief (a tool to pull samples from the beer) and a test jar https://www.amazon.com/Hydrometer-Test-jar-10-Plastic/dp/B08PD9F52X to put the sample in. Then the hydrometer goes in that. Make sure you sanitize the thief first before putting in beer.

Hydrometer tips:
1. Take your original gravity BEFORE pitching yeast and AFTER the beer has been cooled below 21C. (Though what I assumed was yeast may be dried extract that's not dissolved, so you are losing gravity points there).
2. CO2 bubbles will throw off readings after fermentation starts. Take your sample and pour it vigorously between two glasses to release the foam. Let it settle, then pour back in your test jar and take a reading.
3. Hydrometers are calibrated at 15.5C or 20C, it will say it on the hydrometer. You need to use an online hydrometer calculator to adjust for temperature. Your first pic looks like 1.033 to me, which if hydrometer is calibrated at 15.5C means 1.035 is actual. If 20C calibrated, then it's about 1.034.

Instructions on that can seem crazy. Pitch yeast between 77-86F, for lager yeast is very high and the ferment around those temps. That's a head scratcher. Can't see anyway that beer would ever taste like a lager. How well did you mix the cold water and with the extract and hot water? A lot of times when people have low starting gravity with extract, it's because they did not mix well enough and the extract, ie sugar water settles to the bottom.

 

[DTT]

So your original gravity was only 1.030-ish? Seems low. What did you add for other fermentables? You have a bit of a krausen ring and the gravity has dropped a few points, so the yeast did something.

Yeah the photo with the yeast was the original reading 1034
And day 6 1022

However the pack says I need to be at 1005

The only thing I did different from the instructions was fill to 24L rather 23 accidental

 

[Zippy123]

I have been at a steady 25 deg C
As it’s in a kegorator fridge

25C in a fridge? That is curious to me because 25C is on the high end of comfortable room temperature. So if the fridge is unplugged and in the house, it would be close to 25C. What is the measured temp inside the fridge? Or better yet, what is the temperature of the wort? (a cheap stick-on thermometer on the side of the bucket will give an approximation; don't need anything fancy)

I followed the instructions
But as per the tin I should have finished fermenting

Given the tin's instructions that the FG should be 1.005 or lower (which TBH seems low to me for an extract kit), some top-of-the-head math suggests the OG should have been in the low 1.040's, say 1.043-1.045 or so to achieve about 5% ABV. Looking at your first picture I'll call the OG 1.034 which would make an FG of 1.005 roughly 3.5% ABV which would be low.

The instructions say to add 1kg of another fermentable. What fermentable did you add, and how much?

What was the total volume in the primary after adding the kit contents and the additional fermentable? Should be about 23L.

The two above questions don't get to the "heart" of your question which is, should you dump the batch (more on that below). But it might clarify why the OG is/was so low.

Iv added a cup of sugar to try to bring down the SG
However not sure if I have just made things worse

Adding fermentables will raise the SG. Yeast doing their job (converting sugar to alcohol) will lower the SG. So adding a cup of sugar should slightly raise the SG until the yeast consumes the sugar, thereby lowering the SG but it takes some time for the yeast to do its work.

What was the measured SG after adding the cup of sugar? Another ballpark, that should have raised the SG about 0.005 points.

Any advice
Should I dump and try again

If you mean should you dump the batch, I would say no. You can always pitch new yeast to get the fermentation going. If the batch then fully ferments out you would have a low ABV beer but probably drinkable. Someone on the forum has a tagline in their signature that credits his father with saying to the effect, winemaking isn't hard you just need to be willing to drink your mistakes. Brewing is the same and I've suffered my way through a few batches rather than dumping them!

If you're going to repitch I would suggest a very flocculant yeast such as Nottingham. It takes off like gangbusters, is fairly neutral, and ferments down to low ABV. I've brewed a number of batches with that gem and it has never let me down.

 

[DTT]

1.030 seems low for gravity. Don't put your hydrometer in the beer, buy a wine thief (a tool to pull samples from the beer) and a test jar https://www.amazon.com/Hydrometer-Test-jar-10-Plastic/dp/B08PD9F52X to put the sample in. Then the hydrometer goes in that. Make sure you sanitize the thief first before putting in beer.

Hydrometer tips:
1. Take your original gravity BEFORE pitching yeast and AFTER the beer has been cooled below 21C. (Though what I assumed was yeast may be dried extract that's not dissolved, so you are losing gravity points there).
2. CO2 bubbles will throw off readings after fermentation starts. Take your sample and pour it vigorously between two glasses to release the foam. Let it settle, then pour back in your test jar and take a reading.
3. Hydrometers are calibrated at 15.5C or 20C, it will say it on the hydrometer. You need to use an online hydrometer calculator to adjust for temperature. Your first pic looks like 1.033 to me, which if hydrometer is calibrated at 15.5C means 1.035 is actual. If 20C calibrated, then it's about 1.034.

Instructions on that can seem crazy. Pitch yeast between 77-86F, for lager yeast is very high and the ferment around those temps. That's a head scratcher. Can't see anyway that beer would ever taste like a lager. How well did you mix the cold water and with the extract and hot water? A lot of times when people have low starting gravity with extract, it's because they did not mix well enough and the extract, ie sugar water settles to the bottom.

Thanks for the info

I was at 30 deg C when I added the yeast and took the original reading straight after adding the yeast

I mixed the can contents sugar mix in about 3l of hot water
Then just filled up the bucket with cold water

I did not mix until I put the yeast in.
I thought just putting in the water would be enough of a mix
Maybe not!

I have the fridge set at 23 degrees C (73)
So really I should put up the temperature on the fridge in that case


Anyway I can save it ?
Should I just start again

 

[Zippy123]

The only thing I did different from the instructions was fill to 24L rather 23 accidental

The extra 1L of water would lower the SG only ~0.001, which I would call insignificant.

 

[DTT]

Thanks for the info

I was at 30 deg C when I added the yeast and took the original reading straight after adding the yeast

I mixed the can contents sugar mix in about 3l of hot water
Then just filled up the bucket with cold water

I did not mix until I put the yeast in.
I thought just putting in the water would be enough of a mix
Maybe not!

I have the fridge set at 23 degrees C (73)
So really I should put up the temperature on the fridge in that case


Anyway I can save it ?
Should I just start again

 

[jdauria]

Thanks for the info

I was at 30 deg C when I added the yeast and took the original reading straight after adding the yeast

I mixed the can contents sugar mix in about 3l of hot water
Then just filled up the bucket with cold water

I did not mix until I put the yeast in.
I thought just putting in the water would be enough of a mix
Maybe not!

I have the fridge set at 23 degrees C (73)
So really I should put up the temperature on the fridge in that case


Anyway I can save it ?
Should I just start again

YW....you can just let it ride, give it another week before taking another gravity reading. If it's not dropping, you could try adding more yeast.

 

[DTT]

25C in a fridge? That is curious to me because 25C is on the high end of comfortable room temperature. So if the fridge is unplugged and in the house, it would be close to 25C. What is the measured temp inside the fridge? Or better yet, what is the temperature of the wort? (a cheap stick-on thermometer on the side of the bucket will give an approximation; don't need anything fancy)

The kegorator is powered on can set the temp from 0 to + 28C
As we have 40c days atm would cook it otherwise

Given the tin's instructions that the FG should be 1.005 or lower (which TBH seems low to me for an extract kit), some top-of-the-head math suggests the OG should have been in the low 1.040's, say 1.043-1.045 or so to achieve about 5% ABV. Looking at your first picture I'll call the OG 1.034 which would make an FG of 1.005 roughly 3.5% ABV which would be low.

Thank you

The instructions say to add 1kg of another fermentable. What fermentable did you add, and how much?

As it was the starter kit Mangrove Jack
Was all straight out the box with the fermenter

• Mangrove Jack's Australian Series Gold Lager beer kit can and yeast
• Mangrove Jack's Brew Enhancer

What was the total volume in the primary after adding the kit contents and the additional fermentable? Should be about 23L.

I did stuff up here
24L in total

The two above questions don't get to the "heart" of your question which is, should you dump the batch (more on that below). But it might clarify why the OG is/was so low.

Thanks

Adding fermentables will raise the SG. Yeast doing their job (converting sugar to alcohol) will lower the SG. So adding a cup of sugar should slightly raise the SG until the yeast consumes the sugar, thereby lowering the SG but it takes some time for the yeast to do its work.

What was the measured SG after adding the cup of sugar? Another ballpark, that should have raised the SG about 0.005 points.

I only added the sugar tonight so I’ll leave it a few days and see

If you mean should you dump the batch, I would say no. You can always pitch new yeast to get the fermentation going. If the batch then fully ferments out you would have a low ABV beer but probably drinkable. Someone on the forum has a tagline in their signature that credits his father with saying to the effect, winemaking isn't hard you just need to be willing to drink your mistakes. Brewing is the same and I've suffered my way through a few batches rather than dumping them!

Haha yes great point

If you're going to repitch I would suggest a very flocculant yeast such as Nottingham. It takes off like gangbusters, is fairly neutral, and ferments down to low ABV. I've brewed a number of batches with that gem and it has never let me down.

View attachment 842497

 

[DTT]

YW....you can just let it ride, give it another week before taking another gravity reading. If it's not dropping, you could try adding more yeast.

Thanks great advice

 

[DTT]

The kegorator is powered on can set the temp from 0 to + 28C
As we have 40c days atm would cook it otherwise

Thank you



As it was the starter kit Mangrove Jack
Was all straight out the box with the fermenter

• Mangrove Jack's Australian Series Gold Lager beer kit can and yeast
• Mangrove Jack's Brew Enhancer

I did stuff up here
24L in total

Thanks


I only added the sugar tonight so I’ll leave it a few days and see


Haha yes great point

The kegorator is powered on can set the temp from 0 to + 28C
As we have 40c days atm would cook it otherwise

Thank you



As it was the starter kit Mangrove Jack
Was all straight out the box with the fermenter

• Mangrove Jack's Australian Series Gold Lager beer kit can and yeast
• Mangrove Jack's Brew Enhancer

I did stuff up here
24L in total

Thanks


I only added the sugar tonight so I’ll leave it a few days and see


Haha yes great

The kegorator is powered on can set the temp from 0 to + 28C
As we have 40c days atm would cook it otherwise

Thank you



As it was the starter kit Mangrove Jack
Was all straight out the box with the fermenter

• Mangrove Jack's Australian Series Gold Lager beer kit can and yeast
• Mangrove Jack's Brew Enhancer

I did stuff up here
24L in total

Thanks


I only added the sugar tonight so I’ll leave it a few days and see


Haha yes great point

Thanks great advic

25C in a fridge? That is curious to me because 25C is on the high end of comfortable room temperature. So if the fridge is unplugged and in the house, it would be close to 25C. What is the measured temp inside the fridge? Or better yet, what is the temperature of the wort? (a cheap stick-on thermometer on the side of the bucket will give an approximation; don't need anything fancy)


Given the tin's instructions that the FG should be 1.005 or lower (which TBH seems low to me for an extract kit), some top-of-the-head math suggests the OG should have been in the low 1.040's, say 1.043-1.045 or so to achieve about 5% ABV. Looking at your first picture I'll call the OG 1.034 which would make an FG of 1.005 roughly 3.5% ABV which would be low.

The instructions say to add 1kg of another fermentable. What fermentable did you add, and how much?

What was the total volume in the primary after adding the kit contents and the additional fermentable? Should be about 23L.

The two above questions don't get to the "heart" of your question which is, should you dump the batch (more on that below). But it might clarify why the OG is/was so low.


Adding fermentables will raise the SG. Yeast doing their job (converting sugar to alcohol) will lower the SG. So adding a cup of sugar should slightly raise the SG until the yeast consumes the sugar, thereby lowering the SG but it takes some time for the yeast to do its work.

What was the measured SG after adding the cup of sugar? Another ballpark, that should have raised the SG about 0.005 points.


If you mean should you dump the batch, I would say no. You can always pitch new yeast to get the fermentation going. If the batch then fully ferments out you would have a low ABV beer but probably drinkable. Someone on the forum has a tagline in their signature that credits his father with saying to the effect, winemaking isn't hard you just need to be willing to drink your mistakes. Brewing is the same and I've suffered my way through a few batches rather than dumping them!

If you're going to repitch I would suggest a very flocculant yeast such as Nottingham. It takes off like gangbusters, is fairly neutral, and ferments down to low ABV. I've brewed a number of batches with that gem and it has never let me down.

View attachment 842497

If I Add new yeast should I also add more brewers sugar
And how much

Sorry I’m very new

 

[mac_1103]

I mixed the can contents sugar mix in about 3l of hot water

What does "can contents sugar mix" mean? We still don't know what you used for the "other fermentables" that the instructions call for. It actually does matter.

 

[hotbeer]

Did you spin the hydrometer to get any bubbles off of it before reading it? Beer in the fermenter has CO2 in it that will come out of solution for various reasons.

It only takes a few bubbles on the bulb to lift it higher and give a false reading by quite a few points.

Time is your enemy, but it's not too long a time in the FV, it's too little time in the FV. So I'd recommend you put the lid back on and not worry about it for another week or two.

Personally I've had more bad beers that spent 2 weeks or less in the FV, and no bad beers that spent 4 to 6 weeks in the FV.

Oh.... You did wait till the stuff had cooled below 30°C before adding yeast as the instructions said didn't you?

 

[Zippy123]

Oh.... You did wait till the stuff had cooled below 30°C before adding yeast as the instructions said didn't you?

^^ Excellent question right there! ^^

 

[DTT]

The extra 1L of water would lower the SG only ~0.001, which I would call insignificant.

^^ Excellent question right there! ^^

Yeah I put the entire bucket in the fridge to cool
The indicator strip was around the 30 mark before adding the yeast

what temp would kill the yeast ?

 

[DTT]

Did you spin the hydrometer to get any bubbles off of it before reading it? Beer in the fermenter has CO2 in it that will come out of solution for various reasons.

It only takes a few bubbles on the bulb to lift it higher and give a false reading by quite a few points.

Time is your enemy, but it's not too long a time in the FV, it's too little time in the FV. So I'd recommend you put the lid back on and not worry about it for another week or two.

Personally I've had more bad beers that spent 2 weeks or less in the FV, and no bad beers that spent 4 to 6 weeks in the FV.

Oh.... You did wait till the stuff had cooled below 30°C before adding yeast as the instructions said didn't you?

Thanks, yeah leave it another week before testing again

Yeah did notice that u had air bubbles rising while I was trying to get a reading

The temp strip
Had 32,30,28 illuminated
So I think would be around the 30 mark

I put the entire bucket in the fridge for a few hours before adding yeast

 

[DTT]

Thank you everyone for your advice,

Hopefully can get few kegs right to fill up the fridge

 

[hotbeer]

You seem to have missed addressing this question.

We still don't know what you used for the "other fermentables" that the instructions call for. It actually does matter.

 

[Zippy123]

Yeah I put the entire bucket in the fridge to cool
The indicator strip was around the 30 mark before adding the yeast

what temp would kill the yeast ?

30C is not hot enough to kill the yeast. Even if that reading is 10-20 deg low that probably wouldn't kill the yeast but is certainly not the best environment for happy yeast. 60+ and all bets are off.

 

[DTT]

You seem to have missed addressing this question.


View attachment 842571

As it was in the box for the starter kit for Mongrove Jacks it come with the sugar
All the 1kg pack of sugar said was brew mix

So I’m actually not sure

 

[DTT]

So I kegged and pressured with co2 today day 9
And letting it sit at room temp,
Is that correct let it age for a few weeks at room temp ?

And it actually tastes good I chilled a glass of it
I was not expecting that!

I did not do another SG test before kegging
But I could feel the slight kick from the glass so all is good


Not my best work in regards to quality control as I don’t know my final SG reading but I’ll do better next time

But thank you everyone for your input
I’ll

 

[mac_1103]

As it was in the box for the starter kit for Mongrove Jacks it come with the sugar
All the 1kg pack of sugar said was brew mix

So I’m actually not sure

It's a mixture of DME and corn sugar (dextrose). In general, using all dextrose will result in a lower FG (higher ABV) and less body while using all DME would give a higher FG and more body because simple sugars are 100% fermentable and malt extracts are usually about 75% fermentable.

So I kegged and pressured with co2 today day 9
And letting it sit at room temp,
Is that correct let it age for a few weeks at room temp ?

It will take about two weeks for the CO2 in the headspace to get into the beer and reach equilibrium. Most people force carbonate at serving temperature. Carbonation level depends on pressure and temperature.

carbonation calculator
carbonation chart