NATO
Member
Okay, I'm hooked to this home brewing lark, but I've got a few questions now that I've had my first brew in the primary fermenter after a week (oh, and sorry for any duplication of newbie questions, I did do a lot of reading on this forum and I couldn't find the exact answers).
I have used a Cooper's India Pale Ale kit with a big fermenting bucket starter kit.
I boiled up 2 litres of water, added the contents of the can to it along with 500g of Dry Malt Extract and 300g Brewing Sugar. Stirred it all up until it was all dissolved then made it up to 20litres with cold water and made sure the temperature was in the 21-27 degrees Centigrade that the instructions stated. I sprinkled on the yeast and stirred it up then sealed up the fermenter with an airlock in place.
After a day or so the fermenter seemed to be working well (plenty of bubbles coming off the airlock etc) but after 3 days it seems to have all finished, and the original hydrometer reading which was around 1.040 originally is now around 1.005-1.010 (the black band on my hydrometer).
I've left it in the fermenter for 4 days after that (total of 1 week) and it hasn't changed. I am just a little concerned that it seems to have completed fermenting so quickly. Also, I don't know what it SHOULD smell like but it sort of smells a little like wine to my untrained nose, but there isn't any noticeable infection on the surface.
The air temperature around the fermenter varied between 15-18 degrees, I put a brew belt on it which kept it around 28 degrees. Maybe that's what the problem is - Too warm (yeast instructions recommended 21-27Deg)?
Does everything look okay as far as you guys are concerned? How long should I leave it in the primary fermenter before transferring it to a secondary fermenter or bottles?
Any and all help very welcome, thank you
I have used a Cooper's India Pale Ale kit with a big fermenting bucket starter kit.
I boiled up 2 litres of water, added the contents of the can to it along with 500g of Dry Malt Extract and 300g Brewing Sugar. Stirred it all up until it was all dissolved then made it up to 20litres with cold water and made sure the temperature was in the 21-27 degrees Centigrade that the instructions stated. I sprinkled on the yeast and stirred it up then sealed up the fermenter with an airlock in place.
After a day or so the fermenter seemed to be working well (plenty of bubbles coming off the airlock etc) but after 3 days it seems to have all finished, and the original hydrometer reading which was around 1.040 originally is now around 1.005-1.010 (the black band on my hydrometer).
I've left it in the fermenter for 4 days after that (total of 1 week) and it hasn't changed. I am just a little concerned that it seems to have completed fermenting so quickly. Also, I don't know what it SHOULD smell like but it sort of smells a little like wine to my untrained nose, but there isn't any noticeable infection on the surface.
The air temperature around the fermenter varied between 15-18 degrees, I put a brew belt on it which kept it around 28 degrees. Maybe that's what the problem is - Too warm (yeast instructions recommended 21-27Deg)?
Does everything look okay as far as you guys are concerned? How long should I leave it in the primary fermenter before transferring it to a secondary fermenter or bottles?
Any and all help very welcome, thank you