My FIRST brew ever and it's in a bucket.

[bertuseng]

Hi there.

I just joined the forum after reading a lot about brewing and finally decided to take the plunge and get a kit to try my hand at some amateur home brewing.

Here in South Africa we don't have much to offer the beer lover and after touring through Europe and loving all the rich ales and beers I decided I have to try and make something that is better than the commercial lagers they have here in South Africa, so this is what I did...

I bought an instant beer making kit a guy making them here. It's basically just a big plastic bucket with a tap on and thingy on top (cant remember the name now.) It's much like a home made version of the Coopers kit, I think.

I got two Coopers beer cans with it with the "malt extract" (not sure what you call it.). The one was the normal Coopers Lager and the other one Canadian Blond.

I decided to go with the normal "Coopers Lager" first.

This weekend (about 3 days ago.) I made my first batch. Following the instructions to the letter, I sanitized all my equipment and mixed the ready made can of Coopers Lager malt with hot water, stirring it. Then checking the temp, I cooled it down a bit to 28 degrees celcius, by adding a bit of cold water.

I used my hydrometer to measure the mixture. (1.042 gravity I think.)

Then I added the coopers yeast packet (7g) and quickly mixed it. I slapped on the lid, put the thingy (grommet?) on top with a bit of water in and put the whole bucket in my garage.

I put steriliser in my bottles and closed them until bottling day.

I then let it stand there for 3 days now. I have seen it bubbling a bit after the first day. Can't hear it bubbling now, except if I press slightly on the lid.

I am worried that the temperature in the garage was a bit too high for the first few days. We had an outside temperature of 35 degrees celcius for the first 2 days after I brewed. Don't know if the temperature in the garage is a bit lower. The stick on themometer isnt very accurate, as it is brown on 32 degrees and blue on 28 degrees. (which one is it?)

Anyway, my question now is when I should bottle it?

The instructions said 6 or 7 days. That means that it would be 6 days on Friday and 7 days on Saturday. Unfortunately, I am away camping for the whole weekend and won't be able to bottle it before Sunday.

I heard that you can leave it a bit longer. Should I bottle it on Thursday or rather leave it longer until Sunday or even Monday?

Other advice or hints and tips on how I can make this first batch better would be much appreciated. With this quick method, I hope that the beer would still taste decent.

BTW, what would the finished product be called? Would it be a lager, like the Coopers kit suggested?

Thanks for all help.

Bertus

 

[EdWort]

Congrats! You can let it wait two to 3 weeks before bottling. It's actually better to let it ferment for two weeks anyway as the yeast get to finish up some late housekeeping which produces better tasting beer.

 

[bertuseng]

So I guess that patience is the key to a good beer then.

 

[Jayhem]

Patience is key in many things, beer brewing is one of them. Wine making? You better be as patient as stone!

 

[bertuseng]

Any extra ideas on how I can make my quick starter brew better?

 

[eeverwine]

At this point probably the best advice is to sit back and let the yeast do its dirty work. I'd say let it ferment and sit there for at least three weeks, that way the yeast have time to clean up after themselves and also give you a more solid yeast cake on the bottom of the bucket. This will be helpful when you siphon out of the bucket as you'll suck up less yeast from the bottom. Congrats on your first batch! Welcome to your new addiction...

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Welcome ! Extracts are a great way to enter the hobby. Thats what I started with and I have since moved to steeping and mashing in some grains with them, as well as very small micro AG mashes (10L).

If thats the OG Lager (green label) it comes with Ale yeast. So you are really making a pale ale. I have brewed the exact same as it came with my Coopers DIY I got for xmas. Only feedback I have is your temps are bit too high to Lager imo. I would do some reading on Lagering etc first, and maybe get yourself a fridge to ferment in. My lager is in my 0C garage and will be there until the end of the month. My Ales ferment between 16-19C depending on the yeast I use.

 

[gMonkey]

I'm sort of new here, but those temps in your garage do seem high for fermentation. 35C = 95F. Any way to get the bucket to room temp (18-25C)? Or are you banished to the garage for your experiment?

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,the OS lager (Original Series)is actually a light pale ale. Some finishing hops would def have made it better. But that light malty flavor is pretty good,my wife loves it. But the temps would've been better at 17-20C. So give it a week or so clean up time after you get a stable FG. It'll settle out more at the same time.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I'm sort of new here, but those temps in your garage do seem high for fermentation. 35C = 95F. Any way to get the bucket to room temp (18-25C)? Or are you banished to the garage for your experiment?

very much agreed! i try to keep my ales in the low to mid 60's F. (17-20C)

 

[jump_xiii]

My advice based on relatively limited experience (all of similar kits though) is to do what everyone suggested- leave it alone for a couple more weeks.

Also do a search for "swamp coolers" on this site- placing your fermenter in a container of cool water will make a difference.

Also hi from an ex pat- I was born in Port Elizabeth, but moved to the UK a long time ago

 

[aiptasia]

OP, welcome to the wonderful world of homebrewing!

Yes, your temperatures are very warm and you're going to produce a more ale-like beer than a lager beer. With fermentation temperatures over 22 degrees c, yeasts can produce a lot of interesting flavors which are often referred to as fruity esters. This is fine for ale styles that compliment the esters, such as Belgian ales, witbiers and others that can handle those flavors. Diacetyl can also be produced, which gives the beer a buttery or butterscotch type of off flavor. The cure for diacetyl flavors is to let the beer "rest" for a few weeks after the primary fermentation is done, so that the yeasts can eat them and convert them into other types of alcohols without that flavor profile.

If you really want to lager your beers, or if your beers are giving you too many fruit flavors, you might want to consider investing in a keezer. A keezer is simply a small refrigerator or drop freezer with a more accurate thermostat attached to it, which can control the temperatures of your beer while it ferments. I use a small drop freezer that I picked up at a scratch and dent store.

Let us know how your beer turns out.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Also do a search for "swamp coolers" on this site- placing your fermenter in a container of cool water will make a difference.

great point, Jump.

OP, this is what Jump is referring to. not sure of the cost of things over there, but a setup like this runs under $30 in the US.

 

[bertuseng]

Thanks for all the advice. Yeah, actually I am "banished" to the garage for my brewing. It was only that high for the first few days. (massive heat wave here.) But the temp is back to a better 24-26 degrees celcius. Hope this would be okay.

The starter kit said I should bottle after a week. So according to you guys I should leave it another week or so? Or should I just bottle when the gravity is constant? I will go test the gravity now and see what it is. (Havent touched it since I mixed it.)

 

[jump_xiii]

Leave it as long as you can handle, then a week more... It might make your beer better and won't make it worse. The sooner you bottle it the longer it will need in the bottles to taste good...

 

[stratslinger]

24-26C is still quite warm. Definitely read up on swamp coolers. Or, if you want to get a little carried away, read up on fermentation chambers - you can put one together relatively cheaply and maintain pretty much any temperature you want!

 

[bertuseng]

I JUST tasted my first beer for the first time. Super excited!

I measured the gravity as 1,010. The OG was 1,042 when I started. It is still slightly higher than the "green" part on the hydrometer. I think its supposed to be slightly lower, isn't it?

It tasted okay. Totally flat obviously and a slight sweetish sourish taste.

Is this ready to bottle or should I wait, like I said above?

As for the comments about the high temperatures that could lead to fruit like tastes of the ale - This sounds interesting. So the temperature could make a big difference in the tasting of the final product? So is it always better to be cooler, or could the fruit tastes be desirable?

I think I will look into the swamp coolers a bit for my next batch. Should be a bit cooler then anyways.

 

[bertuseng]

I'm going to bottle my beer tomorrow. It has been in the bucket for 2 weeks now. I heard I just have pour the beer into my sanitized 340ml bottles and add 1 teaspoon of sugar to each bottle to carbonate. Is there something Im missing?

Also, how long should it stay in beer bottles before carbonation is optimum?

 

[mpenn35]

I go for two weeks in bottles, but I've cracked them open around 10 days just to try one and have had decent carbonation then. If you can go two or three weeks at room temperature before refrigerating them, that's best.

 

[unionrdr]

I'm going to bottle my beer tomorrow. It has been in the bucket for 2 weeks now. I heard I just have pour the beer into my sanitized 340ml bottles and add 1 teaspoon of sugar to each bottle to carbonate. Is there something Im missing?

Also, how long should it stay in beer bottles before carbonation is optimum?

Never just pour the beer into the bottles,it can produce a wet cardboard flavor due to oxidation of the beer! Get a bottling wand & some tubing to fit it. Connect it to the spigot on your bottling bucket,or an auto siphon if you don't to fill the bottles gently from the bottom up. Then prime & cap with what you seem to have now.
If you don't have a bottling bucket,make one. I did for about $10-$12USD. Then use a free priming sugar calculator to bulk prime to style. Most of us dissolve the priming sugar (measured amount by weight) into a cup or two of boiled water. Pour this into the bottling bucket & rack beer out of primary onto it. It'll be better,trust me.

 

[bertuseng]

Never just pour the beer into the bottles,it can produce a wet cardboard flavor due to oxidation of the beer! Get a bottling wand & some tubing to fit it. Connect it to the spigot on your bottling bucket,or an auto siphon if you don't to fill the bottles gently from the bottom up. Then prime & cap with what you seem to have now.
If you don't have a bottling bucket,make one. I did for about $10-$12USD. Then use a free priming sugar calculator to bulk prime to style. Most of us dissolve the priming sugar (measured amount by weight) into a cup or two of boiled water. Pour this into the bottling bucket & rack beer out of primary onto it. It'll be better,trust me.

Okay, so to make sure I get this...

I used the calculator and got:
Desired C02 Saturation: 2.5 volumes
Amount of Liquid: 23 liters
Amount of Priming Sugar: 158.24 grams of table sugar (sucrose)

Should I just pour 158 grams of sugar into my main bucket where all the beer is now and stir it? Or do you mean I should tap all of my beer into a seperate bucket and then mix the sugar and THEN pour into my bottles?

 

[unionrdr]

For bulk priming,we use a seperate bucket with a small spigot that a 3/8 inch tube connects to,since it's the size the bottling wand takes. Not to mention,being a seperate bucket allows the priming solution to be mixed with the beer off the yeast cake. The act of racking to the bottling bucket gets the beer off the compacted yeast on the bottom of primary.
Boil 2C of water to mix the priming sugar in,allowing it to cool till warm to the touch,but not hot. Then place the bottling bucket lower than the primary & use a bit of tubing to rack the beer into the bottling bucket onto the priming sugar solution. The tubing should curl half way round the bottom of the bucket to induce some swirl. Once this is completed,remove the racking tube.
Then put the bottling bucket on the higher spot where the fermenter was,& atatch the bottling wand. The bottling wand has a small pin valve on the end.
When pressed against the inside bottom of the bottle,it fills from the bottom up to prevent oxidation of the beer. When the bottle fills to the top,pull up slightly on the bottling wand,& flow stops. This all happens in the blink of an eye,so be ready.
Then cap the bottles & you're all set.