Beer Machine question

[freddie]

Hi all,
I have just been given a beer machine and I set it all up as per the instructions (brewing czech pilsner- not my favourite but it came with the gift and seems like a good place to start!). However, I dont think that the fermentation has started yet after about 36 hours. Everything that I have read says that it should have started by now- (I am looking for bubbles etc forming on the surface as an indicator- assume that this is correct). I think that the temperature is correct (although the thermometer doesnt appear to be working- I have placed it somewhere that I know to be about 20C).

My question is, is there anything that I can do here, or should I just leave it to do its thing, assuming that it may take longer?

As an additional question, I may be jumping the gun here a bit, but I would really like to try and brew and american style IPA but the beer machine company do not sell this as a beer mix. Does anyone know how I might get around this. Like I say I am an absolute beginner but keen to learn!

Many thanks

 

[Clonefan94]

Not 100% Sure on the yeast. I had a Beer Machine years and years ago, worked pretty well, but the freshness of the ingredients, especially the yeast, can be very suspect. Also the mixing of the ingredients, if it wasn't completely mixed well at pitching, it may take longer to get going as well. As many preach on here though, give it 72 hours, it could take that long to get going. If you have a local Home Brew shop, stop in and pick up a pack of Safale US-05, just in case this doesn't get going. If nothing after 72 hours, sprinkle half of the new yeast in and see if that gets going.

As far as kits go? You would probably be much happier building or finding some 2.5 gallon recipes, probably would be cheaper as well, (2.5 gallons is what the beer machine is built for.) That way you could brew whatever you wanted, then just ferment and then serve from the Beer Machine. I'm not exactly sure on the numbers to scale recipes from 5 down to 2.5 by using math (basically, I've never looked into seeing if you just cut everything in half, or if there are more involved equations based on hop absorbtion, etc.) But I know software like Beersmith will do this for you.

I actually wish I still had my old beer machine around. I posted a similar post in another thread about the beer machine and I'm really dying to find out how an all grain 2.5 gallon batch would turn out in the beer machine. It was actually a really handy little device as a fermenter and serving vessel, I was just never all that impressed with the kits they provided. Especially since they never really explained that their lagers weren't really lagers. I think they just used a single dry yeast for all their kits. Knowing what I know now, there are a lot of things that I could have done to improve the quality of the beer. The Beer Machine kits are built more for simplicity than quality, imo. I really do think it would be cheaper to just build a recipe from ingredients.

 

[freddie]

Great, thanks for the swift help. There is a bit of foam on top now, just not as much as I would have expected. The pressure is steadily increasing though which must be a good sign. I did some reading about scaling ingredients and ordered a coopers ipa homebrew kit to try next. Any advice?

 

[Clonefan94]

Great, thanks for the swift help. There is a bit of foam on top now, just not as much as I would have expected. The pressure is steadily increasing though which must be a good sign. I did some reading about scaling ingredients and ordered a coopers ipa homebrew kit to try next. Any advice?

I've never done a coopers kit. I would assume with extracts, it would simply be halving the ingredients if it's originally a 5 gallon kit.

the other option would be to make a full 5 gallon batch. Put half in the Beer machine, then get yourself a fermenting bucket and let the other 2.5 gallons ferment in that. Then bottle that. I don't know how long liquid extracts last once you open them. So my advice on this could be terrible.

 

[jamesrichardboland]

Hi, I've just bought a beer machine and having the same problem. I was just wondering how long it was before yours started working? Mines been 48 hours! I've moved mine to a warmer room (24 C) to see if this helps... Also, i didnt stir my mix as the instructions highlight that you shouldnt?