fermentation question

[deaditefamily]

I am brewing my first batch in the mr beer LBK and i have it in my basement bedroom cause that is where i can keep a steady temp between 68-76f and was wondering will the c02 be enough to kill me or my animals????

 

[chuckcomm]

If it was all of us that ferment inside and not in a fermentation chamber would no longer be here......

Dont worry its carbon dioxide not carbon monoxide.

 

[Elkobrewer]

Don't worry you and the animals will be just fine.

 

[deaditefamily]

Thanks so much..i was going to dump the batch if it was going to harm me or my animals! Cant wait to get to the bottling stage! 13 days left

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

There is very little to worry about in homebrewing in terms of harm to people and animals, with the exception of hops and dogs. They do not mix at all.

 

[deaditefamily]

So do not let my dog lick the hopped malt extract can! Got it!

 

[foam_top]

I keep my fermentor in my bedroom and I'm still kicking. Carbon dioxide isn't toxic, it's only harmful if it's the majority in air(lack of oxygen). Every time we breathe we output more carbon dioxide than the little piffs coming from the fermenter.

 

[deaditefamily]

Thank you all for the information! Sorry if the question seemed amateurish but must take every precaution cause of my animals!

 

[flars]

The CO2 produced will diffuse rapidly. All you will notice is the aroma of your beer.

Are you brewing with a saison yeast? The ambient room temperature may be to warm for a ale yeast unless you have the fermentor in a swamp cooler. Yeast produces heat as it works. The beer in the fermentor will be warmer than the ambient temperature.

 

[deaditefamily]

Im using the yeast that came in the refill kit from Mr Beer!

 

[madscientist451]

Thanks so much..i was going to dump the batch if it was going to harm me or my animals! Cant wait to get to the bottling stage! 13 days left

Forget about a pre set schedule for getting the beer done. Bottle it when its ready, not before. When it stops bubbling, wait a day to be sure, then pull a sample and take a gravity reading, then wait a day or two and take another reading. If its the same, its done, cold crash and bottle.

 

[foam_top]

Thank you all for the information! Sorry if the question seemed amateurish but must take every precaution cause of my animals!

"There's no such thing as a stupid question." Especially when it concerns your health and the health of your companions. Cheers!

 

[Dirt_McGirt]

gravity reading
cold crash

Given the context of this thread, I highly doubt the thread author knows what either of those things mean, much less owns a hydrometer. He's probably better off just following the instructions that came with the Mr. Beer kit, in order to keep things simple for him this early on.

 

[CUrchin]

Try an keep the temp in the 60's if you can, the lower temp in that range the better.

 

[madscientist451]

Given the context of this thread, I highly doubt the thread author knows what either of those things mean, much less owns a hydrometer. He's probably better off just following the instructions that came with the Mr. Beer kit, in order to keep things simple for him this early on.

That's a good point, but I figured the OP would ask come back with some questions like, what's a gravity reading/cold crash if he didn't know.
A good place for answers is John Palmer's free book, "How to Brew".
http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

[deaditefamily]

I know what a hydrometer is i just dont own one! as far as gravity i have no clue what your talking about!

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

When you use a hydrometer to check the level of sugars in your beer the reading you get is considered the gravity of your beer.

 

[deaditefamily]

Ah! i shall invest in one after i get more experience under my belt!

 

[Dirt_McGirt]

I know what a hydrometer is i just dont own one! as far as gravity i have no clue what your talking about!

Didn't mean to demean your intelligence or anything - beginners just have a lot of info to absorb early on.

In case you still don't know, a gravity reading is simply what a hydrometer measures, in terms of how dense the wort/beer is. dissolved solids, etc. make the liquid heavier/denser than water. Alcohol is lighter than water. So as the yeast converts those dissolved fermentables into alcohol, the density/gravity of the beer/wort goes down. That makes the weighted hydrometer sink lower in the liquid, giving you a lower reading.

Hope tthat's helpful.

 

[deaditefamily]

does the gravity tell me how much ABV the beer is?

 

[TallahasseeBrew]

if you know what the beer was at when it started vs what it is at now, then yes, the gravity will tell you the ABV (original gravity reading minus final gravity reading times 131 equals ABV) or plug the numbers in here http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

 

[Dirt_McGirt]

does the gravity tell me how much ABV the beer is?

Only if you measure it before fermentation starts, ideally right before you add the yeast. The difference between original gravity (OG) and finishing gravity (FG) determines the ABV. There's a formula to caluclate it manually, but plenty of online caluclators exist. The one I use is:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

 

[slym2none]

Try an keep the temp in the 60's if you can, the lower temp in that range the better.

This. The wort temp will be 4-8 degrees higher than ambient air temps at high krausen, so if you can get the air down to 62, that'd be great even for the Mr. Beer yeast. I use an Igloo cooler with frozen bottles of water to keep temps in control.

 

[flars]

ABV is calculated from the Original Gravity and the Final Gravity. There are also calculators.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

This site has some other very useful calculators.

 

[deaditefamily]

Thank you for the information! What is high Krausen?

 

[BigFloyd]

Thank you for the information! What is high Krausen?

It's when the foamy stuff that forms atop the beer reaches its peak before it subsides.

Try an keep the temp in the 60's if you can, the lower temp in that range the better.

This ^^^^^ is most important. Fermentation temps that are too warm are the #1 culprit for crappy-tasting homebrew. I started off with a Mr. Beer kit and made some surprisingly tasty brews by: 1) Steeping some crystal grains 30 min in 160*F water 2) adding 1/2 lb DME to the Mr.Beer batch, and 3) chilling the wort to 60*F before pitching and fermenting at 63-64*F (measured on the LBK) in a chest freezer with a STC-1000 temp controller.

At this point, don't worry about measuring gravity. Just let it go for 3 weeks before bottling. 3 weeks at room temp after bottling to carb + condition.

 

[deaditefamily]

i followed the instructions on the can of hopped malt extract says 68-76f for temp

 

[BigFloyd]

i followed the instructions on the can of hopped malt extract says 68-76f for temp

Mr. Beer kit instructions seem to be more for marketing than making quality brew. I suspect they say that so that more people will buy those kits thinking they can simply toss the LBK in a room temperature closet for a week or two. IMO, that's doing their customers a disservice. If a person makes a few batches of awful-tasting beer, chances are they will give up the hobby for good.

At the higher end of that range (especially if that's the room temp), the yeast will be stressed. They will very likely produce fruity esters and other off-flavors. High enough, and they make some fusel alcohol too (think of a taste like nail polish remover). That's not a good thing.

 

[deaditefamily]

so next batch do it at cooler temps?

 

[BigFloyd]

so next batch do it at cooler temps?

Definitely. You'll notice the improvement. That Mr. Beer yeast will ferment just fine at 64-65*F (that's measured on the LBK, not the air temp).