First Brew

[Kyle90]

Hi there. Just got my DIY coopers kit there and have started brewing my Mexican cerveza malt extract with coopers brew enhancer. When I was brewing it I put the extract in with the water and then mixed and then added the enhancer. I noticed that the enhancer seemed to clump up and not dissolve but I don't know if my water had cooled down as I was messing around trying to get the can opener working lol. It's been in the fermenter for 3 days know and fermentation is taking place and I've removed the krussons collar (sorry about the spelling) and placed the lid back on. I took a reading before adding the yeast and it was 1.037. Is this too high? How long should I leave it for before bottling? Also has anyone brewed this and what were the results? Thanks for any advice and tips in advance

 

[clemson51]

If you followed the kit directions it is hard not to hit the correct gravity readings. Just curious, you said you removed the krausen layer and put lid back on? What for? Generally speaking u don't want to open the bucket while fermenting for risk of contamination. I'm still a beginner myself so im still learning right along with you. Enjoy and just let it do its thing for a couple weeks and then take a gravity reading 3 days in a row and if gravity hasn't changed you can bottle.

 

[Kyle90]

If you followed the kit directions it is hard not to hit the correct gravity readings. Just curious, you said you removed the krausen layer and put lid back on? What for? Generally speaking u don't want to open the bucket while fermenting for risk of contamination. I'm still a beginner myself so im still learning right along with you. Enjoy and just let it do its thing for a couple weeks and then take a gravity reading 3 days in a row and if gravity hasn't changed you can bottle.

I removed it because it said that in the coopers log book, "After 3 days remove the krausen collar and replace with the lid" I was confused aswell but I just followed those instructions and hoped for the best. Yeah I was thinking about 2/3 weeks but the coopers instructions say a weeks fine which I think is too short.

 

[clemson51]

Yeah I would think one week in fermenter is not long enough. I have learned that kit instructions are designed to get you beer as quick as possible. However it may be drinkable at the time table they give you, it will be much better the longer you wait.