first brew

[uptonparkfan]

just started using Cooper starter kit.should take 7 days then can bottle.

 

[uptonparkfan]

how long should it ferment. is 7 days enough .what best temperature.

 

[pshankstar]

Yeast will play a factor in how fast if ferments and what the ideal temperature range is. I'm not familiar with the Cooper's kits, can you provide a link to the instructions and ingredients? Or upload a copy?

My rule of thumb is usually a minimum of two weeks to ferment out. This usually gives the yeast enough time to clean up after fermentation is complete. But then again, it depends on my OG and the yeast I'm using.

Congrats on your first brew!

 

[CU_tony]

kit instructions are vague at best regarding fermentation, and I feel most of them "shorten" fermentation time to make it seem more approachable to the newcomers.

I have not done extract brewing so this may not be entirely applicable, however I have had good results with keeping my been in the primary fermentation vessel for 3 weeks. While the active fermentation is normally done after a few days the yeast will keep on doing there thing for weeks only at a much slower rate than normal.

As for temperature, that will vary depending on the strain of yeast you have.
In general 65-70 should be within tolerance of most strains, some others will prefer or tolerate lower or higher temps.

 

[uptonparkfan]

I watched Cooper trailer on u tube.it said 21 to 27 is ok temp but said bottle after 7 days .
but u advise leave longer .that why asking as I am new this thing wanted too do years.
I only bought cheap kit 65 .if everything I want too start in future doing better equipment

 

[uptonparkfan]

they said use ale yeast which happier with change in temp.
but keep herring people saying apple taste because they rush the process

 

[CU_tony]

There is no definite amount of time to ferment a beer.
Airlock activity is not a measure of fermentation.
The only way to "know" that fermentation is done is to use a hydrometer and take regular readings. When the readings don't change for a number of days, that means the yeast have exhausted their supply of sugars and have dropped out of suspension.
In this day of high quality ingredients there is little risk n leaving wort ontop of a yeast cake after fermentation ends unless you are thinking months, then maaaaybe you might have a small off flavor.
Hence a recommendation of 3 weeks, it should be long enough, but not nearly too long.

Also there are many ale yeasts, we would need the specific strain to tell you what temp range would be ideal

 

[uptonparkfan]

I will test tomorrow and next day if same will bottle

 

[CU_tony]

they said use ale yeast which happier with change in temp.
but keep herring people saying apple taste because they rush the process

The apple taste could be that someone bottled the beer to soon, fermented at too high a temperature, or a combo of both.

Fermenting at the low end of a yeast strains temperature range will slow the process but will limit the amount of undesirable byproducts like fusels that may impart an apple flavor.
Also to make things even more fun, the yeasties will clean up some of their undesirable byproducts if given enough time.

To make things MORE fun, while some kits recommend as little as a week of bottle conditioning, I would plan to sample a bottle at day 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 while making notes of your tastings. You will witness the rise in carbonation and the flavors will develop over the weeks.

Beer making requires a lot of patience and while you may be able to make alcohol pretty quickly, to make a consistent beverage that you want to drink may just mean you need to let it ride and instead of bottling your first batch after 7 days brew a 2nd batch to work on setting up a beer pipeline.

 

[Sadu]

I have done several batches using Coopers kits.

My advice for your first batch would be to follow their instructions - this is not the "best" way to brew but Coopers know what they are doing and wrote the instructions in a way that is less confusing to new brewers and is less likely to see them fail.

If you follow the instructions you will get ok beer. And if you can get ok drinkable beer on your first brew, that's awesome! Welcome to the hobby. On the second batch you will have a better idea on how things work and you may want to change up the process a bit (ie throw away the instructions) and it's possible to get far better tasting beer as a result. But your job now is to successfully complete your first batch and not get confused by all the different ways of making beer.

In addition to following their instructions I would add these points...

1. Coopers say the fermentation temperature range should be 21-27c / 70-80f. They also say to stick to the lower end of that. What they don't say is that it's ok if you drop a few degrees below 21c / 70f - in fact it's better if you ferment at 18c / 65f. If you ferment too high you can get some funny flavours so keep an eye on your thermometer and keep it at the lower end of the range that Coopers suggests, and a bit lower is ok too.

2. With these kits they are trying to market quick turnaround because normally new brewers want to taste their brew as soon as possible and 1 week sounds pretty good. But as others have said you should really be leaving the beer for 2-3 weeks for best results. There are some risks with bottling too soon (ie exploding bottles if you bottle too early) and the taste of the beer will only improve the longer you leave it. I would strongly recommend planning for 2 weeks for your first brew - I aim for 3 weeks personally, but I totally understand that on your first brew the waiting is the hardest part so this is why I suggest 2 weeks.

3. You don't need to check the gravity every day. Check it once at the start before you put in the yeast and write it down. You may optionally want to check it again after a perhaps 3-7 days to confirm that the fermentation is going as planned. If you are planning a 2 week fermentation then check the gravity on day 13 and again on day 14. If the day 13 and day 14 readings are the same (they should be) then it's time to bottle the brew, if not you can post here for more advice on what to do.

4. Coopers kits say to add a bag of table sugar or some other product like dextrose / brewing sugar / brew enhancer / dry malt extract etc. Table sugar is cheapest / easiest but if you can get your hands on one of the other options they suggest that will usually make the beer taste better. Dry malt extract is best, and most expensive. Not critical for your first batch, but something to keep in mind.

Good luck!

 

[uptonparkfan]

my next brew what u would advice too use.what best brew that easy and get good beer.

 

[PADave]

my next brew what u would advice too use.what best brew that easy and get good beer.

That's like saying what's the best car that's easy to drive. Every person is going to have a different opinion. Something simple. Just give it time, 7 days is too soon to bottle.

 

[Sadu]

my next brew what u would advice too use.what best brew that easy and get good beer.

I would recommend doing another Coopers kit. On your second brew you want to improve on what you learned in the first brew.

Focus on good sanitation during all brew processes.

Focus on maintaining a consistent fermentation temperature. In a cold climate, use a heat belt on a temperature controller or thermostat. In warm climate put the fermenter in a bucket of water and add ice packs to keep it cool.

If you can nail those 2 things it makes it a lot easier to move to extract or all-grain brewing.

 

[uptonparkfan]

kowtow about using wine fridge