Pics of my first brew(after adding yeast)

[Kiwi_brewer]

Hey everyone just thought i'd show some photo's of my little beer kit, i do have a question though, about 10 minutes ago from now i just finished adding yeast to the malt extract/brewing sugar/water(23ltrs) and the temp is sitting at 28C, i understand that it should be between 21-27C, so for now is the temp ok at 28C?

also the water in the air lock is slightly uneven, will that affect anything anyway?

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

sorry the images are so large, how do i make them smaller?

 

[fat x nub]

yeah those are big but w/e....looks good man. yeah it should be fine at 28 degrees...just drop the air conditioning down a couple degrees to be safe

 

[The Mad Hatter]

The unevan water in the airlock is because the is pressure building in the fermenter. Once it builds enough, it will bubble. Where is the little red lid for the airlock?

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

oh!, my kit didnt come with a air lock lid, it needs to be sealed off?

also in regards to keeping the temperature right, is it a good idea to wrap say an electric blanket(single) around the fermenting barrel and keep the switch to low? (theres no water on or around the barrel, i made sure of that)

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

oh DAMN! i forgot to take the SG before adding the yeast too! bugger...

 

[TheFlatline]

oh DAMN! i forgot to take the SG before adding the yeast too! bugger...

You can guesstimate your OG depending on the brew style, or if you download a program like beersmith, it'll give you an estimated OG. I found the difference tonight between my predicted and actual OG was one thousandths of a point (1.044 predicted, 1.045 actual). It kind of defeats the purpose of taking an OG reading though.

 

[PeteOz77]

you have put your sediment reducer on the wrong end of your spigot. It's supposed to go inside the fermenter, witht he little slot facing up, so all liquid leaving teh fermenter comes from above the sediement. You will be fine without it, but it's not going to do anything where it is, other than stop anything from coming out.

You still can check the OG now, just sanitise your hydrometer, and check it in the bucket. There is nothing wrong with checking SG at any point, but if you don't check it soon, you won't know whtat your OG was.

You don't need a cover for the airlock... no one really uses them that I know of.

Next time try to get the temp down to around 23-24 and keep it there... you will probably get some fruity esters happening, but depending on the style of beer, you may not notice.

What did you brew?

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

you have put your sediment reducer on the wrong end of your spigot. It's supposed to go inside the fermenter, witht he little slot facing up, so all liquid leaving teh fermenter comes from above the sediement. You will be fine without it, but it's not going to do anything where it is, other than stop anything from coming out.

oh man thats embarrasing haha,


I'm currently brewing the Coopers Lager(it had come with the kit), once im familiar a bit more with brewing ill try out some different brews

Also the temp is currently 26C on the thermometer strip(green is glowing on 27C while red and blue is not glowing so much, so i take it thats correct)

 

[PeteOz77]

Even though it's a "Lager" kit, it wil be using an "Ale" yeast I am guessing, which means that the temps are fine as far as the yeast is concerned, but it will pick up some fruity esters that aren't really desired in a"lager"

It will taste fine, and you will enjoy it

Stay away from lagers until you get the rest of the process down pat.

Now TRUST me on this one. Brew the Green tins of Cooper's Pale Ale for a while and try adding some boiled hops for more flavour. PM me if you want more specifics. You cannot go wrong with this brew.

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

ah ok, awesome! thanks very much for that, ill try that for my next brew

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

Heres some new shots, some with the hdyrometer, its floating but some froth is in the way, its 1.020 first test will test again tomorrow same time, will test again tomorrow, but the airlock stopped bubbling about lunchtime yesterday, so i take its close to finishing fermenting?

and the ferment looks kinda clouded, im not sure what that means

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

Heres some new shots, some with the hdyrometer, its floating but some froth is in the way, its 1.020 first test, will test again tomorrow, but the airlock stopped bubbling about lunchtime yesterday, so i take its close to finishing fermenting?

and the ferment looks kinda clouded, im not sure what that means

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

sorry for the double post, accident

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

OK, now stop harassing the yeast and just let them work. Personally I use glass carboys so I can be a yeast voyeur without having to open the lid.

 

[TheFlatline]

Looks like your krausen dropped. What's the FG supposed to be on your beer?

If you're patient enough, give it another couple weeks. The beer will clear and clean itself up, resulting in a better beer with a shorter bottling time before the "green" flavor goes away.

 

[PeteOz77]

Patience me boy.. patience

 

[solidghost]

Cooper's Microbrew Kit! I am using one exactly like it! Yes, it doesn't come with a stopper for the airlock.

 

[neilb]

I too use a Coopers kit. Its pretty good (I think) but there are a couple of things about it that can foul you up. The instructions let you believe that 25C is ok....its not. If you can get it to 18C then great. The lid really needs to be tight to get a good enough seal to get the airlock going. You need to really tighten that thing until there is no give left on it. Can be annoying and it might be whats stopped your airlock. However, ignore the airlock. Let it sit and check the hydrometer in a few days. There is no harm in letting it sit for a few days.

I did the "lager" first. The high heat and sugar adjunct made it really cidery. You always learn something from every brewing session and don't worry if yours is like this. It will only get better!

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

well, its been 8 days and the Hydrometer is reading 1.010, today and yesterday(5th, 6th July), ill start bottling tomorrow

 

[GunnerMan]

Id leave it in at least another week. I just brewed my first beer was a simple Muntons Irish Stout and 3 Lbs DME. I tasted it at one week, wasint bad but was def. rough around the edges. At 2 weeks it had really smoothed out a lot. I don't see why bottling it at one week would be a bad thing just take longer in the bottle to mature I think.

 

[paul_h]

Leave the beer alone, longer in the fermenter means the beer will taste better quicker.
If you bottled now, you'd have to age the bottles for a month anyway for them to clear up and mature, so be patient. If you bottled next week or the week after, it may be nicer after only 2-3 weeks in the bottles, bottling early is always bad.
I second brewing coopers australian pale ale, nice coopers kit can, especially with malt, coopers own yeast and some flavour and aroma hops.

 

[DeathBrewer]

leave it another week. you'll be happier with the end result.

 

[Kiwi_brewer]

Well, for the third day the hydrometer read the same(1.010), so i went ahead and bottled it, i admit i cant contain myself, patience i must learn, but i bottled the brew up anyhow, it looked really good, no signs of infection(from my naive point of view) and it smelt bloody tasty, i even tried a little, bitter as hell but tasted very similar(and smelt) to a heinekken, though the place ive stored the bottles is a little cold(15C~ish) will this affect the maturing process at all?

 

[PeteOz77]

Well, for the third day the hydrometer read the same(1.010), so i went ahead and bottled it, i admit i cant contain myself, patience i must learn, but i bottled the brew up anyhow, it looked really good, no signs of infection(from my naive point of view) and it smelt bloody tasty, i even tried a little, bitter as hell but tasted very similar(and smelt) to a heinekken, though the place ive stored the bottles is a little cold(15C~ish) will this affect the maturing process at all?

yep. Room temp (20C) is ,best for conditioning. but it will be fine at 15C, just take 6 weeks,instead of 2