ready to bottle?

[will4009]

hello

i have been brewing my first batch of beer, a coopers larger kit. i am now not sure if i am ready to bottle. my brew has been going for about 6 days and now there are no bubbles coming out the air lock. i toook a gravity reading last night of 1011. this is the first reading that i have done (forgot to buy one so i didnt take a reading right at the start). also, my lid on my fermentor developed an air leak on about day 3, and it took me 24 hours to locate the problem and fix it. will this have had any negative effects on my beer. it looked ok and smelled ok when i took some out for my gravity reading.

thanks

 

[Yooper]

hello

i have been brewing my first batch of beer, a coopers larger kit. i am now not sure if i am ready to bottle. my brew has been going for about 6 days and now there are no bubbles coming out the air lock. i toook a gravity reading last night of 1011. this is the first reading that i have done (forgot to buy one so i didnt take a reading right at the start). also, my lid on my fermentor developed an air leak on about day 3, and it took me 24 hours to locate the problem and fix it. will this have had any negative effects on my beer. it looked ok and smelled ok when i took some out for my gravity reading.

thanks

Sounds like every thing is going along fine! You can bottle any time that your gravity reading is stable over three days. So, take another gravity reading in 2 more days, and if it's still 1.011, it's safe to bottle.

That said, the beer will improve if allowed to sit at least another week or so before bottling. Some of the suspended yeast and proteins will settle to the bottom, giving you a "cleaner" and clearer beer, both in appearance and taste.

 

[breez7]

I wouldn't worry about the air leak, you prob had fermentation still going on pushing co2 out so nothing could get in. If it has only been six days since brew day I would wait about another 2 weeks, especially with a lager. This will allow the yeast to clean up the bi-products they made during fermentation and it will give your beer some time to clear up. Congrats, you have made beer!

 

[Bacchus]

hello

i have been brewing my first batch of beer, a coopers larger kit. i am now not sure if i am ready to bottle. my brew has been going for about 6 days and now there are no bubbles coming out the air lock. i toook a gravity reading last night of 1011. this is the first reading that i have done (forgot to buy one so i didnt take a reading right at the start). also, my lid on my fermentor developed an air leak on about day 3, and it took me 24 hours to locate the problem and fix it. will this have had any negative effects on my beer. it looked ok and smelled ok when i took some out for my gravity reading.

thanks

My Coopers fermenter started leaking CO2 on the second batch. They're great fermenters but they are notorious for leaking. Don't worry about it. After you brew a while you'll realize that the airlock is pretty much worthless anyway. It's fun to watch but really doesn't tell you much about your beer. I just keep a piece of scotch tape over the hole.

As a general rule, Coopers kits are ready to bottle at ten to fourteen days. They're typically done after about five days but it's good to give them that extra time in order to allow them to clarify a bit. Allow that yeast cake to get a little more compacted since you're bottling from the primary. But that's just my opinion.

 

[will4009]

thanks for the replys, i hadn't thought about the possibility of leaving it for another week. i take it this would be ok even though for a time my fermenter wasnt air tight. i only ask as i wasnt sure if i should get it in to bottles as soon as possible because of the air leak. on the kit it says only to leave it for a week and then bottle, but if it will taste better if i leave it for another week, i shall do so. thanks again.

 

[osagedr]

Ideally you should bottle by day 7 after you start and have the batch completely drunk by day 14. If it's not fully carbed by day 10 you should start a thread asking what might be wrong. Be sure to refer to airlock bubble counts at some point in the thread. And also ensure you put "ATTENTION: REVVY" in the thread title.

 

[Yooper]

Ideally you should bottle by day 7 after you start and have the batch completely drunk by day 14. If it's not fully carbed by day 10 you should start a thread asking what might be wrong. Be sure to refer to airlock bubble counts at some point in the thread. And also ensure you put "ATTENTION: REVVY" in the thread title.

Of course, you don't "know" us here yet! He's good naturedly referring to a problem many new brewers have had- following the directions on the kit to bottle after just a week and bottling right away, expecting the beer to be fully drinkable in the timeline the kits say.

Bottling after 2-3 weeks really makes a better product, and then allowing the beer to sit in the bottles for 3 weeks at room temperature makes the carbonation better and the beer better tasting, too. Many new brewers are eager (well, so are some of us "old timers", too!) and are worried when their beer isn't perfect after following the kit instructions.

We've all been there! Watching it ferment, looking at the airlock bubbles, etc, are fun things to do. But it can make you worry if you don't see anything happening!

 

[will4009]

Ideally you should bottle by day 7 after you start and have the batch completely drunk by day 14. If it's not fully carbed by day 10 you should start a thread asking what might be wrong. Be sure to refer to airlock bubble counts at some point in the thread. And also ensure you put "ATTENTION: REVVY" in the thread title.

i am new to this so i am sorry if i have to ask questions. i am not impatient to bottle/drink my beer, i just have been following the instructionns that i was provided with in my kit, and now i have had some great help and advice off people who dont mind showing someone who hasnt done this before what to do and how i can make my beer taste better, advice which i will follow. if i ever need pointless and unhelpful information i will contact you first.

thanks to all those that have helped me out with my first brew!