Where did i go wrong?

[Arthurrockz]

Hey guys, i just started making my very first home-brew, however, i have had a little problem and i don't know where i went wrong. i was wondering if you guys could help me out a bit?

I bought a Coopers Canadian Blonde lager kit
This is what i did
1)First i cleaned all the equipment and sterilised it
2)dissolved the contents of my can with fermentable sugars and 2 litres of boiling water
3)topped up with water so its 23 litres and was around 21-27 degrees C

I then let it ferment for around 10 days, i went and spoke to my local home-brew shop and he told me to do it differently from the instructions in the pack. He told me to add 50g sugar and finning's and then put into a secondary fermentor. its been in there for about 2 weeks and when i got it out it smells like beer but it looks like weak orange juice and has not carbonated.

Would very much appreciate if someone could tell me where i have gone wrong?

Thanks
Arthur

 

[Stout-n-Braggot]

To carbonate your beer you'll need to add more sugar and then immediately siphon into bottles and let them sit for a few weeks at or just below 70 degrees, then chill them and start drinking.
If you added the fermentables called for in the recipe as well as what your supplier told you to do then your beer might come out a bit stronger and thinner than desired, but not necessarily. Finings are pretty unnecessary in a kit beer, but they do little harm, although thay might have caused yeast to fall out of solution (depending on what finings were used) necessitating a repitch for carbonation.
bottle up your beer and text it at the end of the month!

 

[Arthurrockz]

Thank you very much. So i'll add sugar (how much would you recommend for a 5 gallon brew?) then i will siphon and bottle then leave for a few weeks. and the sugar should make it carbonate in the bottle, right?
The finings used where 'kwik clear wine and beer finings'
thanks for the help, i thought my brewing career was be coming to an end already! aha

 

[Jaybird]

Thank you very much. So i'll add sugar (how much would you recommend for a 5 gallon brew?) then i will siphon and bottle then leave for a few weeks. and the sugar should make it carbonate in the bottle, right?
The finings used where 'kwik clear wine and beer finings'
thanks for the help, i thought my brewing career was be coming to an end already! aha

5 oz of priming sugar in a 5 gallon batch. Or 3/4 of a cup if you dont have a scale.

Yes the sugar is going to feed the yeast enough for them to create Co2. That Co2 is trapped in the bottle and will get forced into the beer, thus carbonating it. If done right you will have carbonated beer in about 3 weeks. Chill for 24-48 hours and serve.

Cheers
Jay

 

[Arthurrockz]

Thanks for the help, this website is a life saver!

Arthur

 

[BeerEagle]

Hi Arthur, take care..

When discussing measures on this board, we usually refer to US measures and a US gallon is about 4/5 of a UK gallon.

Your finings won't hurt but aren't really necessary for the Coopers kits or any pre-hopped extract kit.

I made one of their Canadian lagers about 4 months ago for a party. I left it in the primary until fermentation was complete and the beer was clearing. (Most people here don't bother with the secondary unless they are adding fruits, dry-hopping etc.)

Then bottled straight from the primary using one Coopers Carbonation Drop per 500ml bottle (These are just pre-measured tablets of brewing sugar). This makes life very easy and the product was great.

Have a look at Coopers website - loads of useful info an videos on how to use their kits at http://www.diybeer.com.au/

Also have a look at Youtube and search on Craigtube, who does a useful video on bottling the Coopers Lager at http://youtu.be/7-RuqiZdpuI

 

[wyzazz]

Also have a look at Youtube and search on Craigtube, who does a useful video on bottling the Coopers Lager at http://youtu.be/7-RuqiZdpuI

I'd suggest reading up on Howtobrew.com it's a great reference/resource for beginners and advanced brewers alike. It's a bit outdated but there are more recent editions in print.

While Craigtube loves his beer and I applaud him for putting his processes out there, his practices are not really conducive to making your beer the best it can be. There are tons of stickies on this site and much better resources that can guide you along your way. If you don't already have one, pick up a bottling bucket and check out the bottling sticky at some point. It will really help you to streamline your process a bit.

 

[unionrdr]

I just bulk primed for the 1st time the other day. I used brewheads.com's priming calculator. It said for my 6G (23L) batch with granulated sugar,to use 4.55oz. Then it goes on to talk of "by weight" measurement,which I don't have a scale for yet. But that,in a pinch,3/4C =about 4oz.? So,I broke out my 1C measure,dumped in the 1oz of Dex I had left,topped off with granulated sugar to 1C even. I figured that'd be close. Dumped that into 2C of steaming water & stirred to dissolve.
I'm wondering now,which measurement is right? Is 3/4C 4oz or 5oz? We had a mishap with the priming solution I made up with my wife's 5oz bag of dextrose from her BB kit. It was covered on the counter cooling,older son sees it,adds more water,& makes rice he didn't even eat. Geez,I wonder why?!
So I had to use my 6oz bag of dextrose intended for my pale ale,divided into 6 parts with a sharpie to get the 5oz for her 5G batch.
Brewheads priming calculator said the 4.55oz would give me the 2.3 atmospheres I plugged into it.?

 

[wyzazz]

Table sugar primes differently than dextrose, check out this calculator.

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

 

[unionrdr]

It says for the 2.3 atmospheres I used in the 1st one,that 4.6oz is required,so I'm right in there,since I also added an ounce of dextrose I had left. So,for my pale ale,2.26A is the low end of the BJCP guidelines,& I did 2.3A. I should be ok,thanx for the calculator. Kinda like a second opinion. If I could have used the whole 6oz bag I had,it would have been on the high side of "middle of the road" for the BJCP guidelines.

 

[Arthurrockz]

Hey guys, thanks for the help. I was wondering if the fermentation has become stuck, how would i find out if it is stuck or not?

Arthur