Basic brewing instructions

[Kevnlis]

Yes the dish washing powder is mostly the same as the alkaline salts. I use a cheap Aldi brand that does not contain a rinse aid and have no problems getting head

[matr]

Going back to the start - "Making the Brew"

When adding DME's is there any special way to do it? Just that last time when doing my mix most of the DME disolved but some of it stuck together in chunks (kind of like honeycomb).

I just kept mixing until most was disolved and assumed it would all disolve over the next few hours.

Is this ok or do I need to use a different process?

Cheers, Mat.

[Kevnlis]

I always put the DME into cold water in a small saucepan on the stove, I cover it with water and slowly heat and stir constantly until it all dissolves.

[matr]

Thanks mate, I'll try that next time.

Cheers, Mat.

[Boonie]

Another method that works for me is add the LDM to a dried and clean saucepan/pot.

Boil the kettle (full) and pour over the malt. I get a couple of chunks at worst, then heat on stove.

1 other point, watch it carefully, if you heat it too quickly you will get a quick boilover and what a mess it makes.

Cheers

Boonie

[drsmurto]

+1 for Boonies method, its how i make my yeast starter solutions.

[matr]

Well I got impatient last night and decided to try a bottle from my first brew (Cooper's Lager which came with the kit). It's only been in the bottle 5 days but I thought what the hell....

Suprisingly it tasted pretty good..Better than a VB but that's not hard. And I didn't even vomit, gag or crap my pants.. so I must be doing something right

Anyway, The sediment in the bottom is white / grey in colour. Is this normal? It's just that the sediment in Coopers is a brown colour.

Is this due to the age of the beer?

Cheers, Mat.

[Kevnlis]

The sediment in the bottom is white / grey in colour. Is this normal? It's just that the sediment in Coopers is a brown colour.

Is this due to the age of the beer?

Cheers, Mat.

What you are seeing in the bottom of the bottle is live yeast. The Coopers yeast has been in the bottle for at least a month before you see it, so will mostly be dead.

[randb]

The best thing I ever did was ditch the lid, airlock and grommet. Just cover the top of the fermenter with gladwrap and an elastic band to hold in place. Got this tip from some book and have never looked back.

Do you put a pin prick in the top of the gladwrap to allow gas to escape ???

[FazerPete]

I use gladwrap too and I never bother with a pin prick. The gas finds it's own way out.

[warra48]

No need to put a pin hole in the gladwrap.
The rubber band does not give you a hermetic seal, and the gas will find its own way out.

[squirt in the turns]

I think I want to ditch the airlock and go with the gladwrap (concerns regarding the noise of the airlock bubbling). Is there more of a risk of infection doing this, especially when fermentation finishes and the positive pressure inside the glad wrap equalises? My fermenter is in the bathroom at the moment, so I guess it stands to reason there's more wild bacteria flying around in there than elsewhere in the house.

[Boonie]

I think I want to ditch the airlock and go with the gladwrap (concerns regarding the noise of the airlock bubbling). Is there more of a risk of infection doing this, especially when fermentation finishes and the positive pressure inside the glad wrap equalises? My fermenter is in the bathroom at the moment, so I guess it stands to reason there's more wild bacteria flying around in there than elsewhere in the house.

I wouldn't brew in the bathroom......do you have a laundry.

In regards to the airlock, you can get a 2 Part Airlock from Big W, Brigalow I think, and they are pretty quiet.

I tried Gladwrap and did not like it, nothing wrong with it as it works fine, just not my thing.

Cheers

Boonie

[Biernut]

I agree with you there Boonie ditching the hard top,seal and airlock seems to be a retrograde step. I have a dedicated corner in my workshop where all the action happens so noise from a vigorous fermentation isn't a problem. Years ago I had the fermenter's in the kitchen and there were times in the night I would wake up and hear them burping away. The gladwrap method would take care of that if it was a problem. We have a young very curious Maine Coon cat, and with gladwrap she would end up in the fermenter for sure.

Cheers.

[chadjaja]

In regards to the airlock, you can get a 2 Part Airlock from Big W, Brigalow I think, and they are pretty quiet.

I got one of those but the stem of it is too thick to fit the whole in the lid with the grommet. I think they only fit the brigalow kit lids?

I've done the glad wrap thing but I actually like the bubble sound

[squirt in the turns]

I wouldn't brew in the bathroom......do you have a laundry.

In regards to the airlock, you can get a 2 Part Airlock from Big W, Brigalow I think, and they are pretty quiet.
Boonie

Yeah, I would like not to have to brew in the bathroom. The spot the fermenter was previously in is now occupied by a fridge (unfortunately not exclusively a beer fridge, and I can't put the fermenter in it - good though, as before there was only 1 fridge/freezer between 5 housemates!)

The laundry is a maybe, but space is an issue and I want to be able to ice-bath the fermenter, so I'll have to go get a big bucket or something.

Years ago I had the fermenter's in the kitchen and there were times in the night I would wake up and hear them burping away. The gladwrap method would take care of that if it was a problem. We have a young very curious Maine Coon cat, and with gladwrap she would end up in the fermenter for sure.

Our bathroom has a double entrance, one door opening straight into my housemate's room - hence the noise concern while fermenting in there. Actually, moving the thing would solve all my problems

I was thinking I'd leave the lid on, just without the airlock and gladwrap + rubber band over the top of that. That way there's still a hard lid to provide protection (in our case from a boisterous staffordshire terrier).

[Boonie]

In regards to the airlock, you can get a 2 Part Airlock from Big W, Brigalow I think, and they are pretty quiet.

I got one of those but the stem of it is too thick to fit the whole in the lid with the grommet. I think they only fit the brigalow kit lids?

Push harder.....

All of my grommets are stretched out, spot for a rude pun there, but if you wet the grommet and the airlock, you will find it slides in eventually............man that sounds rude .

I have three different sizes of airlocks and specific kegs they go to, but when I purchased new grommets the Brigalows did not fit for ages.

Cheers

Boonie

[Bubble]

When doing a brew, and you reach the bottling stage and you do find it to be bad smelling or just 'off', do you still bottle and hope or what? Also is it still drinkable, what i mean is whats the worst that could happen - the shits maybe?

[warra48]

When doing a brew, and you reach the bottling stage and you do find it to be bad smelling or just 'off', do you still bottle and hope or what? Also is it still drinkable, what i mean is whats the worst that could happen - the shits maybe?

Depends what the smell is like. Different yeasts can give off rather unpleasant aromas during fermentation, such as sulphur (think of a thick fart) etc, so I wouldn't be put off by that. I normally give my brews at least 2 weeks in primary, and up to 4 weeks, before bottling. Time gives the yeast an opportunity to clean up fermentation by-products, and will also often remove objectionable aromas, such as a sulphur smell. Even when bottled, it often still cleans up.

I'd go for bottling it. Why chuck a brew when it may turn out well after sufficient time in primary and bottle?

The beer will not kill you, even if it is infected. Remember there are some styles of beer which deliberately use what are effectively infections (such as Lambics, Berliner Weisse etc)), and people survive very nicely after consuming those. An infection shouldn't give you "shite" symptoms.

[Bubble]

You da man, man.