Newbie Question...please be nice!

by **plaka** » Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 6:53 pm

Hey everyone,

Right, so, I bought my first homebrew kit from Brewcraft in WA the other week, just the basic kit.
anyway it came with a Cascade Golden Lager so I proceeded to knock this one up on the 11th October.
I was pretty meticulous with my sanitising and having everything clean and in good order....I'm a bit of neat freak.

Everything was put together nicely and my beer was left to ferment under the stairs at my house at between 18 - 20 degrees. OG was 1040
For the first 5-7 days i basically saw nothing happen, no airlock activity, nothing on top of the brew.
then gradually saw some little white bubbles appear on top on the brew and then a nice looking foam.
its now 13 days since i started and have just taken a hydrometer reading which reads 1026....

Basically im just wondering if im still on the right track, or should i be concerned with the length of time its taking.
its smelling and tasting like beer, so i spose thats a good thing haha

At this rate it wont be down to around 1006 for another 2 weeks!

Any thoughts, opinions and ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

by **emnpaul** » Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 7:15 pm

G'day Plaka and welcome to the forum mate.

I'm not 100% sure if the Cascade Golden Lager comes with a lager yeast but I suspect that it does, if that makes any sense. This would account for the restrained foam on top of the brew (commonly referred to as Krausen but as you are new I'll call it foam for now). Another factor is that the kit yeasts are often not the recommended quantity and can take some time to get going, particularly if they have been sitting around on a shelf for a few months or more. Don't be afraid to grap a pack of US05 or similar. The aftermarket yeasts are generally pretty good and come in larger packs. Your LHBS should be able to advise and steer you towards the right one for your application.

I would say that now it's gotten going you are indeed on the right track and don't worry, once the yeast get to action stations it shouldn't take long to reach final gravity (F.G.). Usually around five days for a kit and kilo ale seven to eight for lagers, although this is subject to quite a bit of variance. Don't trust the airlock as ameans of determining if your brew is fermenting, it's only there to provide reassuring noises for new brewers. lager yeasts, which I think yours is, don't tend to foam much either so even visuals can be a bit misleading. Wait another five days or so and then take another hydro reading. It should be around 1.008 +/- 0.004 depending on your recipe.

Whatever happens, don't worry. And DON'T keep taking the lid off to check, like many new brewers. It's tempting, but just don't!

P.S. If you haven't lurked around the site and done some reading then this thread is well worth a read. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1966

by **jello** » Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 7:32 pm

Welcome to the wonderful world of making your own beer, plaka!

Solid advice there from emnpaul. Seems like your brew is coming a long just nicely. Patience is a virtue when it comes to brewing.

A lot of the brewers here don't even use airlocks & lids. They just chuck a piece of plastic wrap over the lid with some rubber band so they can see what's going on. My brews go into a fermenting fridge and aren't thought of again for two weeks

Your temperature isn't too bad. Is it constant? You might struggle to keep a good temperature once summer gets into full swing.

Happy brewing!

by **bullfrog** » Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 8:22 pm

Welcome to the obsession!

I think that the 1.006 you're chasing may be a bit optimistic; I never had a kit and kilo beer drop below 1.010. That being said, 1.026 is still a ways off from where you want to be. The fact that you've seen the yeast start to do it's thing is definitely a plus, though, and you shouldn't be too far off from bottling now.

Also, don't be afraid of leaving your brew in the fermenter for a number of weeks. When I started brewing, I was always anxious to bottle as soon as I thought I'd hit FG (probably from reading about autolysis) but leaving it alone for a longer period of time can allow the yeast to clean up after itself and let the sediment floc out more effectively, leaving you with a cleaner and clearer beer going into your bottles.

by **plaka** » Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 10:02 pm

Thanks guys you've put my mind at ease now! and have some very handy tips

The temperature is very constant as ive got its under our stairs so its like a concrete bunker, no light can get in and its always cool no matter what time of the year.
Yea im pretty sure it was just a kit yeast, so sounds like i will need to get some US05 from now on
I was just going for the 1.006 as thats what it says on the instructions, but hopefully i should see some movement downwards in the next couple of days or so.
it doesnt hurt to keep taking readings does it? apart from the fact im wasting precious beer!

Thanks again guys, you will probably see me lurking around the forum quite a bit now!

Cheers

by **earle** » Thursday Oct 27, 2011 8:42 am

The yeast that comes with those Cascade kits is notoriously slow, which can be a good thing, but because of that it gets a bad wrap when it doesn't ferment out as fast as a coopers yeast. I don't think its actually a lager yeast though. It does keep plugging away but if you're worried there's no harm in adding a pack of US-05 as suggested in the previous posts.

by **bearbrother** » Saturday Nov 05, 2011 7:09 pm

use US05 as single strain
dont add it with the other yeast supplied
if you are tring to get consistent results

as a side comment it would be a worry if the lag time from pitching to active fermentation was longer than 24 hours

by **Bum** » Saturday Nov 05, 2011 7:16 pm

bearbrother wrote:use US05 as single strain
as a side comment it would be a worry if the lag time from pitching to active fermentation was longer than 24 hours

It clearly isn't ideal but it is extremely common with kit yeats - so common that to try to worry a new brewer about it is bordering on irresponsible.

by **earle** » Sunday Nov 06, 2011 8:10 am

bearbrother wrote:use US05 as single strain
dont add it with the other yeast supplied
if you are tring to get consistent results

as a side comment it would be a worry if the lag time from pitching to active fermentation was longer than 24 hours

How would you use suggest the OP remove the cascade yeast that he has already pitched?

by **bullfrog** » Sunday Nov 06, 2011 11:33 am

earle wrote:
bearbrother wrote:use US05 as single strain
dont add it with the other yeast supplied
if you are tring to get consistent results

as a side comment it would be a worry if the lag time from pitching to active fermentation was longer than 24 hours

How would you use suggest the OP remove the cascade yeast that he has already pitched?

Doesn't everyone have a 400L centrifuge??