fermenting

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fermenting

Postby Danny » Thursday Jan 12, 2012 2:47 pm

Hi again. My 3rd batch of beer is in the fermenter, making Toohey's Dry Lager. This one didn't foam up like the last 2 batches (they were different beer), but the SG reading is dropping so I assume it must be fermenting hey? Also I can see it slowly releasing bubbles on the surface. Gave it a taste just then when I took my last SG reading and it tastes normal.

We started it on the 09-01-12, SG was 1036. On the 11-01-12 the SG was 1019, and today the 12-01-12 the SG is 1014. Pretty much everything seems fine except it didn't foam up like the last 2 did. I'm thinking it may be something to do with making a "dry" lager. Also this time was the first time we bought our ingredients from the local HB shop instead of kmart. And instead of using Coopers brewing enhancer, we used 500g of malt gear, and 500g of some white gear, not 100% sure wat it's called, but it's what the guy at the HB shop said to use.

Should I be worried?
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Re: fermenting

Postby warra48 » Thursday Jan 12, 2012 3:01 pm

Definitely you should be worried. No brew ever gets made properly unless we agonise over it day and night. So, keep up the anxiety, and if needs be, pop some happy pills.

Now, seriously, do not worry. All is well. You are brewing beer, and it will be fine.

Once you learn to relax, and get over the habit of taking endless SG samples, as there's no need, life will be better. You will learn how long fermentations take, and so long as you can recognise the signs, such as condensation on the lid, kraeusen on top of the brew, brew bubbling etc, you are on the way.

I only ever take 3 samples of my brews. First when I drain my AG mash pre-boil to measure extraction efficiency, second when it hits the fermenter, third when I'm ready to bottle.
If you do kit or extract brews as you do, you only need to do it twice. once when it goes in the fermenter, and once before bottling.

I know all the instructions tell you to check it over 3 consecutive days and to ensure it's stable. However, if you use a good brewing software program, you will know within a point or two where you should end up. If you're within the range, you're good to go. I leave ales to ferment for 2 to 3 weeks before bottling. Lagers I leave for 3 weeks before racking for lagering.

The white stuff the HB shop sold you is probably pure cocaine or smack. Guaranteed to give your brew a real kick along.
Seriously, it most likely is Dextrose, which is fully fermentable like sugar. 50/50 malt and dextrose is a good mix. Less likely, it was maltodextrose, but I doubt it.
Last edited by warra48 on Thursday Jan 12, 2012 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: fermenting

Postby Danny » Thursday Jan 12, 2012 3:13 pm

haha thx for the reply.

So not all beers will foam up then, well that's good news.

At this stage I don't think I wanna leave me beers fermenting in the wort for 2-3 weeks aye. I'm dryin out and need to stock up me fridge pretty quick, just leaving them for 2 weeks in the bottle is gonna be a struggle lol.

I might buy/make another wort so I can try leaving some batches in for a few weeks.

After I bottle the dry lager, I've got a ginger beer kit to go in. I got the kit from the HB shop, and I asked him bout giving it some extra kick, so he gave me 2kg of the white gear/dextrose (with no brown gear). Do I follow the exact same procedure for making the ginger beer as the normal beers?
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Re: fermenting

Postby warra48 » Thursday Jan 12, 2012 3:33 pm

Danny wrote:After I bottle the dry lager, I've got a ginger beer kit to go in. I got the kit from the HB shop, and I asked him bout giving it some extra kick, so he gave me 2kg of the white gear/dextrose (with no brown gear). Do I follow the exact same procedure for making the ginger beer as the normal beers?


I've never brewed a ginger beer, but I believe it's much the same.
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Re: fermenting

Postby Bum » Thursday Jan 12, 2012 4:32 pm

Warra is correct, it is much the same but there is one very important difference - FG will be MUCH lower for a GB. Make sure you don't bottle too early. It is not uncommon for GBs to go under 1000. A low reading for beer (say 1010) can still be quite high for a GB.
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Re: fermenting

Postby Oliver » Friday Jan 13, 2012 8:27 am

Hi Danny,

In relation to the "foaming", you'll find that ale yeasts tend to form a good krausen (or foam) on top of the beer when they are fermenting while lager yeasts tend not to. And even different types of ale or lager yeasts will form different amounts of krausen. Also, temperature affects the rate of fermentation and thus the amount of krausen.

However, just because a kit says it's a lager (like the Tooheys Dry Lager you're brewing) don't assume that it comes with a lager yeast. Many simply come with an ale yeast. I cannot comment on whether the Tooheys kit is one of these.

Cheers,

Oliver
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