First time

[perthite]

G/day to all,
Usually everything i do i somehow stuff it up, so making a brew for the first time does not instill me with confidence, some time ago an old mate i met at a Vietnam Veterans meeting told me how good his home brew was and i got interested, well at a recent garage sale i purchased a plastic beer fermenter, a big spoon and the airlock thingy, off to the shop and got some sugar and some carb soda, to the brew shop and a can of Coopers Lager.
I washed the fermenter, spoon, airlock a jug and other stuff with the carb soda and boiling water, then rinsed with cold water and let dry.
Then dissolved the yeast in warm water, put the sugar into the fermenter added 2 litres of boiling water and stirred like mad
then tipped the can of coopers into the fermenter and stirred like mad again, topped up with 20 litres of cold water then stirred in the yeast, after a couple of hrs i was not sure what was happening so i took the lid off the fermenter and had a look inside couldn't see much so i put the lid back on, that was about 2 pm yesterday, today the whole thing is bubbling like mad and i can see a whiteish foam on the top, temp according to the side stick on thermometer is 22c.
God only knows what this will turn out like,
I didn't take any readings as i don't have the gear ( but now have an idea of what i need)
I don't know how long to leave the brew before bottling
What do you think
regards
george

[drsmurto]

Carb soda? What is that? Bicarbonate of soda?

If so you haven't sanitised anything. You need to use something like the Coopers beer cleaning stuff (used to be sodium metabisulphite but i think it has changed to sodium percarbonate due to the issues with SO2 and asthmatics) or bleach and rinse thoroughly,.

[Bum]

I don't know how long to leave the brew before bottling
What do you think

Hey, George. Welcome to brewing.

The first thing I think is that you get yourself a hydrometer. This is the only thing you should be using as you guide as to when the brew is done fermenting. Don't be tempted to get one of the brigalow ones at Kmart or wherever. They are pretty useless. Grab one from you homebrew shop.

As for when to bottle - you can bottle as soon as your hydrometer is giving you the same reading over 3 consecutive days (as long as it is low enough, of course, 1010 should be the area you'd probably be looking at for this brew, maybe 1012). Some people (like me) like to leave the brew sitting a bit longer than that just to let the yeast clean up after itself a bit and the flavours develop a bit better this way - not essential though and I must say the tin you've picked isn't the best one in Coopers pretty great range so I dunno how much it'd help here.

Also, I know it is hard but try not to pull the lid on and off all the time. The lid has a seal so it can keep crap out of your brew - you don;t need to be oressing your face into it all the time.

Try not to let the temp get any higher than the 22C you have it at now. The higher the ferment temp the worse it will taste (in general terms). Most homebrewers suggest that 18C to 20C yields the best results with kit yeasts - but it does take a little bit longer to ferment out.

Best of luck.

[Oliver]

Hi George,

Welcome. You might also want to read all the sticky topics at the top of the "Making beer" forum, in particular the one about ways to make homebrew better: http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... f=2&t=1966

Don't fret too much if you have used bicarb soda to clean your equipment. Because there's not much you can do about it now You'll have to wait until it's fully fermented and see how it tastes.

If you read this forum you'll see that many, many brewers (mainly beginners) have tipped out their brews and asked questions later. In many cases there was probably nothing wrong with the beer. Don't be one of them

So just be patient and see how it pans out.

Happy brewing.

Cheers,

Oliver

[earle]

If your keen to see what's going on in your fermenter, next time leave the lid and airlock in the cupboard. Cover the fermenter with clingwrap and use the black seal from the fermenter lid to hold it on. I use the wide clingwrap that I got from a catering supplies shop.

[perthite]

Thank you all for your comments i will take all on board, it seems i made a bad mistake as far as the cleaning etc side of things go and at this point i have the urge to tip it all out and start again as i am sure it will be infected.
It appears also that the beer i purchased ( Coopers Lager) is not that good so would someone advise me of what beers are the best for me to try.
Anyway thanks again for your interest

regards
George

[rotten]

That depends on what you like. I'd start with an ale, a lot harder to stuff up. Maybe the Coopers Pale Ale or the Coopers Mexican Cerveza. They ended up being pretty much the only kits I used.
Cheers

[Bum]

It appears also that the beer i purchased ( Coopers Lager) is not that good so would someone advise me of what beers are the best for me to try.

Don't be so hasty. That tin would probably be one of their biggest sellers - I just think they have lots of better offerings. All of the Heritage range is pretty well regarded but some of them will require serious temp control (i.e. keeping the brew below 14C, preferably lower) so do your research first.

[billybushcook]

it seems i made a bad mistake as far as the cleaning etc side of things go and at this point i have the urge to tip it all out and start again as i am sure it will be infected.
George

You may have got away with it - MAYBE.

If not, you will notice a shiny film or skin on the top of the beer, could even see small colonies (furry spots) when it settles down & finishes fermentation.

As for the Coopers Lager, when I was still doing Kits, it was my favourite for many years until they brought out the Pale Ale.
The Lager is probably one of the closest things you will get to popular, mass produced, store bought Aussie beers & a perfect starting point for a new brewer.

Cheers, Mick.

[rotten]

When I said Mexican Cerveza I meant Canadian Blonde. I never got Cerveza tasting right, carbed right etc.
Cheers