Day 3 - Is this right?

[DzRBenson]

Hi All,

I am now on day 3 of my first ever homebrew using the coppers DIY kit and removed the collar as the DVD says, but just curious to see if this is what the beer was supposed to look like on day 3? Cheers

[warra48]

Looks nor normal to me.

Now, put the lid back on, and don't touch it for at least another week.You don't want infections to take hold, or allow wild yeasts into your brew.
Just allow the yeasties to do their thing until they're done. They prefer to operate as shy little creatures, generally with as little interference as possible.
After about 2 weeks, take a hydro sample. If it's within the predicted range, leave it for another 2 days. Take another reading, and if it's still the same, you're OK to bottle it.

PS: First time I've seen what the new Coopers fermenting buckets look like.

[Oliver]

+1. Looks fine to me. The brown stuff is just yeast that's risen to the surface as it works its magic. Leave it alone and over the next few days most of it will drop to the bottom of the fermenter as the fermentation slows and finishes. The bubbles are CO2 created by the yeast coming to the surface.

A good rule of thumb for the beginner homebrewer is that if you're worring it's probably unnecessarily

Cheers,

Oliver

[Bum]

Now, put the lid back on, and don't touch it for at least another week.

I've got bad news for you, Warra. This new design fermenter has an internal "krausen collar" - which is a 3rd piece that sits inside the top half of the drum which makes cleaning the krausen scum easier. If early reports are to be believed, the instructions tell us to remove it during active fermentation.

This has nightmare written all over it.

But yeah, it looks all fine to me too, D.

[Oliver]

This new design fermenter has an internal "krausen collar" - which is a 3rd piece that sits inside the top half of the drum which makes cleaning the krausen scum easier. If early reports are to be believed, the instructions tell us to remove it during active fermentation.

Oh, dear.

I had a quick look on the Coopers site and can't find any information about the new design. The brewing documentation is all the old design.

Is it really to make cleaning easier. How hard is it to clean a fermenter anyway?

Oliver

[Bum]

Is it really to make cleaning easier.

That's what I've heard but since DzR is the proud owner of one he's probably better placed than I to relay the reasons given.

Forgot to say, DzR, welcome to the board and the obsession. Try not to worry too much about the doom and gloom above - your beer will turn out fine. If you make sure you don't leave the lid off for long when you take the collar out (as I'm sure they advise in the DVD) you'll most likely have nothing to worry about.

[DzRBenson]

They don't actually say how long to leave it off etc,

I guess for mine it was off for about 30secs to 1min, hopefully that will not spoil in that time. What is the max it could be left off without anything bad happening?

Thanks for the advice

[Bum]

Too many ifs and buts required to answer that one (and even then the answer couldn't be definitive). The default answer is usually "just leave the lid on unless you have a bloody good reason to be taking it off and understand the risks involved" but this new fermenter design really throws that answer up in the air a bit. I guess the concern here (my concern, anyway) is that people who might not know the risks are being told to take the lid off.

Beer can become infected and exposing it to the elements is one way to increase the chances of that happening but in the average experience you would be really unlucky to cop an infection with the sort of exposure you're talking about here.

Don't stress about it though - everything looks good in your pictures (many infections have visible signs) and there's no reason to think it'll turn to pus just yet.

[rotten]

Welcome aboard DzR.
I won't swamp you with info except

Relax Have Another Home Brew
RHAHB

Can you stretch glad wrap over the top of that fermentor?

[earle]

This new design fermenter has an internal "krausen collar" - which is a 3rd piece that sits inside the top half of the drum which makes cleaning the krausen scum easier. If early reports are to be believed, the instructions tell us to remove it during active fermentation.

Oh, dear.

I had a quick look on the Coopers site and can't find any information about the new design. The brewing documentation is all the old design.

Is it really to make cleaning easier. How hard is it to clean a fermenter anyway?

Oliver

Discussion about the new fermenter on the coopers forum http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-g ... t=2236&p=4

[Oliver]

Thanks for the link, Earl.

I had a read of the thread but I still can't quite see the point of the "Krausen Kollar" (why, oh, why the K in Kollar???). The whole thing seems like a bit of a gimmick to me. But I'm sure they know what they're doing ...

I hadn't been to the new Coopers forum. That colour scheme is terrible. How hard is it to see where one post ends and the next one starts?

I think I got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning

Cheers,

Oliver

[earle]

From the thread it seems they spent quite a bit of time researching ways to contain a raging mega-krausen. I'm not quite sure if it really is such a priority and yes it does seem like a bit of a gimmick to me as well. Maybe they have had feedback/complaints??

When I had no temp control I did get some hard to get off krausen rings but since I've had the ferment fridge no real problems.

I'm also of the "leave the lid (cling wrap) on unless absolutely necessary" persuasion.

[SuperBroo]

Welcome aboard DzR.

I find that different strains of yeast seem to leave a softer or harder krausen scum on the side.
I always ferment at or below 20 degrees.

Also, leaving the wort in the fermenter for longer periods allows the scum to dry out more (a bit like a lawyer getting out of the bath)

I saw somewhere on one of these forums a good tip : Use a rag and the yeast in the bottom of the fermenter to get rid of the heavier scum (a bit like shooting a fat lawyer )
Yeast is abrasive and makes it easy to remove the stubborn scum.

Cheers,
Grog

[warra48]

I saw somewhere on one of these forums a good tip : Use a rag and the yeast in the bottom of the fermenter to get rid of the heavier scum (a bit like shooting a fat lawyer )
Yeast is abrasive and makes it easy to remove the stubborn scum.

Cheers,
Grog

That tip came from DrSmurto.