Newbie Question. I know not another 1

[carlton747]

Anyhow put a double coopers real ale down on Monday in a 50 litre fermenter , 800g of clover honey in it and 1.2kg of normal sugar in it, anyway the original gravity reading was 1050 did another gravity reading thursday and that was 1015 .Did a reading again today Friday its 1010 my question is , the bloody thing has only been in the fermenter for 4 days and I didn't think I would be bottling it untill Sunday would it hurt sitting in the fermenter untill Sunday or will I have to bottle it earlier , bye the way the temp has been 18 to 22 degrees in the fermenter

[billybushcook]

Temp sounds OK for a kit yeast, what yeast are you using?
I wouldn't be bottling it until NEXT Sunday - two weeks in the fermenter as a minimum if sealed & well sanitized.
It gives the yeast a chance to clean up after itself & the beer to settle out & become much clearer.

Mick

[carlton747]

thanks for that info Mick , the yeast was the normal kit variety so I its probably crap yeast my main concern was that I've heard of people leaving their brew in the fermenter for to long and their brew went off .

[earle]

As Mick said two weeks is fine if your santizing is up to scratch, at suitable temps you can leave for longer than that with no ill effects. All my ales are 3 weeks in the fermenter, my lagers are 4 weeks before bottling - no problems. If you've heard of someones brew going off from leaving too long in the fermenter I suspect that they got an infection due to prro technique or the brew sat on yeast at 30 somehting degrees where it will pick up off flavours.

[barrelboy]

Both Mick and Earle are correct, don't rush your bottling, be patient.
Regards bb.
PS. Earle, how's your Belgium brew coming along?

[carlton747]

thanks for for all your advice guys sanitation wise I was completely anal about so I dont think that should be an issue I'll just keep doing the hydrometer readings and see how steady they are over the next couple of days .fingers crossed all turns out well , lucky I did'nt take any notice of the airlock activity cause there hasn'nt been any today . So couldve been going paranoid about that ,but been reading on the forum that airlocks mean bugger all anyway .

[earle]

PS. Earle, how's your Belgium brew coming along?

Has been in the bottle a at least 3 or 4 weeks now. Snuck one last weekend, definitely promosing, lots of good belgian flavours from the yeast. Needs more time of course for the flavours to integrate.

[warra48]

The advice you have about leaving it for at least 2 weeks in the fermenter before bottling is good advice.

My beers are in the fermenter for 3 weeks, sometimes up to 4, with no ill effects at all.

You don't need to keep taking samples, If your brew has gone from 1.050 OG to 1.010 FG, you have achieved 80% apparent attenuation. You will not get a kit yeast to do better than that. Obviously your brew was in good health when it went into your fermenter, and I assume you must have aerated it well to enable your yeast to achieve such a stellar performance. The more samples you draw, the more air you draw into your fermenter, and the more you increase the possibility of infection. Leave well enough alone! Your temperature range of 18 to 22ºC was fine, although closer to 18ºC is ideal. Now that your brew is done, just leave it be at ambient temperature.

Good luck, and enjoy your brewing hobby.

[carlton747]

thanks warra feel alot better now with some sound advice from all the forum members . just a bit toey being the first brew and everything . cheers mate .

[kepal]

thanks for for all your advice guys sanitation wise I was completely anal about so I dont think that should be an issue I'll just keep doing the hydrometer readings and see how steady they are over the next couple of days .fingers crossed all turns out well , lucky I did'nt take any notice of the airlock activity cause there hasn'nt been any today . So couldve been going paranoid about that ,but been reading on the forum that airlocks mean bugger all anyway .

this is all good info for me too, husband is very anal about cleaning everything down to the o rings everytime, so i will be more relaxed about brews staying in fermenter for weeks now. we were quite concerned about the temperature in qld, it seems to make them go faster, so this info is quite good

[kepal]

The advice you have about leaving it for at least 2 weeks in the fermenter before bottling is good advice.

My beers are in the fermenter for 3 weeks, sometimes up to 4, with no ill effects at all.

You don't need to keep taking samples, If your brew has gone from 1.050 OG to 1.010 FG, you have achieved 80% apparent attenuation. You will not get a kit yeast to do better than that. Obviously your brew was in good health when it went into your fermenter, and I assume you must have aerated it well to enable your yeast to achieve such a stellar performance. The more samples you draw, the more air you draw into your fermenter, and the more you increase the possibility of infection. Leave well enough alone! Your temperature range of 18 to 22ºC was fine, although closer to 18ºC is ideal. Now that your brew is done, just leave it be at ambient temperature.

Good luck, and enjoy your brewing hobby.

reading more about temps lately, how bout temp range of 22-28, thats what we are getting atm

[rotten]

reading more about temps lately, how bout temp range of 22-28, thats what we are getting atm

22 should be the max temp, unless the style calls for a higher ferment temp. 28 may give you undesireable flavours.

[carlton747]

hi Kepal I live in Tassie so I dont of sort of know about your sitiuation , but I think summer has finnished here , thats if it ever started lol ,anyway I bought 1 of those submersable heaters (the fish tank variety) with a temp contoler on it , cut a long story short it may be dodgy but bought it from a reputable home brew shop , in Launceston let it sit in water for an 4 hours when I got just to test it( I did Plug It IN) . When I got a couple temp readings initially it was 28 and 32 degrees so turned it back to between 18 & 22 degrees so who know s time will tell , good with your weather up there fingers crossed....

[warra48]

reading more about temps lately, how bout temp range of 22-28, thats what we are getting atm

Up to 28 is not desirable, no matter what the kit etc instructions will tell you.
You are guaranteed to have a quick fermentation, and it will ensure it takes off in a hurry, but that's not necessarily a good thing.
The warmer you ferment, the more undesirable fusels, esters and flavours you will produce.

Controlling your fermentation temperature at a stable 18 to 20ºC for ales is one of the best ways of improving the quality of your beer. Lagers I ferment at 9 to 10ºC.

I use a TempMate (from CraftBrewer) on my beer fridge, but there are other ways of controlling it if you cannot use a fridge. Even a dead roadside pick up fridge, where you cool it down with a couple of frozen softdrink bottles changed once a day will work.

[barrelboy]

Morning Kepal, with regards to temp control have a look at the thread "fermenting time". Until I settle on an alternative method I use the laundry sink......
Regards bb