My first brew, a couple of questions

[melykabeer]

Hi home brewers

I just bottled my first batch, i bought a morgans kit, it came with a coopers larger. after 8 days in the fermenter seems like everything went smoothly beer smells and looks good so hopefully 2 weeks time ill be enjoying my first brew. A couple of questions i have from reading other posts on here

Firstly i monitored the temp in the fermenter from what i have gathered most people keep the temp around 18'c, mine was sitting around 28 for the week on the last 2 days i threw a wet towl over it cooling it to 26, is it ok to brew at this higher temp or will i need to invest in an old fridge or something? Where i live is very host ambient air temps hit 30+ most days.

I have seen lots of posts refering to racking? whats this about and secondary stage? is that just bottling it? I have read a few guides none mention this.

lastly i used morgans carbonated drops 2 for each bottle after lidding them do i need to turn them upside down and back up over the next 2 weeks or are they fine just letting them sit?

thanks in advance for the help

[Kevnlis]

First, welcome to the forum.

The temps are quite high, next brew keep a couple wet towels over the fermentor, a constant temp is more important and that will help with both.

Racking to secondary can be useful but no reason to worry about it right now. It helps most in lagers where certain biproducts of the yeast and fermentation cycle are not desired so the yeast are left to "clean up" these things. It can also be used in ales to help clear the brew etc.

The drops will be fine if you just leave them. You can upend the bottles a couple times to help speed things along if you are keen to get drinking. At those sort of temps you should be good to start after 1-2 weeks in the bottle.

[melykabeer]

Thanks Kevnlis

I have purchased another lot of bottles so will start a 2nd brew. Im not sure if i should try another beer of the exact same (a larger) or try an ale from what i have read ale yeasts like higher temps?

[501]

Hey, and Welcome to Brewing and the Forum.

Temperature: that's hot ambient temp where abouts are you ? .

Regarding lager - Are you sure it was a Real lager yeast in your kit ?
refer to discussions here regarding coopers kit yeast etc etc .
coopers kit yeast
Most Coopers or Morgans kits that are called lagers actually contain __Ale Yeast
or a combination of lager / ale yeast.
and most lager yeast dies at 30deg c so it's doubtful that it was pure lager.

Turning bottles: imho thats a waste of time as it also stirs up the sediment meaning more time settling before drinking, just relax and try some at 1-2-3 weeks etc .......


Best Advice read all the stuff on improving kits etc.
Never use normal sugar as some kits say.

[melykabeer]

Im in australia, townsville north qld

Your probably right about the yeasts i pitched at about 29C it went off, after 24hrs it had a huge layer of foam top and was bubbling like mad, it slowed right down on the 3rd day probably due to high temps.

I didnt realize how cheap it is to make your own beer till i was bottling it. $15 for about 2 and a half cartons i think the kit just paid for itself lol.

[warra48]

Your first brew was probably fermented somewhat too warm, and you may, but not necessarily, have some cider like tastes. The best things to do at this early stage in your brewing career is:
1. Forget about brewing lagers until winter, unless you have a brew fridge. Try brewing something like a pale ale.
2. Control your fermentation temperature, down to no more than say 22ºC if you can, although 24ºC is still OK for an ale. There is plenty of information on this site about how to keep your fermenter cool.
3. Read the stickies about basic brewing instructions on this forum.
4. Have fun, enjoy your beer, and learn as you go along.

[melykabeer]

Thanks for the tips. I have been reading this forum all morning now my eyes hurt lol.

I went to woolies and bought a coopers real ale can and 1kg of dextrose. If i were to also add some LME so i put less dextrose in? e.g. 250g of LME and 750G of dex? I will goto the my local HB store to see if they have some decent yeast instead of the kit to try and improve my 2nd brew.

To keep temps down, we have a double tub laundry sink downstairs i have filled the 2nd tub with water will put the fermenter in there and put a wet towl over it, the only problem i see with this is when im ready to bottle it when i move the fermenter to gain access to the tap all the crap on the bottom will mix around and i will get very milky beer, maybe i should move it and let it sit for 24hrs then bottle?

[warra48]

I'd go half and half on the dry LME and Dextrose.
I think you'll find the Coopers yeasts are actually pretty good. No need to waste $4 for another yeast. Maybe spend it instead on some hops to add to your fermenter after 3 or 4 days.

[melykabeer]

I have 1/2kg of dry light malt im about to start the brew but i have 1 quick question. I also got some hops its morgans 'pride of ringwood' i recognized the name reading other threads so i grabed that one. now the instructions say 2 things, 1 to boil it for 30-45mins before adding, the other says put it in a cup of boiling water let it sit for 10min. which one? also the guy at the home brew store said to add it right at the start, im taking info from here and adding when the fermenting slows down 3-4th day. Anyway ill read more threads. man there is lots to learn about brewing

[Trough Lolly]

...now the instructions say 2 things, 1 to boil it for 30-45mins before adding, the other says put it in a cup of boiling water let it sit for 10min. which one?

...the first method will add bitterness to the final product, the second method will add flavouring and aroma to the final product. If you boil them for 30-45 minutes, do so in a solution that has malt extract in it - you should use some malt extract to help "key" in the bittering compounds rather than just boiling in plain water.

So, it depends on whether you want the PoR to add bitterness or flavour/aroma to the beer.

Cheers,
TL

[Kevnlis]

I suggest using POR for mostly bittering as the flavour is not all together pleasing when overpowering.

[melykabeer]

I just finished putting it together, pitched the yeast at 28'C
i like my beer bittery i think ill boil for a few mins then let it sit before chucking it in.

[melykabeer]

i cant keep the damb temps down its been sitting around 26-28 hopefully the malt and hops will make it taste better. I have a free fridge on its way and ordering a fridgemate. Also have a temp sensor coming from the states for my pc to monitor the temps closely and graph it

http://martybugs.net/electronics/tempse ... rdware.cgi

Thanks for the help ill post how the brew tastes in about 2 weeks

[melykabeer]

I tried a bottle after 8 days didnt taste too bad, its now been about 11 days drank another one it tastes damb good no cidery tastes at all, its a little sweet but its definitely good beer

I tasted that 2nd batch from the fermenter it tastes even better cant wait to try it after being bottled for 2 weeks. I dont know why i didnt discover home brewing earlier!

[ryan]

we had a bloke here once who actually snaffled down the whole brew from the fermenter
But probably the less said about that the better

[Trough Lolly]

G'day melykabeer..... I like a beer too!

Anyway, congrats on the successful start - can I suggest that you try to brew your beer at cooler temps - when you brew ales above 26C, you run the big risk of adding solvent like fusels and fruity esters to the finished product and neither of those can be removed over time.

Some brewers in the hot northerly climes actually brew during the winter so they manage to "stock up" and spend their hot summers drinking beer rather than making beer! Here in Canberra, the reverse logic applies (unsurprisingly ) and winter is perfect for brewing cold lagers basically anywhere more than 5 feet away from the heater!!

Cheers,
TL

[melykabeer]

The first batch turned out ok i have polished off about half of it now. I have a 3rd batch in the fermenter now. To combat the high temps where i live i have an old fridge which has turned out perfect ill post some pics. I wired up a fridge mate and put a computer fan up the top of the fridge to circulate the air, the fan runs off a 12v transformer. My next step is to put a simple switch somewhere on the door so when the fridge is opened the fan turns off.

I have also discovered measuring the airtemp over putting the probe in the beer gives a more consistent beer temp. If the probe were in the beer the fridge would switch on when the beer is at 21C and off at 17C (set to 19) so the beer varies 4C whereas when im monitoring the airtemp it switches on and off more often keeping the beer at a more constant temp. I use an infrared temp guage i have checked it every few hrs over the last 48hours its varies between 19.9 - 20.8.

Hope this one turns out good first one in the fridge, its a basic kit, black rock bock with 1kg dex and 250gm of corn syrup.

[TommyH]

I have also discovered measuring the airtemp over putting the probe in the beer gives a more consistent beer temp. If the probe were in the beer the fridge would switch on when the beer is at 21C and off at 17C (set to 19) so the beer varies 4C whereas when im monitoring the airtemp it switches on and off more often keeping the beer at a more constant temp. I use an infrared temp guage i have checked it every few hrs over the last 48hours its varies between 19.9 - 20.8.

The air temp will fluctuate a lot more and a lot quicker that 23l of wort. So perhaps you are needlessly overworking your fridge.
I have my temp probe taped to the outside of the fermenter, covered with a bit of insulating foam. (an old stubbie holder) That way you are getting a better reading or the wort temp and not the air temp. If that makes sense.

[bottle top]

I have also discovered measuring the airtemp over putting the probe in the beer gives a more consistent beer temp. If the probe were in the beer the fridge would switch on when the beer is at 21C and off at 17C (set to 19) so the beer varies 4C whereas when im monitoring the airtemp it switches on and off more often keeping the beer at a more constant temp. I use an infrared temp guage i have checked it every few hrs over the last 48hours its varies between 19.9 - 20.8.

I agree. You preferably don't want the wort temp fluctuating by a couple of degrees. I have the probe in a small glass of water - I figure this provides a bit of thermal inertia so opening the fridge won't affect the measured temp, but no so much that it will follow the wort temp. The only problem with this is if the wort is initially at a high temp, it won't cool as fast as it could, as the cup of water would cool down much faster than the wort.

[melykabeer]

i started finally creating my site tonight, here is what ive come up with so far. just goto the brewery link up the top. http://bsdpages.freehostia.com/

Even better idea about the glass, i actually stuck it in an old milk bottle which works great so far. I received my temp guage from ebay ill be graphing the temps of my brew soon