impatient and over concerned Newbie

[Northwest9]

Good afternoon brewers.

I decided to join up, as I have my first brew in the fermenter, waiting to finish.....

My missus bought me a home brew kit, as she is sick of me forever renovating the house, and wants me to have another hobby, hoping once these reno's are complete, i wont start any new ones, so i figured id give it a crack.

my first brew i think is going to be a disaster. i was going to wait until my mate got back from holidays for advice, but was too impatient, so i put it down last thursday, following all the instruction from the coopers kit. i have already bought 2 more brew cans cause im impatient, and want to make more

it didnt ever bubble thru the airlock, but the SG started to drop so i assumed it was fermenting

the problem i have had has been temperature control. in canberra we have had some pretty cold weather of late, so i placed the fermenter on a folded towel, wrapped it in a thick blanket, and put a folded towel on the top, the wrapped the whole thing in a jumper, leaving only the airlock visible. even tho this is inside the house, the brew got down to 16C, so i bought a heat pad, then it went up to 29C. it has also had to be moved around the house abit in the first 2 days due to house painting

it is currently at a SG of 1015 and a temp of 23 after 7 days, but after reading this forum all day, I have absolutley no idea weather this is going to be a successful brew or not. I think 29 may have been to hot, and 16 too cold.

have i stuffed this beer?

[Kevnlis]

Should be fine, bottle it and give it a few weeks to carb up in a warm place before you try it.

In the future, the heat pad is not going to be needed. Your house probably holds a median temp of 16-18C or so in the winter which is perfect for brewing.

[Northwest9]

thats the confusing part, and the reason i got worried about it.

the coopers starter guide said keep it between 21 and 27. I was told by a brew shop owner that the yeast will die at 15C??

I cant wait to have a brew brews behind me and start to learn the ropes a bit better

[Bum]

My missus bought me a home brew kit, as she is sick of me forever renovating the house, and wants me to have another hobby, hoping once these reno's are complete, i wont start any new ones, so i figured id give it a crack.

Teach her a lesson and build a brew room!

The supplied instructions are for punching out beer fast, not making the best beer the kit is capable of. Do it cooler than the instructions suggest. Have a read around here, there's plenty of good advice on how to make a decent beer out of the kits. First step: bin the instructions.

[Northwest9]

The supplied instructions are for punching out beer fast, not making the best beer the kit is capable of. Do it cooler than the instructions suggest. Have a read around here, there's plenty of good advice on how to make a decent beer out of the kits. First step: bin the instructions.

aha, thanks for that. i will take note and hopefully in the next few brews ill be turning out some top notch HB

[drsmurto]

First piece of advice - burn the Coopers instructions in some sort of pagan ritual repeating the phrase 'Frank Cooper is a knob' over and over again. Why? Simple. Frank Cooper is a knob.... and the bloke who wrote those retarded instructions.

Second. Change home brew shops (assuming the HBS person actually said the yeast will DIE below 15C and not 'go to sleep below 15C')

Fill in your location so we can direct to a reputable HBS.

Enough of the negative talk - as Kev said, brew is probably fine. Check you have a stable FG over the next few days and then bottle.

Have a search of this site for plenty of good K&K recipes.

Cheers
DrSmurto - Self Elected President of the Frank Cooper is a Knob Society.

[Northwest9]

being in canberra we have brew shops that i know of. one in kaleen and one in kambah.

the one in kambah seems to be very knowledgable, and my mate whose done heaps of brewing reckons he is great for everything HB you want to buy as well as advice, but his start up kit was $30 more than the coopers kit from kmart. so i admit i havent been back yet, cause i reckon i would look like a bit of a prick rocking in there saying, "hi, my missus bought someone elses product, but want your advice".....

the kaleen place is a tobacconist that also does home brew, and also a lot closer to home, hence me buying my heat pad from there.

the kambah place has a bit of an expo on home brewing on saturday, so i might head back there, hat in hand, and buy a few things off him, and see what i can learn

[Bum]

Both of these threads should be pretty helpful as a starting point then start looking around at K&K (Kit and kilo) recipes.

http://homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewto ... f=2&t=1966
http://homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewto ... f=2&t=3814

[Bum]

i reckon i would look like a bit of a prick rocking in there saying, "hi, my missus bought someone elses product, but want your advice".....

I imagine a ridiculously high percentage of his customers would have started with a Coopers kit, so I wouldn't worry. My LHBS doesn't seem to refuse my money anyway.

[Renegade]

At what day in your process was the temperature at 29º ? I'm of the opinion that if you keep the temperature in check for the first few days when the gravity is dropping (hence when the alcohol is being produced), it's probably not so tragic if there's a heat-spike later in the ferment. No scientific basis here, it's just that when Ive tried to keep the temps in the low 20's, after I rack to a second bucket I dont really care at all about the temperatures being in the 25-29º range becase the alcohol production is complete.

As mentioned though, burn the Coopers instructions, and if it's a standard coopers kit, flush the yeast down the loo while you're at it. For only five dollars you can get a better yeast, which adds a mere 20 cents per bottle to your costs.

And that the great thing about the internet, you dont need to go and ask your local shop (who actually may give you totally bad info anyway, just because these guys are in the beer business doesnt mean they are to always be relied on to give accurate, correct inforation)) when you can ask at a forum like this, and hope you get an answer. You dont even have to visit a shop ever, many stores now deliver for free if you order a hundred dollars worth of goods.

[drsmurto]

There are several experienced brewers from Canberra on this forum. Trough Lolly, Chris and Tourist spring to mind.

Hopefully they will pipe up with advice re HBS.

[pixelboy]

Let me get this right! She'd rather you brew beer than renovating the house?

She got a sister?

[Northwest9]

hahaha, weve been renovating for about 12 months, and every time i complete something, i start something new, and it ends up bigger than Ben Hur. the end results are great, but i think she is getting sick of being put to work on a paint brush or a sander every weekend and having dust everywhere....

[Throsby]

Dude. Colin at the Kambah HBS is awesome. Do everything he suggests. Follow any recommendations/suggestions/advice he offers. You would walk a long way to meet a nicer bloke, or someone who knows more about what's what.

I lived in Canberra/Queanbo for years and spent the last two years visiting Colin fairly regularly. He increased my understanding and knowledge very quickly.


Your brew will turn out the way everyone's first one does - drinkable.

Things will get better and better very quickly.

Ditch the heat pad - not needed.

Dig around this forum.


Welcome aboard,

Throsby

[svyturys]

Ditch the heat pad - not needed.

Can't brew ales at the moment here without a heat pad.
The temp is fluctuating from 18C to almost 0C in 24 hrs. The only way to keep things in the 18C range is to give the brews some heat pad bursts. As the brew drops toward 16 a couple of hours gets it back to 18.
Simple but effective method
Cheers

[Kevnlis]

if it is 0C in your house you need a new heater

[Bizier]

Hi NW9

Cheap camping mats and an couple of ocky straps do a great job of insulating. It might be an idea to get a timer for your heat pad. Wedge the pad on the side, up the top under the insulation. Then you can have it come on for half an hour every two hours or whatever it takes to get a stable temp. If you can fill your fermenter with water, you can map the temp over a few days first as a dummy run.

If you are feeling rich, you could get a 'fridgemate' or 'tempmate' which will switch your heater on and off when the beer is at the desired temp. Later you can get yourself a fridge and you can brew killer lagers in summer. Ferment temperature is absolutley the best investment in your beer that you can make.

Another good idea is to use the old US05 'American Ale' yeast. This stuff is so useful it is not funny, and is very forgiving if you can't do such a good job with your ferment temps. Other yeast are much more likely to spew some funky/nasty smells and tastes into your finished beer. Even some of the most experienced brewers buy this yeast like it is going out of style.

[Northwest9]

well i bottled the first brew on the weekend, it smells and tastes a bit like beer, it should be "drinkable" but i wont be using it to show off any brewing prowess...

i put down two brews on the weekend. A CPA with US-05 yeast, rehydrated for 40mins and pitched at 22C, currently on the heat pad without any insulation, in my freezing house and its sitting at a constant 19C

the other brew was a Coppers Mexican Cerveca, with W-34/70 yeast from my LHBS, rehydrated also for 40 mins, pitched at 19C and now sitting in the freezing house, no heat pad or insulation, and at a constant 14C

both are fermenting like mad. so heres hoping these turn out well

[pixelboy]

Sounds like your learning fast

I'm convinced its impossible to get anything in brewing right first go. My first keg poured flat, then all froth, then flat again. Second keg is pouring lovely.

[Bizier]

both are fermenting like mad. so heres hoping these turn out well

Good work Northwest9!

My first keg poured flat, then all froth, then flat again. Second keg is pouring lovely

I am very jealous.