Is my first brew dead?

The_B_Man

I started it on new years eve. Recorded an Og of 1040.
Today and yesterday, the hydro read 1020.

Is it possible it fermented a bit, and then died? Or am I being premature? coz theres still a head on the brew with little bubbles in it.

FYI, I never heard it bubbling. I actually went to make sure the lid was on tight, and I was able to tighten it a little bit more so I'm worried something might have gotten in.

I have another sachet of yeast which I can throw in. Do you think this will help (assuming the yeast inside is dead)?

evolving_doors

Are you using an airlock?

I sealed up my bucket before (without using an airlock) , the lid swelled up as fermentation took place..I released the gas every now an again but the fermentation was very slow, after another few days I just left the lid on loose and the fermentation speeded up (could have been a coincidence). I think that the carbon dioxide needs to escape to allow fermentation to proceed.

"coz theres still a head on the brew with little bubbles in it."
This sounds like fermentation to me..!!!

It's also only 6 days after starting (still early days yet).. If the temp of the room is too cold (below 17deg) then fermentation will slow significantly..

I'd say...
check temp,
release gas a little twice a day if you've no airlock(you should see the lid bulging if it needs releasing)
Take a photo and post it

Is this a brew kit by the way? Whats the product

The_B_Man

Ye I'm using an airlock. Its that Coopers kit I'm using as well.

I checked the hydro again just there and its stopped at 1020. How much should it change on a daily basis? Also, when I was moving it, some of the water from the airlock dropped into the fermenter. Actually this has happened a few times. Could that halt the fermentation? It blew up some air that smelled like a decent enough brew. A bit sweet, so definately (hopefully?) not a horrible wretched stench that would indicate infection.

When I press down on the lid, it does push the water up in the airlock so it must be relatively airtight. I'd love to see a few bubbles tonight!!

Is there any point in throwing in that extra sachet of yeast?

wuben

hi b man first few questions
did you sanitize all your gear properly?
what sort of brew is it?im guessing some sort of a coopers larger you got with the kit.
Make sure your temp is consistant in what ever room its in if its a coopers try keep it around 22degrees it will ferment higher, just adds some unwanted nasties you dont want.
your airlock should bubble but just because it doesnt bubble it doesnt mean fermentation isnt happening. if its a screw on lid there a nitemare to get sealed a mate of mine has one...using maybe vasiline or some food grade lub on the rubber seal in lid can help (if its screw on lid)
also time is a great thing when it comes to homebrew maybe it just need more time to come down am i right in saying its being lying 6days?
if its doesnt come down you can try gentally stirring the bottom sediment with sanitized paddel to try kick it of again personally dont like doing that with risk of infection but appartantly works.
if nothing works to get it down bottle in to pets to prevent beer bombs:D

The_B_Man

Well since it was my first brew from brand new gear, all I did was rinse it in boiling water, epecially around all the ridges etc...
ye its the coopers lager that came with the set.

I was actually thinking about putting some masking tape around the gaps of the lid to see if that will make a difference.

haha ye I have them PET bottles. they came with the set so its all good.

its been 6 days, or actually i think its 7 now. OG was 1040. its down to 1020 now.

Just another thing, the room its in with the hot press is a pretty high traffic room for the house. theres always either myself or others going in and turning the light on for a minute or so, then back off again. Theres no windows, but does artificial light have any affect on the fermenter?

wuben

The_B_Man wrote: »

Well since it was my first brew from brand new gear, all I did was rinse it in boiling water, epecially around all the ridges etc...
ye its the coopers lager that came with the set.

I was actually thinking about putting some masking tape around the gaps of the lid to see if that will make a difference.

haha ye I have them PET bottles. they came with the set so its all good.

its been 6 days, or actually i think its 7 now. OG was 1040. its down to 1020 now.

Just another thing, the room its in with the hot press is a pretty high traffic room for the house. theres always either myself or others going in and turning the light on for a minute or so, then back off again. Theres no windows, but does artificial light have any affect on the fermenter?

i dont think the traffic in and out will make a difference ive the same in my spear room man kids wife everyone running around but blinds always stay closed to keep sunlight out and they all no not to touch my baby......i mean brew!! I wouldnt put tape around it try refitting the lid again thats what my mate does he never gets it to seal first time those screw on lids are a pain man.When the lids on squeeze the side to see if you can hear a leak or if the water in bubbler goes around to one side good indication its good seal if ye no what mean. Also its pretty hard to mess the coopers kits up the yeast they give you is extreamly toerent to heat etc ive had batches that shouldnt of worked but somehow did. I stay away from coopers now got sick of them think they all taste the same there grand though. Let me no how ye go man

The_B_Man

Cool. Ye theres no sunlight going in, just light from the bulb.

Good to hear the yeast is very tolerent. Thats the main thing i'm worried about...infection.

Is it normal for it to stop at 1020 though?

BTW, the reason I'm wondering about this after 6 days is coz of this video (that came with the kit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ms_mhEx3k

paulmcd1973

I used a Coopers kit to brew some beer a few months back, left it to brew in the kitchen. The video does say it should take about 7 days before you transfer to bottles, but then again their kitchen looks to be a lot warmer than mine was. My brew started off at 1040, and 11 days later it was finally down to 1013. After a few days at that, I decided to bottle. The beer tasted fine (and tastes even better now 3 months on), although percentage wise I'm looking at about 3.3%. I'd say wait a couple of days and if there's no movement on the FG, stir it up with a sanitized paddle.

Remember, this will be your first brew of many. If this one doesn't work, you'll have learned what not to do for next time.

The_B_Man

my exams finish on saturday evening so i'll bottle them then.
took a hydro readin today and it did look like its moving, albeit really slowly.
though i cant be sure because my hydrometer keeps sticking to the sides and giving a false reading, like its off balance!

paul, is it meant to stop at 1013? thought it would have at least 4%!

the beer revolu

OP have a look here.
You'll find a lot of info under 'Brewing Knowledge' and you'll get lots of answers in the forum (Community).

The_B_Man

Cheers i'll have a read of that.

TBH, I think its fine. Its been in the fermenter now for 2 weeks as of tomorrow so i'll prob bottle it on Monday. Last time i took the hydro reading was last weekend and it had gone from OG of 1040 to about 1020. My hydrometer keeps sticking to the sides so its hard to get an exact reading.

As I look in the top of the fermenter, I can see the surface has a few bubbles on it, which I'm assuming is co2 bubbles. If they're still there after 2 weeks then something must still be going on in there!

Other than that, theres no krausen, its just a flat brown liquid with the few bubbles in the middle of the surface.


Does the alc% increase at all in the bottles?

The_B_Man

So I bottled my brew yesterday. I actually broke my hydrometer as I was about to use it so never got to measure the FG!!

Got another one today though. I tested a bottle that I bottled yesterday and the FG was 1016. The OG was 1040 which produces an alc% of 3.7%!!!!
(1040-1016) / (7.46) + (0.5)

Is this even possible?? Is there any way I can increase the % after bottling so its closer to the expected %?

Would the reading be altered since I've already bottled them 24 hours with the carbonation tablets inside?


EDIT: from here:
http://www.beoir.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33:getting-started-brewing-beer-with-beer-kits&catid=17:kit-brewing&Itemid=48
The formula there is
(OG-FG)*131 which gives me 3.1%! :eek: