Oh joy... yet another beginner homebrew thread..

Basq

Oh, and initially, do I leave the lid slightly off the fermenter or seal it completely from the start?

Ronan|Raven

Basq wrote: »

Going to take an hour or two tomorrow and get this brew going..

Two last questions which I've seen mixed opinions on:

1. Boil 1kg of DME in 3 litres of water and throw that into the fermenter on top of the liquid malt extract? Or just throw it in on top of liquid malt extract mixed with 3 litres of water in fermenter? I've seen both methods used.. is there a preference or does it matter?

2. Should I rehydrate the yeast or just sprinkle in on top of the wort? Like I mentioned, have seen both methods used online.

My answers which would not reflect everyone's views but..

1: I just dump put in the contents of the can from ones kit. Pour in some boiling water. mix and then add in the DME slowly and keep stirring and add more boiling water if needed.

2: I would just sprinkle it in for the moment assuming it is standard kit yeast.


and to your other question you can seal it all up and leave it.

Basq

OK, that went pretty well considering..



Only two issues were around airlock.. the contents (water) of the airlock ended up emptying into the fermenter (twice!) while I was moving it from my kitchen (where I was preparing it) to under the stairs (fermenting location) - should have maybe used cheap vodka instead!

Temps in under the stairs at the minute around 20C, and wort in fermenter reading a solid 20C - 22C at the minute. Was thinking under the stairs was a better location as back-hall can get a lot of direct sunlight, darker-and-hopefully more stable temps in there.

Only other issue was I'd no idea how much water to put in airlock... filled to about half way looks like more as there could be a trapped air-bubble in there.



Hopefully OK though.

Now have backdoor open to try and get the funky wiff out!

Ronan|Raven

Well done on your first brew.

1: I have had that happen the odd time, nothing bad ever came of it. Cheap vodka gets over these issues. Just try to remember to remove the airlock when moving the FV.

2: Fill airlock to half way, it looks fine, dont stress about it.

3: resist temptation to lift the lid to see whats going on! Leave it shut.. !

Basq

Would have liked to have seen from activity from the airlock by now (18 hours later) but nothing yet!

If there's none this evening, I'll start to worry.

Lovely Bloke

18 hours is a long time, but nothing drastic yet.

Also, no activity in the airlock may signify nothing more than a poorly sealed lid or bung, if you can see a Krausen forming in the bucket, that's a better indication of activity - there'll be a layer of CO2 sitting over the fermenting beer too, which helps as a barrier against airborne nasties.

Have you got a hydrometer and trial jar? The absolute best way to check for active fermentation is to take gravity readings.

Basq

Lovely Bloke wrote: »

18 hours is a long time, but nothing drastic yet.

Also, no activity in the airlock may signify nothing more than a poorly sealed lid or bung, if you can see a Krausen forming in the bucket, that's a better indication of activity - there'll be a layer of CO2 sitting over the fermenting beer too, which helps as a barrier against airborne nasties.

Have you got a hydrometer and trial jar? The absolute best way to check for active fermentation is to take gravity readings.

Yeah, want to avoid open the fermenter so i'll give it til this evening and take another reading. Had a 1.040 OG anyways.

Basq

OK. Took off airlock, resealed it and look like we're in business. Idiot I am though I pushed down on the fermenter lid while the airlock was out and most definitely sucked some air in there! :mad: Hoping any infection staves off.

mordeith

Basq wrote: »

Yeah, want to avoid open the fermenter so i'll give it til this evening and take another reading. Had a 1.040 OG anyways.

Don't bother talking a reading for a week or so. As long as you have frothing it's working

Basq

mordeith wrote: »

Don't bother talking a reading for a week or so. As long as you have frothing it's working

Happier now I've got action in the airlock.. but I am worried that my fermenter just inhaled a load of external air!

Bogwoppit

Basq wrote: »

Happier now I've got action in the airlock.. but I am worried that my fermenter just inhaled a load of external air!

Don't worry about it, that regularly happens with brews and you'd have to be pretty unlucky for it to have an efffect.

Basq

Bogwoppit wrote: »

Don't worry about it, that regularly happens with brews and you'd have to be pretty unlucky for it to have an efffect.

Thanks man... hopefully you're right!

BeardySi

Close the door. Walk away and leave it alone for at least two weeks. Resist the urge to poke, prod or take gravity readings every few hours.

Basq

Treadhead wrote: »

Close the door. Walk away and leave it alone for at least two weeks. Resist the urge to poke, prod or take gravity readings every few hours.

Yeah, I find the noise of the bubbling airlock quite relaxing.. but the slight smell of cheap vodka escaping from the airlock not so much!

Haven't taking a gravity reading since pitching and unlikely to until next weekend I'd say.

Timeline is roughly 2 - 3 weeks in fermenter (expecting readings to stabilize after 2 weeks surely) and then another 2 - 3 weeks in bottles.

Basq

Just a heads-up... took a reading last night after 7 days and reading about 1.015. Will keep it in primary for another 10 - 14 days and then bottle.

Aiming to get another brew going - recommendations on a Christmas Ale here would be appreciated - as soon as these are bottled.

VinylJunkie

Cheers for this thread Basq, got my juices flowing again!

Basq

Bottled this on Sunday night... took a final gravity reading - looks like it ended up at just under 4% ABV... was gonna leave it another week or so, but I'll leave it carbonating for probably 3 weeks minimum.

It's definitely tart enough without any carbonation.. not quite as tart as say a session IPA but not far off.
Popped 1 x Munton Carbonation Drop in per 500ml... Carb Drops packaging said 2 drops per 500ml but didn't want it too gassy either. Recommendations online seem to recommendation 1 - 1.5 drops so opted for 1.

Will let you know how it works out in a few weeks.

PS - in the meantime, started my Christmas brew!