The saga begins

avisler · Oct 22, 2024

happy day my brew kit has arrived and fully inspected

note the disappointment as it contained no treats.

going to start my first brew in the morning i have a geordie lager kit and a caxtons lager kit, not sure which to begin with.
my assigned storage area for the fermenting bin sits at a stable 18.7° on the low end of the instruction temperature so should be okay.

Any pitfalls i should know ?

cheers
john

LeeH · Oct 22, 2024

He’s got some plums on him.

Be clean, be patient, don’t keep poking things and taking measures.

Just let it do its thing for 2 weeks in the bucket and get an old fridge to brew in as soon as you can.

Bitter_Dave · Oct 22, 2024

Be a bit careful when transferring the beer to the bottles (or keg) to avoid oxidation. Likewise, do not shake bottles to mix priming sugar! A fermenter with a tap and a bottling stick will make life easier if you don't have one already.

avisler · Oct 23, 2024

LeeH said:
He’s got some plums on him.

Hare says thankyou.

@Bitter_Dave yes got a bottling stick but forgot to get temperature strips so will go with an electronic sensor.

havent decided where to store the filled bottles yet and i think a brew fridge may be a long way off, as my hobby room is becoming a tad cramped.

Larse · Oct 23, 2024

To mix in the priming sugar, you can just invert the bottles a couple of times. Once they're corked of course.

Storage this time of the year could be done outside. No need for a fridge. Crates would be helpful though.

Bitter_Dave · Oct 23, 2024

Priming sugar easily dissolves and ferments easily without the need for inverting the bottle.

Sadfield · Oct 23, 2024

LeeH said:
He’s got some plums on him.

Be clean, be patient, don’t keep poking things and taking measures.

I'm hoping you switch subject there.

avisler · Oct 23, 2024

okay so the first batch is done, geordie lager with 1kg brewing sugar at 1.030 sitting at 22.6°. now just have to have patience.

sterilised everything with chemsan including multiple parts of myself, a lid and tap check now goes on the list when swilling the fv.

WillFrites · Oct 23, 2024

Welcome mate....dangerous hobby to get in to!

I too have a dog who is disappointed by non-treat related deliveries!

avisler · Oct 24, 2024

well the brew is fermenting well, temperature after 24hrs 21° bubbling nicely i'm going to wait 7 days before taking hydrometer reading (if still noticably bubbling will wait). trying not rush things

avisler · Oct 30, 2024

well it has been 7 days so i had a small taste test and checked it with a brix scale refractomoter, it tasted like flat lager and 1.018 . still getting regular bubbling in airlock.

LeeH · Oct 30, 2024

Leave it alone.

avisler · Nov 5, 2024

13 days and still sitting at 1.018, has something gone wrong ?

Bitter_Dave · Nov 5, 2024

No disrespect meant, but are you sure you are reading your hydrometer correctly? I found this tricky the first time I brewed a beer. If you are not sure it's worth doing a bit of googling on it.

1.018 is high as an fg for a one can kit made to 23 litres.

avisler · Nov 5, 2024

none taken, am fully open to user error. :)

took this photo today

Larse · Nov 5, 2024

Grasping at straws here, but have you checked the calibration of your hydrometer? The paper insert in those has been known to slip. Check in 20° water if you haven't already done so.

Otherwise it's a bit of a mystery. Those kits should be bulletproof in terms of reaching target FG. The only other possibility is the yeast. Sometimes the kits give the bare minimum and if there's been any degradation through age or storage conditions, it could just underperform.

avisler · Nov 5, 2024

have not checked hydrometer at 20° shall do so now. hydrometer does mach with brix scale refractometer

avisler · Nov 5, 2024

hydrometer at 20°

seems to be correct.

Larse · Nov 5, 2024

Yeah, that's fine.

So could be the yeast. Though if you're still getting some activity in the airlock, I'd leave it sit for a bit longer. I don't know what yeast is provided, but lager yeasts normally ferment at lower temperatures 12-18° would be normal. But a lot of those kits include ale yeast instead of lager, so the temp could be fine.

Cheyne_brewer · Nov 6, 2024

Two issues here. One - when using a refractometer with fermenting / fermented beer you need to do a calculation to get the true reading as alcohol skews the results.

And two - definitely something amiss if hydrometer and refractometer agree due to point one.

Degas your test sample and let the hydrometer sit in disturbed in the trial jar then see how it reads. An OG of 1030 is low, and should finish at about 1007 or possibly lower if there is a lot of sugar in the mix.

Finally, talking of mix - it’s possible to leave a layer of higher OG wort if your original extract mixing wasn’t too thorough, giving an artificially low OG and a higher FG when finished.

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