Absolute newbie in need of some advice!

[GarethJB84]

Hi guys,

I'm on the home brew wagon for the first time and have a few questions that im wondering if you guys could answer.
Firstly I'm making a lager from a Youngs home brew kit which has been fermenting since monday. Now it has pretty much stopped bubbling which i believe means its ready to bottle, but the problem is my bottles have yet to arrive even though they should have been here by now. Even more of a problem is that they are being delivered to my work address so I wont be here again until monday after 5.30 today - if my bottles dont arrive by the end of today what issues would I have with my lager if I were to leave it in the mixing/fermenting tub for a whole weekend until my bottles arrive?
Also something thats not clear from the kit is to do with bubbles in the lager. Do I have to add something else to make my lager fizzy or does the 1/4 teaspoon of sugar im supposed to put in the bottles beforeI leave them for 14 days create the fizz? I heard of some people using some kind of tablets to make the fizz.

Kind regards,

Gareth

 

[morepunk]

Hi Gareth, welcome to the world of home brewing!

To answer your questions - you don't need to worry about leaving your beer to ferment for another couple of days. In fact, it wouldn't even harm your beer to leave it for another couple of weeks, as long as you've followed good sterilising habits. The 1/4 teaspoon of sugar is exactly what makes your lager fizzy. You can indeed get carbonation tablets, but I've never used them and have always found sugar does the trick just fine.

On a side note - I've not tried Young's lager myself, but I've heard enough people say it's not the best kit out there. I'd recommend leaving it in the bottles to condition for longer than the kit suggests. Let us know how it gets on!

Happy Brewing! :drink:

 

[GarethJB84]

Brilliant, thanks a lot morepunk! You've taken the worry of ruining the first batch off my mind!
I've heard from my friend that years ago his father made lager homebrew and it wasnt very nice, so now you've mentioned the Youngs Lager as not being great atleast I know not to get disheartened if it isn't very nice!

Cheers,

Gareth

 

[Alestar]

Hi Gareth,

You oughtn't have any problems at all. In fact, if your brew has been going only since Monday it might be advisable to leave it the extra bit longer! If your brew is under an airlock, you shouldn't have any problems with nasties getting in, so you can leave it as long as you like, the only limiting factor is if you leave it too long on the layer dead yeast/cruddy stuff at the bottom of the fermentor, you might start picking up some off-flavours. That's more on the several weeks time scale though rather than over the weekend. If your brew isn't under an airlock, obviously you don't want to leave it quite as long just in case of anything untoward getting in, but as long as you have it covered and don't be tempted to poke it, a weekend probably won't hurt.

You say the bubbling has stopped after four days, have you got a hydrometer at all? While the bubbles are a helpful sign, this is the measurement that really tells you when it's done (basically if you get a constant gravity reading for a few days in a row). If you haven't got a hydrometer, you'd be advised to leave it longer before bottling to make sure it's really finished. Basically the yeast ferment the sugar in the brew, then go dormant when they've eaten all the sugar they're going to. You then add some sugar (a measured amount) to your bottles and put the beer in. The extra sugar in the bottle wakes the yeast up and they do a "mini-ferment" in the bottle, using up that extra bit of sugar. This doesn't change the beer taste/alcohol much, but is intended to supply the carbon dioxide bubbles as the by-product of ferementation. Being in a sealed bottle, the bubbles are absorbed in the beer, so you get fizzy beer! If you open a bottle too early, you will find it is flat, as this little extra fermentation in the bottle hasn't had time to finish yet.

So, basically, the sugar you add (along with the residual amount of yeast suspended in the beer and the 14 days you give it to work) create the fizz, yes. The worry therefore is that if your fermentation isn't finished properly before you bottle, you will have the extra sugar you add and some unused sugar from the brew that hasn't been fermented yet. In this case, you will have overcarbonated beer, so it will either fizz all over you when you open the bottle, or worse, pop the caps off/crack the bottles due to the pressure (if homebrewers talk of "bottle bombs" they are talking of overcarbonated beer!). So, I would recommend that you either use hydrometer readings to make sure your ferment is done (post your numbers on the forum if you need guidance), or give it some extra time sitting in the bucket after the bubbling has stopped before you bottle with your priming sugar to ensure that fermentation is done.

(The priming tablets by the way are just premeasured amounts of sugar!)

Hope that helps. :)

 

[morepunk]

Definitely no need to get disheartened - just gives you more of an excuse to brew again! With each brew comes new experiences, and you'll find a kit that you like. If you like ale, I'd recommend the Woodforde's kits. I started with Wherry and have never looked back...

 

[GarethJB84]

Thanks for the info Alestar! - I do have a Hydrometer (I'd actually forgotten all about that bit that came in the kit! ). Do I basically take a sample of the brew and float the hydrometer in it, then take the number from the scale where the top of the liquid comes to and relate that to some kind of scale of fermentation to show the liquids specific gravity? (My hydrometer has coloured markings on it, would I be right thinking it should be in the green level?)
I think the suggestion was for 1/2 teaspoon per pint of beer, does this sound right - would you recommend a bit more?
Am I right in thinking I shouldnt stir the brew in the fermenting tub at all from the start of the fermentation process so all the sediment has had time to settle at the bottom?

 

[morepunk]

Exactly right - take a sample of your lager into your trial jar (most hydrometers come with one) and float the hydrometer in there. Once fermentation is finished, you should expect a reading near 1.010 (variations close to this level would be fine). I'd recommend taking a reading tonight, and another one when your bottles have arrived. If you get the same gravity reading then fermentation has finished and you can bottle up! If you have a final gravity higher than this, you may have a stuck fermentation... if that's the case, come back on here and ask for help, but this doesn't happen too often if you follow a good procedure. One point to note is that hydrometers are calibrated for use at a certain temperature, and you should adjust your gravity reading if it's done at a temperature other than the one your hydrometer is calibrated for. Your hydrometer should have instructions to help you with this.

1/2 of sugar a teaspoon per pint sounds fine to me - adding more could lead to an over-carbonated beer, and we don't want your lids flying off all over the place!

Finally, it's true that it's not good practice to stir your beer during fermentation. Best thing to do is leave your beer alone while it's fermenting. The more you expose it to air, the more chance there is of bacteria infecting your brew.

 

[broadfordbrewer]

Hi Gareth, I've done the Youngs kit and although its not the best kit out there, it's certainly no disappointment. I agree with morepunk that its best to leave it to condition for a decent amount of time... at least 10 weeks but more if you can... it'll taste much better.

I added 1tsp per pint bottle and it was a little to lively, but it didn't break any bottles.

Don't stir the brew in the FV, it doesn't need touching. If the hydrometer readings are dropping steadily and when you get down to near 1010 and it stays the same reading for a few days, then it's done. You can always just scoop any yeast etc off the top of the FV with a sterilised spoon before you transfer to bottles. Don't worry about getting bits of sediment in your bottles though as it settles in the bottles and solidifies if left to condition for a decent period. It's all in how you pour the beer anyway, .... steady and in on action, then you can actually see the sediment moving and can stop pouring when you want. Others on here just drink it, but thats not really for me :sick:

all the best

 

[GarethJB84]

Oh, whoops - the lid on my fermentation tub was looking pretty pushed up from the gas so I've had it open a couple of times just incase to let that out so the top didnt end up popping off!

Do you recommend any other lagers to try after I'm done with this one bishopsfinger (or anyone else who might have tried some!) ?

Thanks again for all the help guys!

 

[morepunk]

Don't worry too much about the couple of times you've lifted the lid. If the beer still smells ok then there shouldn't be a need to worry. My lid tends to bulge a bit when I've got some good fermentation going, but it's never popped off. Any excess air should escape through your airlock :thumb:

bishopsfinger has mentioned above that it's a good idea to leave the lager to condition 10 weeks before drinking. This is to get the best flavour from the beer. I know that when I did my first beer I couldn't bear the thought of waiting for 10 weeks - there'd be no harm in having a bottle every now and again to see how the taste is improving

 

[broadfordbrewer]

bishopsfinger has mentioned above that it's a good idea to leave the lager to condition 10 weeks before drinking. This is to get the best flavour from the beer. I know that when I did my first beer I couldn't bear the thought of waiting for 10 weeks - there'd be no harm in having a bottle every now and again to see how the taste is improving

yeah, I didn't practice what I'm preaching, my testing regime meant I only had three bottles left over at 12 weeks, but they were by far the best ones.

Gareth, I haven't done any more lagers yet. Just the Youngs Bitter and a Tom Caxton Real Ale. I have Brewferm Tarwebier ready to start, but I made the decision not to do another 'lager' kit... just a hunch really that they're not up to much (and they're not real lagers anyway - each to their own though... other may recommend a good lager kit).

 

[GarethJB84]

Ah right, I'll look into some and come back for advice when ive narrowed it down to a couple of different brews to try!

Just to be sure, when you say conditioning is that when you bottle it with the sugar then leave it for a while or when its still in the fermenting tub?

 

[morepunk]

Conditioning is the step after fermentation - when you bottle/keg the beer. Also known as priming!

 

[GarethJB84]

Ok, cheers morepunk!
Like I say, I'm an absolute newbie at this so am asking all the annoying questions you guys probably get asked all the time!

 

[morepunk]

Nothing annoying about it bud - most important thing is that we all make good beer. We're all here to help and answer any questions you have. Keep them coming! :