Brew Packs - New to Home Brew

[louiscassius]

Hi,...I'm Louis from Harrogate.

I was introduced to Home brewing by a work colleague who has won minor competitions near where we live, and i was totally hooked.

I bought my first batch of Woodfords Admirals Reserve which went fine, fermenting for 9 days and then bottled.

I then decided to get another "St Peters - Ruby Red".....well i prepared it the same, but its' been totally different and need advice.

The New fermenter i bought has the 25 litre mark very near the top, i think i pushed the Bubbler air lock to far through the grommet hole and the yeast crust enveloped the hole, thust the CO2 could leave the fermenter as easy, and the lip was bowed it was that full of CO2. So anyway after pulling air lock up wow it bubbled like great guns, but after 48hrs it’s stopped.

I then tried to rouse the brew in the fermenter...nothing, so lifted top off, use sterilised spoon stirred the brew and popped top back on....well it started bubbling again and i thought all would be well.

However, i have since returned from weekend away to find yet again brew not bubbling............I've taken Hydrometer reading and it’s still 10.20.......unsafe to bottle....can please anyone give me some advice, my friend in now ill in bed and i keep annoying him worrying about my Beer...

Yours Hoping........Louis Cowdroy

 

[Hollow Legs]

Hi Louis - has the brew got any sort of a head on it still? I personally would pitch some more yeast at the recommended temp as obviously you still have fermentables in there

I'm sure someone with a tad more knowledge will be along soon with more advise.

Good luck

Colin :

 

[Dunfie]

Throwing more yeast in might help but the conditions that caused the incumbant yeast to stop fermenting are not going to be appealing for the new yeast either.

Unfortunately at this stage there is often not a lot that can be done. Most of the work to ensure a wort is in is best condition to accept yeast is done before you add your yeast. Other than trying to gently rouse the yeast or raising the temp a couple of degrees you sometimes have no choice but to accept the beer will be a few points higher than expected.

 

[louiscassius]

Throwing more yeast in might help but the conditions that caused the incumbant yeast to stop fermenting are not going to be appealing for the new yeast either.

Unfortunately at this stage there is often not a lot that can be done. Most of the work to ensure a wort is in is best condition to accept yeast is done before you add your yeast. Other than trying to gently rouse the yeast or raising the temp a couple of degrees you sometimes have no choice but to accept the beer will be a few points higher than expected.

Cheers buddy, i'm going to leave it till Sat or Sun, take Gravity reading, ive stirred it again tonight, obviously making sure not to get any air into it........put lid back on, but it seems not to have activated anything.

Looking at others posts on other sites, this does seem to be a quick fermenter.....when i first put lid on it went bananas nearly popped the lid off the crust enveloped the bubbler air lock....it was crazy....so different to the Woodfordes i'd done the week before......

Are all kits totally different??

 

[louiscassius]

Hi Louis - has the brew got any sort of a head on it still? I personally would pitch some more yeast at the recommended temp as obviously you still have fermentables in there

I'm sure someone with a tad more knowledge will be along soon with more advise.

Good luck

Colin :

Hi Colin

No head on it and looks nice and clear to be honest.....and smells yummy....but just FG is still too high at 10.20......but its only been 5 days.....just with the woodfordes the bubbler was bubbling till the 11th day....i wated till it was down to once every 6 mins then me and my experienced friend tested and bottled the beer.......

Just like anyone with Zero experience i only have the Woodfordes experience to go on.......so soon as i did the St Peters Ruby Red and it didnt go excactly the same...."Panic"!!!!!!!!

Any help would be good, my mate says just be patient!!!

Louis

 

[Hollow Legs]

No problems Louis - you didn't say it had been five days fermenting! take Dunfies advise but in the future if asking for advise give all the facts of what has happened or happening i.e. temps, yeast used, time in the FV etc etc as this will let others give better advise

Good luck

Colin. :

 

[louiscassius]

No problems Louis - you didn't say it had been five days fermenting! take Dunfies advise but in the future if asking for advise give all the facts of what has happened or happening i.e. temps, yeast used, time in the FV etc etc as this will let others give better advise

Good luck

Colin. :

Sorry mate....just starting out.......OOopss.

So, even though the bubbler not bubbling....its still gonna be ok at 10.20......you think it'll still drop as per normal??

Louis

 

[Hollow Legs]

Louis - sorry mate I wasn't having a go, it just saves time in the longrun.

Check it tomorrow and see what reading you have, if it is dropping still then you may have a leak on your FV lid? if it stays the same for a couple of days then it probably won't drop anymore. As long as it's stopped fermenting you can safely bottle/keg, it just won't be as strong not unless you had a really high SG at the start or the temperature was high when it was checked with the hydrometer as they are calibrated at 1.000 at 15 or 20 degrees (it usually has it on there somewhere) there is a calc at the top left in the blue squares.

Colin

 

[louiscassius]

Louis - sorry mate I wasn't having a go, it just saves time in the longrun.

Check it tomorrow and see what reading you have, if it is dropping still then you may have a leak on your FV lid? if it stays the same for a couple of days then it probably won't drop anymore. As long as it's stopped fermenting you can safely bottle/keg, it just won't be as strong not unless you had a really high SG at the start or the temperature was high when it was checked with the hydrometer as they are calibrated at 1.000 at 15 or 20 degrees (it usually has it on there somewhere) there is a calc at the top left in the blue squares.

Colin

Thanks Colin,

I'll check again this weekend....see what the score is........ just thought to leave it a few days, gave it a stir last night to no avail......but hey....i'm not to fussed.....it could be just really fast, a few guys on other forums said there's too went off and finished within 72 hours.....so hey......it might just be one of those things....certainly looks clear and smells lovely

Louis

 

[guyb]

Hi Louis, I did the St Peter's Ruby Red Ale, it came out fantastic, the FG of mine was 1.016 (my brewing notes tell me).

I wouldn't try rousing the yeast again (this is my personal opinion), I'd leave it for a few days, in fact I left mine start to finish for 13 days (brewing notes again). The more you fiddle, the more chance of getting an infection - although there are times that you need to intervene when necessary.

There are quite a few threads on this on here, but a lot of the more experienced brewers tend to leave the brew for 14days to ferment, and then transfer to another vessel to clear for about 7days before priming and bottling / kegging / force carbonating (whatever is your preferred conditioning method).

The St Peter's is a great pint - you might find this interesting: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17533 - there's a couple of pinctures too, one of them is one of mine

Welcome to the obsession.

 

[Mark1964]

Over the weekend I bottled some beer that had the same gravity as yours. Best way is to check with hydrometer and if the reading is still 1.020 in a couple of days just go ahead and bottle it
:thumb:

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

A safe bet would be to keg it but should be o.k in bottles if it's started to drop clear

BB

 

[louiscassius]

Hi Louis, I did the St Peter's Ruby Red Ale, it came out fantastic, the FG of mine was 1.016 (my brewing notes tell me).

I wouldn't try rousing the yeast again (this is my personal opinion), I'd leave it for a few days, in fact I left mine start to finish for 13 days (brewing notes again). The more you fiddle, the more chance of getting an infection - although there are times that you need to intervene when necessary.

There are quite a few threads on this on here, but a lot of the more experienced brewers tend to leave the brew for 14days to ferment, and then transfer to another vessel to clear for about 7days before priming and bottling / kegging / force carbonating (whatever is your preferred conditioning method).

The St Peter's is a great pint - you might find this interesting: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=17533 - there's a couple of pinctures too, one of them is one of mine

Welcome to the obsession.

Thank you mate,

When sythoning into another keg with 20 spoon fulls of sugar, i know that you must not let it spash or oxegenate the beer as least as possible, but do you have to gently stir in the sugar after all the beer has been transfered into the bottling keg? Also, how long is it best to leave in the bottling keg for before bottling?

Best regards

Louis :-)

 

[Aleman]

When sythoning into another keg with 20 spoon fulls of sugar, i know that you must not let it spash or oxegenate the beer as least as possible, but do you have to gently stir in the sugar after all the beer has been transfered into the bottling keg?

If all you are doing is batch priming (Which is what using a bottling 'keg' is doing, then it is best to make up a sugar syrup, by dissolving the sugar in a little bit (1/2 a pint is more than enough) of boiling water, and add this syrup to the barrel/keg before syphoning the beer in. This should help mix it into the bulk of the beer, but a gentle stir with a sanitised spoon will ensure that it is.

how long is it best to leave in the bottling keg for before bottling?

Transfer to bottling 'bucket' / 'keg', gentle stir Transfer to bottles, cap, store for two weeks at fermentation temperature before moving somewhere cooler . . .Schimples!

 

[louiscassius]

When sythoning into another keg with 20 spoon fulls of sugar, i know that you must not let it spash or oxegenate the beer as least as possible, but do you have to gently stir in the sugar after all the beer has been transfered into the bottling keg?

If all you are doing is batch priming (Which is what using a bottling 'keg' is doing, then it is best to make up a sugar syrup, by dissolving the sugar in a little bit (1/2 a pint is more than enough) of boiling water, and add this syrup to the barrel/keg before syphoning the beer in. This should help mix it into the bulk of the beer, but a gentle stir with a sanitised spoon will ensure that it is.

how long is it best to leave in the bottling keg for before bottling?

Transfer to bottling 'bucket' / 'keg', gentle stir Transfer to bottles, cap, store for two weeks at fermentation temperature before moving somewhere cooler . . .Schimples!

Thank you, so once the beer has been mixed with the sugar solution, your free to bottle straight away that moment?

Louis

 

[Aleman]

So once the beer has been mixed with the sugar solution, your free to bottle straight away that moment?

:thumb:

 

[abeyptfc]

have u made 25 litres of the brew or 23 litres?

 

[louiscassius]

23 litres buddy....