Fermentation stopped after 3 days

[jonnymorris]

So, with a 'canned, no boil just add water and yeast' kit is there any benefit to leaving the brew in the FV long after fermentation has apparently stopped?

It's not really going to help with my current predicament, i.e. a stuck brew but I'm interested all the same.

 

[artiums_enteri]

Huh, ok thanks for the info. We have something similar here called Mr. Beer, but they don't sell well, and are thought of as a novelty.

 

[shearclass]

Quite strange that you don't have beer kits in america. Probably the most popular kits in the UK are Coopers, which is an Aussie brewery.

For an example of beer kits, i would link to my local home brew shop, Hop and Grape, but their web site is down. Here is a link to a wide range of kits though, perhaps to give you a better idea what we are talking about:

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... _Kits.html

I estimate that at least half of the members of this forum are kit only brewers, rather than full or partial mash brewers.

this site is a really good home brewing website, covering all kinds of situation. it's good for helping beginners, like myself, with kits as well as helping out people doing full mash.

You are just as likely to get help here if you are on your 20th full mash brew, or starting out on your first kit of Geordie Bitter (google it!)

You are obviously and experienced and knowledgeable brewer, so you may need to dumb it down a bit when addressing the likes of me!

 

[artiums_enteri]

The "kits" we have in the states that resemble that are Mr. Beer, and they really don't make anything that resembles beer.

That answered some questions, and solved cleared up some confusion I was having; thank you.

When a new brewer in the states says he's a kit brewer it means he buys a pre-measured amount of malt extract, a few ounces of hops, and a packet of yeast from the home brew shop. A lot of distributers have stopped carrying dark malt extract or anything darker than amber, and none cary pre-hopped extract. When asked, the shop owners all agree it should be left up to the brewers to determine SRM (color) and IBU (bitterness) not the maltster. That means for many of us our first kits were done on the turkey fryer with 5 pounds of malt extract, hop schedules, and steeping grains. Not really a partial mash since there is no fermentable sugars being extracted from the specialty grains, but just color and flavor. The grains get steeped in the wort prior to boiling the extract for an hour. This is about as simple as it gets for starting to brew. The basic equipment kit comes with a 6 gallon bucket, a 5 gallon glass carboy, hygrometer, sanitizer, thermometer, usually a cheesy how to book, and your first ingredient kit. It's always fun to meet new brewers who like we all did at some point delve into the hobby not knowing our bums from a hole in the ground. That's why I was so surprised to see so many people not boiling for an hour and going through the whole rigamarole of extract brewing.

 

[shearclass]

I think that is the whole point of kit brewing really, it's an introduction to the hobby, and the initial outlay on equipment is minimal. No boiler, mash tun, or chiller is rquired, just a bucket, a barrel or bottles, caps, and capper, a hydrometer and thermometer. Also, you don't need to know that much to have yoru first try.

I started almost exactly a year ago literally just to get some cheap beer. i had no idea I would find it so interesting, and spend time reading up on it. i had no idea i would spend money buying all kinds of extra things like second hand fridge to convert to a brewing fridge, wine racks, shelving, extra buckets, etc, then want to do beers from grains.

I really don't have time to do full mash beers at the moment, but i think i could do some extract or partial mash brews, then build up to the full mash when i have time, and when I have money to buy the extra equipment

 

[artiums_enteri]

I find that's the greatest part of this hobby. There are those of us who get bitten by the bug, and end up going through grad school to get a degree in brewing science and microbiology, and those who mix a few things together in 30 minutes time. The outcome is we are both making pretty damn good beer.

My club reflects this quite a bit. The club mostly focuses on brewing for competitions, but there are about 1/4 of the members who could care less about entering; they just like making beer. We have folks who brew extract batches once a month and those who spend five hours a day twice a week in the brewery making all grain batches. The cool thing is everyone has something he or she can teach the other. Some of these extract brewers simply don't have the time to make the all grain plunge, but they come up with some of the coolest DIY gadgets. My talents lie in network security and microbiology, so I'm envious of these guys who can just go home and weld up a new piece of gear in their free time.