Festival New Zealand Pilsner - 1st Ever Brew

[Sozzled]

Hi All,

Been lurking on these forums for a while now getting the courage up to crack on with my first home brew.

Well last night I bit the bullet and I now have 23 Litres of Festival New Zealand Pilsner sat in my airing cupboard at a comfortable 20 - 22 degrees.

I've been in and checked on it last night before I went to bed and then again when I got up this morning but I don't see any movement at all in the air lock.

I followed the instructions to the letter apart from the bit about adding the yeast. It said to stir it in but after reading a lot on these forums I decided to leave it on top, I think this should be ok? I was going to stir it in but it seemed to want to stick to the spoon as I removed it instead of sinking in.

Am I being impatient, or should I crack the lid open and give it a good stir up like it told me to in the first place?

Any advice is most welcome!

Hopefully I've not ballsed it up!

 

[DoctorMick]

I'd leave it a little longer before getting concerned, first thing is yeast can take a couple of days to show visible signs of activity. Secondly, if the seal on your FV isn't tip top the airlock might not bubble as the gas will be escaping elsewhere. A better indicator is whether there is a krausen on the top of the beer.

 

[Sozzled]

I'd leave it a little longer before getting concerned, first thing is yeast can take a couple of days to show visible signs of activity. Secondly, if the seal on your FV isn't tip top the airlock might not bubble as the gas will be escaping elsewhere. A better indicator is whether there is a krausen on the top of the beer.

Thanks for the advice, I wasn't sure if I was being impatient or if I didn't have enough water in the air lock or any other number of things to doubt myself on for a first timer :)

I need to add some dry hops in 5 days I guess I'll see if there is the krausen there when I come to do that, if not I guess there's been a problem with the yeast and I should look to correct it.

It's a waiting game isn't it!

 

[pms67]

Thanks for the advice, I wasn't sure if I was being impatient or if I didn't have enough water in the air lock or any other number of things to doubt myself on for a first timer :)

I need to add some dry hops in 5 days I guess I'll see if there is the krausen there when I come to do that, if not I guess there's been a problem with the yeast and I should look to correct it.

It's a waiting game isn't it!

Don't add the hops as per instructions, i did that with my first Festival kit and it ended up fermenting for another fortnight!
You can add them when fermentation is slowing right down and leave them for 3-5 days or so.
If you want of course 😉

 

[MagnusTS]

That is a great beer, you will love it. I have got my 2nd batch of NZ Pilsner conditioning at the moment.

Mine were both slow starters too, it was 1-2 days before I saw bubbling.

I left mine nearly 2 weeks before I dry-hopped, then bottled 5 days later. I was following advice on this forum to leave it in FV longer than in kit instructions so that the yeast have time to 'clean up after themselves'. Seems like it was good advice, as the 1st batch was fantastic. But however you do it, you'll end with a great beer from this kit.

Cheers,
Magnus

 

[terrym]

Folks
Why not post your review of this beer on here when its done (or better still when you are drinking it!)
www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=55419

 

[Sozzled]

Thanks a lot fellas. I'll let you know how it turned out :) Excited to try the final product!

 

[Sozzled]

Well checked it last night and there's a nice malty smell in the airing cupboard, to be honest I'm not sure what a yeasty smell would smell like :) There's also what looks like a dirty foamy head in the bucket, I can't see it properly as it's not see through but it would appear something is happening.

Looking forward to getting it finished and tested :)