first time brewing, bubbling question

[koeman]

as my first brew i am doing the Wilko own brand cerveza kit.

I've had it in the FV since Monday morning (so approx 48hrs) and there seems to be tiny little bubbles fizzing on the surface but no major bubbling or foam on the top like ive seen in pictures?

is something wrong or is this normal for 48hrs later?

sorry for the obviously basic question but im just a worrier!

 

[Chickpeanut]

Hi Koeman,

I'm a beginner myself, having only done a few kits. Some of them have had what looked like very little 'action' going on, but have turned out fine.

It's probably fermenting just fine. Leave it for at least a week... maybe 2 weeks. After that, if you get hydrometer readings that stay the same for three days, then it will be ready then.

Good luck. Have patience my friend!


Tom

 

[joe1002]

You most likely need a little more patience :lol:

What temperature did you pitch the yeast at, how did you pitch it and what temperature is your beer now? I'm guessing you pitched it straight from the packet, therefore it will take a bit longer to get going.

In future, I would look to re-hydrate your yeast before pitching. Have a read of Aleman's excellent how-to HERE. The fermentation will start much quicker, which has lots of advantages :thumb:

 

[koeman]

I pitched straight from the packet at 19c.

I'll see how I get on. Something is happening. I think I was just expecting it to be more vigorous.

I'll improve my patience ha

 

[Kinleycat]

Patience is deffo the key here, followed by a vain attempt to stifle your curiosity. :thumb:
19c is only a little low but nothing to panic about at all as the exothermic reaction of the yeast converting the sugars to alcohol will warm things up a bit, and i always add and whisk in the yeast from the pack.
A couple of teaspoons of yeast nutrient go along way too, its cheap as chips!!
Anywhere around 20c is fine.
Keep your liquid temp (not room temp, this could be quite a lot higher use FV temp strips if you can) between 18 and 22 if you are using standard kit ale yeast.
Now this is the key go on holiday for two weeks and then come back (this is very important for your first brew) leave it well alone, if you have done all the above the beer will take care of itself.
I often leave mine up to a week longer, don't be precious and don't follow the kit instructions.
All my brews have reacted differently, some have "blown the bloody doors off" others have gently fizzed, some have created a huge krausen head others hardly any.
Good luck now get your suitcases out of the loft!! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[rpt]

+1 to all the above advice. Ignore timing in the kit instructions as they are always hopelessly optimistic, be patient and be guided by your hydrometer. If you don't have one I recommend you get one now!

 

[koeman]

Thanks for the top advice. I don't have any temp strips so I will pick some up. I did a sg reading of 1.061 so I'll give it another week or so before I check again.

so...next step. I'm going to bottle it...I have a pressure keg so should I prime that with sugar and then syphon into that and bottle using the tap on the keg. Does that sound ok? I don't have a little bottler or anything so will straight from the tap be ok? I saw brewuk do a bottler attachment which is half price of the little bottler, is this any good?

thanks for reading

 

[rpt]

You can batch prime and bottle from a barrel - it isn't really any different from using an FV as a bottling bucket. You could do with some tube to connect to the tap to go to the bottom of the bottle. This is to prevent oxidation as the beer runs into the bottle. A little bottler or similar does the same and also has the valve at the end to make it really easy to control your bottling.

 

[Kinleycat]

To demonstrate.
Both kits were put on yesterday both pitched at 24c but on the way down; a little higher than usual I normally hit 22c when pitching but i messed about with my system to incorporate campden in the cold water; I haven't previously bothered to use it!

Wilko Hoppy Copper on the left and Golden Ale on the right:

You can tell with the lids where the action is!!

Close up of
Hoppy copper:

And the Golden Ale:

Under the magicians cloak.
Hoppy Copper a bit of fluffyness!!

Golden Ale trying to climb out of the bucket with a thick krausen:

Both now sitting nicely at 22c and I shall trouble them no more until the hoppy copper gets its dry hopping. :thumb:

 

[koeman]

So after 7 days I've not really had any major frothy action so thought of investigate and do a hydrometer reading. It's currently at 1.010 so I presume something has happened! I'll check it again midweek to see if anything changes.

 

[joe1002]

Yes, it's probably pretty much done :thumb:

What temperature is it sitting at?

 

[koeman]

It's about 18c

 

[joe1002]

Sounds like its done then :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

1010 isn't shabby at all but I'd still leave it at least another three days to see if it drops down another couple of points or so. No harm will come to it.
Once you have a stable reading for three consecutive days its time to bottle or keg.
Two weeks somewhere warm to prime then two weeks in the cold and then :drink:
What's your next brew??? :thumb:

 

[koeman]

Whats the recommended amounts of sugar for priming 23l of lager? I'm going to do it into a keg and bottle from there.

I've already got a vimto tc and a Robinson's tropical tc on the go.

Going to give a pale ale a go next once I've bottled this lager.

this is a addictive hobby and I've not even tasted anything yet!!!

 

[rpt]

Whats the recommended amounts of sugar for priming 23l of lager?

I use 120g. You can do 150g or even more if you like it very fizzy.

 

[koeman]

cheers, thats great thanks