Is it ready yet?

[Zedilly]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a bit of advice. I have my first ever brew on the go at the moment and its been in my fermentation barrel for 11 days now. Its a Coopers European lager. My airlock was bubbling away like a gud 'un for the first 4 days or so then it slowed down and it's still bubbling now around once every minute or so. The instructions with the kit said 4-6 days fermentation time but I'm coming close to an extra week with no real signs of it stopping.

Should I be worried and more importantly is there something I should be doing to it?

Thanks in advance,

Zed.

 

[PD]

Not for 10 days from the start. it is better left alone. What you should be doing in a day or so is starting to take hydrometer readings of the brew, so you know exactly when fermentation has stopped.

sorry I just read your post again and seen you have had it brewing for 11 days. take your hydrometer samples now and see if its finished then keg bottle or move to 2nd FV.....

 

[Zedilly]

Thanks piddledribble, I'll go and take a reading now. I was unsure about opening it up if it was still fermenting and that's why I wanted advice. How much should I read into airlock activity?

Thanks again,

Zed.

 

[PD]

not much when it gets slow, there will always be gas escaping to a certain degree, your hydrometer is your best friend

 

[Zedilly]

I've just taken my first hydrometer reading after 11 days and it was 1.040. Surely that can't be right can it?

I didn't take a reading at the start as I wasn't too worried about working out how strong it was going to be.

Zed.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

:wha: it should be around 1.012 ish. 1.040 is what it will have started at. I'd suggest taking a nother reading and making sure you read it correctly. Many people misread them when first starting out. Since you've been having plenty of airlock activity I guess it will have been fermenting for quite a while. It should definately be lower than 1040.

 

[Zedilly]

I've just taken another sample and tested it and its definitely at 1.040. It tastes awful, is cloudy and has a cracking head on it. :wha:

Zed.

 

[Dunfie]

I've just taken another sample and tested it and its definitely at 1.040. It tastes awful, is cloudy and has a cracking head on it. :wha:

Zed.

It doesn't seem to add up. It has been visibly fermenting for 11 days and is still at 1040. :hmm:

What temperature are you fermenting at? If it still has a yeast head then it is possible that it is fermenting very slowly.

Also, was the beer very sweet when you tasted it?

 

[Zedilly]

Temp has been around 21 degrees, it has a brown "crust" on the top, it tasted awful, not sweet at all. I have obviously sealed the Fv back up and the airlock is showing signs of activity again already.

 

[fbsf]

Just as a precaution, try your hydrometer in a jar of tap water at room temperature. It should read 1.000 - if not, then your hydrometer is out...

 

[Zedilly]

Just as a precaution, try your hydrometer in a jar of tap water at room temperature. It should read 1.000 - if not, then your hydrometer is out...

I did this with some bottled water which was sat in the kitchen and it was reading bang on.

I would have posted a picture but as a newbie I haven't got enough posts yet.

 

[robsan77]

Tell us more. How did you make the kit? How many litres do you have? Etc.

 

[fbsf]

Indeed - how much sugar/Dry Malt/liquid malt did you add to it, and did you make it up to 23L or shorter?

1.040 is normally around the starting gravity for most coopers kits - unless you've added way to much additional fermentables then something has gone very wrong.

The only thing I can think of is that the yeast hasn't done anything and a different bacteria has caused an infection, but even that should have reduced the SG a bit...

 

[Zedilly]

I used 1kg of brewing sugar, 22 litres of bottled water and the temp has been a fairly constant 21 degrees as the heating has been on 24/7 since this cold snap came.


**update**

I have just drawn another sample to test and the hydrometer is still reading 1.040. After testing it I thought I would taste it and it nearly made me hurl my guts up. It is extremely sour and vinegary. Am I to assume some sort of infection has occurred and it is ruined?

 

[bottler]

Ive had my coopers brewing from last saturday, had a good froth on top which after 5 days around 20c has settled down to a light covering and looks normal and i'll wait til the weekend to take a sample. The wife says it smells like rotton eggs, but that is expected of this brew. I will give it at least 12 weeks in the bottle before drinking.
My og was around 1044 i think and just with brew enhancer added.
Something sounds awfully wrong with the readings in the original post. I know this is silly probebly but, was the packet of yeast added at the start of brewing ?
Reason im asking this, is in the coopers instructions it states ..better to add the yeast quite soon after mixing, rarther than wait for ideal temperature, as brew is prone to infection at this stage. :thumb:

 

[cwiseman77]

It is extremely sour and vinegary. Am I to assume some sort of infection has occurred and it is ruined?

Sour and vinegary is a classic symptom of bacterial infection I'm afraid...

 

[Zedilly]

Oh pants!!!! And I was so meticulous in sterilising everything too. Is it just one of them things that happens from time to time or is it more likely something I have done (or not done)?

 

[cwiseman77]

Not sure really, might just have been unlucky. Maybe the water you're using? Or was the kit out of date? I wouldn't throw it out just yet...someone on here will have some more constructive advice :thumb:

 

[robsan77]

It can easily happen if the yeast isn't up to scratch. If out of.date, poorly stored or thermally shocked when adding to wort.

I know a few people who do kits buy a separate yeast and use that. Like so4 or Nottingham

 

[fbsf]

If it's sour and vinegary, then it's probably past saving I'm afraid. Is there any chance a little fruit fly could have got in somewhere?

If the yeast was old, or had been stored somewhere warm for most of it's life, then there is the possibility that there just weren't enough viable yeast cells to get the brew going, and an alternative bacteria has taken over (they are in the air everywhere - it's just that with the millions of viable cells normally in a packet of yeast, the yeast gets to it first and the alcohol kills off the other bacteria, so it may not be anything to do with your sanitiation).

Sorry...