Newbie help with festival golden stag

[tynesideblonde]

Hello All,

Well I've just started my first brew today :thumb:!! Was hoping for some advice as it didn't go off as well as I expected.

My set up is standard FV in Garden Shed but FV placed into a large tub filled with water and an aquarium Heater to regulate temperature at 21'C

Made kit as instructed. Sanitised everything (will definitely use non rinse next time...). Heated & aerated wort correctly and filled FV with boiled water & cold Tap water as instructed. Now this is where the problem begins.

Took temp of wort before I pitch the yeast found temperature of wort to be 26.9'C so too high. Was advised in instructions to put lid on and leave till temp goes below 25'C. (I fitted lid and airlock with Vodka instead of tap water)

Problem was I didn't expect being from Newcastle that there was going to a warm day in August so panicked in how to get temp down ! Luckily I'm using a a Tub of water so I used cold water and ice cubes around the FV to bring the temp down. It still took 2 hours for the temp to go below 25'C and I eventually pitched the yeast at 21.9'C but 2 hours later !!

Took Hydrometer reading 1.040 and left FV at 21.9'C (Digital thermometer).

Problem is there seems to be no heating up of wort which I thought it would with the yeast applied. I'm concerned I left the pitching of the yeast to long.

I would be grateful for any advice on how long you can leave the wort before you pitch the yeast ? I know it should be straight away but is 2 hours too long ? Is there any way I can check the brew to make sure I don't get a stuck fermentation ? :pray: Any advice will be grateful

 

[MyQul]

Don't worry you'll be fine 2 hours is nothing. You sanised everything so you'll be ok. I leave my wort about 24 hours to cool before I pitch my yeast.

The reasons for a fermentation being stuck isn't anything to do with the time between making up your wort and pitching your yeast

 

[tynesideblonde]

Don't worry you'll be fine 2 hours is nothing. You sanised everything so you'll be ok. I leave my wort about 24 hours to cool before I pitch my yeast.

The reasons for a fermentation being stuck isn't anything to do with the time between making up your wort and pitching your yeast

Hi MyQul,

Appreciate the advice. You've put
My Mind at rest. So it was worth the grief the missus was giving me for messing up the kitchen. Just need to stop checking the beer temp every 5 mins now....even the dogs sick of being let out the back door. Currently sitting at 21.9'C so all okay ? Got 5 days before I apply the hops. Cheers again

 

[Duffman]

Dont worry i had a similar situation, read the instructions and they say to pitch as soon as possible, so i pitched at 24c :sad:

That was my first brew, my next i'll be freezing down more cold water to bring the temp down faster, and i'm also building a fermenting fridge to control my temperature more accurately.

I've now bottled my first effort, though i'm under no illusion that its going to be any good, its all a bit of a learning curve and i've learn't loads from my first attempt

 

[Racinsnake]

Hi Geordie
You picked a crackin brew a real fav of mine! Please don't hop as per instructions they're way too optimistic. Give it 10 days from pitching at least, then check gravity is stable (3 days in a row) if so, beat your hop pellets in the bag with a rolling pin and sprinkle on top and leave for 5 days, 7 if your a hop monster. Then rack as per.
Dry hopping after 5 days will leave you with something that will set your teeth on edge.
Ref pitching, I just pour two kettles of boiling water on wort, stir, then top up with tap temp water from a height, to foam up and then pitch. My thermometer is stuck to the side of my brew fridge where temp control is more critical.
Just my opinions
Rob.

 

[tynesideblonde]

Hi Rancinsnake/Duffman,

Cheers for the advice. Agree with duffman about using cold water next time. Don't know whether I'm ready (the missus) for a chiller setup at the moment. I'll just keep using the kids ice pops to bring the temp down :-)

Cheers for the advice about the hops I was reading on the forums and I think I'll just pitch half of the hops and follow Rancinsnake advice of leaving the wort 10 days put half the hops in and then leave for 5 days ?

Just a question regarding taking the gravity reading 3 days in a row. Will allow air getting into the FV every time I take the gravity not affect the beer ? Plus if the the gravity is stable is it not time to bottle the beer then ? What OG should I be looking to expect ?

Good advice on pitching using the kettles. I sort of done sometime similar but with a bit more stress. I got a good head on it then had to wait ages so all the aeration had decreased :x I will try doing it your way next time.

I'm using an digital aquarium heater for my temps don't know how accurate but better than my daughters bath time stick on duck which my mate was using......Maybe I'll look into a fridge setup for my next brew. Thanks again for your advice. If you think of anything else I'd appreciate the heads ups. Cheers atb in around 20 days:drink:

 

[Racinsnake]

I'm not sure why you'd only use half the hops as this is the character of Golden stag.
The froth you get when pouring from a height is a positive, I pitch my yeast straight on top. Some brewers use a plasters whisk to really froth it up.
I could set off on a rant about the utter rubbish some people peddle about air/infections but I won't. If you want an OG you really need a sample jar personally I'm only interested in FG/when my brews finished not how strong it is, so I chuck my hydro in at the start and check it 2weeks later.
As for leaving brews too long, there are guys who've forgotten?? About it under the stairs for 12 months!! And it's turned out fine, 5 weeks is the longest Iv had one in the FV.
So crack on and chill :-D
Rob.

 

[tynesideblonde]

Hi,

Thanks for your previous help but I'm after some more advice. I noticed my airlock has not been bubbling despite FV maintaining a temp of 21 to 22'C.
1. I've waited 10 days until I pitched my hops bag and to give the brew time to ferment and sort itself out.
2. I took the following SG readings 1st Reading 1012 @ 21'C : 2nd Reading 1013 @ 21'C. which indicate that it is fermenting okay ?
3. I tasted the sample and it tastes okay if not already a little hoppy.

Anyways I'm looking for a bit advice on when to remove the Hops ? As I don't mind hoppy beer but I want to pass some bottles onto mates/family and don't want the beer to be like hop version of paint stripper. I was thinking of leaving the hops in for a max of 5 days or until the SG drops to 1009 as per instructions ? Which may be only a few days ? Anyways any advice on how to go on would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Atb

 

[Racinsnake]

Hi
Sounds like your pretty much on course, I'd be surprised if your gravity reading went up, it can be hard to get accurate readings in the FV.
Removing your hops once they're in will be v difficult especially if you crushed them :-D

 

[Racinsnake]

Sorry went off half cocked lol
......... this is why timing is important. You shouldn't have much/any in your bottles if you use the filter bag that comes with the kit, worth saving to as they're reusable.

 

[tynesideblonde]

Cheers for the advice Bud,

Just took another reading tonight SG 1013 at roughly the same temp. I think putting the hops bag in has sort of kicked the fermentation off again and the brew seems a little more "foamy head" than before.

Still tastes good so looking forward to the celebratory hangover once it's been conditioned. Would still like some advice on when to bottle though.

As I mentioned before it's been in the FV for longer than recommended now and I'm wondering when to bottle ?

Do I wait until the SG goes to 1009 as it says on the kit ? Or do I keep taking readings over the next few days and if the SG is still 1013 then consider bottling ? Thanks again for your advice. I did'nt crush the hops that much as it's always difficult to get the rolling pin out of the missus hands....:-)

I would have chucked the bag so cheers for the top tip. Okay thanks again for the reply. Hope all is well with your brews. Really getting into this brewing lark, thinking Hammer of Thor for my next masterpiece ??

 

[Racinsnake]

Sounds like your almost there, I'd leave it be until Wednesday ish or whenevers convenient, take another reading I'm guessing it will be the same, kit instructions are way too optimistic with brew length and gravity. Set you FV where your going to be bottling, cool is good, and leave for 24hrs to let the sediment disturbed from the move settle (this is ideal world stuff btw) 20 mins is my usual :-D and rack into your bottles. Leave for 10 days room temp' as it's fairly warm, then cool them in your fridge for 2 weeks then they should be drinkable! Obviously the longer you can leave them the better they'll taste, my first brew was gone, FV - belly after 6 weeks so don't worry if you succumb to temptation!
My stocks are disappearing faster than brewing at the mo thanks for asking. Iv been busy lately but hope to get one on later this week.
Good to hear your enjoying it.

 

[tynesideblonde]

Cheers for the advice. Gonna bottle today and follow your advice. SG has styed the same for 4 days now and after a taste this morning it has a good taste and well hoppy. Sort of got to do it today as missus and kids out so no distractions etc. I'll just have to wait a few weeks till there all out again and I'll be able to give it a good tasting session ;-). Aye its canny this brewing lark. I think I'll get right into it as so far the beer tastes good that's before conditioning !! So cheers for your help as I don't think it would have turned out as good without your input. I'll raise a glass or two for you when it's ready :. Atb with the rest of your brews

 

[wheazy_joe]

Good luck with the bottling today, it's a long, fairly boring process but worth it in the end!

Notice you are thinking about doing the Hammer of Thor kit next, be warned this is not a beer to be taken lightly! The brewing process is as easy as you will get, but the beer itself packs a heck of a punch and takes a bit of getting used to. To be honest it is not my cup of tea at all, and to describe it as a lager is stretching it a bit, in fact it is just downright not a lager!

Anyway, good luck!! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

[Hoddy]

I am just finishing a batch of festival golden stag and it is a top class two pack kit. It doesn't get much better. It took 4-5 weeks from bottling for it to condition properly.

Dont underestimate waiting until the OG drops and stays stable. Mine seemed to not bubble for days but it was still working.

I would also recommend doing all of the hops. When it conditions it isn't over hoppy at all.

I would also recommend doing a secondary rack prior to bottling. This kit seems to have allot of trub in the malt and the only downside to mine was when it conditioned and settled I found allot in the bottles. And as such it doesn't travel well.

Enjoy it tho. You'll love it.

 

[tynesideblonde]

Hi Hoddy,

Thanks for the info. It's been a while since I've visited the site for an update but I eventfully got 40 Bottles from the Kit. I let them condition for 2 weeks but couldn't wait any longer. Wow I was impressed, not only was I impressed but all my mates who took the p*ss where impressed also. Only got 12 left now and have left them to enjoy over xmas. I agree with you on the amount of sediment in the bottles and not travelling well. Is there a way round this ? I see you mentioned doing a second rack prior to bottling ? You couldn't explain that process to me could you ? Okay thanks for all the support for my first brew. I've already bought another Stag Kit instead of Hammer of Thor as it went so well. Just need some recommendations for other brews ??? Happy drinking ;-)

 

[LarryF]

Check out the Beer Kit review page here:

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=56558

I find this really handy when looking for a new kit to try.

 

[Hoddy]

Hi there, great to hear you have got on well with an you, and your mates enjoyed the kit. The stag is a beauty. On further just recommendations I would say the razorback has got good reviews. The pilgrims hope is good if you like a dark, blackberry nose type beer.

Doing a secondary rack is quite straight forward. It's just where you use a second fermenter and draw off the fermented wort into the second bin for a few days and the bottle it from there.

The other trick I've learnt to keep out the true from my bottles is to buy one of these http://www.geterbrewed.com/simple-syphon/ and then when I move the wort from the primary to the secondary I put some of that green Brillo pad material in the sediment catcher.

This then keeps out the large bits of material when your transferring into the secondary. Then when it comes to bottling I put a piece of sponge in the sediment catcher for bottling.

So then with allowing the wort to settle a second time for a few days, combined with the filtering (home made) you will reduce the bottle true loads. You won't believe the drop out you get. That is the one thing that is a draw back of those kits over AG. The amount of true in AG compared to kits is huge.

Hope that makes sense. Happy drinking!!!!!

PS - I've kept two bottles of Golden Stag (amounts my other many other AG brews I've stashed a few bottles from the year) for Xmas.

 

[Hoddy]

Plus if you ever do get into AG I've developed a clone recipe for it [emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻[emoji106]🏻[emoji12]