Newbie probs

[LarryF]

Evening all, I just want to ask for some advise. I put my first brew on last Sunday, it's a Coopers lager, it's my first brew so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible but I have hit a problem. December in London, my FV is showing a constant temp of between 16-18c. There is fermenting going on but it's very slow so my thinking is that I should maybe leave the FV brewing for 10-12 days to allow time for the yeast to do it's work. Or failing that I can move the FV to a cupboard where my boiler is which may have a slightly higher temp but this would drop during the day and during the night when the heating shuts down. So my dilemma is, do I leave my FV where it is and has a stable but low temp, or do I move it to where it has a slightly higher by varying temp. Apologies if this has been asked before but I'm a bit stuck. Also whilst on the subject how do people get round the problems of lower temps in the winter and higher temps in the summer? I have checked this out on the other posts, heating bands don't seem very popular, I'm not sure I'm experienced enough yet for water baths with fish tank heaters in and I'm not at all sure that SWMBO is going to swing for that. However that's something to consider for the future for the moment any advise on how not to screw up my first brew would be very welcome.

 

[Dazza1shot]

Hi mate I am on my 3rd brew now and only started last month from what folk on here it is better to have a slightly lower temp than be going up and down through different temps. As for fermentation take the estimated time that came with your kit with a pinch of salt it is ready when you get three thermometer readings the same over three days I'd say if the pack says between 7 and10 days it will be a minimum of 14 days.

Welcome and good luck
Daz

 

[LarryF]

Cheers Daz, much appreciated.

 

[clibit]

16-18 is an ideal temperature for a Coopers lager. Leave it 2 to 3 weeks in there. And then check the gravity with a hydrometer before you do anything else.

 

[Fil]

+1 slow n steady for the best flavour im lucky enough to have a fridge to ferment in and i set the temperature to the low end of the range published for the strain of yeast.

as long as activity is evident dont fret, it may slow down further closer to the end as the available food becomes scarce - dont fret, and let gravity checks tell you whats going on,

for brewing you need to develop an almost ocd aproach to cleaning and sanitation and patience..

The kits probably telling you you can sink pints of beer a week or so after bottling? and yes you can taste it then, but tbh beers generally need a little maturing in the bottle for a few weeks and sometimes longer to develop the best flavor, tho its all down to personal taste, u may like your beer greener than me :) ..

enjoy the results (eventually ):drink:

 

[LarryF]

Daz, Clibit, Fil thanks for your replies it's certainly put my mind at rest. And I certainly take on board the ocd attitude to cleaning and I've been very strict about leaving it alone and I will continue to do so for the full three weeks suggested. I'm thinking of giving it three weeks in the bottles as well. I do have a second set of bottles so I'll be putting on a coopers stout with 1kg of Youngs beer enhancer and I'm just wondering if the same timescales apply at the current temps. Thanks again for your replies.

 

[brydo]

hi larry, i m in the same boat as you in regards to it being my first brew and the tempreture. i managed to get mines up to a constnat 18-19 oc and it was ready to bottle after 12 days after being at a cooler 14-15 for the first 2 days. the forum put my mind at ease with some good advice, same hyrometer reading for three days and your generally good to go. good luck pal

 

[LarryF]

Cheers Brydo, good luck to you too, let me know how it comes out. I'm now looking at my first bottle on 13th Feb, it's going to be a long wait but as already advised......patience is the key, cheers.

 

[Roscoe9]

Hi LarryF,

I'm a newbie to home brewing and using the same kit as you did/have. I'm starting my brew this weekend and really looking forward to the end results.

How did you first brew turn out? What final gravity reading to you get from this kit? Did you add any other ingredients to the brew?

 

[LarryF]

Roscoe9, welcome to the forum, it’s a great place for advice, encouragement and reassurance, and I needed doses of all three going through my first brew. Ok, about the Coopers lager, I had very cold FV temps as I hadn’t bought a heat band and timer when I started so I wrapped it in a blanket and moved it into the airing cupboard. I had temps of about 18c dropping at night to 16c. Because of this I left it in the FV for three weeks. I had an OG of 1040 and an FG of 1013 giving about 3.6%, however I believe that you do pick up another half a % during conditioning. I bottled it on 25/01/15 using the wand and one carbonation drop per 500ml bottle, I gave each bottle a good shake when I put the lid on and another good shake when I stored them in boxes not too near but not too far one of the radiators. I gave the bottles two weeks in the warm to allow the secondary fermentation to kick in and now they’ve had a week in the shed and I’m planning another week at the very least. The cold conditioning allows the beer to absorb the carbon dioxide generated during the second fermentation so you have to give it the full two weeks. Saying that though, curiosity got the better of me last night and I had a bottle and I was very impressed, a nice head, although it didn’t retain it, it had a very slight HB twang but all in all a nice beer. I have a feeling that it might be 4.2-4.3%, I’m over the moon with it as it’s my first brew and I don’t have to tip it down the sink. if I do have the patience I’d imagine that in another three or four weeks I’ll have a very nice beer to drink my way through, purely for the reasons of I need the bottles for my up and coming brews of course. Now that I have the heat band an timer I’m doing back to back brews every two weeks, I bottled a Coopers English Bitter last Sunday, for that I used 1kg of Muntons beer enhancer, 1 tin of Lyons Golden Syrup (on reflection I’d now use half a tin), after nine days I dry hopped (put a sanitised weighted, you sanitise your weight as well, mesh bag into the FV with the hops in it) it with 25g of Aramis hops and then bottled it five days later. I didn’t use carbonation drops this time, I used half a tea spoon of light brown caster sugar. After a good couple of shakes they’ve now gone where the lager was and in two weeks they’ll go in the shed. Good luck Roscoe9, you’ll be fine, just keep full on OCD with the sanitising and be patient and you’ll be brewing fantastic beers for the summer.