newbie questions

[crouchy1984]

Hi im an absolute newbie and have just started brewing the coopers aussie lager.Its been fermenting now for 9 days and just done a hydro reading of 1.008 so by the looks of things its ready to bottle my questions are is it supposed to be really cloudy at this stage and would i be able to condition the bottles at about 14c because that seems to be the room temp in the room im brewing in,any help appreciated

 

[klaus]

I would leave it for another 5 to 10 days. Most kits will clear considerably still in FV. The remainder drops out in bottle. Lager is generally matured (lagered) at lowish temps. But first try and store them a few degrees higher, say for a week to give carbonation a good start. At lower temps maturing/carbonation will last longer. I move my beers straight under the stairs and won't open a bottle until a month has passed.
Patience is a useful ingredient!

 

[Moley]

Hang on Klaus, 9 days is quite laudable for a newbie, most seem to want to bottle after 4-5 days and drink a week later

Welcome to the forum Crouchy :

Get it bottled over the weekend. It will clear in the bottles but that does mean that later on you will need to pour carefully to leave the sediment behind in the bottle, although it won't harm you and some people deliberately shake it up.

As Klaus says though, try to find it a slightly warmer room for a few days and then bring back into your cooler room for a month, although earlier ‘quality control’ testing is obligatory.

 

[graysalchemy]

You might get it to drop clear by putting it in a cool garage/ shed or on a conrcrete floor in a cool room for a few days. Then bottle it as prescribed.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[Moley]

Thinking about that a little further, if it has been kept fairly cool throughout it is possible that fermentation might not have quite finished, so I would suggest you leave it until Sunday and see if the hydrometer reading has dropped any further.

If no, bottle.
If yes, leave it for another couple of days until you get unchanged readings.

 

[crouchy1984]

Thanks for the replies i think im gonna bottle some this weekend and leave some for bottling for next weekend and see the difference for myself and it looks like im gonna have to condition bottles in the airing cupboard where its a couple of degrees warmer,the wife aint gonna be happy