Seven Days in the bucket.....

[Aaron]

So its seven days since I boiled up my kit, poured it into the bucket, shook my little sachet and tucked it all up neatly in the airing cupboard. This afternoon I drew a small amount off via the bucket spigot to see what I had. It still smelt very 'yeasty' which is probably good but it looked very cloudy and I 'weighed' it at 1.16.

I guess my question is, quite simply, does this all sound right?

What should I be seeing / looking out for at this stage of the process?

Also, I noticed last night there was condensation on the inside of the bucket lid. I'm not sure if the airing cupboard is staying warm enough all through the day as we only run the hot water briefly in the AM and PM. What sort of temperature is acceptable and if it is too cold, what effect will this have?

 

[Wendy1971]

It will be cloudy at that stage your hydrometer reading should be around 1.010 or below and be that reading for a couple of days. As for temp 18 - 24 deg c should be fine. If its too cold it will ferment slower or stop. Wrap a quilt or something around the bucket that should help :thumb:

 

[Archtronics]

I have that condensation on all of my brews buddy nothing to worry about its normally an indication that fermentation is happening. Leave it for another 4-5 days and it should clear down considerably.

Hope that helps

Mark

 

[Aaron]

Nice one... cheers guys...

I'll keep an eye on things and see how it goes.

 

[craigite]

Hi

1.16 sounds a bit high, should that be 1.016?
Depending on your starting gravity that might be about there.
As long as you have a nice consistant temperature between 18 and 22 deg I'd expect it to be finished after 7 days.
Take another reading and see if it's changing over 24hrs.
Check the kit to see what the finish gravity should be.

Everything else sounds about normal to me. :thumb:

 

[Aaron]

Hi

1.16 sounds a bit high, should that be 1.016?

Everything else sounds about normal to me. :thumb:

You're right... it was 1.016. I've looked at the scale more closely.

Today's reading was 1.014 so I'd say it needs leaving a while longer.

Should anyone have any specific experience or advice, the kit I am using is John Bull's IPA with Munton's Beer kit enhancer. I boiled it in 4 litres and added a further 18 litres (a bit of a random volume I know, and I can't remember the moment's logic to it). I also threw in 25g of Northdowner about 10 mins before I turned the heat off and stirred in another 25g after.