Think ive spoilt my first batch...

[Melvynnn]

As i explained in the introduction forum, im a first time brewer, brewing 5g of lager from a kit as we speak. One problem though, i followed the instructions in the kit exactly, but forgot to take the starting gravity with the hydrometer provided. Its been 3 days since i started to brew, and have left it in the airing cupboard as its the warmest room in the house, and my house is damn cold. I decided to take a reading just in case, i opened the lid (there was a build up of pressure in the barrel), and could see where the brew had reduced, from the residue at the top of the bucket. I took a reading, and it looked bleak, it read around 1.018 :|

Have i ruined my batch? What effects does this have?

 

[tubby_shaw]

From your description everything sounds fine :thumb:
Things can look a "bit bleak" towards the end of fermentation.
Where you can see that the brew has reduced is just where the initial "mad" head of fermentation was.
An sg of 1.018 after 3 days is also acceptable.
Leave it be for another couple of days and take another reading.
Keep us informed :

 

[Melvynnn]

*Phew* Thanks, i was in cold sweats hoping that i hadnt screwed it up. Is there any way to up the ABV other than adding more sugar or yeast in the beginning of the broth? In a conversation with someone at work they said when brewing ales, sprinkling in sugar every few days with up the abv, but take longer to finish, is this absolute b******s?

 

[chappo]

G'day Melvynn,
Although I reside on the other end of the earth I have done my fair share of brews. 1018 after 3 days sounds perfectly normal to me. I would certainly give it a few more days and test again, once you have stable gravity readings over a few days your brew will be ready. I wouldn't think your brew is ruined. One thing brewing has taught me patience.

Good luck and I sure you don't need it.

Cheers

Chappo

 

[Aleman]

Kit lagers are generally fermented with an ale yeast . . . which prefers to be kept warm (A relative term usually 18-20C, although up to 22C is acceptable) Fermenting higher than this can introduce funky flavours . . . Which might be the case if your airing cupboard is warm. . . .still fermenting from around 1.040 (typical Kit starting value) to 1.018 in a short period of time is easily possible (I regularly get beer fermenting from 1.040 to 1.012 in 24-36 hours . . . at 20C), and not an issue . . . I would expect it to continue to fall towards 1.010-1.012 over the next couple of days. . . . If it is a Muntons kit then there are issues with them stopping at 1.018-1.020 which I think is a problem with the wort formulation.

Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Home Brew - you'll hear this said a lot round here. . . . Give it a couple more days in the 'warm' before moving it to the cold for 5-7 days . . . then bottle/keg.

If you want to go for a skull splitter alcoholic beverage, then feeding the yeast with sugar gradually will enable you to reach a high abv . . . and a very poor quality alcoholic beverage . . . I won't call it beer . . .

Here are some pictures of my last brew

 

[Melvynnn]

Okay so let me get this straight :shock:

According tothe info supplied with the kit, ive gotta leave it for 4 weeks then put it in another barrel ready for bottling

Should i leave it another week, maybe more, then move it to a cold place for a week, then put it in the bottling barrel? where would i put that then and how long should i leave it, then after the bottling, where should i leave the bottles to settle and for how long?

Thanks for all the help! :

 

[Parva]

4 weeks, crikey! I'd leave it to ferment for a week then if you can put it somewhere cool for 3-5 days (depending on your patience) and then proceed to bottle it along with the priming sugar. Once bottled leave them somewhere warm for a week then you can cool them and drink at your leisure. :) It will however improve with age so if you can resist touching them for 2-3 weeks then so much the better but don't let that stop you having a sample earlier. :)

 

[Melvynnn]

Without sounding like a total idiot... Priming Sugar?
Is that the sugar i put in initially to begin with, or do i have to put MORE sugar into the bottles before filling them?

 

[A T]

You need to put about half a tea spoon of sugar in every bottle, a better way to do it is boil 80g (per 5 gallon batch) of sugar in some water, cool and add to the fermenter stirring gently with a sterilized long spoon (not wooden) and bottle with the sugar already in suspension. The remaining yeast then consume the sugar and carbonate your beer

 

[Melvynnn]

Bit of an update, took a reading of 1.012 today, and decided to add a tablespoon of sugar in, stirring with a (sterilized, long handled, nonwooden :p) spoon. I hope this turns out well :shock:

Edit;

Also, its giving off an odd odour, kinda like the sour aftertaste of Mead or Cider :| Uhoh...

 

[Parva]

A tablespoon of sugar to a whole batch is nowhere near enough to go to bottle, as stated earlier you'll need to add 80gms of sugar to the whole batch, gently stir it in and immediately bottle. Alternatively put 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar into each bottle and fill.

 

[Melvynnn]

Its not ready to be bottled, i thought adding sugar in during fermentation etc upped the abv? im probably wrong tho

 

[Parva]

A tablespoon of sugar will make virtually no difference whatsoever to the ABV, you'd need to be adding at least 250Gms of sugar before you really started upping the alcohol. However, it's not advisable as firstly you don't know how close you were to your starting gravity and also adding more and more sugar will reduce the body of the beer and you could end up with something that's high in alcohol and bloody awful to drink.

 

[Melvynnn]

haha good idea lol i took another reading and its still quite low, its been a week now and its fluctuated around the 1.020 - 1.015 mark and back, i dunno whether ive done something wrong or what haha

 

[Martin]

Hi guys, Im currently in the same position, I did me first ever brew on Saturday, I have got a Tom Caxtons Ale in at the moment.

Followed all of the instructions and all seems well. It is currently in the fermented and the valve on the top is happily bubbling away.

The instructions said it would be ready to bottle in about 4 - 6 days once the bubbles had stopped. So I have also bought a few normal Ale bottles, so do I just sterelise those, add a tea spoon of sugar then fill them up. Leave then in a dark cool place for 2 - 3 weeks then ready to go?

 

[A T]

The instructions said it would be ready to bottle in about 4 - 6 days once the bubbles had stopped. So I have also bought a few normal Ale bottles, so do I just sterelise those, add a tea spoon of sugar then fill them up. Leave then in a dark cool place for 2 - 3 weeks then ready to go?

I would wait til the 10th day to bottle, it gives the yeast a chance to mop up any by products of fermentation and insures that the fermentation is fully finished. A hydrometer is a good bit of kit to make sure it's time to bottle, all you need to do is get the same reading close enough to your finished gravity twice in a 24 hour period.
Sterilize your bottles and add half a spoon of sugar to each bottle or if you prefer you can boil 80g of sugar in water and let it cool, add to your fermenter and stir with a non wooden spoon gently making sure not to disturb the sediment in the bottom of the fermenter. This saves a lot of bother as you don't need to add any sugar to the bottles and it ensures an even level of carbonation in every bottle. Then you need to leave the bottles somewhere warm (i put them where i fermented the beer) for a week to carbonate and finally put them out of direct sunlight somewhere cool as long as your patience lets you :whistle:
Hope this helps

 

[A T]

The instructions said it would be ready to bottle in about 4 - 6 days once the bubbles had stopped. So I have also bought a few normal Ale bottles, so do I just sterelise those, add a tea spoon of sugar then fill them up. Leave then in a dark cool place for 2 - 3 weeks then ready to go?

I would wait til the 10th day to bottle, it gives the yeast a chance to mop up any by products of fermentation and insures that the fermentation is fully finished. A hydrometer is a good bit of kit to make sure it's time to bottle, all you need to do is get the same reading close enough to your finished gravity twice in a 24 hour period.
Sterilize your bottles and add half a spoon of sugar to each bottle or if you prefer you can boil 80g of sugar 9per 5 gallon brew) in water and let it cool, add to your fermenter and stir with a non wooden spoon gently making sure not to disturb the sediment in the bottom of the fermenter. This saves a lot of bother as you don't need to add any sugar to the bottles and it ensures an even level of carbonation in every bottle. Then you need to leave the bottles somewhere warm (i put them where i fermented the beer) for a week to carbonate and finally put them out of direct sunlight somewhere cool as long as your patience lets you :whistle:
Hope this helps

 

[Martin]

Thanks AT thats a great help. I didnt take a reading when I made the brew so leave it for 9-10 days then if the reading is the same for 24 hours then bottle it?

Sorry to ask again just want to make sure I get it right!

 

[Wez]

yep that's right

You want a final gravity (FG) of around 1.014 to 1.010 over 2 days :thumb: