think this has gone wrong....

[newbrewer]

Hi There
This is my [first] brew but i think its gone horribly wrong. Its been in the fermenting bucket for 6 days now.

I followed all the advice i could find on the web and also the instructions that came with the kit. The brew looks more or less ok, judging by the pictures i've seen online.

But.... its smells strongly of apple juice - do i assume this has gone wrong?
Not sure if i want to taste it at this point.

My kit was youngs lager pilsner, i used normal white sugar and everything was thoroughly cleaned and sterilised.

What are the thoughts on this? Any advice?
Do i dump and start again?
Thanks

forgot to add the hydrometer reading is 1014

 

[Wez]

Beer does give off some odd smells during fermentation, what temperature have you been fermenting at?

I'd say try it, see what your taste buds tell you.

Welcome to the forum :thumb:

 

[newbrewer]

Beer does give off some odd smells during fermentation, what temperature have you been fermenting at?

I'd say try it, see what your taste buds tell you.

Welcome to the forum :thumb:

Thanks for the reply...

i bought a thermoter today. Cleaned it. Sterilized it. Dropped it into the fv expecting it to bob back up but it sunk!! I thought it would be like the hydrometer. Anyway, I've left it there as didn't think it was worth retrieving.

I already made a mess trying to put the hydrometer in the sample tube when the plug (that acts as a base) fell off emptying the contents on the floor and my feet. I'll give up with that thing and just leave the hydo in the bin.

The bin is my dining room, around the 19oC mark. I wrapped a towel round the bin and its away from the radiator (by about 1m) and the window.
Have i done right?
It tastes cidery and a bit sour. Its quite cloudy but i expected that.

 

[Bru4u]

I think you will find the smell will disipate over time, for the future I'd recomend not using a lot of sugar and use a can of pale malt extract, I used to make kits and at the start used sugar, the sugar was derived from beet and left off-flavours in the beer. Time is a wonderful thing in conditioning beer. Once bottled or kegged leave for a week at the same temp you fermented at and then store at a cooler temp for a few weeks. Once the fementer is clear start another to build a stock.
Bru

 

[newbrewer]

I think you will find the smell will disipate over time, for the future I'd recomend not using a lot of sugar and use a can of pale malt extract, I used to make kits and at the start used sugar, the sugar was derived from beet and left off-flavours in the beer. Time is a wonderful thing in conditioning beer. Once bottled or kegged leave for a week at the same temp you fermented at and then store at a cooler temp for a few weeks. Once the fementer is clear start another to build a stock.
Bru

Cheers Bru
would the Youngs beer enhancer you can buy in Wilkinsons (thats half sugar half spray malt) be as good as the light malt you said about? Or does the light malt completely replace the sugar?

 

[Wez]

Sounds like you've done everything right (except the thermometer :lol: )

It's got down to gravity ok, if you are planning to keg it i'd say go for it and see how it is in a weeks time a little time can make a big difference. Get another brew on if you can once your fermenter is empty, just in case

Edit - Good advice there from Bru on the malt extract :thumb:

 

[newbrewer]

Sounds like you've done everything right (except the thermometer :lol: )

It's got down to gravity ok, if you are planning to keg it i'd say go for it and see how it is in a weeks time a little time can make a big difference. Get another brew on if you can once your fermenter is empty, just in case

Edit - Good advice there from Bru on the malt extract :thumb:

do you think i should bottle now? Sorry but i'm totally green here.
in the instructions it says to aim for 1004, do you think after a week mines as close as it will get? Whats the longest you would expect this stage to take?
What would you do? (bottle now, or leave another week?)

 

[Bru4u]

If it were me I'd use no sugar what so ever, you can get various grades of darkness in malt extract, depends what your making, replace the sugar with a 1.5-1.8Kg can, it should be unhopped because the original can should have enough hops for the end volume (brew length). You could also use DME (Dried Malt Extract) or spray malt to replace the sugar. 3/4 cup of sugar = 1.2 to 1.5 cups of DME, English DME is normally 75% fermentable.
Some of the best advice I could give to a new brewer is to pick up a good book, you will refer to it a lot for the first while untill you find your way around.

It seems your ready for bottleing, so not time like the present and remember sanitize the feck out of everything that will touch the beer and if it is not a no rinse sanitizer, rinse well with clean water. I've never got down to 1.004, 1.010-1.012 is grand or two consecutive readings in two days, that however may be dificult in your present situation.

Have fun and test a bottle in a week to see how it's doing

 

[newbrewer]

If it were me I'd use no sugar what so ever, you can get various grades of darkness in malt extract, depends what your making, replace the sugar with a 1.5-1.8Kg can, it should be unhopped because the original can should have enough hops for the end volume (brew length). You could also use DME (Dried Malt Extract) or spray malt to replace the sugar. 3/4 cup of sugar = 1.2 to 1.5 cups of DME, English DME is normally 75% fermentable.
Some of the best advice I could give to a new brewer is to pick up a good book, you will refer to it a lot for the first while untill you find your way around.

It seems your ready for bottleing, so not time like the present and remember sanitize the feck out of everything that will touch the beer and if it is not a no rinse sanitizer, rinse well with clean water. I've never got down to 1.004, 1.010-1.012 is grand or two consecutive readings in two days, that however may be dificult in your present situation.

Have fun and test a bottle in a week to see how it's doing

nice one! thanks for the advice. I better drink the ales i bought so i could re-use the bottles!

i would like to get a book actually, but there are quite a few out there... any you would suggest? I don't anticipate brewing from complete scrach for a while yet until i get the basics right.

Also, where do you buy your malt from?? Any particularly good web sites you can recommend? I got my kit as a present and have bought the extra bits from Wikinsons as nowhere else i know where i live sells homebrew stuff.

 

[Bru4u]

There are threads running on books, about 7 topics down, have a look. As for malt, depends where you are, if your in the UK Barley Bottom is said to be very helpful and good pricing, I'm over in Ireland and buy my pale malt direct from the maltster in bulk (200 Kg ) I would never buy from a crowd called EasyBrew, although i think they have changed their name, many people have had problems with them, just my opionion.
Edited to remove slander, oooops

 

[newbrewer]

There are threads running on books, about 7 topics down, have a look. As for malt, depends where you are, if your in the UK Barley Bottom is said to be very helpful and good pricing, I'm over in Ireland and buy my pale malt direct from the maltster in bulk (200 Kg ) I would never buy from a crowd called EasyBrew, although i think they have changed their name, many people have had problems with them, just my opionion.

cheers for the pointers!
Will check out the books now

 

[Parva]

I'm just lol'ing at the thermometer bit. :rofl: Sorry, not meaning to take the michael, god knows I've made so many daft mistakes myself in the past, I just found it highly amusing and can picture it in my mind. :)

 

[Vossy1]

Also, where do you buy your malt from?? Any particularly good web sites you can recommend?

There's a list of shops here
What general area do you live in nb?

 

[newbrewer]

Parva,
no worries, thanks mate
should have seen the mess i got in!! i still wonder what the temp would have been.


vossy1,
i'm in Kent and don't know any shops around apart from Wilko's. There are 2 boots but they don't sell homebrew anymore.

edit
Just found this site.... seems to be pretty reasonably all round:

http://www.thebrewmart.com/