I Know Its A Car Forum.. But .. Anyone Know

[JimmyXR6T04]

well, just an update.. after a few more days of no noticeable fermentation activity.. I put the heat up to about 20deg, and left it for about 20 odd hours. Yesterday, I decided to check the gravity.. only to find that the brew was ready to bottle so, I quickly tried cooling the brew, as I didnt want to harm the lager flavour. Sitting pretty at about 10deg now, and I'll bottle tomorrow and see how it goes.

Looks as though the brew was fermenting the whole time, but because it was not as aggressive as I'm used too, I didnt think it was actually working. I was used to seeing the airlock bubble every couple of minutes even seconds, but perhaps this type of lager yeast only bubbled every hour or so? obviously I wasn't gonna sit near it and have it under 24hr guard.. although some people I know would

Either way, its ready to go, and smells great will report back in 4 weeks after a test sample has been had.. maybe earlier if I cant contain myself

[Paranormal]

Hi ya mate, only just saw your posts, and was about to reply "it prolly IS brewing!", if yeast gets too cold it will go dormant until the heat comes up again but a larger yeast will brew to very low temps, the only way a yeast will die is if you over cook it or pitch it when the wort is too hot but doubtful in your case. I have had the same thing happen many times where it just isnt bubbling, it only takes a piss ant little air leak and it'll vent thru the leak and not bubble thru your airlock, even though your sure every thing is tight, just back the lid off a bit then quickly tighten again and check the air lock gromet as well then she'll usually start the bloop bloop bloop. Else check with hydrometer.

P.S KEG brewing is the way to go. I brew in a 60 ltr fermenter and fill 3x 18ltr post mix kegs, takes 1-2 days to charge a keg and cold beer ontap, no waiting 4-8weeks for your bottles to mature.

And for the biggest inprovement on stock tin home brews, use a better yeast and brew at a constant as possible temp really DOES make a difference, the yeast that tins come with is usually pretty crap, the better home brew shops will usually have better yeasts in the fridge. Other than that try substituting 1/2 the dextrose with liquid malt and chuck in a finishing hop packet for some extra bite. MMMmm

[JimmyXR6T04]

Hi ya mate, only just saw your posts, and was about to reply "it prolly IS brewing!", if yeast gets too cold it will go dormant until the heat comes up again but a larger yeast will brew to very low temps, the only way a yeast will die is if you over cook it or pitch it when the wort is too hot but doubtful in your case. I have had the same thing happen many times where it just isnt bubbling, it only takes a piss ant little air leak and it'll vent thru the leak and not bubble thru your airlock, even though your sure every thing is tight, just back the lid off a bit then quickly tighten again and check the air lock gromet as well then she'll usually start the bloop bloop bloop. Else check with hydrometer.

P.S KEG brewing is the way to go. I brew in a 60 ltr fermenter and fill 3x 18ltr post mix kegs, takes 1-2 days to charge a keg and cold beer ontap, no waiting 4-8weeks for your bottles to mature.

And for the biggest inprovement on stock tin home brews, use a better yeast and brew at a constant as possible temp really DOES make a difference, the yeast that tins come with is usually pretty crap, the better home brew shops will usually have better yeasts in the fridge. Other than that try substituting 1/2 the dextrose with liquid malt and chuck in a finishing hop packet for some extra bite. MMMmm

←

I agree about the yeast I always get it from the brew shop.

I did check my fermenter, and I really don't think it had any leaks.. but either way, it appears to be ready! I'll bottle it tomorrow, see how it goes.

[JimmyXR6T04]

doh! I just made another brew... and I just realised that my last brew was at least 4 litres short of 22.5 litres... made a bit of a glitch in my measurements. AND then on top of that, realised I don't need to measure the water, because there are indicators on the barrel... anyways, for the people who know, will my brew still turn out ok?? its all bottled up now, got about 40 odf stubbies instead of the usual 50-60

will it still be ok?? or will it have an over powering flavour?? the new brew looks the goods! just pitched the yeast at a nice balmy 22deg.. so I'll see how it goes

Edited 08/07/06 06:38 AM by JimmyXR6T04

[EZ2CME]

mmmmmmmm beer. 2 more weeks to go before me and my brother can go bottle our brew.

[Paranormal]

She'll be fine Jimmy maybe a litte sweeter and stronger maybe another percent alc, did you take a hydrometer reading before and after if so use this -

Home brew alcohol calculator

Or - To calculate manually see - Alc calculation

Dont forget to add a further 0.5% for the priming sugar added to your bottles.

[JimmyXR6T04]

cheers mate! well, I'll see how it goes in 4 weeks or so!

[EZ2CME]

Well me and my brother went and bottled our beer at the brewing place today and it tastes great. But damn I am gone way to much taste testing. We filled all our bottles (144 6 carctons wroth) and there was still stuff left to be drunk. Lucky we brought along someone to drive for us. I guess we ill find out if it gives any bad hangovers since ti doesn't have any preservatices.

[BFHOON]

She'll be fine Jimmy maybe a litte sweeter and stronger maybe another percent alc, did you take a hydrometer reading before and after if so use this -

Home brew alcohol calculator

Or - To calculate manually see - Alc calculation

Dont forget to add a further 0.5% for the priming sugar added to your bottles.

←

if u guys are interested you can send me or bring in a 100 ml sample and I can give you a 0.1 %accurate alcohol reading I run a testing lab

[JimmyXR6T04]

I figured out why my two previous brews appeared not to be fermenting. . apparently the air locks are slightly slimmer then the gromment so there was a slight leak. I've since wrapped the airlock in plumbers tape, and all is great! on to my third batch now.. gonna have a good stock pile for summer