HomebrewandBeer.com forum

Like my brew always bubbling away! (:twisted:)

Well, I put this one down as detailed above, pitched the yeast and went skiing for 4 days ("skiing" actually doesn't mean skiing because there is jack all snow, but I digress). I get back, measure the SG, find it's the same as when I left!

Bugger. Dead yeast I guess. I've made up another starter and will pitch it when it's bubbling nicely.

Thanks for all the tips on adding the fruit at racking-time. I'll have to do that next time.

I got one going. Was a bit worried, I was in a hurry and had to pitch the yeast at 30 degrees as I was going away for the weekend. But its bubbling away nicely.

I was lucky to get some really juicy lemons from a mate's tree. Had a quick taste and it was really nice. Hopefully will turn out ok.

Hmm... mine really isn't going too well. I've pitched yeast three times so far, and every time I'm getting no airlock activity, and the SG isn't dropping. Something must be killing the yeast, whether it be the acidity, or perhaps a pesticide on the lemons or raspberries.

The yeasts I pitched are:
1. Cascade Heritage Lager (kit yeast)
2. Coopers Bitter (kit yeast)
3. Starter made from mixture of yeast slurry from a saflager S-23 brew and a Cascade ale brew.

In all cases I created a starter, and it was bubbling away nicely before I pitched it. I've maintained the temp between 22°C and 30°C the whole time.

As a last-ditch effort I went to the HBS in North Melbourne (which is quite a wine-focussed kind of place) and asked them what to do. They were a bit mystified by the whole thing, but they gave me a sparkling wine yeast (1118 if my memory serves) and said "this'll ferment, don't worry". So we'll see. I'll report back on this one.

Oh, and if I was going to do this recipe again, I'd do these things:

1. Add the lactose after primary is complete. Lactose is expensive ($12 for 1kg for me) so you might as well add it once you know that the brew has worked.
2. Add the fruit during racking. The raspberries are also very expensive (about $13 for 700g) so it's also worth adding them once you know the fermentation is going to work. Also you maximise the fruit flavours by racking onto them because the fruit flavours are susceptible to being "scrubbed" by the CO2 produced during fermentation. The best thing to do is cover with water and heat them to 70°C or so for 20 minutes to kill any nasties, then add to the second fermenter. I included them in the initial boil which apparently releases pectin which causes cloudiness.

Anyway, hope my experiences help someone! :)

Mine has been bubbling beautifully for 10 days now. Has not missed a beat. Looks, tastes and smells great. Havent taken any SG readings yet as the bubbling hasnt slowed and I dont want to waste too much!!

Thats expensive Lactose. I think I got 2kg for that amount.

Yeah, it came it 250g bags from my local HBS. I've heard that it's half that price at Grain and Grape, but It'd cost more than $6 to drive out there! ;)

I'm planning another road trip out to there with mutual friends soon rwh. Shall I let you know when it's on so we can make a fun car trip out of it?

Sure, sounds fun :)

Count me in too, Cat.

BTW, Grain and Grape is only about a 10-15min walk from Yarraville station (zone 1) on the Werribee and Williamstown lines. If you're like many students and have a monthly ticket, travel is a sunk cost!

OMG I had no idea it was so close to my house. For some reason I got yarraville mixed up with yarraglen!

LOL, me too originally! It was a lot closer than I had originally thought, which makes it even sweeter. Still, it's on the opposite side of town to me, but at least it's not as far as Yarraglen.

Is the grain and grape like a gold plated shop or something?
isnt there brew shops in your home towns?

Sure, but those are just Brewcrafts which I find to be overpriced and not nearly as helpful.

It helps if you think of G&G as the Holy Grail or something. Much more exciting then

Well i certainly will go have a look then although ill have to get the melways out cos i dont know the area so well!
Thanks for the tip cat

lethaldog wrote:Is the grain and grape like a gold plated shop or something?
isnt there brew shops in your home towns?

Blandy: "I want to make a dark lager using only Malt extract, hops, and some grains" ie no kit

Brewcraft Guy: "I'd reccommend you use this kit"

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Blandy: "I would like to make these all-grain recipes"
* hands over recipes *
G&G guy: * asks me a couple of questions about local and imported malts, then goes out the back of the shop, gets the grain for me (even the really specialty stuff that I doubted they'd have), and brings it back already cracked in two sealed bags *

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Conclusion: Thanks to Brewcraft for getting me interested in homebrew. I think they do this really well. But once you want to do something more complicated than just a kit with some extra hops and maybe a little bit of grain, then G&G are more helpful (and cheaper for that matter!)

OK, back on topic, my lemonade seems to actually be fermenting, at least I'm getting some action in the airlock for the first time. I guess at least something is alive in there now. ;)

The wine yeast that I pitched was interesting. The shop recommended this rehydration procedure (from memory):

1. Fill a bucket with 38-40°C water
2. Put 200mL of water into a sterilised bottle, also 38-40°C
3. Pitch the yeast into the bottle, stir
4. Put the bottle in the bucket for 20 minutes without stirring, keep the water in the bucket at 38-40°C by adding hot water as necessary
5. Stir, pitch into the brew, maintain temp >20°C

I had to read and reread that temperature range, but it seems to have worked! This sparkling wine yeast must be more suited to the high acid or whatever. It did take a day or two to take hold after pitching. All I can say is I'm glad I have two fermenters or this would have been down the sink by now. It's been in there for two weeks already for crying out loud!

Does it still smell tasty?

Well it doesn't smell bad... only time will tell on this one. It's fermenting at quite a leisurely pace.

Just brewed this. Tastes pretty nice from the fermenter, so I might need to add some more lactose when I rack to get the desired sweetness. I based it off the recipe on the Brewcraft site, although I left the lemons in the primary.

Lemonade

14 lemons (picked from lemon tree) sliced/chopped up roughly.
1kg dextrose
1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 (dextrose and maltodextrin)
500g lactose
6g yeast nutrient
Safale yeast

Boil lemons, dextrose, BE1 and lactose on stove with approx 5 litres of water (enough to dissolve fermentables). Pour mixture into fermenter and top up to 24 litres. Add yeast nutrient, stir, and then add yeast.

I'll be racking this in a week or so too.