First brew - how much bubbling should happen in the airlock?

[Franky]

Hi Oliver & Geoff,

Thanks for an excellent site. I have just bought a homebrew starter kit (el-cheapo Brigalow with conflicting instructions) and have put my first brew into the fermenter. The instructions said nothing about making a starter for the yeast - it just said to sprinkle on top of the wort.

After a period of inactivity I checked it and the yeast was just sitting on top in clumps with a a light head forming. A reading with the hydrometer was 1040, maybe a touch under. Anyway I thought I'd give it a stir.

After a couple of days, there was maybe one bubble every 30 mins or so, so I thought I'd move it to a warmer room (I'm in Sydney and the temperature drops below 16 degrees at night).

It's been 4 days. Now there is a bubble every 10-20 seconds or so. Is that about right? I can't tell from the instructions if it is supposed to bubbling constantly or not. Anyway I thought I'd leave it for a while and see what happens.

[Oliver]

Hi Franky,

There's no problem if you don't make a starter; it just helps to get the brew off to a quick start and thus reduces the risk of infection.

Have you got a thermometer on the side of the fermenter? If so, what's it reading?

An ale lager (which is probably what you've got) generally needs temperatures of at least 18C to work properly. At lower temperatures you'll find it slows down and eventually stops when it gets too cold. A consistent temperature is also a good idea. This can be achieved by wrapping a towel or blanket around the fermenter.

The brew is definitely fermenting, as evidenced by the bubbling through the air lock. Having moved it to a warmer place you should find that fermentation speeds up.

Your beer should be fine. But be sure to check the SG before bottling and make sure it's the same on two consecutive days.

Another possibility is that the fermenter is leaking and letting air out somewhere else apart from the airlock. However, this seems unlikely given that you say there hasn't been a great deal of foam on top of the beer, indicating fermentation is progressing slowly.

Hope this helps.

[Franky]

Thanks for that.

Do you recommend getting one of those stick-on thermometers for the side? I don't have one at the moment. Do you measure the liquid temperature or the air temperature?

Also what do you recommend in terms of a brew to make in low temperature (winter)? Would a Pilsener be a good coice?

Thanks again.

[Dory]

Hi Franky,

Try coopers bavarian lager. It will brew quite well at around 18 degrees. If you have a local homebrew shop they will stock yeasts that activate at lower temperatures so you can brew very successfully at around 16 degrees. I live in Canberra and can brew right thru winter no problems at all.

[Franky]

Hi Dory,

Thanks for the tip. I might try that for my next brew.

After a bit more research I think I would have bought the Coopers fermenter instead - it comes with all the bits and pieces like thermometers a spoon and an instructional video - and I assume it would have had a better quality beer kit included with it than the Brigalow. Oh well... I think if I get good at a few batches I might buy another Coopers fermenter to rack the brew into or maybe so I can have mulitple batches going at once.

I just have to convince the missus... I already convinced her to let me keep the fermenter in the bedroom last night to keep it warm, but she wouldn't let me keep it in the bed!

[Gough]

G'Day Franky,

Hope the beer is coming along OK. Don't sweat it if it is taking a little longer than you'd hoped - generally speaking brewing on the colder side of the recommended range is a good thing, just slower. Ale yeasts will slowly ferment down as low as 15-16 and 18 is excellent - no nasty flavours from fermenting too hot. In mid winter if you can brew at 15 or colder then get a genuine lager yeast and try a lager style - a Pilsener is a top choice. If you are in Sydney then it is worth trying an ESB brewshop and asking for one of their 3kg Czech Pilsner kits. No need for any extra fermentables (eg: malt or dextrose), just dump 'n' stir. If you can brew it cold then you'll end up with an excellent Pilsner - the best kit I ever did without doubt! The Coopers Heritage Lager is also good, just make sure you get the genuine lager yeast. Ale yeasts like 18-22 degrees, genuine lagers 8-14.

Best of luck,

Gough.

[Franky]

Thanks for the tips lads. I'll let you know how the first brew goes. I'll probably leave it for another week or so and see how it goes.

In the meantime I'm going to go buy myself a thermometer and take some hydormeter readings.

Cheers.

[Oliver]

Hi Franky,

Gough is right about the brewing of lagers in winter. That's what I tend to try and do, and brew ales in spring and autumn.

A great beer to put on now would be a pilsner. I know that the Cooper's Pilsner and the Gold Rush pilsner both come with geniune lager yeasts, which will work down to about 12C or so. At these temps fermentation will take longer than if it was warmer, but you'll get a nice crisp lager.

If you go with any other kit, either make sure it's a geniune lager yeast that comes with the kit (take the top off if you can and have a look at the sachet). If you're at all unsure, just buy a sachet of Saflager from the homebrew shop and use that instead.

To clarify something that Gough said, the Cooper's Heritage lager comes with a blend of ale and lager yeasts, so you shouldn't have any problems fermenting this at cool temperatures. Also, some ale yeasts won't be active at temperatures of 15-16C. Others will be fine.

Don't worry too much about buying the Brigalow microbrew kit instead of the Cooper's. As you say, you can always buy the Cooper's down the track. But I'd definitely buy a stick-on thermometer in the meantime.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Franky]

Hi Oliver,

Thanks again for the advice. I just spent yesterday cleaning the labels off some bottles in preparation for the bottling. I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks!

Cheers, Franky.

[Franky]

Okay, I have taken a hydrometer reading and it is 1028 after 8 days in the fermenter. My instructions say to add finings at 1010 and bottle at 1005-1000. Is that right?

The beer I drew out into a beer glass to take the reading is pretty cloudy and had a 1cm head which lasted about 2 minutes and the residue clings to the glass. The liquid is the colour of ginger beer and fairly opaque. It tastes a bit like a fruit punch except not quite as sweet. A very light and fruity beer smell. Minimal carbonation - just a couple of bubbles.

I think it might need a whole lot longer in the fermenter, like maybe another 2 weeks? The airlock is bubbling probably once every 20 seconds or so still. I have moved it next to the water heater in the hope of getting a constant warmth and I've wrapped it in a warm jumper.

I am ever hopeful...

[Oliver]

Hi again Franky,

Did we establish what temperature your beer was fermenting at? As I said, if it's quite cool it might be taking longer than usual to finish fermenting.

Also, when you take an SG reading be sure to give the hydrometer a spin to get the bubbles off it. Otherwise bubbles clinging to it will give it a false high reading.

Given that your beer was not tasting too sweet, this may be the case.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Franky]

Hi Oliver,

Yeah I gave it a spin, but the brew wasn't heaps fizzy anyway.

I haven't got a thermometer yet, but I'll get one at the weekend. It's just been so bloody cold in Sydney at the moment, so I reckon I'll just have to be patient.

I don't really want to build a hotbox because I reckon it wastes too much energy, but I might put together an insulator like a big fermenter-sized stubby holder. At the moment the fermewnter is sitting next to our hot water tank, but it isn't getting a whole lot of heat.

Thanks again for your excellent advice!

[nexrex]

Hi Geoff & Oliver, props to you guys for a great website and forum.

Franky,

the stick on thermometer is good. Problem is it can be very inacurate too.
If you go to your local Dick Smith store you can pickup a digital thermometer for about $30. I have mine stuck on the wall near my fermenter.

This gives me the temperature of the room on the clear LCD, the stick on thermal sensor also tells me down to the tenth of a degree how warm my brew is.



Maybe something to think about in the future.

[ashy]

Franky,
I know there are all sorts of gadgets out there. I live in the Southeast of SA where it gets bloody cold. I have experimented with several ways of keeping my brew warm. The best one is using a heat belt, which for 40 bucks I should have got straight off and not worried about the others. I brew my beer and stouts in the shed and using the heat belt I find that the tempreture will stay between 18-22 and if covered with a towel around 24 overnight. It is also handy that you can turn the heat belt off during the day when it is warmer. Just means that you have to keep a regular eye on it and you can vary it if you want the tempreture lower.

Good luck and let us know how the first one goes.

[Guest]

Easies way to run a brew belt is get a timer switch - I got mine in Woolies for less than $10, and have the brew belt on and off for an hour or so at a time to keep the temps right.

[Franky]

Howdy everyone and thanks for all the advice that has been flooding through.

I left my brew for three weeks with its very slow bubbling in the airlock. I took a reading and it was 1010, so I added the finings, as per the Brigalow instructions. I left it another one and a half weeks (half the time it took to get to the 1010 stage according to the instructions). So a total of four and a half weeks.

Tonight I took another reading and it is just under 1010. Bubbling in the airlock has slowed to almost none. The beer I drew out has a slight sweetness to it and a dry after taste. No head at all and minimal fizz. Sort of tastes like beer, but not really. Also quite cloudy (opaque). In fact looks just like Bundaberg ginger beer (except without the fizz). Is this normal?

I can see a thick layer of sludge on the bottom of the fermenter and there is muck clinging to the sides near the top. Doesn't appear to have a head on the wort though.

I was planning to bottle on the weekend, but now I'm not so sure. I'll take another reading on Sunday morning to see if it is the same.

If I bottle it anyway I risk exploding bottles, don't I?

Gee you need to be patient in this brewing game... maybe I should cut my losses and just start my next batch... I'm glad the weather is warming up again in Sydney!

[Gough]

Franky,

If it doesn't taste/smell infected (believe me you'll know when it is ) then at 1010 or thereabouts it is definitely worth bottling. Don't overdo the carbonation sugar and assuming your sanitation is good everything should be OK. Mightn't be the best tasting beer ever but then again you never know... IF it is infected throw it out but from what you are saying it sounds reasonably normal. Bottle away...

By the way, if you can, try and get yourself another fermenter. 30 litre HDPE buckets are excellent and cheap - try Bunnings if you haven't got a friendly home brew shop (HBS) handy. Fix it with a tap and get about 1.5 metres of 10mm diameter vinyl tubing, again from a hardware store. You will then be able to 'rack' your beer at the end of 'primary' fermentation (generally 5-7 days for ales and around 14 days+ for cold fermented lagers) off the yeast cake, clearing you beer and stoppping the risk of the yeast cake imparting off flavours. Sounds a bit daunting if you've never done it, but it is easy and makes a BIG difference to your brewing for not much dough. MUCH cleaner, clearer looking and tasting beers. Just rack slowly and don't let it bubble up. After pitching the yeast oxygen is your enemy...

Good luck,

Shawn.

[Isaac]

After pitching the yeast oxygen is your enemy...

To that end, many people swear by glass demijohns for the secondary fermentation (keep out of reach of light) - there's very little oxygen that would be left up the top to oxidise the beer, and glass is impermeable to oxygen (plastic isn't, for extended periods).

Stainless steel containers work well too - if you've got a keg and can fill the remaining space with CO2, it's pretty good.

Can get rather expensive though.

[Dogger Dan]

Sorry

I know I joined this late but no one mentioned a stuck fermentation or maybe a crap yeast.

Sounds like it worked its way through though

Love the ales in summer lagers in winter, me to

Bottling, wait until fermentaion is done and then add half cup of priming suger to 23 litres of brew (dissolve it in a bit of water), this will get away from teaspoons per bottle and the exploding beer.

I use stainless pepsi cylinders for my draught on tap but i still need to wait for a complete fermentation in the secondary.

[Franky]

Hi Gough - yeah the plan is to buy another fermenter to rack into in the future. Have to convince the missus first...

Dan - thanks for the tip about the batch priming. I have heard of it, but I assume I'll have to rack the beer as per Gough's suggestion to avoid stirring all the yeast up again when I stir through the priming sugar.

I might just see how I go with the fiddly priming process of priming each bottle - but I'll definitely keep in mind all your suggestions for future brews.

I agree with you Gough - it may not be the best beer in the world, but I'll bottle it anyway and chalk it up to experience. To be honest I didn't expect much from my first brew, but I have plenty of tips for next time.

Cheers for all the advice. I'll bottle this weekend, leave it for a couple of weeks to carbonate then I'll crack one open and tell you all what it tastes like.