Toohey's New - 1st time brewer

Lewis · Post by **Lewis** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 9:17 am

I decided to jump straight into the deep end and purchased a keg system about 2 weeks ago but I have a couple of simple questions that i need help with as i dont want to ruin my first brew. I purchased the Morgans Tooheys New Recipe kit and set it going it started plopping along quite nicely. It is now 8 days later and it is still plopping quite aggresively(about 20 seconds apart. The temp is about 18-20 degrees. When will the fermentaion stop so i can keg the beer? The can said 5 days at 23 degrees but like i said this is at 18-20 degrees and it has been going for 8 days.

silkworm · Post by **silkworm** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 10:48 am

Patients young Padawan. You might have a bigger lightsaber but the forces run the same way. Test your gravity before you fly.

silk

kelp · Post by **kelp** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:14 am

Lewis, I brew all my ales at 18-20 deg and I usually let them go for 14 days. Depending on how much malt I'm using and what yeast I'm using I get the gravity down to between 1008 and 1012. Hope that helps.

silkworm · Post by **silkworm** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:24 am

I'm the same Kelp, somewhere between 14 and 21 days depending on how warm it is and how much time I've got. I tend not to check the gavities any more and just leave it several days after the airlock stops bubbling.
Silk

undercover1 · Post by **undercover1** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:30 am

Lewis,
Did you buy a hydrometer as well as a keg system? It's a bit like a lightsabre, but smaller.
That will tell you when your brew is ready. Instructions on how to use it should have been included with your brew kit.

kelp · Post by **kelp** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:37 am

Yeh Silk , just broke my second hydrometer in 2 months so I wasn't gonna worry about taking gravities anymore , you don't really need them once you've been doing it for a while and I can work out what my OG is by what fermentables I'm using . I brew with temperature control [ales 18-20, lagers 12-14] so 14 days is pretty spot on and my FG is always around 1010 .

Lewis · Post by **Lewis** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:43 am

Yeah i got a hydrometer with my kit but it is reading 1010 as of yesterday i will check to se if there has been any movement overnight. If it helps when i took my sample to measure i noticed small bubbles rising from the beer does that mean it is still fermenting. Like i said im new to this so pardon my ignorance

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:52 am

Lewis , if there is small bubbles that means that there should be movement in your air lock , so no not ready yet.

undercover1 · Post by **undercover1** » Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:53 am

Two indentical readings over say 48 hours means it's cooked. If you get 1010 again tomorrow you can keg it.
Those bubbles in the test tube are CO2, a product of fermentation but not neccessarily an indicator of continuing fermentation.

Post by **Oliver** » Sunday Sep 04, 2005 2:04 pm

Lewis,

Depending on your ingredients and volume (and yeast, to a much lesser extent), 1010 is certainly a possible final gravity.

Undercover is right about the little bubbles in the testing tube. They are just dissolved CO2 coming out of soution. Fill up a glass of tap water and leave it overnight. You'll see a similar thing in that bubbles will form on the inside of the glass.

Make sure you give the hydrometer a spin to get the bubbles off before you take your SG reading. Otherwise you'll get a false high reading.

Oliver

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sunday Sep 04, 2005 2:13 pm

I read the hydrometer this morning it was about 1014 i will give it til Tuesday and test again. Thanks to everyone for thier help although im sure i will be needing it again.