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Toohey's New - 1st time brewer
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 9:17 am
by Lewis
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.
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 10:48 am
by silkworm
Patients young Padawan. You might have a bigger lightsaber but the forces run the same way. Test your gravity before you fly.
silk
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:14 am
by kelp
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.
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:24 am
by silkworm
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
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:30 am
by undercover1
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.
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:37 am
by kelp
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 .
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:43 am
by Lewis
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
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:52 am
by Guest
Lewis , if there is small bubbles that means that there should be movement in your air lock , so no not ready yet.
Posted: Friday Sep 02, 2005 11:53 am
by undercover1
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.
Posted: Sunday Sep 04, 2005 2:04 pm
by Oliver
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
Posted: Sunday Sep 04, 2005 2:13 pm
by Guest
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.