please help - is my brew stuffed

gavind · Post by **gavind** » Wednesday Feb 15, 2006 8:44 am

Hi all, just started in this home brew caper and having a great time. after doing half a dozen brews with just a kit and sugar, i decided to get a bit more adventurous. i put a brew down on sunday night and its got me a bit worried.

1 can coopers lager
1kg brew enhancer 2
500g light malt
20g of hallertau hops (steeped for 15mins) then poured in just before adding the yeast.
starting gravity 1056

The problem i have is, at first i thought it wasnt fermenting, there was no action through the airlock - i searched the forums and this is not as big a problem as i thought. so i checked it last night, there was a bit of a oudour - sort of a mixture of wet grass and wine. (im assuming this is just the hops). I took a reading with my hydrometer 1014 and it had only been about 48hours or so. is this normal?? Has my brew gone bad??
please help

thanks

Gav

JaCk_SpArRoW · Post by **JaCk_SpArRoW** » Wednesday Feb 15, 2006 8:53 am

Hi Gav, welcome to the wonderful world of brewing!

Firstly, I would assume you are brewing at ale temps as Im certain the yeast you would have got with the tin is an ale yeast?

Also, dont be surprised that your brew has fermented quite quickly...coopers ale yeasts are very aggressive & will ferment very quickly...the first one I did was done in 3 days. I would suggest you leave it for another 5 days or so & let it finish off & clear out some more.
I would not think your brew has gone bad as it sounds as though you've done everything correclty.
Leave it go, take another reading in another 5 days, & another one the day after that & if they are the same, bottle it...or if you rack, do that & leave at fermenting temps for around 3-4 days, cold condition at 0-4*C for a week then bottle it!
Happy brewing mate!

JaCk_SpArRoW · Post by **JaCk_SpArRoW** » Wednesday Feb 15, 2006 9:12 am

One other thing would be to read throught the below link:

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... php?t=1471

gavind · Post by **gavind** » Wednesday Feb 15, 2006 9:37 am

Thanks Jack.

i'm generally brewing between 18 and 25 degrees.

its always good to get some re-assurance. thanks for the other link.

cheers

gav

JaCk_SpArRoW · Post by **JaCk_SpArRoW** » Wednesday Feb 15, 2006 9:40 am

gavind wrote:Thanks Jack.

i'm generally brewing between 18 and 25 degrees.

its always good to get some re-assurance. thanks for the other link.

cheers

gav

You might want to try & keep your temps at around 19-21*C if possible...higher temps will result in fruity flavours in your brew!
Glad to help mate, no probs!

tiarem · Post by **tiarem** » Monday Feb 20, 2006 12:06 pm

can someone please advise me? I am brewing a XXXX Lager with 750g Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 and Cluster hops. Now, I have done this before quite successfully. However this one on day 3 has gone all sickkly sweet on me. The air lock is bubbling away and brew temp is 24 deg,

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Monday Feb 20, 2006 12:09 pm

Let it go

Dogger

tiarem · Post by **tiarem** » Monday Feb 20, 2006 1:50 pm

Thanks, Dogger, for your reply. Have you any clues as to what has happened here? What is it symptomatic of? I have not changed anything in my procedures so I'm all up the creek on this,

Best regards

Trevor

shane_vor · Post by **shane_vor** » Monday Feb 20, 2006 3:36 pm

you've tasted it? if it's working away happily, what's the problem?

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Monday Feb 20, 2006 10:08 pm

Wait until it had finished fermenting, then we can see what the issue is. I am not convinced that you have a problem.

Dogger