1st time brewer question

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thursobhoy

virgin brewer.
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thurso
Brewed my 1st ever beer last night, golden stag after reading the rave reviews.

When should I see some action from the airlock and some movement so I know its working?

Got it all done at 10.30 last night, pitched yeast at 23c and its sitting in my spare room with heat belt at a constant 22c

Thanks very much.
 
It has varied between 6 hours and about 54 hours for me, be patient and I'm sure it'll be fine. It could also be that the lid doesn't have a good seal so gasses are escaping elsewhere, you could take a little peak and if there is foam on the top, or even just little bubbles, it will be on it's way.
 
im on my second brew and one thing i learnt is patience!!! best to leave it alone now for about 2 weeks!!

I had a panic attack on my first one as could see any bubbles in the airlock but then after writting on here and other forums most people said the same as Doctormick FV buckets never seal properly so dont worry if the airlock doesnt bubble
 
I've also failed to see bubbles the twice I've used a bubbler airlock but whenever I've used the other type (no idea what they're called!) I've had bubbles.
 
I have hardly ever seen any airlock activity.. tried boiling water over my lid of FV which def makes it tighter because I get concaving lid. I don't worry because it seeps out still with the lid clipped firmly on..
 
Just got in from work and ran up to check my brew(very excited about this carry on)

And woo-hoo lid of fv has swollen up and foam filling the rest of the space.

Temp is 24c with a heat belt on the fv.

1 question the instructions say add hops on day 5 will I do this? The instructions also say fermenting will be 10 days, but most people say its taken their golden stag kits take about 2 weeks so if I leave the hops in for that long will it affect the taste in a negative way?
 
Have you got a hydrometer ?

This is really the best thing to use to tell if the fermentation is complete, do go by the instructions, treat them as a guide only



Scaff
 
I do have a hydrometer but it was more for the hop addition if I put it in after day 5 will that be too early if it takes longer than the instructions say?
 
If it was me, I would put the hops in 5-7 days before I plan to bottle.

I never bottle before 2 weeks either so I would wait until fermentation has finished personally, then drop the hops in for 5 or 6 days then bottle.
 
It depends on how much hop aroma you want in your beer. For a very hoppy tang, do it 48 hours before you bottle. The longer you leave it in after this, the less intense it will get (at least according to the Bulldog and Young kits I've done).
 
thursobhoy said:
22c at the moment that OK?
Click to expand...

22C should be fine but is probably the top end of what temp you can ferment at. Try and ferment at about 18-20C for at least the first 24-48 hours as that is when off flavours are mostly produced. Did it say on the packet what sort of yeast it was as different yeast have different ideal temp. I always use wilko ale yeast which is nottingham yeast. Googling to find the ideal temp for nottingham yeast gave me 14C-21C so i try to keep my fermentation withing range (which can be a bit harder without a brew fridge
 
Put my Golden Stag brew on today...23C just now, but after reading your posts trying to get it down a bit to about 20C.
I was also going to follow the instructions, ie, add the hops after 5 days, best not to then I suppose? I am going to put this into a keg, so when do I best add the hops and how do I know it's ready to go into the keg.
I took a Hydrometer reading after mixing all the ingredients and this read 1040, with the mix at about 24C. What would be a good reading for it to be ready to transfer to keg?

First time brewer, so please be gentle! :cool:

Cheers
 

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