New brewer

gordiemac · Sep 29, 2015

Hi all I'm new to brewing and to forums first for both, with plenty of research and advice from my brew shop in Glasgow and after cleaning, sterilizing and rinsing everything tonight I have just pitched my first ever brew of Coopers Mexican Cerveza. I added this with brew enhancer 2 at 23deg C and have a O.G of 1042 I have stuck it in the garage with a 100w submersed heater set to 23 deg and checked in water first, it gets pretty chilly through the night up here. I plan to bottle and cap into cleaned sterelized and delabled Magners bottles straight from FV after 2 days of same readings. I would appreciate any advice/feedback on my first go.
Cheers!

stevej · Sep 29, 2015

Welcome to the forum :|

Leon103 · Sep 29, 2015

Welcome. It should be a pretty straight forward kit but if you have another bucket I would transfer to that before bottling.

gordiemac · Sep 29, 2015

Hi thanks for reply does that mean transfering and leaving if so how long? Or transfer then bottle straight away if this way what is the reason is it to reduce sediment?

HebridesRob · Sep 29, 2015

gordiemac said:
Hi thanks for reply does that mean transfering and leaving if so how long? Or transfer then bottle straight away if this way what is the reason is it to reduce sediment?

Transfer, prime, bottle straight away. You need to prime in order to carbonate the beer. Taking the beer off the sediment first means you can stir the priming solution in.

priming and bottling...
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11.html
priming sugar calculator...
http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

gordiemac · Sep 30, 2015

As its my first go im using the coopers carbonation drops was planning using 2 per magners sized bottle would you still recomend transfering? The links are great and helpful as i intend on using priming sugar once ive got a bit of confidence. Also my brew has been going for around 12hrs as yet there is no bubbles from airlock is this normal? Checked temp still at 23 deg C (patience is not my strongest point!)

clibit · Sep 30, 2015

23 is a bit high, I'd drop it to 18-19C. The yeast will create more esters that will affect the flavour of the beer at 23. It will take a bit longer at the lower temperature, but get a better result.

gordiemac · Sep 30, 2015

Ah ok i went for the middle of the coopers temp range, thanks i'll drop it down tonight

gordiemac · Sep 30, 2015

Found it bubbling away like mad when i got home, i have turned heater down to 19 its been at 23 for 24hrs prob longer before temp drops will this effect the final brew by much? Dont understand why Coopers give such a wide temp range with their kit

clibit · Sep 30, 2015

They want people to not be put off by the need to hit a narrower temperature range. The yeast will work within the range they give, but for best results the target temperature is at the lower end for a lager style beer.

gordiemac · Sep 30, 2015

Ok thanks for the advice

gordiemac · Oct 2, 2015

Hi sorry more questions i dropped the temp down to 20 deg which slowed down the bubbles for a day but now they have stopped all together watched for 5 mins should i do anything? Only been going for 3 days

gordiemac · Oct 2, 2015

Or am i being my impatient self

Fore · Oct 2, 2015

Hi. Do you have a hydrometer?

clibit · Oct 2, 2015

Yes if you have a hydrometer check the gravity. It may well be slowing down cos it's fermented really quickly and is running out of sugars.

gordiemac · Oct 3, 2015

Thanks guys i took a reading 1026 OG was 1042. there was a bit of pressure when i took the lid off there was a little foam on top doesnt smell anywhere near as strong as first couple of days temp still 20 deg, any advice would be great

ManseMasher · Oct 3, 2015

Leave it a couple of days then take another reading. If it's at 1026 it's still got a way to go. Your next reading should be lower. When you get the same reading a couple of tests in a row, then that's a good sign its ready for the next step.

clibit · Oct 3, 2015

It shouldn't stop fermenting at 20, and 23 is very high for fermenting a lager style beer with any kind of yeast. It's higher than most ale yeasts require. I'd leave it a couple of days and check again. Then if it hasn't dropped at all, nudge the temperature up a bit. You don't hear about Coopers yeast stopping, it's unusual.

gordiemac · Oct 3, 2015

Thanks i'll do that im prob giving it too much attention still at the new toy stage!

gordiemac · Oct 4, 2015

Down from 1026 to 1016 so defo working still no bubbles from lock must be getting out lid instead, thanks for advice guys

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