and i'd thought this'd be easy

[john_d]

ok, so im a 1st'timer here, put it all together yesterday and already run into an "issue/problem"

i put some water in my airlock, now 12hours later there is no water but "froth"blowing out of it, what have a i done wrong? :wha:

 

[Glen]

Hiya, i'm fairly new. On my 3rd kit now. What kind of kit are you brewing? Coopers stout for example will go nuts, Mine did it for abour 3 days it blows the water out of the airlock no probs at all, just keep topping it up, thats what i did, But in all honesty you probably have nothing to worry about, It's just the yeasties doing their job.
The best piece of advice i can give a novice myself is just relax and let it do its thing, All in all if you have sanitised correctly and have fairly decnt temperature then it will be fine. You can't expect Beer of the year from your first go but it should come out drinkable regardless. Others may be able to offer some more experienced advise that my 2 cents.

HTH Glen
:

 

[richc]

Don't worry, go and have a beer. You've just got a really active fermentation going on that is frothing up enough to reach the top of your fermenting vessel and push through your airlock. If you are really worried you could replace your airlock with a blow off tube, basically a sanitised plastic tube that goes from the hole where the airlock is into a bottle of water, but I wouldn't bother.

 

[john_d]

its cooper lager im doing using a "complete starter kit (40 pint), i made sure everything was sterilised :thumb:

edit: temps 25c

 

[Glen]

Warm temps can make it a bit more lively but i wouldn't worry.

 

[DaveMack]

Ive done about 5 Coopers lagers , the only one that i've done what you are doing is the European lager , mine calmed down after about 24 hours ... so dont worry everything is doing as it should

 

[evanvine]

Worry not, your yeast "madness" out grew your FV.
Your biggest problem will be clearing the mess up.

 

[john_d]

Thanks all, checked this morning and it appears to have calmed down :

 

[john_d]

no bubbles now, a burb every 30-45 minutes, not really sure how your meant to know if its bubbling on a regular (semi-regular) if its in your spare room? :hmm:

 

[Rich85]

Could be that the seal on your FV isn't airtight, plus the froth normally settles down after a couple of days so that might be why it seems to have slowed.

The best piece of advice in my opinion would be to use a hydrometer rather than rely on using the bubbling of the airlock as an indicator of the fermentation rate. From what I can gather most people don't use airlocks for beer, just leave the lid slightly loose on your FV and all will be well.

A hydrometer takes all the guesswork out of your brewing by giving you an exact reading which you can use to spot a stuck fermentation as well as allow you to work out what abv you end up with (so long as you record the starting gravity) and help prevent you from making bottle bombs by bottling too early.

 

[john_d]

defo no air leak, used me hydro and its reading 1004, according to the instructions it should take around 4 days at 27c, mine is around 26c so it could be there is no bubbles as its nearing the end.

 

[Aleman]

According to the instructions it should take around 4 days at 27c, mine is around 26c so it could be there is no bubbles as its nearing the end.

Do the instructions also say that it will taste like TCP/Cough syrup.

Some breweries get away with fermenting at those temperatures . . . most don't! Ideally you want to be fermenting at 20-22C no higher than that if you help it.

 

[john_d]

Do the instructions also say that it will taste like TCP/Cough syrup.

course not, states a temp between 21-27c is fine. higher the temp quicker its ready, mine wasn't deliberatly set to high 20's.

 

[Aleman]

Do the instructions also say that it will taste like TCP/Cough syrup.

course not, states a temp between 21-27c is fine. higher the temp quicker its ready, mine wasn't deliberatly set to high 20's.

:hmm: :hmm: :hmm: Commercial breweries do not brew 'Lagers' between 21 and 27C . . .it's more normally 8-14C :whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

 

[john_d]

well my 1st brew is a mess, live & learn.

 

[Aleman]

well my 1st brew is a mess, live & learn.

Go with it anyway . . . It will give you the opportunity to learn what warm fermentations do to the flavour characteristics of a beer.

Most of the coopers lager are shipped with a Dried Ale yeast (IIRC the European is shipped with a true lager yeast), and ale yeasts fermented warm are a lot more forgiving that lager ones. AS I said earlier in my post I know of several award winning craftbreweries that ferment at 26-27C with very few problems (Apart from perhaps consistency of product). If the yeast shipped is Coopers Ale yeast, it may well be happy fermenting at those temperatures anyway

 

[john_d]

not sure what kindis is, just says "coopers brewing yeast".

 

[StubbsPKS]

It may taste fine, but once you have all the basics of brewing under control, if you go back and brew the same kit again you'll see what a difference things like accurate temperature control can make on the process :)

 

[john_d]

It may taste fine, but once you have all the basics of brewing under control, if you go back and brew the same kit again you'll see what a difference things like accurate temperature control can make on the process :)

already started looking for my next attempt.

 

[john_d]

ok so i tried a bottle after being bottled for 17 days, tastes okv(initially) but their is a what i can only describe as a "tangy" aftertaste, it may lessen with age.

a result of my high temp? cant say, its maybe meant to be there? certainlly an aquired taste but im sure aquire the taste :