Just got started with my first home brew and have some questions

[ryanm]

Hi all. I made a start on my first home brew yesterday and I'm super excited :) It went relatively straight forward but I did make a little mistake and have some concerns.

1. My fermentation bucket

It's a young's branded plastic bucket - no airlock, tap etc. I was given advice from the home brew shop that since I would only be fermenting for up to 7 days, that I could just leave a small section of the lid of the seal. Well, it's been fermenting like this for almost 24 hours. Should I just seal the lid completely or will it be fine to continue to let it ferment like this?

2. Color

I'm using a Canadian blonde kit - I know it's still early days but anything I have seen online with regards to people brewing this kit all produce a light colored beer. So far, mine is much darker - I assume this works itself out in time?

3. Recipe

The recipe suggests adding the malt and sugars then filling to the 20ltr mark before topping up to the 23ltr mark and adding the yest. I didn't bother filling it to the 23 ltr mark - an actual oversight on my part but I didn't want to top it up having just sprinkled the yest. I guess I could have done ok? I'm I going to face some issues now?

Thanks for any help. It is much appreciated as always

 

[Newtobrew2015]

Hi Ryanm, This is not advice as I'm a newbie to brewing but I had the same problem with my fermenting bucket, I left it sealed for the first 36 hours and it bulged.. Even the bottom of the bucket started to go round shaped, it was wobbling about on the kitchen work top.
I thought it might blow so I cracked the seal on one edge and let some pressure go. The brew seems to be fine.

 

[Toffee]

1. will be fine. co2 will form a protective layer as it ferments. don't keep opening it at, leave it do it's thing. 7 days is maybe optimistic. leave it for 2 weeks if you can
2. can't comment, on this, but may be related to 3.
3. do you just made 20ltr, yeah? will be fine. a lot of people do this (brew short) to increase flavour and ABV.

basically, relax, leave it alone, and it should be fine.

 

[ryanm]

Hi Newtobrew2015. Thanks for that. I should have more faith and just leave it :)

I'm pondering investing in a much better bucket or going down the glass / steel route. Even sanitizing the bucket was a pain as it's not completely air tight so I had water dripping onto the floor for a while before I started to get wet feet! At least the floor is nice and clean :) I'm going to have more issues when it comes to syphoning

 

[Newtobrew2015]

Mines just a wilko bucket and as long as I firmly push the lid on all the way round I have no leaks. I also used a wilko syphon with the bucket on the kitchen worktop and the barrel on a small stool beneath it. Worked fine for me/no spills.
John.

 

[ryanm]

1. will be fine. co2 will form a protective layer as it ferments. don't keep opening it at, leave it do it's thing. 7 days is maybe optimistic. leave it for 2 weeks if you can
2. can't comment, on this, but may be related to 3.
3. do you just made 20ltr, yeah? will be fine. a lot of people do this (brew short) to increase flavour and ABV.

basically, relax, leave it alone, and it should be fine.

Sigh of relief :) Yes, I just added 20 ltrs. I thought that at the very least my mistake would improve ABV but I wasn't sure if there where other implications. Thanks for confirming :)

I'm going to take your advice and just relax and let it run it's course

 

[howyoubrewin]

Hi there,congrats on your first brew and i'm sure it's the first of many!

In answer to your question re the fv. As the brew ferments it will release CO2. The CO2 being heavier than air will form a sort of protective layer over your beer as it's the wild yeasts in the air that cause problems for your beer and as long as the fermenter isn't disturbed too much it will continue to release CO2 and protect your beer during the fermentation process so I am sure you will be fine.

Regarding the colour of the wort, don't worry. The beer will lighten as it ferments. It starts off quite dark but after a week you will see a noticeable difference and when you see it in the bottle it will resemble the colour you have seen elsewhere.

Regarding the brew being shorter than 23l. Again don't worry about that. In fact it is common practice among some brewers to brew some kit beers short to 20l, including myself( i do it with this particular kit all the time).It enhances the flavour and bumps up the abv slightly due to the wort being more concentrated. Theres no right or wrong to this method as its all down to taste but i am confident you will still enjoy this brew anyway.

Part of the fun of brewing your own beer is trial and error and experimentation so don't be afraid to make little tweeks to your brews as you get more confident but if your worried about anything at all theres no such thing as a silly question in this forum and everyone here will be keen to help you out as we've all been there at one time or another.
Happy brewing!

 

[ryanm]

Mines just a wilko bucket and as long as I firmly push the lid on all the way round I have no leaks. I also used a wilko syphon with the bucket on the kitchen worktop and the barrel on a small stool beneath it. Worked fine for me/no spills.
John.

Sounds great. Will look into that. Thanks again

 

[ryanm]

Hi there,congrats on your first brew and i'm sure it's the first of many!

In answer to your question re the fv. As the brew ferments it will release CO2. The CO2 being heavier than air will form a sort of protective layer over your beer as it's the wild yeasts in the air that cause problems for your beer and as long as the fermenter isn't disturbed too much it will continue to release CO2 and protect your beer during the fermentation process so I am sure you will be fine.

Regarding the colour of the wort, don't worry. The beer will lighten as it ferments. It starts off quite dark but after a week you will see a noticeable difference and when you see it in the bottle it will resemble the colour you have seen elsewhere.

Regarding the brew being shorter than 23l. Again don't worry about that. In fact it is common practice among some brewers to brew some kit beers short to 20l, including myself( i do it with this particular kit all the time).It enhances the flavour and bumps up the abv slightly due to the wort being more concentrated. Theres no right or wrong to this method as its all down to taste but i am confident you will still enjoy this brew anyway.

Part of the fun of brewing your own beer is trial and error and experimentation so don't be afraid to make little tweeks to your brews as you get more confident but if your worried about anything at all theres no such thing as a silly question in this forum and everyone here will be keen to help you out as we've all been there at one time or another.
Happy brewing!

Hi howyoubrewin. Thank-you very much. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear :) I will definitely report back with my experiences

 

[howyoubrewin]

No worries, glad to help.

 

[clibit]

Bucket - With regard to the lid, I would push it on completely, and then just release pressure whenever it bulges, as someone said above. You want to keep all forms of foreign life out of there as much as possible, including fruit flies.

Color - Often looks darker in the FV, in quantity, during fermentation, than it does in the glass.

Recipe - I would stick with the 20 litres you have.

 

[ryanm]

Bucket - With regard to the lid, I would push it on completely, and then just release pressure whenever it bulges, as someone said above. You want to keep all forms of foreign life out of there as much as possible, including fruit flies.

Color - Often looks darker in the FV, in quantity, during fermentation, than it does in the glass.

Recipe - I would stick with the 20 litres you have.

Thanks Clibit - I took a sample yesterday for a hydrometer reading and it has indeed lightened slightly in color

 

[clibit]

Beer just looks lighter in smaller quantities, I think. Unless, like water, it has very little colour.

 

[BruinTuns]

Totally agree about the fruit flies and other bugs. I believe they're an underrated menace and I wonder how many bad batches are down to them. Even at this time of year I still see the odd one so I always keep the fv lids on.

 

[mook1979]

While a bucket without an airlock is probably fine, you may want to look at other options you wish to continue brewing after the first batch, I think it is really important to create a drinkable beer from your first batch, which will inspire you try again and create something even better.

 

[ryanm]

While a bucket without an airlock is probably fine, you may want to look at other options you wish to continue brewing after the first batch, I think it is really important to create a drinkable beer from your first batch, which will inspire you try again and create something even better.

I'm definitely investing in a proper fermenting bucket. I have seen a Brewferm Fermenting Bin 30ltr with Airlock and Tap for under £14. Good option to go for?

 

[BruinTuns]

Is it this one? :
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Brewferm-Fermenting-Bin-with-Airlock-and-Tap.html
That is definitely a good tap to buy as it has the narrower spigot which allows the use of this cheap and very handy little gadget:
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Brewferm-Bottle-Filler.html#a0180323
Highly recommended by lots of HBF members including me.
The first two taps I bought were fatter and not as useful, although they do work ok:
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Bin_Fermenter_tap.html#a101384

 

[ryanm]

Is it this one? :
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Brewferm-Fermenting-Bin-with-Airlock-and-Tap.html
That is definitely a good tap to buy as it has the narrower spigot which allows the use of this cheap and very handy little gadget:
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Brewferm-Bottle-Filler.html#a0180323
Highly recommended by lots of HBF members including me.
The first two taps I bought were fatter and not as useful, although they do work ok:
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Bin_Fermenter_tap.html#a101384

Yes that's the exact one I was looking at. In fact, I just ordered it including the bottle filler :)

 

[dad_of_jon]

I'm definitely investing in a proper fermenting bucket. I have seen a Brewferm Fermenting Bin 30ltr with Airlock and Tap for under £14. Good option to go for?

I bought that and I had a little problem with the bottle filler. I misplaced the white plastic connector bit which came with the bottle filler and had to fill the bottles with a jug from the fv tap i was careful to avoid mixing air in the beer so hope it's not going to be too oxidised

found it only once i'd finished bottling and confirmed it will fit nicely with the brewferm bin.

also ordered c02 pump to purge air from bucket and bottles for next bottling session

 

[BruinTuns]

Yes that's the exact one I was looking at. In fact, I just ordered it including the bottle filler :)

Dude, you have the instinct! :hat:
Good luck with the brew.