First Brewday - Coopers Real Ale

marksa222 · Mar 11, 2013

Hi, finally got started on Saturday.

Made Coopers Real ale with 700g Coopers brew enhancer 1 and 400g Muntons spray malt medium.

Pitched yeast at 26 degree's ish, which I think was a little high, but the temperature didn't drop after 5 mins or so, so I went for it as I've heard it needs to be done asap. The OG was 1042.

Kept in a cool room so put a heating belt on quite high (at around 21l mark on the fermenter which has kept it at 20 degrees.

Is 26 degrees ok to pitch yeast and is 20 degrees ok to ferment?

After 40 hours or so there is a fair bit of "head" on the top and a few bubbles in the fv but it's not going mad (I was away most of yesterday so I may have missed more activity). I'm using the new coopers fv so it doesn't have an airlock. Does all this sound normal?

Thanks for any suggestions

mattrickl06 · Mar 11, 2013

Sounds good to me - 26 degrees is fine for pitching but just make sure it cools to around 20 degrees fairly soon after this.

marksa222 · Mar 11, 2013

mattrickl06 said:
Sounds good to me - 26 degrees is fine for pitching but just make sure it cools to around 20 degrees fairly soon after this.

Hi thanks, yeah it went down to 16 in 3 hours without the belt on. Then I put the belt on and got it to 20. Is 20 a good temp to ferment?

Hainsey · Mar 11, 2013

20deg is spot on mate, ideal temp.

Kinleycat · Mar 11, 2013

+1 all good.
Happy brewing, had this kit in my stash for a while and still not used it so let us know how you progress.
Now get planning your next brew and leave well alone for two weeks, idle fingers etc etc..................... :thumb:
KC

marksa222 · Mar 11, 2013

Kinleycat said:
+1 all good.
Happy brewing, had this kit in my stash for a while and still not used it so let us know how you progress.
Now get planning your next brew and leave well alone for two weeks, idle fingers etc etc..................... :thumb:
KC

Good shout. Want to do a lager next but don't have the bottles till this one's drunk. Might buy a pressure barrel while this lot's still in the FV and save my bottles for lager when the fv is free. I think the real ale will lend itself better to a barrel as I have no way to chill it and I don't mind drinking ale warm. Lager needs to be cold for me though.

Kinleycat · Mar 11, 2013

marksa222 said:
Kinleycat said:

+1 all good.
Happy brewing, had this kit in my stash for a while and still not used it so let us know how you progress.
Now get planning your next brew and leave well alone for two weeks, idle fingers etc etc..................... :thumb:
KC

Click to expand...

Good shout. Want to do a lager next but don't have the bottles till this one's drunk. Might buy a pressure barrel while this lot's still in the FV and save my bottles for lager when the fv is free. I think the real ale will lend itself better to a barrel as I have no way to chill it and I don't mind drinking ale warm. Lager needs to be cold for me though.

Thats it, you're bitten by the brewing bug!!!
I set up with about Â£50s worth of kit from the LHBS and thought right thats it i have what i need.
But when you start planning you're next batch you either dont have enough kit or to make things easier you need some extra kit so you can overlap you're brewing or do multiple brews.
I went from a basic starter kit (and was quite happy with that) but then i went and bought (one at a time) another three FVs - because i had more FVs i needed more bottles/kegs etc - so i bought a king keg.
I wasnt too happy with that so i looked at cornies - and bought three and gas and taps and connectors and pipes etc etc etc.
Now i need something to keep the cornies cold so i bought the kit to make a kegorator!!!!!!!!!
And thats in a little under three months. :shock: :shock:
You get the picture?!?!
I THINK i've got to the point :pray: (maybe need a few more cornies) where for kit making i have what i need, but I'm sure there will be something else on the horizon.
Hope the kids are'nt after much in the way of inheritance!! :whistle: :lol: :lol: :drunk:

marksa222 · Mar 11, 2013

Kinleycat said:
marksa222 said:

Kinleycat said:

+1 all good.
Happy brewing, had this kit in my stash for a while and still not used it so let us know how you progress.
Now get planning your next brew and leave well alone for two weeks, idle fingers etc etc..................... :thumb:
KC

Click to expand...

Good shout. Want to do a lager next but don't have the bottles till this one's drunk. Might buy a pressure barrel while this lot's still in the FV and save my bottles for lager when the fv is free. I think the real ale will lend itself better to a barrel as I have no way to chill it and I don't mind drinking ale warm. Lager needs to be cold for me though.

Click to expand...

Thats it, you're bitten by the brewing bug!!!
I set up with about Â£50s worth of kit from the LHBS and thought right thats it i have what i need.
But when you start planning you're next batch you either dont have enough kit or to make things easier you need some extra kit so you can overlap you're brewing or do multiple brews.
I went from a basic starter kit (and was quite happy with that) but then i went and bought (one at a time) another three FVs - because i had more FVs i needed more bottles/kegs etc - so i bought a king keg.
I wasnt too happy with that so i looked at cornies - and bought three and gas and taps and connectors and pipes etc etc etc.
Now i need something to keep the cornies cold so i bought the kit to make a kegorator!!!!!!!!!
And thats in a little under three months. :shock: :shock:
You get the picture?!?!
I THINK i've got to the point :pray: (maybe need a few more cornies) where for kit making i have what i need, but I'm sure there will be something else on the horizon.
Hope the kids are'nt after much in the way of inheritance!! :whistle: :lol: :lol: :drunk:

Haha! :lol: Sadly due to financial constraints and having a 5 week old baby boy (suddenly got to be "responsible" :sulk: ) I can't be quite as ambitious as you are. You're right though, I have caught the bug, and i'm trying to infect all my mates too. Great excuse for a get together!

Does anyone bottle in 330ml bottles? Got loads of them, but only ever seen homebrew in 500ml or 750ml ones.

Has Coopers got any decent competition for a lager kit by the way?

joe1002 · Mar 11, 2013

Kinleycat said:
marksa222 said:

Kinleycat said:

+1 all good.
Happy brewing, had this kit in my stash for a while and still not used it so let us know how you progress.
Now get planning your next brew and leave well alone for two weeks, idle fingers etc etc..................... :thumb:
KC

Click to expand...

Good shout. Want to do a lager next but don't have the bottles till this one's drunk. Might buy a pressure barrel while this lot's still in the FV and save my bottles for lager when the fv is free. I think the real ale will lend itself better to a barrel as I have no way to chill it and I don't mind drinking ale warm. Lager needs to be cold for me though.

Click to expand...

Thats it, you're bitten by the brewing bug!!!
I set up with about Â£50s worth of kit from the LHBS and thought right thats it i have what i need.
But when you start planning you're next batch you either dont have enough kit or to make things easier you need some extra kit so you can overlap you're brewing or do multiple brews.
I went from a basic starter kit (and was quite happy with that) but then i went and bought (one at a time) another three FVs - because i had more FVs i needed more bottles/kegs etc - so i bought a king keg.
I wasnt too happy with that so i looked at cornies - and bought three and gas and taps and connectors and pipes etc etc etc.
Now i need something to keep the cornies cold so i bought the kit to make a kegorator!!!!!!!!!
And thats in a little under three months. :shock: :shock:
You get the picture?!?!
I THINK i've got to the point :pray: (maybe need a few more cornies) where for kit making i have what i need, but I'm sure there will be something else on the horizon.
Hope the kids are'nt after much in the way of inheritance!! :whistle: :lol: :lol: :drunk:

Can you hear that........it's the darkside calling you :lol:

joe1002 · Mar 11, 2013

marksa222 said:
Haha! :lol: Sadly due to financial constraints and having a 5 week old baby boy (suddenly got to be "responsible" :sulk: ) I can't be quite as ambitious as you are. You're right though, I have caught the bug, and i'm trying to infect all my mates too. Great excuse for a get together!

Does anyone bottle in 330ml bottles? Got loads of them, but only ever seen homebrew in 500ml or 750ml ones.

Has Coopers got any decent competition for a lager kit by the way?

I have only ever used the 500ml bottles.
Have a look in the kit review section, you will find plenty of good info in there :thumb:

Kinleycat · Mar 12, 2013

Can you hear that........it's the darkside calling you :lol:[/quote]

Its something i have in mind, perhaps BIAB.
But to be honest i dont have the time or the space for a full three vessel AG outfit, sadly.

marksa222 · Mar 13, 2013

Took krausen collar off yesterday. Nice strong beer smell, still a little foam and the collar had a lot of krausen on it. Another 9 or 10 days before bottling checking the gravity on saturday (after being in fv 1 week)... Targeting 20th April for first drink.

Belt keeping it between 18-20 degrees. Finding it hard to keep it completely stable temp because of the cold nights, but its always there or there abouts. I hope it's a nice pint!

marksa222 · Mar 13, 2013

Just had a thought...

I took the OG when it was around 26 degrees just before I pitched the yeast and it was 1.042. I just read on another post to get an accurate reading it should be around 20. Does anyone know what difference this will make to my reading? Is my true OG likely to be higher, lower or about the same?

marksa222 · Mar 15, 2013

Hi again!

Going to take gravity reading tomorrow. If it's the same on sunday, i'm guessing it's finished doing what it needs to, but looking on here a lot of people recommend leaving it longer so I'm going to give it another week.

Can anyone suggest whether it's best to keep it at 20 degrees or so, or to take the belt off and keep it in a cooler place?

Also, my OG was taken at around 26 degrees, does anyone know how this will impact on the accuracy of the reading?

Thanks y'all

GaryG · Mar 15, 2013

marksa222 said:
Good shout. Want to do a lager next but don't have the bottles till this one's drunk. Might buy a pressure barrel while this lot's still in the FV and save my bottles for lager when the fv is free. I think the real ale will lend itself better to a barrel as I have no way to chill it and I don't mind drinking ale warm. Lager needs to be cold for me though.

If you get a pressure barrel, when the fridge is near empty, take out all the shelves and put the barrel in for a few hours :thumb:

Gary.

Baffled · Mar 15, 2013

marksa222 said:
Hi again!

Going to take gravity reading tomorrow. If it's the same on sunday, i'm guessing it's finished doing what it needs to, but looking on here a lot of people recommend leaving it longer so I'm going to give it another week.

Can anyone suggest whether it's best to keep it at 20 degrees or so, or to take the belt off and keep it in a cooler place?

Also, my OG was taken at around 26 degrees, does anyone know how this will impact on the accuracy of the reading?

Thanks y'all

Keeping it at 20 degree is where you want to be. As for the adjustment to your Gravity reading, because the temp of the wort was about 26ish degrees when the reading was taken would get an OG of 1045.

Peace
Baffled

marksa222 · Mar 18, 2013

Baffled said:
Keeping it at 20 degree is where you want to be. As for the adjustment to your Gravity reading, because the temp of the wort was about 26ish degrees when the reading was taken would get an OG of 1045.

Peace
Baffled

Cheers mate. Took reading on Saturday and Sunday, both we're 1010 so that would give me about 4.6% if the OG is altered to 1045 taking in to account the temperature of the reading. Happy with that!

I had a cheeky taste, and was quite pleased. Another week in the bucket then bottles for 4. Can't wait!

joe1002 · Mar 18, 2013

For your future reference, there is a forum Hydrometer Temperature Correction Calculator. Have a look under the "Calculators" button on the top left hand side of the screen :thumb:

joe1002 · Mar 18, 2013

Kinleycat said:
joey1002 said:

Can you hear that........it's the darkside calling you :lol:

Click to expand...

Its something i have in mind, perhaps BIAB.
But to be honest i dont have the time or the space for a full three vessel AG outfit, sadly.

BIAB is still all grain brewing. I have never done it myself but plenty of people on here do, with very successful results. If I didn't have the space it's definitely the route I would have taken after maturing from kits :thumb:

Kinleycat · Mar 18, 2013

joey1002 said:
Kinleycat said:

joey1002 said:

Can you hear that........it's the darkside calling you :lol:

Click to expand...

Its something i have in mind, perhaps BIAB.
But to be honest i dont have the time or the space for a full three vessel AG outfit, sadly.

Click to expand...

BIAB is still all grain brewing. I have never done it myself but plenty of people on here do, with very successful results. If I didn't have the space it's definitely the route I would have taken after maturing from kits :thumb:

Absolutely, I don't have space for a three vessel set up so if I go AG it will be via the BIAB route. :thumb:

First Brewday - Coopers Real Ale

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