First Batch Help

[bcurtis]

I'm a newbie........hello to everyone!!!! :

I've used the Coopers Mexican Cerveza kit, the yeast that comes with it and BE2 as recommended on the tin.

My SG was 1036 and my current reading is 1016 thus giving an current abv of well pishwater!!! It has been fermenting at around 18-21c, closer to 18 for 9 days and the reading has been 1016 for the last two days.

Can I add anything at this stage to bump up the abv or am I stuck with around 3% as this is a way weak for me, I'd prefer around 4.5-5%. I have a bag of 1kg brewing sugar kicking around the house, will adding say 500g of this increase the abv or is the yeast pan bread...dead??

Has fermentation finished as my hydrometer readings have been the same the last two days?

Also, is it best to transfer my batch to another fermenting bucket to try and leave the sediment in the bottom of the first bucket or should I just bottle from the bucket it's currently in?

I'm gonna use coopers carbonation drops to bottle, maybe a stupid question but when I bottle and add the carbonation drops and leave my bottles for a few weeks, do the carbonation drops then increase the abv of the beer as long as you leave the bottles for a while or are they just to give fizz when opening the bottles?

Any help/advice would me much appreciated.
Thanks in advance :thumb:

 

[Peapodmaster]

Try and shake /stir gently and leave it for a bit longer, some of the yeasties may be sleeping and this will most likely wake them up, add a bit of sugar to it.. that may get them going again (100g or so i'd say) and just keep waiting. check your hydrometer also.. make sure its 1.000 in water.

Its best (once fermentation has stopped) to syphon it into another Fermentation vessal (sterilized) and then leaving it so the sediment settles again, then bottling it. i'm not sure about carbonation drops, but if you prime it with 1tsp of sugar per pint/500ml then it will go up by like.. 0.001% at most.

also. i dont want to confuse you, but do you know what back sweetening is? if you like dry beers then it doesn't matter but if you like beers which arn't bone dry (or wines or cider infact, this method can be used to any homebrew) then you can add some splenda (non-fermentable sugar) or atrifical sweeteners to the mix (making sure its disolved) and it will sweeten up the mix without fermenting more and making your bottle explode with pressure. (But theres no need to worry about this for your first brew really)


Good luck. hope my essay helped.

Cheers

Andy

 

[bcurtis]

Try and shake /stir gently and leave it for a bit longer, some of the yeasties may be sleeping and this will most likely wake them up, add a bit of sugar to it.. that may get them going again (100g or so i'd say) and just keep waiting. check your hydrometer also.. make sure its 1.000 in water.

Its best (once fermentation has stopped) to syphon it into another Fermentation vessal (sterilized) and then leaving it so the sediment settles again, then bottling it. i'm not sure about carbonation drops, but if you prime it with 1tsp of sugar per pint/500ml then it will go up by like.. 0.001% at most.

also. i dont want to confuse you, but do you know what back sweetening is? if you like dry beers then it doesn't matter but if you like beers which arn't bone dry (or wines or cider infact, this method can be used to any homebrew) then you can add some splenda (non-fermentable sugar) or atrifical sweeteners to the mix (making sure its disolved) and it will sweeten up the mix without fermenting more and making your bottle explode with pressure. (But theres no need to worry about this for your first brew really)


Good luck. hope my essay helped.

Cheers

Andy

Cheers for the help Andy!! :

Well i chucked in around 500g of my brewers sugar, i did this before I got your reply....woops!!

It frothed up like a mudda fxxxxr straight away so hopefully this means that there is still plenty of active yeast kicking about in my batch??? Or does this mean something else??

I'll leave it for around a week to see what happens, hopefully it'll beef up the abv a bit!!

Then i'll bottle it, i'm sure i'll be back on the forum for more advice on that!!!

just bought a coopers canadian blonde kit, some BE1 as per the instructions but I also bought some muntons extralight spraymalt as i've been told this will add a bit of body to my beer....any other suggestions anyone???

Absolutely gasping to have a finished bottle.........aaaah i canna wait!!!!!

Cheers....happy drinking!!!