First brew undergo... Couple of questions

[dodsi]

Nothing new or exciting to the vast majority of forum members here but at last I have my first brew underway... A woodfords wherry kit!

Reason for this kit... Premium kit and really good reveiws on here.

I have meticulously sterilised everything. De-chlorinated the water using the chemical that is the 'active' ingredient in campden tablets, the name escapes me (1/2 teaspoon in 23l water) and then used this to create the wort including the 3l boiling water with the cans... Then from a height use the tap to fill the FV which meant plenty of air in the mixture. I did have to wait a while for the temperature to go down to 28c before pitching the yeast as it was about 30/31c but I left the lid on whilt it cooled is this normal? And now (10pm) having made the wort about 4/5pm I have a bulging FV and my top hat air lock seemed to need a nudge to release pressure and when i did it coughed some water out (still has a seal of water),

Does all sound ok so far?

Apologies for any strange spellings in this post or odd auto corrects but I have typed this on my phone. Thanks in advance guys!

 

[BigYin]

all sounds good :thumb:

 

[RobWalker]

sodium metabisuplhate?

cooling is fine. you can pitch at about the low 30 range if you're worried, providing it's on its way to normal temperature. that won't kill it and by the time the yeast get to work it should be at fermentation temperature.

all sounds good to me mate. just try not to fiddle until fermentation is well and truly over and you'll have a cracker :thumb:

 

[Quantum freak]

I have just bottled my first brew which was also a wherry.

I pitched my yeast straight after pouring the cold water into the fermenter :shock: as I didnt realise you had to let it cool or check the temp

But, low and behold, it has so far turned out magnificent! I have a beer at 4.5% abv that already tastes great!

I just cant wait for the priming to complete and crack a few bottles open :drink: :drink:

My point is.......you will be fine! Mine survived

 

[dodsi]

Excellent, I have some light malt to prime my barrel with once fermentation is over. And yes it is sodium metabisulphite I have treated the water with. I think I will get a festival ales 'landlords finest' going if this turns out ok!

 

[dodsi]

Came back from work and have checked on my brew - am getting a bit of a sulphur type smell (not hugely strong) have changed the water in the airlock and taken the lid off to have a smell - smells kinda beery underneath... Is this normal?

 

[RobWalker]

fermentation is an ugly process dude, unless it's growing a new face don't worry about the smell/appearance :thumb:

 

[dodsi]

How should it smell? What's normal? Is there potential for
The smell to be a sign of infection?

 

[Davybarman]

It will have a stale / flat beer smell. Try and leave the lid alone and not peek!! :nono: This will keep the CO2 in the FV and protect your beer. As someone already said making beer is not necessarily a sweet smelling process.

Unless it is absolutly rancid or has penicillan growing on the top you should be fine :thumb:

 

[31bb3]

Some yeasts give off eggy smells just leave it to do is job

 

[fubofo]

I can verify that my previous wherry kit also had a terrible eggy smell - seems to be the yeasties they use.

It turned out amazing btw. Can't wait to get settled in the new apartment and get brewing this again! :

previous post: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=25128

 

[user 1684]

Don't panic about the smell - even if it absolutely stinks of rotten eggs. I've had a couple of lagers do that during fermentation, and they turned out really well.

 

[Hawks]

Different yeasts will give off different smells - as someone mentioned lager yeast often have sulphur smells to them