Stuff that's bothering me about my second brew so far

[Buzzing]

Hi All,

I have concluded that there'll probably be something bothering me about every one of my first 100 brews, so in line with my 1st post, here's some stuff that's bothering me about my second brew :

I used a Coopers Lager kit.
Boiled in a big pot and cooled rapidly to rid it of the hot break and cold break.
I added a hops-tea extract (South African Hops, sourced in George).
This was vigorously decanted into the plastic fermentation vessle, after my 24hr yeast starter (Lager Yeast) and yeast nutrients were added. This made for a frothy / foamy / well aerated mix and was sealed to start the fermentation process.

Initial SG was 1.040 - I also got myself a proper hydrometer this time, but still did my weight-per-volume SG test method as per my 1st brew. Interestingly the measurements differ with less than 0.002.

Initial temp was 20`C. This dropped in 3 days down to about 14`C. The temp has been a constant 14`C for the last 3 weeks now.

My SG test on 21 days was 1.015. Is this normal for a Lager ? I'm planning on waiting until day 28, as the SG should be below 1.010 by then. Why are these brews going so slowly. Is it the drop in temp that shocks the yeast?

The tested brew had a good golden colour and healthy malty taste with a well rounded hopsy aroma. It seem this one will be a good one ?

The thing that bothers me most, is that the brew seems to be carbonating. When taking the sample for SG testing, the brew actually froths a bit and small bubbles are visible at the bottom making their way to the top. Also when the hydrometer is left in the brew for a while, the bubbles actually accumulates around the bulb and then pushes the hydrometer up. The hydrometer was then cleaned and re-inserted and the reading of 1.015 taken immediately.

Planning on waiting until the brew is 1.010 of less, then I still need to dose sugar for the 14-20 day carbonation process before lagering at 4`C for a month.

Will my yeast still be strong enough at 4 weeks to ensure proper carbonation ?
Is 28 days on the trub long enough to start giving some off-flavours ?
Why does the brew seem to be carbonating, or is this just locked in gasses escaping ?
Why does my primary fermentation process take so much longer than it should ?

 

[Moley]

Your brew isn't carbonating, it's just dissolved gases escaping. Spin your hydrometer between your thumb and index finger to dislodge any bubbles which might start to cling to it, and take your reading just as it is coming to a halt.

Fermentation is probably taking longer because you haven't got a true lager yeast and you're asking an ale yeast to work in the cold. Which kit is it?

 

[Buzzing]

Hi Moley,

Thanks for that. The presence of those bubbles are one less thing I need be concerned of.

I forgot to mention, I did NOT use the coopers kit yeast, as I understood they supply ale yeast with their laget kits.

I used a proper bottom fermenting Lager yeast. SAF Lager W34/70.

What about the remainder of the concerns ?

 

[Buzzing]

Ok, so after 28 days in the fermentation vessel, the brew came down to 1.011 / 1.012.

I had to go ahead and prime and bottle as I was concerned about :

[a] possible off flavours due to the brew being on the trub for longer than 28 days
I do not have a secondary fermenter to rack the brew into.
[c] my planned travels in this and the next 2 weeks.

One thing I did not notice with my first brew was the reactiveness to sugar that the brew showed. When adding the sugar, the brew would bubble and fizz a bit into the neck and then subside. The 1st few was problematic, then I went over to a chuck-sugar-and-seal-with-fliptop-immediately method. Why would it do this ? Hope they'll be OK.

Will let it carbonate for 2/3 weeks then lager at 4`C for 3/4 weeks.

 

[graysalchemy]

Again it is probably co2 coming out of solution. :thumb:

 

[pjbiker]

One thing I did not notice with my first brew was the reactiveness to sugar that the brew showed. When adding the sugar, the brew would bubble and fizz a bit into the neck and then subside. The 1st few was problematic, then I went over to a chuck-sugar-and-seal-with-fliptop-immediately method. Why would it do this ? Hope they'll be OK.

If you're using granulated sugar, it is likely this is causing the dissolved CO2 to come out of solution and cause the fizzing. (try putting a spoonful of sugar in the top of a bottle of coke, outdoors, wearing protective clothing :grin: ) Another method is to batch prime, dissolving the amount of sugar you need in the whole volume before bottling. I do this, adding my gelatin finings at the same time if I am bottling. I also use brewers sugar (fine powder) rather than granulated but don't worry about that.

 

[abeyptfc]

add the sugar to the bottle first then fill with beer, seal and shake to dissolve sugar. are lager yeasts not meant to be fermented at lower temps as that is the actual lagering process, instead of fermenting at normal temp then sticking it in the fridge? or have i got that wrong?

 

[shearclass]

are lager yeasts not meant to be fermented at lower temps as that is the actual lagering process, instead of fermenting at normal temp then sticking it in the fridge? or have i got that wrong?

Largers are fermented as lower temperatures, approx 10 -12 C, but once they have fermented out then they are 'largered' for 1 - 3 months between -1 to 2 degrees C, then bottled. This is my understanding anyway.

 

[Buzzing]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the help and advice, good to know it's just the CO2.

I used brown sugar to prime, but it was made fine in a mortar&pessle and resembled brewers sugar in consistency.

And Yes, the brew was fermented at 14`C as opposed to 10`C-12`C, but it definately worked perfectly fine for the previous brew I did.

It yielded no off flavours at all and still a crisp clean malt-hops union of delight when opened and :drink:


My limitation of having one fermenter makes the batch priming risky, as I don't want all that trub to end up in the bottles. I need a secondary fermenter, I know. Will get one before next brew.

But for now, it's excercising my willpower to leave it be for a proper carbonation and lagering process, before I invite a bunch of ppl for a good :drunk:


Will tackle the next brew soon.

 

[Hollow Legs]

hey Buzzing - Glad the brew came out alright in the end, but boy do you make a lot of work for yourself, I'm drinking a very nice Coopers Euro Lager at the mo and all I did was mix the wort and granulated sugar, add the supplied yeast (a lager yeast) and regulate the temp to 17 degC for 2 weeks, bottle and leave to carbonate for 3 weeks, minimum effort great tasting lager.

Colin. :