Right or wrong not sure First brew

[Damfoose]

I have been thinking about brewing my own for to long to remember so Saturday I dropped the beloved one at a certain supermarket to get the weekly shop leaving her a little perplexed that I was nipping over to Leyland its a 10 min drive.

Straight into the Leyland home brew shop and I must admit the bloke who served me was fantastic , Explained pretty much what I needed to do and what equipment I needed to get started. So after buying the required stuff brew bucket, airlock, hydrometer, thermometer, tubing, straight plastic tube ( the one that helps stop the sediment being drawn to the barrel ) and barrel.
Beer kit is a brewmaker yorkshire bitter 3kg double can one.

I have sanitised everything and followed the instructions but I am a little concerned as I have only got about an inch of foam on the top of the brew in the brew bin the lid is secure and their is plenty of gas bubbling through the airlock though ( smells good as well ) the room temp is hovering around 25 deg so it should not be to warm I hope. But as i said only an inch or so of foam ? is that right or could this turn out to be a bad first experience where im going to have to go out and get another kit.

Also must add I am already thinking of what to brew next so I can have a happy supply of beer get 2 sorted and make one every month or so making sure I don't run out.

[Shoit]

I've just started brewing - my first brew took a while to get going and eventually developed a thick layer of foam on the top but not until after 48 hrs. It's still going after 9 days and is probably going to take alittle longer than the instructions said.

It seems as though current wisdom would suggest that sprinkling dried yeast onto the top of the wort means a longer lag time to get the fermentation going. Some people suggest a yeast starter - I wasn't brave enough to do that first time round.

It sounds ok to me, i beginning to think that patience is the key with this brewing lark! The anxiety of whether the brew will be good enough to drink is not good for my nerves.

Good luck

Kev

[Damfoose]

Thanks for the reply Shiot,
Well took a look at the Bucket this morning and the head of foam has pretty much subsided with a definate slow of fermentation compaired to yesterday where it was bubbling every 10 seconds or so its now bubbling every few min, This is 36 hours later btw only thing to do is wait it out and see how it turns out nothing else for it.

[maxashton]

What kind of beer kit did you get Damfoose? It sounds like its getting on to be a stuck fermentation.

You have two choices.
1) Carefully (very carefully) sanitise a long plastic or steel brewing spoon in your sanitizer of choice, and stir up the yeast at the bottom of the wort.

or 2) Go back to leyland and buy a packet of Safale S-04 or simmilar good quality yeast and pitch that. Safale S-04 is a reliable high quality yeast that doesn't need a starter to be effective.

Some of those packets of yeast you get in kits have been sitting around for years and aren't very viable. The fact that you had a yeast head for a few hours and subsided already is not very promising.

If you have a hydrometer, have you taken a reading?

[Duncndisorderly]

As far as i remember all the kit brews ive made have struggled to provide more than 2 inches of foam with 1 inch being about average, id go for trying to relax, wait it out, avoid the temptation to remove the lid everyday for a peek ( I killed a brew this way) and the brewfairy will doubtless smile upon you after a short while and bless you with mighty beer to bottle or barrel as you see fit, worse case you repitch a yeast in a weeks time
the real patience part is waiting it to mature in the bottle/barrel

[Damfoose]

Thanks for the reply maxashton I did take a reading just after I had droped the packet yeast in 1040 was the reading ive not taken one since as I did not want to open the fermenter as it has an airlock I sealed the top.

I shall call in on my way home to the home brew shop in Leyland as its sort of on the way home and pick up a few bags of Safale s-04 as well as another kit while im their , reason for second kit so I can get another on the go after barreling this first one , I will take note and drop the bag of yeast from the kit in the appropiate place the bin ! and use the safale s-04 from now on as it seems to get some great reviews as well as being reliable.

Second keg will be needed but that can wait until next month which is just around the corner.

Im planning on barreling and leaving the barrel in the house for 5 days so it can start its stuff then moving it to the guarage and covering the barrel with a few black plastic bags ( garage has a window ) and leaving it for at least 2 weeks ..... out of sight out of mind im hoping .

Also thinking of starting a christmas ale off so itl have plenty of time to sort itself for christmas ....

[Jim]

It doesn't sound as though there's anything to worry about to me. Some dried yeasts don't produce a spectacular head of foam.

The thing you should look at is the temperature. 25C is a bit too high - a steady 20C would be better. High fermentation temperatures can result in off-flavours.

Welcome to the world of brewing!

[Damfoose]

Thanks for all your answers and pointers , I have very carefully popped the lid off just enough to put in my hydrometer and take the following photo, ( I sanitised the hydrometer before putting it in ) upshot is it is gassing but very very slowly.

My reckoning is the hydrometer is reading about 1012 which seems to have dropped from the 1040 very fast.



I stoped off at Leyland home brew and bought 3 packets ( 2 spare ) of yeast a milestone IPA for my next brew and a thermometer I can stick to the side of the fermenter which is at 24 - 25 degrees. I have been lucky enough in the past to have smelt brewing beer and this is about the same from memory so i'm not going to worry

[Damfoose]

Looks like it had stuck for a day or two as its reading has been the same since Wednesday, I have given the brew a little stir just enough to raise the sediment / yeast from the bottom of the fermenter, It tastes good if not a little on the sweet side and very young, I shall give it until Sunday left alone if it does not change then I'm going to barrel it, It may not be perfect but seeing as it is my first I'm happy enough and I've learnt a lot so far so my next should be just peachy.
Things that will help with my next brew are it will be cooler next week and I shall be using safale S-04 yeast rather than the packet that comes with the kit.
Also considering a spray malt type of brew for my third attempt but that's going to be a while as I am going to have going on for 70 - 80 pints of beer to get through first. I shall have to get a few friends round to give me a hand with it.

Update :
Just cracked open a bottle of Wychwood Wychcraft and compared it to what I am brewing then asked wife to taste both she prefers what is in the fermenter and so did I so its definitely going in the barrel on Sunday.

[Damfoose]

Its in the barrel after its stir and time to settle hydrometer reading is at 1012 constant even after the stir so I'm taking a little gamble.

Added 80g or their about as the kitchen scales are not very good ( another thing for my shopping list ) as the instructions said 250 ml boiling water 80 grams sugar dropped that in the barrel let it cool for 5 min then very carefully siphoned the beer into the barrel also took a spoon full of the yeast from the bottom of the fermenter to ensure it gasses .

I now have a tap for the bottom of the barrel that will be fitted tomorrow to make the barrelling easier.

I shall give it a try in a week just to see....