The brew is on the move!

[randomdave]

Well I carefully crafted my coopers lager kit last night, much to the Missus annoyance as it was our aniversary

starting gravity was 1046 which after reading loads on here is about normal. Can i just say how simple it was to do! ive been trolling the forum for 2 weeks now gleaning as much info as possible before getting on the go. Some of the stuff seemed complicated reading but now ive put it into practice its a doddle.

Cleaned all my gear with the powedered cleaner provided, left it 30 mins. Rinsed it all off an began.

It was a 1 tin add sugar coopers lager kit provided. Got the kettle boiling. poured in 1ltr of boiling water into the FV, poured in the tin then poured in a ltr of water into the tin to rinse it out (didnt want to waste any) The kit came with a kg of unmarked sugar in a bag. Now i know a lot of ppl advised to steer away from normal sugar to ferment but as its my first kit i decided to do what it says on the tin.

Gave it all a good old mix up and it went nice and frothy (smelled great too if you like horlicks)

then came the chore of adding 20Ltr of water to make up the kit. the starter kit came with 1.5ltr PET bottles so i used one of those to add cold water 1 bottle at a time Gave another stir to mix all the cold up again. Reading the instructions it advised the temp should be 18 -21c To me it felt a little bit too cool (stupid me forgot the damn thermomiter) so filled the last bit up using boiling water. One final stir an then checked the OG with the hydro. 1046. all good. Used the packet of yeast that came with the tin, Again i didnt want to complicate things to much so just did what it said on the tin poured in, one final stir and lid on. Done.

Looked on it this morning an it has a pretty good head on it. The missus isnt too impressed tho, left it in the kitchen and the smell of alcohol is seeping out (the sort of smell a beer bottle gets after emptied and left on the side overnite) so the kitchen smells a bit. I may have to move it to a cubpboard or something.

Im hoping to leave it till about friday before poping the lid an checking the gravity again. Ill keep you posted, sorry for the long post but im exited and wanted to share hehe

[BlackBag]

Smashing!
Glad it went well for you. A little tip I picked up on here that might make topping your fermenter up a lot easier.
If you get a second fermenter (very handy, use it for bottling from) drop half a crushed campden tablet in it then fill up with water from the tap - stick it in the bath and fill up from the cold tap, nice and easy and plenty of room. Then, when you've got your wort in your first fermenter and are stirring away, position your water filled second fermenter on a chair above your first and open it's tap. As the water pours into your first you can be stirring at the same time. This aerates your brew perfectly.

Once in this world you'll never want to leave.

[gullarm]

I agree. I had a right nightmare with one of my brews, it was like acid fizzing in my pint pot.

My method is -


Follow all rules for cleaning/sanitisng

1) Fill bucket with 19 litres of cold tap water, splashing it in.
2) Put half a campden tab in, stir like crazy
3) Pour in Beer Kit Enchancer, stir like crazy
4) Pour in pre warmed WORT, out of 1.5kg can, stir like crazy
5) Fill empty can with hot water from kettle to get rest out - bucket is usually now around 23 litres - if not boil and add a bit more
6) Stir like CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY get some froth on the top
7) Drop in hydro - leave it in there
8 ) Bung in yeast
9) Fit lid and air lock

And relax!

[randomdave]

Yeah im tempted to get another bucket. the one i have that came with the kit doesnt have a tap so its gunna be a pain in the backside bottling it.

[randomdave]

had a quick check on the brew just now (couldnt help it) its been on since tuesday an the reading was 1046. checked it now and its 1025ish. Lots of froth an smells nice, i was expecting it to stink awful. Ill give it another 2 days probably an do another check.

So impatient I want it to be done now so i can enjoy it

[stevezx7r]

That's the easy part done with - making the beer. Now the hard part - leaving it alone for four weeks.

This is where four weeks feels like four years

[randomdave]

I strongly suspect it wont last 4 weeks. Once ive got it bottled it will last the week to carbonate then im likely to start on it

but once i have it bottled ill be off to the shop to get a new kit to brew so the second brew might get its 4 week condition depending how quick i drink the first lot

[randomdave]

It was no good, Ive just done a reading and its gone down nicely to 1010 from 1046. I couldnt resist having a little taste either. It doesnt taste too bad, its not like premium go out an sell your granny for a pint of good yet but then ofc it is only 5 days old

At the moment it does taste i little watery, but I was expecting that as I just used the sugar that came with the kit. If im right with the readings its looking like i may end up with a lager at about 5% or just over, that right?? roughly?

Now I just need to go and harrass my local landlord for the bottles that ive asked him to save me ready for next weeks bottling fun.