Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
-
Immy's Dad
Post
by Immy's Dad » Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:53 pm
Just made a kit brew last night (first for bloody ages). Had to put it in the garage with an imersion heater that I haven't used for a long time.
In short, came to look at the brew tonight after work and the thing was flat as a pancake. I now have permission to bring it back in the house but what should I do?
I was thinking:
1. Aerate (give it a shake about/stir)
2. let it warm up inside.
However, would it be better to let it warm up
first and then aerate?
Please help me..........
-
J_P
Post
by J_P » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:14 pm
I'm not sure about aeration after the yeast has gone in, perhaps someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly. Personally I'd give the aeration a miss and let it come up to room temperature slowly and it should kick back into life with a bit of luck.
Keep us posted
-
Horden Hillbilly
- Moderator
- Posts: 2150
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 1:00 pm
- Location: Horden, Co. Durham
-
Contact:
Post
by Horden Hillbilly » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:22 pm
J_P wrote:I'm not sure about aeration after the yeast has gone in, perhaps someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly. Personally I'd give the aeration a miss and let it come up to room temperature slowly and it should kick back into life with a bit of luck.
Keep us posted
I'll second this, provided it was aerated in the first place, if the yeast has not kicked in yet the absorbed oxygen will still be in the brew, so there should be no need to re-aerate.
Moving it to a room temp of 20c should do the trick.
-
Immy's Dad
Post
by Immy's Dad » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:30 pm
Thanks guys. I will try just bringing it in. Fingers crossed!
-
MightyMouth
Post
by MightyMouth » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:42 pm
More importanly, when you say Heater Broke I suppose you dont mean physically as in cracked glass while in the brew.
-
Immy's Dad
Post
by Immy's Dad » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:52 pm
MightyMouth wrote:More importanly, when you say Heater Broke I suppose you dont mean physically as in cracked glass while in the brew.
No, thankfully. When I brought the fermenter in the heater (aquarium 50 watt) decided to flicker into life! I have left it inside though, I don't like the thought of m beer being out in all that cold!
-
MightyMouth
Post
by MightyMouth » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:54 pm
Funnily enough I just bought another Immersion heater today, bloody life savers if ya ask me.
-
CyberPaddy66
Post
by CyberPaddy66 » Wed Jan 09, 2008 1:40 am
Make sure if you use Immersion heaters that you sterilise them THOROUGHLY - I didn't 20 years ago and it put me off brewing until now
-
PMH0810
Post
by PMH0810 » Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:45 am
Hi all
I too am having trouble maintaining a steady temp (warmest room falls below 18degC overnight - only get a light "head" on the bucket, not the foamy loveliness this site pics show) and can consider two options;
* Belt heater
* Fish-tank style "immersion heater" (sterilised of course)
Opinions please on the best of the two? Will the belt heater maintain a steady temp (and in what range?)? I'm leaning towards the fishy option but am reluctant to cut a hole in my fermenter...
-
MightyMouth
Post
by MightyMouth » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:26 am
PMH0810 wrote:Hi all
I too am having trouble maintaining a steady temp (warmest room falls below 18degC overnight - only get a light "head" on the bucket, not the foamy loveliness this site pics show) and can consider two options;
* Belt heater
* Fish-tank style "immersion heater" (sterilised of course)
Opinions please on the best of the two? Will the belt heater maintain a steady temp (and in what range?)? I'm leaning towards the fishy option but am reluctant to cut a hole in my fermenter...
I would go for and have went for the Immersion heater every time. You can actually set a temperature on them and know that that's the temperature the beer will be give or take a degree. The belt's on all the time and you have to adjust the temperature buy positioning etc.
Also I didn't cut a whole in my fermenter, I drilled a whole in the rubber airlock plug and fed the lead through that after taking off the plug.
-
PMH0810
Post
by PMH0810 » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:39 am
Ah - problem there. My fermenter is fairly basic and has no airlock plug (pretty much just a sealed bucket).
Was considering a small hole in the lit, plug off heater, feed through and reconnect and then mastic up the damage...
-
daveyk
Post
by daveyk » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:46 am
I'm considering the same sort of thing.
I was going to drill a hole in the lid, and fit a rubber gromet to pass the cable through... I was thinking that if I wanted to use the FV without the heater, then I could replace the gromet with a rubber bung.
What does everyone else do?
Dave.
-
MightyMouth
Post
by MightyMouth » Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:49 am
PMH0810 wrote:Ah - problem there. My fermenter is fairly basic and has no airlock plug (pretty much just a sealed bucket).
Was considering a small hole in the lit, plug off heater, feed through and reconnect and then mastic up the damage...
Yea that would work or you could add a whole for an airlock. If you are going to cut a whole I would probably just use some duct tape over it to keep any dust out as you may find you want to take the heater out and mastic would be more permanent and a pain to clean off.
-
PMH0810
Post
by PMH0810 » Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:34 pm
Didn't realise (didn't even think about) cutting an airlock hole; that with the immersion adjustment you describe would be the ideal answer!
I love this forum - the brains I can pick! Thank you!
-
Immy's Dad
Post
by Immy's Dad » Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:10 pm
Checked tonight, it's obviously too cold in my kitchen as things haven't picked up.
I am pictching more yeast (in a starter), after warming up my fermenter in the hallway. Will then put fermenter under the stairs.
SWMBO doesn't like my beery things in the house but she has relented this time.
Will let you know how things go.
