My kit instructed me to stir my fermenter daily

[pete-woods]

Was this a stupid thing to do?

4 days into fermentation I decided to have a read up on the internet to see what instructions other people giving. Everyone said that you should leave the brew alone completely. I've been stirring it every day (I've been as hygenic as possible, though).

Am I going to have screwed up my brew?

My kit is the Yorkshire style ale I was bought from here:
http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/acatalo ... ____9.html

[Adam]

hey, newish to brewing too, gentle stirring this early in the brewing hopefully won't have done too much damage, but i've been told to leave the brew alone after it has started fermenting.

someone with more experience will advise you better, but i would stop stirring and wait the brew out.

I'd ask if it was giving off any odd smells but as your first kit all the odours might seem odd.

Keep a nose out for eggy/sulphuric smells.

Sure Daab will reply, follow his link to his website and there is a page called Things the instructions Don't tell you, which is really useful.

http://www.18000feet.com/how/kittips.htm

smiles
adam

[sparky Paul]

Am I going to have screwed up my brew?

I shouldn't think so, whilst the beer is still fermenting, you won't do any harm. It's towards the end of fermentation that you have to be careful, as over vigourous sloshing about can oxidise the beer.

I've never stirred, only when making a kit up, when it's advisable to get as much air into it as you can! Once fermenting, I leave well alone - I've got better things to do than nurse fermenters.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

[pete-woods]

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Cheers!

About the smells, yeah they all seem a little strange. At the minute if I have a sniff round the lid, it smells not entirely pleasant. It's not really eggy, maybe a little acidy? I don't really know the right adjectives to use.

Edit: Hmm, from reading the tips page, I would say it might be described as a vinegary smell? Which doesn't bode well.

[Adam]

i'd give it time, better waiting than binning it and regretting it. Every brewer has done something stupid (at least once). I kegged my first beer in a clean but unsanitised keg... then i was lucky and it all turned out okay.

Fingers crossed that yours turns out alright aswell.

What did you sanitise with?

Have you been sanitising the brew paddle/spoon before stirring (i keep a spray solution of sanitiser about just for this).

smiles
adam

[sparky Paul]

Fermenting beers do sometimes give of some odd odours, so I wouldn't worry unduly at this stage. So long as you observed the cardinal rule and made sure that everything was clean and sterilised before use, you can't do much more.

Did you make the kit up with a kilo of sugar? If so, you may be able to detect an odd smell due to this. It may also taste a little 'cidery', often referred to as 'that homebrew taste', but give the beer a few weeks and this will tend to abate a little.

Making a kit up with malt extract in place of sugar makes a world of difference, and I can't recommend it too highly.

[pete-woods]

The kit came with some sanitising powder that you mix up with water.

As for the paddle, I left it in the fermenting tank as the instructions told me (the handle pokes out over the top of the beer). I've been giving my hands a very throrough scrubbing before holding the paddle at the very tip and gendly stirring.

I mixed up the kit with 1 Kg of glucose powder like it said in the instructions. Definitely think I'll be trying malt extract next time!

[sparky Paul]

The kit came with some sanitising powder that you mix up with water.

As for the paddle, I left it in the fermenting tank as the instructions told me (the handle pokes out over the top of the beer). I've been giving my hands a very throrough scrubbing before holding the paddle at the very tip and gendly stirring.

Sounds fine.

I mixed up the kit with 1 Kg of glucose powder like it said in the instructions. Definitely think I'll be trying malt extract next time!

It does make a big difference, and gets you a lot closer to the taste of commercially produced beers. The only time I use glucose is in lagers, usually only 25-50% with 50-75% malt extract, as I find 100% malt extract in a lager is a little heavy for my liking.

For cider kits, I just use table sugar.

[pete-woods]

Thanks for the reassurance! I was feeling fairly nervous about how it was going!

I really hope the brew goes well (ish) this time.

[sparky Paul]

Give it a few weeks in the bottle/keg, it'll be fine. Good luck!

[pete-woods]

I've got a top tapped "king keg" barrel to put it in - I understand I have to be careful not to disturb the beer as it's siphoned into the barrel. Is it possible to lift it back up the the height of the fermentor pucket after I've transfered the beer? Or will it disturb it too much?

Also, I've used all my glucose powder up. Will using regular cane sugar for the "secondary fermentation" be okay or should I find a local homebrew shop and get some more powder?

[ColinKeb]

Ive been stirring my ringwood yeast daily for the last week , dry packet yeasts tend to be okay left alone Ive found. if youve got some Co2 you could always add a squirt to the bin afterwards to protect it like I do.