First brew advice

[sargie]

Hi all i bought the youngs brew buddy kit from wilkos as it seemed a good value kit to get me started and to add to as i progress in the hobby. I cleaned and sanitised the kit and rinsed thoroughly and then followed the instructions on the kit using geordie beer kit enhancer instead of sugar. I added the yeast at 5pm on friday. The next morning the airlock was bubbling like crazy nd i already had a good layer of yeast or whatever it is around the top of the bucket. The lid was also lifted right up in the center so i knew there was lots of co2 in there. This morning there was no bubbles coming from the airlock but the lid was still domed in the centre. Ive just been to check on it now 3 days later and the lid has dropped down too.

My main concern now is that it has only been 3 days should i open it up to take a hydrometer reading or just leave it be for a few more days i really hope the fermentation isnt stuck.

[EoinMag]

Take a hydrometer reading, that's really the only way to know.
Personally I remove all doubt by leaving the beer 4-5 weeks in the fermenter before bottling.

[sargie]

Take a hydrometer reading, that's really the only way to know.
Personally I remove all doubt by leaving the beer 4-5 weeks in the fermenter before bottling.

Hi thanks for the reply ive just looked at youngs pdf instructions for the brew buddy starter kit and it says primary fermentation takes between 4-6 days so tommorow night ill take a hydrometer reading which will be at 4 days and hopefully i will be some were near the final gravity of 1006 to 1000 that they state if not ill wait a further 2 days taking a reading each day.

[sargie]

Ok i have taken hydrometer readings i took one on tuesday and one yesterday and both read 1.008 down from and og of 1.040. So i transfered to clean sterelised bottles primed with coopers carbination drops.

Now my question is this the instructions say 4-6 days for primary fermentation then transfer to a keg or bottles leave 2 days and then store some were cool for 14 days does this sound ok most things ive read say secondary for 1 week then a week in the cool. Also with my primary only being 5 days should i add an extra 1 to secondary in the bottles making it 3 days in the warm and then 2 weeks in the garage?

[moobli]

personally from the advice i have been given on the forum
i have found that a week to 10 days in the warm and then as long as you can bear it and keep your hands off it in the cooler area the better

[sargie]

personally from the advice i have been given on the forum
i have found that a week to 10 days in the warm and then as long as you can bear it and keep your hands off it in the cooler area the better

Ok ill give it 10 days in the warm seeing as it finished primary a day or 2 early and then a week in the garge before i test my first if it doesnt taste much ill leave it longer.

[EoinMag]

personally from the advice i have been given on the forum
i have found that a week to 10 days in the warm and then as long as you can bear it and keep your hands off it in the cooler area the better

Ok ill give it 10 days in the warm seeing as it finished primary a day or 2 early and then a week in the garge before i test my first if it doesnt taste much ill leave it longer.

It'll be sweet and not ready, wait a bit longer and you'll have much much better beer.

[sargie]

personally from the advice i have been given on the forum
i have found that a week to 10 days in the warm and then as long as you can bear it and keep your hands off it in the cooler area the better

Ok ill give it 10 days in the warm seeing as it finished primary a day or 2 early and then a week in the garge before i test my first if it doesnt taste much ill leave it longer.

It'll be sweet and not ready, wait a bit longer and you'll have much much better beer.

Is it this exess sweetness that gives the lager a slightly cidery taste and smell?

[EoinMag]

It'll be sweet and not ready, wait a bit longer and you'll have much much better beer.

Is it this exess sweetness that gives the lager a slightly cidery taste and smell?

Nope, that comes from using glucose or table sugar, the more of it you use the more it comes out in the flavour profile of the finished beer. Beer kit enhancer is half spraymalt and half glucose, personally I say use 100% spraymalt, that stops that cidery tang, which I really really hate.

Some of that flavour will condition out with time.

[EoinMag]

The excess sweetness is how green beer tastes. Left a month or two, that normally gets less and less as the yeast continues to do it's thing and clean up the beer.

[sargie]

The beer kit enhancer i used "geordie" said it was half spray malt half dextrose not glucose.

[EoinMag]

The beer kit enhancer i used "geordie" said it was half spray malt half dextrose not glucose.

Dextrose is glucose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose

Two stereoisomers of the aldohexose sugars are known as glucose, only one of which (D-glucose) is biologically active. This form (D-glucose) is often referred to as dextrose monohydrate, or, especially in the food industry, simply dextrose (from dextrorotatory glucose[2]).

[sargie]

The beer kit enhancer i used "geordie" said it was half spray malt half dextrose not glucose.

Dextrose is glucose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose

Two stereoisomers of the aldohexose sugars are known as glucose, only one of which (D-glucose) is biologically active. This form (D-glucose) is often referred to as dextrose monohydrate, or, especially in the food industry, simply dextrose (from dextrorotatory glucose[2]).

Well that bloody misleading lol 2 names for one thing my appologies as i was unaware

[EoinMag]

Basically if you want rid of that tang, stop with the white sugars, only use malts.
Some people are happy with that tang, some even use white table sugar all the time on here, but really in my opinion it's the difference between a beer that tastes like homebrew or a beer that tastes like real ale.

[sonicated]

Is it this exess sweetness that gives the lager a slightly cidery taste and smell?

I think that's Acetaldehyde. When I did my first lager I used 6 small sample bottles to taste the beer developing. After week one the beer had cleared so I tried one. It had an aroma and taste of dry cider - I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between it and a bad cider. I was certain I'd got an infection which ruined it.

However after six weeks it was really nice with no cider taste or smell. In the process of converting yeast to alcohol many more chemicals are created, one is Acetaldehyde. It is found naturally in ripe fruit and makes beer taste like green apples. After a few weeks it all gets converted into Alcohol and this taste goes away.