New Brewery Build - Goosegog

[beermonsta]

As Spud said, if fermentation has not started then sanitise a spoon and whisk away at the wort to try and introduce more air. Alternatively I noticed you're using a pump, so I would personally sanitise the pump, then connect to the racking valve and using tubing pump the wort back in through the top, but with height to airrate. If you narrow the tube opening you will cause the wort to spray, or even increase pressure so it hits the wort in the FV with speed to cause turbulance.

If bubbling has by now started, then don't worry.

Some questions:
What temperature has the FV been sat in all night?
What was the OG?
what was your brew length?

[goosegog]

Temp: About 10°c - too cool?
OG - About 1.045 - was estimated by BeerSmith to be 1.049 - is this far off?
Boil time - 90 mins

Many thanks for the help!

[stu-le-brew]

Personally I like to ferment at 18 degrees so I think you are on the chilly side at 10, others may have other preference though.

When you pitched your yeast what was the temp difference between the yeast slurry and the beer - I read somewhere that a change of more than six degrees will send the yeast into shock for 5-6hours while it re-acclimatises to its environment.

You should see changes to the surface of the beer as the yeast multiplies, but to reproduce it must have oxygen

by the way your OG is probably ok (you could always add a spot of sugar) as you need to temperature adjust the hydrometer reading


good luck

[Spud395]

Yeah 10C is to cold for S-04, any ale yeast really. they say room temps.
Typically 17-21C but the more constant you can keep it between these temps the better

[goosegog]

Thanks guys. I checked wort temp when taking some to mix the yeast at 27°c but didn't check it after that, just felt the hose to make sure it was cool
I'll go switch the heating on in the workshop and keep it at 18°c and give it a good stir

[stu-le-brew]

When it has warmed up a bit it could be worth a shot a re-pitching some more yeast at the same temp as the beer.

Your main worry till the yeast gets going is a wild yeast or bacterial infection but with ambient temperature at the moment I think (and hope) you will get away with it

[Spud395]

I'm with you stu, if you can get it kicked off anytime soon there should be very little worries

[beermonsta]

yup, 10'C and the yeast will be asleep! - exception being for lager yeast but they are the sloth of the yeast world
Good job I asked about temp eh! - I would boost the room temp as high as it will go until the wort reaches the desired temp (I would recommend 20'C) then knock the room temp back to that temperature. The reason being that it will take ages for the mass of wort to climb back to the desired temp, so if you heat the room to a higher temp initially it will get there quicker (the ultimate goal here for the reasons stu & spud say).
Meanwhile don't worry, for a first time you got most right, these bits won't affect the beer unless nasties take hold (unlikely) so keep it covered under air lock, sit back, have a beer and relax. PS let us know when you hear gurgle-gurgle

[goosegog]

Priceless info, many thanks
Up to 12°c and it gurgles too!

[Spud395]

[goosegog]

That conical fermenter looks familiar. If you want any advice on using it, cleaning it, fitting the seal which will be loose(!) etc ask away

What advice can you offer on the fermenter please? Have you bothered finding pipe outlet fittings for the two taps? To bottle, do we simply crack open the higher tap? Apart from cleaning, does the lower tap play any role? Which seal will be loose?
Thanks again!

[beermonsta]

Righty-ho - here we go...

I started by adding a small length of silicon pipe to the side port. This allows me to connect it to my racking tube which has a black conrelius disconnect on the end. When connected to a cornie the beer will flow to the bottom of the cornie through the tube and cornie dip tub without ever coming into contact with air.
Oh, don't forget to remove the airlock so you don't get airlock fluid being pulled back through the bubbler! In fact I actually stick a 3/8th CO2 pipe into the grommet and provide a 1-3psi CO2 gas blanket to avoid drawing air into the conical.

The lower tap plays the most important role! - this is to dump the trub (initially after several hours if you haven't pitched any yeast you can dump and trub/protein matter such as hot and cold break material, hop leaves etc).
Next I would recommend that you let the main fermentation take place and after about 2 days after the airlock bubbler slows down I would dump the first lot of yeast. Do this by sticking a 2 litre pop bottle underneath (if it's a 1 inch opening? like mine?) then open the valve very slowly. You should get a squirt of yeast of whipped cream/toothpaste consistency flowing out. Don't be tempted to open the valve any more than a crack or you will end up "punching" a hole through the yeast with the wort/beer above. Once you see the consistency change to a more liquid state that's it! - On average I found so far that about one litre on the first pull is enough. Be careful here that you don't make the same mistake as me in which the pop bottle lid made a seal around the valve opening and prevented air from escaping from the bottle and thus causing a airlock. - Squeeze the bottle to check - if you can open the valve fully and nothing comes out then you know this is the case ...a la this video on my first attempt..
http://www.youtube.com/user/swingtopbot ... 9JTlUL0KnI read the comment for a full description.
Ok now repeat this but every other night to drop the yeast that accumulates. About 3 to 4 pulls is enough for me. Try to do a pull the night before you want to rack so that you don't disturb the yeast in the conical and cause the beer to go cloudy just before you rack.
On racking as I said follow the advice at the start.

Finally you will be left with some beer in the cone part of the conical. Don't waste it - put it in a smaller container - I use a 11litre cornie, but several pop bottles will suffice. - This you can drink to get an idea of the condition of you beer. Don't forget to get a FG for your beer too!

As for cleaning I bought a steam cleaner. My method the next time will be this: - crack open the lid drop the steam pip inside and rest the lid on top. Leave to steam for 20 mins or so. Then remove and manually clean with a sponge and hot water to remove the krausen ring etc. Also use the steam hose and point it at the inside of the valves - you will be suprised at how much yeasties are lurking there. After a full rinse I then would leave the steam hose in with lid on to steam away for a full hour or whatever you feel is good. I got to 80'C on the external temperature of the conical all over last time I did this. Inside must have been hotter. If still paranoid about cleanliness use a sanistiser (please be careful what you choose - chlorine based ones could attack the stainless, videne could attack you braincells (not been proven safe for human consumption - this is advice from a person who will rename nameless but might have worked for the company who make it and knows what other crap they put in it!).

When pulling if you can always sanitise the ports with a spray of sanitiser afterwards and before racking so you minimise the chance of contamination.
As for seals I cut my own silicone (baking sheet) seal for the bottom valve and PTFE'ed the other. Both will be changed every brew to keep things uber-clean.
Any more Q's please ask.

[goosegog]

That's really helpful - very many thanks indeed

[beermonsta]

s'ok

[goosegog]

Gents, it's up to 18°c now and it's gurgling every 10 secs or so. Could that be considered a success? Enough gurgling? I haven't stirred it (having failed to aerate it on filling) but do I need to bother or is it obviously well under way?
Cheers!