AJS83 Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Hi all. I am a new HB. I have already done one HB in the Coopers Craft range with the Bewitched Ale in the smaller 8.5 fermenter. This has now been bottled and is maturing well. Due to limited options in the craft brew range I also brought a Coopers 25 litre ferementer used for brewing 23 litres and put done the lager on Saturday (2 days ago). I followed the instruction and washed the kit out and as an extra precaution sanitized it with no rinse Beer Essentials. The foam is starting to subside but I am very concerned about the yellow/orange colour of the brew. Due to the colder weather it's been kept in the 21-22 temp range. I am not sure whether to throw it out or whether it can be saved? Would appreciate any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyBrew2 Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 That looks fine and normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 Cheers, that's a relief? I am going to remove the collar tomorrow at day 3 as per the videos advice. shouod the cloudiness subside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_G Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 so you are concerned about the colour? looks like fermenting beer to me with yeast in suspension doing their thing converting sugar to ethanol ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlos_1984 Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 A word of advice. Don't ever tip it out until after it's bottled and given a couple weeks at a minimum to carbonate. A lot of the time, tastes and smells come across a bit funny but 9 times out of 10, as long as you sanitised properly, everything is usually fine. This beer looks normal, they are cloudy during fermentation. If you cold crash it'll clear it a bit. But as long as it tastes fine after bottling then it doesn't matter if it's not crystal clear. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_G Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Just now, karlos_1984 said: Don't ever tip it out until after it's bottled and given a couple weeks at a minimum to carbonate. that is wonderful advice... beer is resilient and for centuries it has been brewed without the best sanitation and i bet never thrown out ... my last brew had an unusual yeast behaviour called pellicle which is not really an infection but can behave like one ... I continued brewing and bottles it today ... I know the fermentation was over and have bottled two tasters that i will open in a week or so ... if they are fine, which i am sure they will be the rest will bottle age for a couple of months ... don't get me wrong infections are not good but most brewers never get one in the FV, the odd dirty bottle maybe but FV rarely .... the main thing that will make your beer taste crap is brewing at too high a temp ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchBastard Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 I brewed an English bitter a while back. It literally Looked like sewerage during fermentation. My partner called it A bucket of swirling poo water. However, it turned out great. A lot of wild things happen in that bucket during fermentation. As karlos suggested, give it a few weeks after bottling. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potatoes Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 If in doubt, bottle it and give it the in-laws. If they don’t get stomach cramps, you’re fine. If they do get stomach cramps, you’re also fine. Btw, I think your beer will be ok! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab Cat Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 (edited) I've had a few funky looking and smelling beers during fermentation. They all turned out fine. Some better than others, but that's dependant on the kit and any extra hop additions. They put ale yeast in the Lager kit so your ambient temp of 20-22C is fine. Until I got a fridge and controller, I was brewing beers at 24-26 and made some really nice ones. I found the cooper lager underwhelming though. Hardly any flavour, but it was cold wet, and beer. Edited April 1, 2019 by Lab Rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 Great thanks guys, that has put my mind at ease. It just looked very funky but smells pretty good. Hopefully I can bottle it on Saturday and will then leave it for at least a couple of weeks to carbonate and settle in the bottles. My bewitched has been bottled for just over a week now so I am hoping to crack a few over Easter and then store the rest for at least 2 months. The plan is to do a brew every few weeks so I can build up a bit of stash. I heard it's bettter to make lagers in winter and stouts ect in the warmer weather. I wish I could cold crash it but I live in a small unit so no room for another fridge. I'm in Melbourne and the weathers been pretty cold this last week so hopefully it will turn out well. thanks for all the advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 Hi all. Today is day 6, so I have done a test with the hydrometer and it is showing 2.9. Is that good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab Cat Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 THat's not a valid reading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyBrew2 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 You sure you not looking at your watch post a a pic of your hydrometer. Should be between 1.010 and 1.040 (ish) for that recipe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 It's a bit blurry, sorry. I hope that's clear enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab Cat Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 That's 1.010 or thereabouts. If it's the same tomorow, it's done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popo the Reprobate Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Looks like 1.012-10ish. Looks good. Could well be finished but I'm not sure what the FG for that would be. I'd leave it another day or two and take another check to make sure the reading is stable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) Thanks guys I really appreciate the advice. I will leave it another day or so, just to be safe and check it again tomorrow. What alcohol percentage does that correlate to? Hopefully I can contribute something to the forum when I get more experienced with home brewing. Edited April 4, 2019 by AJS83 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Hi AJS What was your Original Gravity (OG) reading? Your current reading may turn out to be your Final Gravity (FG). The formula to work out ABV is based on the OG and FG and is: ABV = (OG - FG) x 131.25 I found this on-line. The Coopers FAQ section suggests 134.05 instead of 131.25 You could also put your recipe into some brewing software such as the IanH spreadsheet (search for it on this forum) and it will give you a good estimation of the ABV to expect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 26 minutes ago, AJS83 said: Hopefully I can contribute something to the forum when I get more experienced with home brewing. Don’t worry about it; I have been brewing for 10 years and still don’t contribute anything to this forum. Good luck with the beer. 2 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 5 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said: Hi AJS What was your Original Gravity (OG) reading? Your current reading may turn out to be your Final Gravity (FG). The formula to work out ABV is based on the OG and FG and is: ABV = (OG - FG) x 131.25 I found this on-line. The Coopers FAQ section suggests 134.05 instead of 131.25 You could also put your recipe into some brewing software such as the IanH spreadsheet (search for it on this forum) and it will give you a good estimation of the ABV to expect. Hi it was 1.045. I found a calculator as you suggested and it says I should have a beer approx 4.5-6%. I will be pretty happy with that as long as it tastes good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 Take another picture, the last one was so bad i thought i had drunk to much beer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 15 minutes ago, AJS83 said: Hi it was 1.045. I found a calculator as you suggested and it says I should have a beer approx 4.5-6%. I will be pretty happy with that as long as it tastes good. I forgot to mention if you carbonate in the bottle, you need to add 0.4% to the ABV calculation to account for the extra alcohol created by the sugar used to prime the bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJS83 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 The beer has been in the hydrometer over an hour now. Not sure if that makes a difference but here is a clearer picture. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lab Cat Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 (edited) Dude, need more beer in there for it to float. It's reading 1032 Edited April 4, 2019 by Lab Rat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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