help

[robh9]

Put my first brew in out of the starter kit. I used bottled water as the tap water up here in Darwin is crap and to hot. All went in at 22c and 1042 sg. kept room at 22c and had about 10mm of froth on top no condensation and after 6 days have sg between 1018 and 1026. what have I done wrong? Is it saveable?   

[The Captain!!]

Gday Robh9,

welcome to the forum.

first thing I’d suggest is placing your hydrometer in 20c water or as close to that as you can get, test the hydrometer from that. It may be out of calibration. 

Secondly, calm down, it’s only beer. And you know what, everyone’s first beer is shite.

Thirdly, it’s always saveable, well almost. Take another sample after testing your hydrometer and get back to us on the actual measurement 

Cheers mate. Life’s good, your well on your way to awesome beer!!!!!

Captain

[Lab Cat]

Big swing in SG reading there. It should be one thing or another, not a range. How are you taking the reading?

[Shamus O'Sean]

20 hours ago, robh9 said:

Put my first brew in out of the starter kit. I used bottled water as the tap water up here in Darwin is crap and to hot. All went in at 22c and 1042 sg. kept room at 22c and had about 10mm of froth on top no condensation and after 6 days have sg between 1018 and 1026. what have I done wrong? Is it saveable?   

Hey Rob

With reference to the advice above, how is it going now?

PS welcome to the community

[robh9]

took a sample stuck it in the fridge and did a taste test and it wasn't foul so I bottled it. day time temp is 35c up here and 24 at night so I think I'll whack it in the fridge on wednesday and see how we go I can always tip it out. Going to get another batch on today any tips?

[digger000]

Take what I say with a grain of salt as I’m a newbie too, but I put a brew on this morning at about 7.30am, cold water out of the fridge into it, put 2 frozen 1.5 litre spring water bottles on either side of it and wrapped it in a sleeping bag.

Its still sitting around 17-18 degrees and it’s about 29 here today. I’m well impressed. 

[Shamus O'Sean]

40 minutes ago, robh9 said:

took a sample stuck it in the fridge and did a taste test and it wasn't foul so I bottled it. day time temp is 35c up here and 24 at night so I think I'll whack it in the fridge on wednesday and see how we go I can always tip it out. Going to get another batch on today any tips?

As @digger000 notes above - Try to keep the fermenting brew temperature between 18-20°C

Take SG readings before pitching your yeast

Take another SG reading after 4 days

When it looks like fermentation is finished, take an SG reading - You want it to be the same for two days before bottling to avoid over-carbonating your beer or creating bottle-bombs.

Once bottled, store above 20°C for two weeks before drinking.  This duration is for good carbonation and to allow flavours to mature a bit.

35°C might be a bit warm.  I am not sure of possible issues though.  Maybe it will just carbonate a bit quick.  Over-carbonation?  

[robh9]

about to clean for the first time I'm just using bleach and a dish cloth how much do you dilute the bleach

[Shamus O'Sean]

3 hours ago, robh9 said:

about to clean for the first time I'm just using bleach and a dish cloth how much do you dilute the bleach

I cannot advise on bleach.  I do not use it.  

I use Di-San Oxy from Aldi to clean my fermenter.  8 Tablespoons to 20-25L of hot water in fermenter.

I also use 1 teaspoon per longneck soaked overnight to clean them (half teaspoon per stubbie).

Shake out and rinse, rather than dish cloth.

[Abbot-67]

On 10/5/2019 at 6:03 PM, robh9 said:

Put my first brew in out of the starter kit. I used bottled water as the tap water up here in Darwin is crap and to hot. All went in at 22c and 1042 sg. kept room at 22c and had about 10mm of froth on top no condensation and after 6 days have sg between 1018 and 1026. what have I done wrong? Is it saveable?   

Hi and Welcome.

I'm only on my second brew so very much a newbie here also.

I'd imagine it's still ok.

From what I've learnt so far 6 days isn't very long.  I'd say leave it brewing in the FV for another week and let it get through further fermentation, checking the gravity about every three days to see what it's up to. 

My first brew was in the FV for 15 days before I bottled it. 

I'm in FNQ also and had a problem keeping my first brew at a reasonable temperature, it was around 24c for the first couple of days but covering the FV with a large towel and sticking a couple of blocks of Ice on top kept it fairly stable. That was several weeks a go and the day temps outside were 25-27C and night was about 15, so no where near as hot as yours presently are. I managed to keep it around 19C (thanks to those on here for the insight into to cheap cooling techniques).

I used empty margarine tubs for freezing and creating the ice blocks.

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by Abbot-67

[robh9]

will this affect the kausen collar

 

[robh9]

we don't have ALDI up here can I use sodium percarbonate

[Anthony999]

You guys with the towels and ice don't want to get a old fridge and an inkbird controller?  It's one of the best pieces of kit for a controlled brew.

[ben 10]

OR just buy suitable yeast.

Kveik and saison are great for hot weather.

[Aussiekraut]

1 hour ago, robh9 said:

we don't have ALDI up here can I use sodium percarbonate

That's what most people use. Essentially, any laundry soaker with the word "oxy" in it should do the trick but you may have to rinse a little more thoroughly as with sodium percarbonate.

To sanitise, use Star/Stellarsan or get a non-rinse sanitiser from the LHBS. Makes life a lot easier.

 

[Thirsty Jim]

Rob,  Check out the FAQ 

https://www.diybeer.com/au/faqs/#FAQ_1_11

11. What chemicals do you recommend for sanitising?

We recommend products which carry Oxygen Bleaching capacity (active ingredient - Sodium Percarbonate), such as Hypo-Allergenic or Sensitive Napisan type products. In the absence of these products, normal unscented household bleach (active ingredient - Sodium Hypochlorite) may be used.

To sanitise using Oxy Bleach Sanitiser: Dissolve 4 tablespoons of Sanitiser in the Fermenting Vessel (FV) with one litre of hot/warm water. Place all equipment in the FV, fill to the brim with cold water and let soak overnight (or at least 2 hours). Drain the FV through the tap and rinse all equipment thoroughly to remove any remaining suds.

To sanitise using Unscented Household Bleach: Add ¼ cup of unscented household bleach to the FV. Place all equipment in the FV, fill with cool water and let soak overnight (or at least 30mins). Rinse out with hot water to remove all traces of chlorine smell.

The FV lid need only be cleaned then rinsed with hot water.

[Aussiekraut]

38 minutes ago, Anthony999 said:

You guys with the towels and ice don't want to get a old fridge and an inkbird controller?  It's one of the best pieces of kit for a controlled brew.

It's not the wanting in most cases. It took me the best part of a year to get a fermentation fridge. We already had three fridges running (kitchen, drinks and my bar fridge), so adding a new one wasn't really an option but we replaced the kitchen fridge with a substantially bigger one, eliminating the need for the drinks fridge, which is now my brew fridge.