tones Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 hey everyone, i found a fermenter and a couple dozen old longneck bottles from an old kit in the shed that we got from an auction years ago and thought i'd give it a crack. after a bit of reading i thought id grab a coopers kit to make up for the other bits i needed so all of a sudden i had 2 fermenters + the gear from the new kit. had to go to bunnings today to grab a few bits for another job and i saw the 25 litre water containers that looked exactly the same as the old fermenter so i couldnt help but grab one of those... long story short i now have my first 3 brews going.. a mexican cerveza, lager from the kit and a pale ale i used the brew enhancer #2 with the pale ale and cerveza and a #1 with the lager OG's were: mexican cerveza: 1037 lager: 1035 pale ale: 1044 yeast was pitched at ~24c for all and they have now dropped to about 21c now i figure i have to atleast have a 1/3 shot at a decent beer but now im going to need more bottles! [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Well you've been well and truly bitten on the butt by the bug [biggrin] Sounds like you have some beer to drink over the summer already, nothing like starting with the basics and working your way into it. I bought a DIY kit last week to start up brewing again and i already have a fare supply of brew makings malts and hops and yests sitting out in the laundry and another fermenter on the way. cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianH4 Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 hey good going. i just finished a coopers pale ale with brew enhancer no 2. s.g was .034. didnt add anything else this time as i want to compare with factory pale ale and compare. my goal is to replicate coopers pale ale. might be a big ask!!![biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 haha, sure have.. i've already conned my cousin into helping me bottle we had an old small freezer that had died a long while back so i ripped its guts out and now its got the lager sitting in it, the coopers fv on top of it and the bunnings fermenter next to it.. i didnt have another airlock so i just did the glad wrap + o-ring trick but its a 23l brew in a 25l container so i hope it doesnt get too excited in there (that ones got the pale ale in it) i'm keen to try an extract brew but thought id do a few kits to start with just to get my feet wet :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 not the prettiest thing but i think the sign says it all temp probe is taped to the fermenter inside Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Tony - The 25L bunnings fermentor (aka water container [rightful] ) will be fine for a 23L brew. Adrian - to replicate the commercial Coopers Pale Ale you will need to culture up some yeast from a six pack of pale ale. The yeast is the magic ingredient [cool] (and ditch the brew enhancer for LDM with a touch of dex). Enjoy the brewing obsession fellas [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weggl Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Hey Tony where did you get the recipe fo the St Peters Ruby Red? Warren.[love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Well I guess it's no point doing things slowly eh TonyH13. Welcome to the hobby/obsession. hops and yests sitting out in the laundry Tony You really need to place your hops and yeast in air tight containers into the fridge asap.[pinched] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 They are in the fridge in the laundry [biggrin] That brew is on top of the fridge, the fridge is full of cider beer hops and yeast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Hey Tony where did you get the recipe fo the St Peters Ruby Red? Warren.[love] St Peters make a kit St Peters Ruby Red at my HB store Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 the brew i put in the old freezer is sitting nicely at 18c the other 2 are at 16 - 17c, the lager at 17 is bubbling away every couple seconds through the airlock but cant see much action in the cerveza there is a bit of condensation tho so i guess it is fermenting. will check and report the gravity readings tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Condensation is a good sign - try not to waste too much beer taking gravity samples (and don't worry about what the airlock is or isn't doing [cool] ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shannonm3 Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Sounds like you will have alot of bottling to do lol. I my self have made 2 brews, first was a coopers lager which i bottled, the second was a draught which i kegged. I tapped and tryed my keg beer on sunday and man i gotta tell ya its so good. i would strongly recommend getting yourself some corny kegs. i couldnt be happier with the taste and ease of having my own beer on tap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 yeh lots of bottling to come for me, wouldnt mind a keg but that will be a while down the track yet is there any noticable difference between glass and plastic bottles when storing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 yeh lots of bottling to come for me, wouldnt mind a keg but that will be a while down the track yet is there any noticable difference between glass and plastic bottles when storing? My mate poured me a glass out of a PET bottle and it tasted good to me. Glass is my preference but i am going to bottle this 1st batch in PET bottles so i can get used to them for traveling. I still to this day hate beer out of cans but i am ok with them decanted into a glass, maybe its just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 yeh lots of bottling to come for me, wouldnt mind a keg but that will be a while down the track yet is there any noticable difference between glass and plastic bottles when storing? Even though I keg, I still bottle 2 or 3 bottles per brew. Glass is better for long term storage than PETs but PETs are more forgiving than glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 thanks for the info guys, i had to ease my curiosity by getting a gravity reading and having a taste to see how things are going.. Pale Ale: 1019 - smells really yeasty/bit funky but tasted 'ok' Lager : 1023 - tastes great! Mex Cer : 1021 - somewhere between ok and good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 just took another reading after being away for a couple days.. Lager :1015 Mex Cer :1010 Pale Ale:1007 bit worried about the pale, smells a little bit funky and the fg(?) is a fair bit lower than the expected 1013 taking a sample from the lager i forgot about the airlock and think i sucked some of the water from it into the brew.. i really hope it will be ok since its tasting so good already the mexican cerveza shouldnt be too bad either but again dropping below the expected fg will take another reading tomorrow on the Mexican and the pale and give the lager a few more days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Ditch the airlocks then you won't have the problem. Use glad wrap and the o-ring from the fermenter lid like a big home made jam jar. Airlocks will just drive you insane. Hope the Pale Ale turns out ok.... it is one of my favorite Coopers Cans to use. The pale Ale I recently did ended at 1.004 which is lower than expected but it still turned out a reasonable drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Bill, perhaps Tones has got himself some of that "Magical Yeast" that you use. The Energiser Yeast where the fermentation keeps going and going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Bill' date=' perhaps Tones has got himself some of that "Magical Yeast" that you use. The Energiser Yeast where the fermentation keeps going and going.[/quote'] I sure hope not as it may play havoc on him if he uses bottles [crying] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 if its still the same tomorrow i was going to bottle it, i think i might get some more PET bottles though haha edit: another gravity check and still dropping.. Pale Ale: 1006 Mex Cer : 1004 Lager : 1012 the mexican cerveza has dropped 6 points overnight! the funky smell from the pale is gone since i moved it out of the old freezer almost like it was sealed up too well in there and the gasses from it fermenting had gone stale (atleast thats what im telling myself) im just gonna have to try to leave em alone for another few days, everything smells and tastes like beer so its looking good! [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 16, 2011 Author Share Posted September 16, 2011 gravity on all 3 hasnt changed but a couple days good fishing means ill be busy filleting tomorrow and cant bottle until sunday might do half a dozen of each in glass to compare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien E1 Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 gravity on all 3 hasnt changed but a couple days good fishing means ill be busy filleting tomorrow and cant bottle until sunday might do half a dozen of each in glass to compare What did you catch? I'm a keen fisho myself, I mostly go after Kahawai on the local beaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tones Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 ah nice one, a mate and myself had a good time catching them about 2 weeks ago.. got about 30 in an hour on soft plastics biggest being around 55cm i had just been out and caught about 70 garfish over 2 days and a dozen or so tommy ruffs (australian herring) i fish out of a kayak (hobie pro angler) time to go do the bottling thing.. grabbed a 6 pack of coopers vintage to get me through it, not a bad drop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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