Finally took a dive into homebrewing.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

2 minutes ago, Beercules281 said:

So just bottled my first batch of Lager. How exciting!

 

I immediately washed and sanitised and jumped straight into brew No.2. My O.G reading was 1028 with water at 24C. Is it anything to be worried about not being the 1038 as per packet instructions or just suck it and see?

 

Thanks in advance!

You probably just didn't stir it enough mate. But rest assured if you made it to recipe and the recipe volume then it will be within a point or two of the expected OG. Also if it's not mixed completely it has no effect on the brew. The yeast will find every but of sugar it can eat. 

[Beercules281]

1 minute ago, Greenyinthewestofsydney said:

You probably just didn't stir it enough mate. But rest assured if you made it to recipe and the recipe volume then it will be within a point or two of the expected OG. Also if it's not mixed completely it has no effect on the brew. The yeast will find every but of sugar it can eat. 

Thats what I suspect too. Maybe got a little too excited to reload and go again and didn't pay as much attention to getting it mixed. 

[Triple B Brewing]

8 minutes ago, Beercules281 said:

So just bottled my first batch of Lager. How exciting!

 

I immediately washed and sanitised and jumped straight into brew No.2. My O.G reading was 1028 with water at 24C. Is it anything to be worried about not being the 1038 as per packet instructions or just suck it and see?

 

Thanks in advance!

Hey @Beercules281, that OG reading seems pretty low. It'd help to understand what the exact recipe was you were following.

An OG reading of 1.028 will likely only ever give you around a mid strength beer (say around 3.7ish% ABV), (which is fine by the way if that's what you were aiming for)

This short vid might also help ensure you are reading the Hydrometer correctly. 

Reading a Hydrometer

[Beercules281]

9 minutes ago, Triple B Brewing said:

Hey @Beercules281, that OG reading seems pretty low. It'd help to understand what the exact recipe was you were following.

An OG reading of 1.028 will likely only ever give you around a mid strength beer (say around 3.7ish% ABV), (which is fine by the way if that's what you were aiming for)

This short vid might also help ensure you are reading the Hydrometer correctly. 

Reading a Hydrometer

It was a Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract from Big W. I'm gonna assume I was too impatient and didn't mix it well enough initially as Greeny stated. 

 

Not too fussed about nailing it on my second ever brew.  All apart of the process. Beer is beer at the end of the day and someone has to drink it. 

[ChairmanDrew]

1 hour ago, Beercules281 said:

It was a Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract from Big W. I'm gonna assume I was too impatient and didn't mix it well enough initially as Greeny stated. 

 

Not too fussed about nailing it on my second ever brew.  All apart of the process. Beer is beer at the end of the day and someone has to drink it. 

What did you add to it? Brew enhancer? Sugar?

[Triple B Brewing]

1 hour ago, Beercules281 said:

It was a Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract from Big W. I'm gonna assume I was too impatient and didn't mix it well enough initially as Greeny stated. 

 

Not too fussed about nailing it on my second ever brew.  All apart of the process. Beer is beer at the end of the day and someone has to drink it. 

Fair call. However as @ChairmanDrew states it will all (likely) be about the fermentables you used with the can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract. That is; what type and how much you used. For example; A long, long (and I mean a looong) time ago when I first started brewing it was all a typical K&K (Kit and Kilo) practice to make home brew, which equated to using 1 X can of concentrate (AKA hoped extract), plus 1 X 1Kg of white sugar, mix, back fill the fermenter with water, pitch the supplied packet of yeast and place the fermenter in an aircon cooled room (if you had one), wait about 7 days and then bottle (either in long necks (750ml), stubbies (375mm), or recycled plastics, using one teaspoon of caster sugar to 750 mls of brew to prime for second fermentation (to produce carbonation in the bottle). - Happy Dayz. However, if you got your priming measurements wrong, or your cleaning and sanitising was a little off and you were packaging in glass - it was sometimes "what the bloody hell was that" as a bottle would explode and take another two or three bottles stored next to it out at the same time due to the bottle having too much secondary fermentation pressure build up (caused either from too much priming sugar or infection).

So, while you can brew using just a can of hoped extract (eg; a 1.7kg can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale), water and the packaged yeast, it will only have enough fermentables to produce a brew somewhere in the range of mid strength Alcohol By Volume (ABV), say around 3.5%ish ABV.

If on the other hand when brewing K&K and you use approximately 1 kg of additional fermentables (that could be either from using dry or liquid malt extracts, or white sugar (no, I recommend you don't use that as a fermentable anymore), or dextrose, or a Brew Enhancer, etc), you will end up with a brew typically in the mid 4%'s ABV.

So, as CD asks, what did you put with that can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale when you mixed up your wort ?

P.S. It is also true (as Greeny suggests) if you have not mixed you can of concentrate and fermentables with your water to make a well mixed wort and then measure it, your OG (original Gravity) reading could be off.

P.P.S - Good fun this home brewin' caper isn't  

Well, here's to plenty of tasty cold frothy's eh    

[ChairmanDrew]

26 minutes ago, Triple B Brewing said:

 A long, long (and I mean a looong) time ago when I first started brewing it was all a typical K&K (Kit and Kilo) practice to make home brew, which equated to using 1 X can of concentrate (AKA hoped extract), plus 1 X 1Kg of white sugar, mix, back fill the fermenter with water, pitch the supplied packet of yeast and place the fermenter in an aircon cooled room (if you had one)

This is basically what I was doing about 10 years ago when I had my first foray into home brewing. They were generally pretty awful, but I made a few decent wheat beers using just the pre-hopped can and a kg of caster sugar. As it went on my sterilizing regime fell by the wayside and I had some funny tasting brews.

Since I got back into it just over a year ago I've definitely taken a lot more onboard and continue to up my brewing game.

[Triple B Brewing]

12 minutes ago, ChairmanDrew said:

This is basically what I was doing about 10 years ago when I had my first foray into home brewing. They were generally pretty awful, but I made a few decent wheat beers using just the pre-hopped can and a kg of caster sugar. As it went on my sterilizing regime fell by the wayside and I had some funny tasting brews.

Since I got back into it just over a year ago I've definitely taken a lot more onboard and continue to up my brewing game.

Yep a whole heap has changed in the home brewing world that's for sure. Changes like an individual being able to purchase entry level all grain set ups to micro breweries to packaging in kegs or even cans ! (crickey, you can even buy the plastic 6 can holders) - amazing ... 

I think the fermentation fridge I made myself to control my brew temperatures has been my biggest step forward that has made such a difference to the quality of my brews and the array of different hoped extracts and adjuncts that are now available is amazing. I love the recipes that Coopers has for the Kit n Bits brewer like myself.

The amount of information now available on home brewing is mind blowing and the ability to purchase hops, specialty grains and different yeasts online just makes it all so easy and interesting - learning about a Diacetyl Rest was definitely an "OH RIGHT" moment for me ... and I have loved creating the craft style beers, with BIG hop flavours by Dry Hoping - just super - all of a sudden I'm a king brewer - WOOHOO for me  

I'm absolutely lovin' being retired and starting back up my love of makin' a really good (even if I say so myself) home brewed beer - its extremely satisfying and I'm learning so much more from being on a forum like this.

I gotta say, I'm really lookin' forward to tryin my hand at a partial mash soon thanks to the inspiration provided by @Pale Man thread Partial Mashing With A Coopers Can. (thanks for that cobber ) and finding the amazing detailed info provided by (I gather a much loved) @ChristinaS1 mini mash (aka a partial) brought to my attention by @Tone boy (thank you my man )

So if ya havin't picked it up yet @Beercules281 you have landed in a good spot to learn if you want to and I have included a couple of links in this post that might be of interest to you also. But I fear I may have strayed away a little too far from the question you raised, so I will keep an eye out for your response on what fermentables (if any) you used with the can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract to result in an OG of 1.028

Cheers ta cold quality beers eh    

 

[Beercules281]

6 hours ago, ChairmanDrew said:

What did you add to it? Brew enhancer? Sugar?

Apparently my brain wasn't working for a Thursday night and left out that part of the question. 

 

It was 1kg of Brew Enhancer 2.

[Beercules281]

5 hours ago, Triple B Brewing said:

Fair call. However as @ChairmanDrew states it will all (likely) be about the fermentables you used with the can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract. That is; what type and how much you used. For example; A long, long (and I mean a looong) time ago when I first started brewing it was all a typical K&K (Kit and Kilo) practice to make home brew, which equated to using 1 X can of concentrate (AKA hoped extract), plus 1 X 1Kg of white sugar, mix, back fill the fermenter with water, pitch the supplied packet of yeast and place the fermenter in an aircon cooled room (if you had one), wait about 7 days and then bottle (either in long necks (750ml), stubbies (375mm), or recycled plastics, using one teaspoon of caster sugar to 750 mls of brew to prime for second fermentation (to produce carbonation in the bottle). - Happy Dayz. However, if you got your priming measurements wrong, or your cleaning and sanitising was a little off and you were packaging in glass - it was sometimes "what the bloody hell was that" as a bottle would explode and take another two or three bottles stored next to it out at the same time due to the bottle having too much secondary fermentation pressure build up (caused either from too much priming sugar or infection).

So, while you can brew using just a can of hoped extract (eg; a 1.7kg can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale), water and the packaged yeast, it will only have enough fermentables to produce a brew somewhere in the range of mid strength Alcohol By Volume (ABV), say around 3.5%ish ABV.

If on the other hand when brewing K&K and you use approximately 1 kg of additional fermentables (that could be either from using dry or liquid malt extracts, or white sugar (no, I recommend you don't use that as a fermentable anymore), or dextrose, or a Brew Enhancer, etc), you will end up with a brew typically in the mid 4%'s ABV.

So, as CD asks, what did you put with that can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale when you mixed up your wort ?

P.S. It is also true (as Greeny suggests) if you have not mixed you can of concentrate and fermentables with your water to make a well mixed wort and then measure it, your OG (original Gravity) reading could be off.

P.P.S - Good fun this home brewin' caper isn't  

Well, here's to plenty of tasty cold frothy's eh    

Thanks for the tips! It's all definitely helping me understand this more and how far I want to take it. 

 

I somehow left out the important part of that question! It was a packet of Brew Enhancer 2. 

[Beercules281]

4 hours ago, Triple B Brewing said:

Yep a whole heap has changed in the home brewing world that's for sure. Changes like an individual being able to purchase entry level all grain set ups to micro breweries to packaging in kegs or even cans ! (crickey, you can even buy the plastic 6 can holders) - amazing ... 

I think the fermentation fridge I made myself to control my brew temperatures has been my biggest step forward that has made such a difference to the quality of my brews and the array of different hoped extracts and adjuncts that are now available is amazing. I love the recipes that Coopers has for the Kit n Bits brewer like myself.

The amount of information now available on home brewing is mind blowing and the ability to purchase hops, specialty grains and different yeasts online just makes it all so easy and interesting - learning about a Diacetyl Rest was definitely an "OH RIGHT" moment for me ... and I have loved creating the craft style beers, with BIG hop flavours by Dry Hoping - just super - all of a sudden I'm a king brewer - WOOHOO for me  

I'm absolutely lovin' being retired and starting back up my love of makin' a really good (even if I say so myself) home brewed beer - its extremely satisfying and I'm learning so much more from being on a forum like this.

I gotta say, I'm really lookin' forward to tryin my hand at a partial mash soon thanks to the inspiration provided by @Pale Man thread Partial Mashing With A Coopers Can. (thanks for that cobber ) and finding the amazing detailed info provided by (I gather a much loved) @ChristinaS1 mini mash (aka a partial) brought to my attention by @Tone boy (thank you my man )

So if ya havin't picked it up yet @Beercules281 you have landed in a good spot to learn if you want to and I have included a couple of links in this post that might be of interest to you also. But I fear I may have strayed away a little too far from the question you raised, so I will keep an eye out for your response on what fermentables (if any) you used with the can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract to result in an OG of 1.028

Cheers ta cold quality beers eh    

 

Thanks for the links! I'll definitely look into it all. I've only barely scraped the surface if this homebrew hobby and I'm glad everyone on this forum is so bloody helpful!

[Triple B Brewing]

6 hours ago, Beercules281 said:

Apparently my brain wasn't working for a Thursday night and left out that part of the question. 

 

It was 1kg of Brew Enhancer 2.

Ok well in that case I expect that your OG reading is suspect because you should be around 10 points higher I’d reckon. 
No problem, I say run with it and you should end up with a nice drop. 
I look forward to hearing of the outcome in about three to four weeks eh 

Happy Easter @Beercules281

[Triple B Brewing]

6 hours ago, Beercules281 said:

Thanks for the links! I'll definitely look into it all. I've only barely scraped the surface if this homebrew hobby and I'm glad everyone on this forum is so bloody helpful!

Your very welcome - hope they inspire

[Beercules281]

21 minutes ago, Triple B Brewing said:

Ok well in that case I expect that your OG reading is suspect because you should be around 10 points higher I’d reckon. 
No problem, I say run with it and you should end up with a nice drop. 
I look forward to hearing of the outcome in about three to four weeks eh 

Happy Easter @Beercules281

Yeah not too sure what happened weather it was my mistake or what. I guess a low OG will just net me a lower alcohol brew? Which I suppose isn't a bad thing?

 

I'll update you in a month's time and see how it went. 

[Beercules281]

21 minutes ago, Triple B Brewing said:

Your very welcome - hope they inspire

Oh absolutely. There's something about the complexity of a brew and tasting the end result that truly excites me. 

[Shamus O'Sean]

6 minutes ago, Beercules281 said:

Yeah not too sure what happened weather it was my mistake or what. I guess a low OG will just net me a lower alcohol brew? Which I suppose isn't a bad thing?

 

I'll update you in a month's time and see how it went. 

All good BC, it should not turn out a lower alcohol brew, just because your OG reading was low.  There must have been something wrong with your OG reading - Not mixed well enough, broken/damaged hydrometer, etc.  However, it is safe to assume you put the whole can of APA and the whole kilo of BE2 into the fermenter with 23 litres of water.  On that basis, you will have enough fermentables to give you an OG of around 1.040.  The yeast will still consume those sugars even if they were not completely mixed in.  So once the wort has fermented out and you prime in your bottles, you should have a beer around 4% ABV.

[Beercules281]

3 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

All good BC, it should not turn out a lower alcohol brew, just because your OG reading was low.  There must have been something wrong with your OG reading - Not mixed well enough, broken/damaged hydrometer, etc.  However, it is safe to assume you put the whole can of APA and the whole kilo of BE2 into the fermenter with 23 litres of water.  On that basis, you will have enough fermentables to give you an OG of around 1.040.  The yeast will still consume those sugars even if they were not completely mixed in.  So once the wort has fermented out and you prime in your bottles, you should have a beer around 4% ABV.

Thats good to know.  It is a brand new Hydrometer that came with the Coopers DIY kit so not really sure what went on. But rest assured I used the entire can of APA as well as the whole bag of BE2 into 23 litres of water. 

See what the end result is I suppose. Thanks for that Shamus. 

[Oldbloke]

On 3/29/2024 at 5:41 AM, Beercules281 said:

Apparently my brain wasn't working for a Thursday night and left out that part of the question. 

 

It was 1kg of Brew Enhancer 2.

That being the case, about 4.1% ABV

 

I've added my ready reckoner. It isn't precise, but bloody close.

Note: Corn syrup doesn't really ferment.

So roughly 800g of fermentables

 

 

Edited March 30 by Oldbloke

[Tricky Micky]

On 3/29/2024 at 1:30 AM, Triple B Brewing said:

Yep a whole heap has changed in the home brewing world that's for sure. Changes like an individual being able to purchase entry level all grain set ups to micro breweries to packaging in kegs or even cans ! (crickey, you can even buy the plastic 6 can holders) - amazing ... 

I think the fermentation fridge I made myself to control my brew temperatures has been my biggest step forward that has made such a difference to the quality of my brews and the array of different hoped extracts and adjuncts that are now available is amazing. I love the recipes that Coopers has for the Kit n Bits brewer like myself.

The amount of information now available on home brewing is mind blowing and the ability to purchase hops, specialty grains and different yeasts online just makes it all so easy and interesting - learning about a Diacetyl Rest was definitely an "OH RIGHT" moment for me ... and I have loved creating the craft style beers, with BIG hop flavours by Dry Hoping - just super - all of a sudden I'm a king brewer - WOOHOO for me  

I'm absolutely lovin' being retired and starting back up my love of makin' a really good (even if I say so myself) home brewed beer - its extremely satisfying and I'm learning so much more from being on a forum like this.

I gotta say, I'm really lookin' forward to tryin my hand at a partial mash soon thanks to the inspiration provided by @Pale Man thread Partial Mashing With A Coopers Can. (thanks for that cobber ) and finding the amazing detailed info provided by (I gather a much loved) @ChristinaS1 mini mash (aka a partial) brought to my attention by @Tone boy (thank you my man )

So if ya havin't picked it up yet @Beercules281 you have landed in a good spot to learn if you want to and I have included a couple of links in this post that might be of interest to you also. But I fear I may have strayed away a little too far from the question you raised, so I will keep an eye out for your response on what fermentables (if any) you used with the can of Coopers Australian Pale Ale extract to result in an OG of 1.028

Cheers ta cold quality beers eh    

 

Please don't ever stop posting these gems @Triple B Brewing TBB, love reading 'em. This is what the spirit of this forum is all about. Love it mate! Great links too -cheers young man.

[Triple B Brewing]

5 minutes ago, Tricky Micky said:

Please don't ever stop posting these gems @Triple B Brewing TBB, love reading 'em. This is what the spirit of this forum is all about. Love it mate! Great links too -cheers young man.

Arrrr thanks @Tricky Micky nice of you to say. Tell ya what, if you keep calling me a young man, I guarantee I’ll keep responding

Cheers to great beers cobber

[Beercules281]

On 3/30/2024 at 6:19 PM, Oldbloke said:

That being the case, about 4.1% ABV

 

I've added my ready reckoner. It isn't precise, but bloody close.

Note: Corn syrup doesn't really ferment.

So roughly 800g of fermentables

 

 

OK awesome. Thanks for the info. My SG test yesterday was around the 1005 mark after day 3. 

[Back Brewing]

On 3/23/2024 at 1:33 PM, Aussiekraut said:

Oh they will, I can pretty much guarantee it  Brewing beer is fairly cheap but only if you don't take the extras into consideration. A ferment fridge here, a second fermenter there, an all grain nano brewing system, a kegerator, kegs, gas bottles, gadgets like WiFi-enabled hydrometers, a keezer to lager, another ferment fridge for the 2nd fermenter, cubes to store beer, a grain mill, a better grain mill, a smart speaker for entertainment, remote controlled temperature controllers and powerpoints and so on. It is never-ending. Before you know it, you have several grand worth of equipment sitting there and you are still dreaming of more  

Brewing is a great hobby, I think we all can agree with that. But once the descent into the rabbit hole has begun, you just go deeper and deeper. In terms of beer, you save heaps but the pursuit of beer can be costly  

In the scheme of things I reckon for my needs I need another keg, an allrounder and a regulator that would enable me to make sure I always have a full keg in the kegerator and put the regulator on the 2nd co2 bottle to force carb a keg then transfer it to the kegerator to save waiting 10 plus days on set and forget.  So really I don't need too much more

I at one time thought down the track I might want to upgrade to a 65 litre set up but then I seen on kegland I can get an extension for my 35 litre digiboil so I will go that way when the time comes.

 

[Beercules281]

Well it's day 13 since bottling. I thought I'd sample the first batch. It tastes like beer! Success! Really looking forward to brewing some even better advanced beers. 

 

Thanks to everyone for their advice and I look forward to sharing my Brew Journey with you all. 

[Aussiekraut]

3 hours ago, Back Brewing said:

In the scheme of things I reckon for my needs I need another keg, an allrounder and a regulator that would enable me to make sure I always have a full keg in the kegerator and put the regulator on the 2nd co2 bottle to force carb a keg then transfer it to the kegerator to save waiting 10 plus days on set and forget.  So really I don't need too much more

I at one time thought down the track I might want to upgrade to a 65 litre set up but then I seen on kegland I can get an extension for my 35 litre digiboil so I will go that way when the time comes.

 

Yeah, I've heard it all before when I justified the little bit here and there  A keg here, one there, a nice gas setup to allow me to do two things with one bottle, maybe another fermenter here, or a 2nd gas bottle would be handy. Maybe a few more kegs could be handy. Let's get a manifold for the gas and inline regulators, so I can have individual pressure for each keg. That's really all I need. What would be nice though is a bigger gas bottle and maybe another fridge...been there, done that, no money left for the T-shirt my friend  

[Fedaykin409]

you dip your toe with the supplied lager. get a taste for it....
and the next thing you know you're adding nectar & dry hopping.

... and you get more adventurous every brew.

my game plan was to stick to a few basics before doing anything crazy... and now i'm trying the ROTM that will be new things i've been yet to do. (and looking at picking up a bar fridge on the cheap when I see one, then buy inkbird for temp control)

 

ANYWAY! the point i'm trying to make. is that it is a slippery slope. as you learn more. you want to do more. 

 

how'd that first one taste ? 

Edited April 13 by Fedaykin409
spelling