Fishingdogs Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Well got my kit on Sunday and have been glued to this forum since. Well put my first batch down today and well not the best weather in SEQ queensland but I couldnt wait any longer. Did the brew but couldnt get the them below 32c. On the instructions from the can said to put the yeast in if you cant get it to the recommended temp. aslong as its between 32 and 18c. So im after some advice to see if this will be fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyG4 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 it'll ferment, but it'll be yeasty, cloudy, and have a lot of fruity esters. this is what yob would say is another example of the coopers instructions doing more harm than good. you would've been better off waiting til it was cooler to brew. failing that, you would've been better off leaving the lid on until it had cooled down and then pitched the yeast. you need to get it down to 18 degrees-ish ASAP. you can't brew it at 32 degrees, it'll taste horrible. a tip for next time - try and use some chilled water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 It won't be the best. Try to get the temp down as much and as soon as possible. Brewing at 32 degrees is likely to produce fusel alcohol and some off/strange flavours. In future, try to put 5-10 litres of water in the fridge the night before brewing and this will help achieve your pitching temp. Maintaining that temp during fermentation may be harder. Try placing the fermenter in a container/sink/bath of cool water and place a towel over the top with the ends sitting in the water. This should help a little. By the way, welcome to the Forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Patience is one of the things that home brewing teaches us over time. The right conditions, the right ingredients, the right temperature are all very important to making a "great" beer. We can have all the enthusiasm in the world but if the conditions of successful brewing are not met, the outcome will be less than ideal and as an end result will make you less enthusiastic about repeating. Lots of people give up for these reasons, it takes a certain mind set and a particular determination to meet all the required conditions to get across the line. All I can sugest at this point is to try and get the temps down and keep as steady as you can and to research. Its a great hobby man, welcome to the obsession. Damn. . am I getting known for running down the (arguably /deservedly) crap instructions? Good luck with it mate, don't get down of you fail on the first, it might help if you know that my first beer was done at high temps too, wasn't great, (actually it was shet) but I've managed to do better since[roll] Yob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasond4 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 If you want to get the brew temp down and keep it there for its fermenting life take the FV to the laundry sink and half fill it with water then to the water you add frozen 2L juice(with water) bottles to the water, around 2/3 per day @ 6-8 hour intervals. And on 30C+ days is enough to keep it around the 18C-21C without any problems. Others will gripe about infections getting in the tap, but after doing this for over 6 years and for at least 6 months of the year in Perth I've NEVER had a BAD brew and its always worked. Its a good cheap and easy meathod to keep your brew at a happy tempreture[happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingdogs Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Thanks for the replys, the temps come down on the brew so I hope it will be fine. Dont worry if this batch is no good I will still be giving another go. I'm also looking into an old fridge and change the controller so I can set it to keep brew at the right temp. Mind you the last time I brewed was 15 years ago and I didnt check the temps or anything and they turned out ok. So here hoping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Last brew I just did I wrapped a towel around the fermenter and regularly poured cold water over it. I got the temp down to about 70F, (my thermometer is in F), which is around 21C I think. Worked a treat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingdogs Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Well day 6 and all seems well. smells like beer looks like beer (abit cloudy), so weill take my 2nd reading tomorrow to see if all has finished. I might just let it sit for a few extra days before bottling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I might just let it sit for a few extra days before bottling. This is highly recommended. An extra week in the fermentor once fermentation is complete does wonders for your beer...it'll be much clearer too [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingdogs Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Well that's it then, I'll bottle next week. Thanks for the heads up. So it will be fine in the FV for the week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Yep, it will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingdogs Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Well bottled it tonight and seem alright, Will leave it of 2 weeks and have a look. But I think I will let it stand for 3 months and see how it goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 What temp did you end up brewing at? I know you said you pitched the yeast at 32C but surely you managed to get it well below that in reasonable time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingdogs Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 BillK I got it down fairly quick i suppose and it then sat on 24c for the whole time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien E1 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 BillK I got it down fairly quick i suppose and it then sat on 24c for the whole time 24 is a lot better than 32, but optimum temps are between 18 and 21. If you don't have a fridge, like myself, I find what works well in summer is wrapping the fermenter in a large towel, then between the towel and the fermenter placing a couple of big Cold Packs, which I replace every 12 hours or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingdogs Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Funny you meantion the fridge. I'm hopefully getting one set up next week. And then I will do the same brew at the right temps just to see how much differnce there is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 You're going to love having a fridge. Brew what you want and when you want. Almost a set and forget option [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingdogs Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Well busy day today put down a ginger beer for my boys and then followed that with a stout and a better start than my first brew, Pitched the yeast at 24c, so see how we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 My modified fridge recently blew so I went on Gumtree and picked up an old chest freezer for a whopping $5, the guy simply didnt want the hastle of tipping it (you could do the same with a fridge). I then went on ebay and bought one of these reptile probe thermostats Im now cooling up to 3 FV's for $35 It can also be set for lagering. The thermostat has cooling and heating so can also be used with a heat belt/mat/lamp in winter if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I understand these can only do either heat or cool, one at a time. However, this one appears a little different, can it do both? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I understand these can only do either heat or cool' date=' one at a time. However, this one appears a little different, can it do both?[/quote'] I have the same one as this and yeah it can only do one at a time. I don't see this becoming too much of a problem, though, unless you live somewhere where temperatures vary a lot from day to day... like Melbourne [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Your exactly right Bill it can only be set to one or the other but the majority of reptile thermo's only deal with heating, thats the beauty of this product. Its a crude system but works beut for little outlay and 0 wiring experience. You could set one up with a lamp inside the fridge/freezer and have one set to control the cooling and one set to control the lamp if you live in an area with a huge temperature fluctuation over night and day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 imo needing 2 would be a daggy outcome. For aound $60-$70 (cant remember the exact price sorry) you can get a wired up temp controller from Keg King that will do both heating and cooling and you won't need to check it to switch them as needed. I'm in Tassie and a saying we have here is: "if you don't like our weather, come back in 10 minutes". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 you wouldnt need to check it, 1 set to 17 degrees heating, anything below and the lamp/belt/mat comes on. 1 set to 19 degrees Cooling, anything above that and the freezer switches on. But your exactly right if you can wire a heating source and the freezer into one unit then why mess around with two thermostats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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