beer_zombie Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 hey all, new to the forum here and thought i'd air my concerns re: my latest brew! I used the Coopers Pale Ale can (and included yeast) and the light dry malt coopers boxed stuff. The temperature for fermenting was around 18 but it has steadily dropped over the last 6 days and is now sitting at about 15, my inital concerns were this was too low (?) but my main concern at the moment is contamination and infection! the smell and taste are ok (as far as i can tell, i am a bit sick and blocked up and need some external advice!!) but my main concern is that little black discoloration (seen towards the edge [back left?] in the photos below) if anyone has any comments please let me know, i hope i didn't kill my baby :s please excuse the redness of the photos, i couldnt be bothered blue-ing them up in photoshop to look normal :) the beer is a normal cloudy beer colour, my main concerns are the demonic black spot (!) and what looks like yeast gathering on the surface (or it could be a dreaded infection film) what do people think??? EDIT: the OG was 1.035 and the current SG is 1.004 which has been stable for two days so im ready to bottle i think if its not death beer :( currently i'm at day 9 of the overall process Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Taste and smell are the best indicators. If they are OK then the odds are it isn't infected. I wouldn't be concerned about yeast hanging around the top but I have no idea what that black spot is [unsure] Is it fermenting OK? What are your gravity readings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 G'day Beer Zombie - Welcome [biggrin] I reckon it looks alright - and the fact that it smells and tastes alright is a good sign. You could probably just photoshop the black discolouration out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beer_zombie Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 added gravity readings as edit in first post OG= 1.035 current SG = 1.004 (steady over 2 days) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beer_zombie Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 hey thanks muddy, i wish all of my problems in life could be fixed with photoshop... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 the OG was 1.035 and the current SG is 1.004 which has been stable for two days so im ready to bottle i think if its not death beer :( currently i'm at day 9 of the overall process I reckon you should give it another 2-3 days to settle and clear up. If it still tastes and smells OK then bottle it. I had an infected brew once and it was so sour that it made me want to vomit. I get the same result drinking Tooheys Red, perhaps it is infected too [innocent] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrLeeB Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Hi Zombie, what do you use to sanitize the fermenter, and is it the open air one or do you use an airlock. It could be only on the surface of the fermenter or is it free floating ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beer_zombie Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 im using the coopers DIY kit, with the krausen collar/plastic lid and no airlock thingy. to sanitise, as this was my first time, i may have done a rough/crap job. i rinsed everything in soapy boiling water, just to get what was on there (dust etc) off and then a clean boiling water rinse and then used a spray sanitiser on all surfaces that came in contact with the brew. as i read now i see that swilling sanitise, i.e. filling the bucket with a solution of sanitiser and leaving it overnight, is a better option and i fall a fair way short of this system :) the sanitiser i used was an industrial kitchen grade food and equipment sanitiser for hospitality industry, so again, not sure :s this is only my second brew, first worked perfectly, so im happy to put this down to lacklustre sanitising and start again however, as people have said, smell and taste are important (and in this case fine) definitely no desire to vomit so, is a good sign i am keen to leave it for a day at least to clear through/settle some more but im worried that mr black spot will start to work his evil magic in that time [bandit] EDIT; just examined mr black death, he appears to just be on the surface so i might send in a recon team of sanitised spoon and try and fish him out of there, thoughts? also, on a sidenote, is the temp of 18-15 degrees too cold? I love this forum [love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I think it looks fine. Leave it for a little longer to clear up and bottle it. I like the temperatures you were fermenting at as well, 18C is a great temperature for ale yeasts. The only issue I seen was using the soapy water on the tub, but if you rinsed it well with boiling water it shouldn't really be an issue. I use star-san as my sanitiser and it is one that only needs 30 seconds contact time. I normally rinse it out after use and give it a good clean to get all the scum off it and rinse it until no more smells are in it. I then spray every surface with star-san (I mix 1.5ml to 1L of water in a spray bottle) and let it sit for 30 seconds before putting the ingredients in. Edit : If using a sanitised spoon to fish something out, be careful not to introduce much oxygen to your beer. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Maybe a cockroach doing backstroke?? Leave it alone and carry on your normal regime mate, your going to bottle now anyway no point sticking a spoon in there, its not likely to come through the spigot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 put the bloody lid back on!! There is more risk of infection every time you take the lid off.. we tend to 'care' too much for our brews starting off.. I used to be the same... these days Id be lucky if I looked at it 3 times in two weeks... leave it to do it's thing and everyone will be happy.. love it too much and nobody gets to party except the bacteria. and also... get a gladwrap lid so you dont 'have to' take the lid off. Yob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundawake Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Do yourself a favour and purchase some Star San no rinse sanitizer, from Beer Belly here in Adelaide. One of the best brewing purchases I've ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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