BunyipR Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 hi everyone. hoping you can help a brother out. jsut did my thrid batch the other day (the first two were terrible). checked my starting gravity and it was 1054. It seems way to high. When i do the calculations for what the end is suppose to be (around 1006) the alcohol strength is is nearly 7%. That seems to high. What do u guys think. am i worrying over nothing. It would just suck if another batch turned out bad. By the way its a draught that im making. Thanks Bunyip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 What were all the ingredients? Its very likely that the hifgher reading is because some of the thicker mixture got stuck in the tap and has skewed the reading. you could Take another reading... but I wouldnt worry about it. Yob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 We need the recipe and method to help. BTW, If it' only your thrid batch then it should probably be shite anyway. It takes more than three batches to make good (not great beer) and if you wish it to happen then you must studythe methods and ask for a miracle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I must have had some divine intervention because my third batch was really good (grains, hops and temp control probably had more to do with it though [innocent] ). My first two were crap though [crying] Bunyip, if you want advice on recipes and/or techniques then ask away and we will all try to help. BTW, welcome to the forum brother! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 It takes more than three batches to make good (not great beer) and if you wish it to happen then you must studythe methods and ask for a miracle. I totally disagree with this. You can make good (even great) beer even on your first batches if you keep things simple. It's not rocket science. [biggrin] My first batch was 90 pints of kit instruction wheat beer for my friend's birthday. The worst criticism was 'Its not f**king amazing, but give me another' [lol] You're probably worrying about nothing. Drain out about 100ml of wort and then take another sample like Yob said. That should clean out the tap and give you an accurate reading. Also, take a reading of room temperature water. It should be at about 1.000 if your hydrometer is working correctly. Having a few bad brews in a row can be a kick in the knackers, and I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck, but if you can give us the following information about your 3 brews, maybe we can see something that you've missed [happy] Ingredients: - Kit name - Fermentables (LDM, sugar, Brew enhancer, etc) - Any other additions (hops, flavors, etc) - Yeast Brewing : - Original Gravity - Yeast pitching temperature - Brewing temperature - Fermenting time - Final gravity Result: - Description of what was good and bad Hopefully you'll have all of that information written into the 'Brewing Record' (page 1) of your instruction leaflet, and once we have the information we can hopefully make brew 4 awesome [biggrin] Keep the faith! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Eh!L Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Bunyip, Please excuse me for being so crusty[innocent] I try not to be so.[roll] Welcome to the forum. ask away at anything you have on your mind. We are happy to give own advice as far as we know.[sideways] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunyipR Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Hey Thanks for the replys and chad dont worry you weren't being crusty, neither was anyone else for that matter. Unfortunately i dont think im going to be impressing you guys with the way i made this batch hehe. it was from can i got at the supermarket. Tooheys home brew special draught brewing mix is the can - the ingredients it has are: 1.malted barley 2.watee 3.hops 4.packet of dried yeast. but it doesn't tell how much or each is in the can. i mixed that with 1kg of liquid brewing sugar (again tooheys can) and 2 litres of hot water. then add 19.5 litres of water to get to 23 litres total. i then pitched the yeast at about 22 degress Celcius. i took the reading just before i pitched the yeast. i dont expect that this beer will be amazing like im sure the ones you guys make are. but it would be nice to be able to drink it. the last two i just used to clean my bbq. Ive had home brew before (done the same way, ive just done it) and it was good. i think my last two got contaminated somehow. i was super carefull this time so im hoping it didn't happen again. but this is the first time ive got a ready like this. hope all that makes sense and i wasnt just gas baggin along there. thanks again Bunyip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunyipR Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 LordEoin, sorry i can only tell you the info from this batch, as i didn't record any of that info for the last ones. Although the second batch was pretty much the same as this, but it was a bitter brew and different brand. Bunyip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne (Captain Yobbo) Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Sorry to break the news to you but a lot of people claim those Tooheys kits to be rubbish I have read not only this forum but on others as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 It's probably just as much the crappy "brewing sugar" most people add to them as the kits themselves. But, I only ever made one Tooheys kit, with a kilo of brewing sugar, it was crap, never made another one. [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 No problem, it's all good. your ingredients basically say twohey's kit+kilo. It won't be great, but it should still be ok. If you give it some time you should have something ok in a few weeks. Kit+kilo is easy, but you'd be better off using 1kg light dried malt (LDM) instead of the sugar. sugar will just ferment out with too much alcohol and off flavors (esthers), If you want something really tasty and easy to make try: any coopers can (depending on what flavor you like) + 1kg LDM if you want to make it stronger add 250g dextrose I'm not just trying to push coopers, but I know they make good beer and everyone here on the coopers forums will be able to help in some way with coopers kits. I live on the other side of the world, so i have no real preference between different aussie breweries, yet i always come back to Coopers. They're the Bic biro of the homebrew market... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yep... I did 1 Tooheys and not when I was learning how to brew either. Well I am learning all the time but I did have a bit of experience under my belt, for choice of other words. Anyhow, I did 1 Tooheys kit and [sick]... never ever again!! Thought I'd leave it to hopefully get better over time and threw it out after 12 months in the bottle. Just wasn't improving whatsoever. Nevertheless, the bull has already bolted in this case and you have all but bottled it. Just get a decent kit next time... I nice easy one is the Coopers Aust Pale Ale about $12 from Big W, if my memory serves me right. You can also get rid of that Toohey's brewing sugar can crap and get some LDM. BTW: welcome to the forum. Shame about your first few but don't be disheartened they will get better. A lot quicker with better ingredients too [bandit] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunyipR Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Thanks guys That is a shame that tooheys sucks haha oh well as you guys have said, its all but bottled now. we'll see how i go and ill post my result. thanks for all the help. Lord Eoin when you said... If you want something really tasty and easy to make try: any coopers can (depending on what flavor you like) + 1kg LDM if you want to make it stronger add 250g dextrose whta did you mean make it stronger? is that the flavour or the alcohol?? i will definately give coopers a whirl next time. might do one straight after i bottle this one that way i have something to compare to. And thanks for all the welcomes. Bunyip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 whta did you mean make it stronger? is that the flavour or the alcohol?? I mean make the alcohol (ABV)stronger. More than 250-300g sugar will make more alcohol and less flavor, making a thinner beer. Foolproof beer (in my opinion) is: coopers kit+1kg LDM+ 250g dextrose (+hops to taste, but don't worry about for now) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunyipR Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Thanks Lord Eoin your a legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yeah Bunyip, general rule of the thumb around these parts is 500g-1kg DME and <300g Dex and you should have a basic drinkable drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunyipR Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 sorry just one more thing. probably a silly question and im probably stressing over nothing, but my brew now has a fruity smell coming from the airlock. is this normal?? its been two days since i started it. im just worried that it'll turn out like the other brew which all had fruity smells. thanks Bunyip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunyipR Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yeah Bunyip' date=' general rule of the thumb around these parts is 500g-1kg DME and <300g Dex and you should have a basic drinkable drop.[/quote'] thanks BillK but whats DME. hahaha im so new at this. i gotta learn all the slang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Welcome to the Coopers Forum BunyipR. I can't speak about the Toohey's based kit tins as I have never used them. What I can speak about is the quality of the Coopers range of kit tins. Coopers have revolutionised home brewing globally over the last 20+ years with their commitment to the process. Despite being a commercial brewer in their own right, they have continued to develop their home brewing range for the home brewer. In terms of kit tins across the market, there is the Coopers range, & the rest run a very distant second. I don't say this lightly as I have experimented with various other kit tin brands over the years & I haven't found one of them that even comes close to the quality of Coopers. Just about every kit & extract brewer on this forum brews with Coopers products. It's because they are the best available for this type of brewing. Your brews will improve measurably buy using their product range & following the advice of experienced brewers on this forum. Good luck with your future brewing. [happy] Beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Yeah Bunyip' date=' general rule of the thumb around these parts is 500g-1kg DME and <300g Dex and you should have a basic drinkable drop.[/quote'] thanks BillK but whats DME. hahaha im so new at this. i gotta learn all the slang. No probs... note the bold and I've thrown in a few others that may help you in the interum. If you do a search on this forum, about 12 months ago or so I listed a ton of them [rightful] Dried Malt Extract Light Dried Malt Liquid Malt Extract Final Gravity, Specific Gravity, Original Gravity Fermenting Vessel She Who Must Be Obeyed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunyipR Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 hahaha SWMBO gold!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinS9 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Dried Malt Extract Light Dried Malt What's the difference between Dried Malt Extract and Light Dried Malt? I've seen lots of references to DME vs LME, understanding the latter is a liquid version of the malt extract. But i'm not sure what LDM is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregT5 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 LDM is Light Dry Malt - or as some people put it - Dry Malt Extract. DME is also the initials for Dark Malt Extract - the dark version of Light Malt Extract, both of which are liquid. It can get a bit confusing when people use different initials for the same thing. [crying] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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