Newbie 2nd attempt

bjroche

Hi Folks.

I decided to dump what I had and start again. My previous fermentation was accidentally cooked for a day and the SG had stopped changing and it tasted foul.

This time I went with a Coopers IPAD but have another question. I cleaned, prepared and started everything last night. Coopers IPA, 1kg spray malt extract, 300g dextrose and yeast. OG was 1043 this time. I put the yeast is a sterilised mug (well rinsed) of still water at 20c for 20 mins before pitching. The yeast formed a soggy cake which I take as being a good sign. In the fermentation bucket everything was well mixed and stirred this time, ingredients were slowly added and well aerated.

I added the yeast at about 9pm last night with a gentle stir.

This morning I notices that I have a light head 0.5cm which looks better than the last batch and at the bottom of the fermenter I have a deposit of either dead yeast or spraymalt. It looks like silt.

My questions is, did I not mix well enough and did the spraymalt not dissolve into the mix or has that been produced by fermentation.

I am happy to just leave it all sit for two weeks but if there is something I should now, like stir it all up or add more yeast, I would rather do it now.

Martyn1989

Dont worry about it thats just little yeast cells and probably a few bits of grain or hops that may have been in the extract. As the beer ferments out more of that will appear.

The foam on the top is called krausen and its a sign of fermentation.

If youve got a brew belt or something similar I wouldn't bother putting it on, especially not this time of year.

When your rehydrating your yeast be sure to only use sanitised cups and stirring utensils, its pretty important the yeast is kept away from any bugs etc, you'll get away with it most times but its best to be on the safe side. Also it sounds like you only added a couple of drops of warm water, I would normally use a half cup so its liquid rather then a paste (won't make much of a difference here).

Best thing to do is pop it into a wardrobe or something, forget it for 2 weeks, take a hydrometer reading see how its doing and then consider leaving it another few days, it makes a big difference.

bjroche

Wow, the krausen rose this evening to about 6cm! I have a towel over it for shade but will leave it tip away. The SG has fallen from a OG of 1043 to about 1036. I had just stumped my first attempt because it got cooked by mistake so ai am delighted this one is doing well.

Baneblade

bjroche wrote: »

This morning I notices that I have a light head 0.5cm which looks better than the last batch and at the bottom of the fermenter I have a deposit of either dead yeast or spraymalt. It looks like silt.

My questions is, did I not mix well enough and did the spraymalt not dissolve into the mix or has that been produced by fermentation.

I normally have a clearer band at the top of mine too, nothing to worry about

That deposit at the bottom is neither dead yeast or spraymalt, good news its live yeast . A 11g pack of yeast will be almost half a liter of thick yeast slurry when its done its job.

bjroche

It has been two weeks now and when I look in the fermenter I looks like a flat dark ruby red mixture. It tastes like a flat slightly sweet smithwicks. SG today is 1.020, OG was 1.043. My plan is to bottle sometime next week. The SG hasn't fallen over the last three days.

I am a little worried that is tastes so sweet, is that usual?

azzeretti

bjroche wrote: »

It has been two weeks now and when I look in the fermenter I looks like a flat dark ruby red mixture. It tastes like a flat slightly sweet smithwicks. SG today is 1.020, OG was 1.043. My plan is to bottle sometime next week. The SG hasn't fallen over the last three days.

I am a little worried that is tastes so sweet, is that usual?

It mightn't be the wisest to bottle at 1.020. It looks like fermentation is a little stuck. What you can try is to sanitise a paddle (or large spoon) and gentle stir it up. This can help the yeast get moving again. The are a few reasons why this might have happened but the most common is the yeast supplied with 'Kits' is not always up to scratch (or it has been sitting at various temperature for many months in the suppliers before being shipped). I would always recommend replacing the yeast in kits with a separate pack of similar style.

However, it may not be the yeast itself, it could just be the temperature got too cold and the yeast packed up for a while - stiring it up should help.

There are other issues encountered when using kits but I'd try the stir up first before going down any other route.

As an aside, avoid using any dry beer enzyme if recommened to help with unfermenatables. 1.020 would seem a little high for this (for most kits) and even still the results are never pleasant.

bjroche

Good stir done, without aeration. I wound up stirring up all the sediment so it is now cloudy and has taken 4 hours for the top to clear (2.5cm). I guess it will settle over next week. Will that do it? Anything else I should look out for?

bjroche

Hi,

The SG hasn't changed after the stir 5 days ago. It will be 3 weeks this weekend. Should I stir again? If adding more yeast is the next option where do I buy just a sachet?

The beer did taste slightly less sweet this time.

B.

covey09

Where have you been brewing, they normally nearly always end up at about 1.010 for most kits. It should taste like the almost like the finished product minus the bubbles at 1.020 is still pretty high and the will be mostly likely 2-3%. I have just bottled a Coppers IPA started at 1.060 and finished at 1.010 in 5 days at about 18C. Roll on three weeks

bjroche

It has been sitting in a front bedroom with temp about 18-22c over the course of the three weeks. It tastes nice, like a flat Smithwicks. I will leave it sit until the weekend and see then.

bjroche

I bottled tonight and will see how it tastes in a month. I am guessing that is there is little to no live yeast it will just remain flat and sweet (I used carbonation drops).