Total Beginner

Ooops, that should have been 18 - 22 degrees
I would that that as it shouldn't rise over 22-23 degrees... You can look up the yeast strain to find out more.

So, you'll want to keep the fermenting beer from going over 22c as much as possible. Yeast can easily generate an additional 4 degrees celcius during its growth phase. This means that 18 ambient temp can easily turn into 22 during the yeast growth phase.
 
What kind of yeast are you using?÷÷
 
Welcome. We're a bit like the car guys were, attempting to troubleshoot the car from descriptions, but we'll help when we can.


LOL....Hey Clack....my wife was by my fermenter the other day and it was making a "blip...pip..pip..dunk sound and she thinks I added too much yeast to the wort....I say it's just fine..what do you think is going on?? Ward in Pennsyltuckey"


Great analogy Nosy and welcome Derek. You will find a wealth of info on this site so make use of the forum search and the feedback from your "Brewers Friends" here.

Plus one on the cleanliness tip. Towards that, I noted your comment about rinsing your equipment after giving it a soak...if you are using StarSan or most any of the other brewing centric sanitizers, rinsing defeats the purpose of sanitizing....in other words, you are reintroducing potential contaminates. Read the directions on the container. Also...look for a rubber washer that the kit may have included for when you poke a hole in your lid for the fermentation lock. You want to make sure you have an airtight seal. Whose yeast are you using? You can go to the manufactures' site and they will have it all broken down for you.

Good luck and we'll look forward to seeing your post later on in the "I brewed today" thread!
 
LOL....Hey Clack....my wife was by my fermenter the other day and it was making a "blip...pip..pip..dunk sound and she thinks I added too much yeast to the wort....I say it's just fine..what do you think is going on?? Ward in Pennsyltuckey"


Great analogy Nosy and welcome Derek. You will find a wealth of info on this site so make use of the forum search and the feedback from your "Brewers Friends" here.

Plus one on the cleanliness tip. Towards that, I noted your comment about rinsing your equipment after giving it a soak...if you are using StarSan or most any of the other brewing centric sanitizers, rinsing defeats the purpose of sanitizing....in other words, you are reintroducing potential contaminates. Read the directions on the container. Also...look for a rubber washer that the kit may have included for when you poke a hole in your lid for the fermentation lock. You want to make sure you have an airtight seal. Whose yeast are you using? You can go to the manufactures' site and they will have it all broken down for you.

Good luck and we'll look forward to seeing your post later on in the "I brewed today" thread!
One of the first things I looked up when initially buying my supplies was no-rinse sanitizer. Like he said rinsing only presents an opportunity for contamination. My wife doesn't like the of me not rinsing so if you're like that I'll tell you what I tell her. Atleast in the US most commerical kitchens use Star San or similar sanitizers on their dishes so chances are you've eaten food that's come in contact with Star San at some point. Here in New York State it's actually part of the law/health code that these kitchens have compartmentalized sinks and/or a separate sanitizer machine and the process is wash, rinse, sanitize, air dry so every restaurant uses it. It's food grade and unless you swallow it in its concentrated form it really. I just air dry my stuff on a previously sanitized rack but if it's still wet or has a little bit of foam health wise it can't hurt you. Also no need to soak overnight as 2 minutes is the threshold for sanitizing with Star San. I can't see much harm in soaking longer but just keep in mind Star San is acidic (about as much as orange juice for reference) any plastic materials should be fine but it could react with metallic equipment over a period of time.
 
Star-San,or equal is the best sanitizer to use, DO NOT RINSE, AND DO NOT FEAR THE FOAM. At 1oz in 5 gallons I believe that you can drink it, and it will not do any harm. Have some resealable containers to keep it in, it keeps pretty much indefinitely. I have several 4 liter water jugs, use it over and over again. Until it gets a little mucky, then I toss it and make more.

Also not that sanitizing, IS NOT CLEANING, first you must clean, and clean well, then you sanitize. A good cleaner is PBW (Pro Brewers Wash) you an get out at any home brew supply shop.
 
Star-San,or equal is the best sanitizer to use, DO NOT RINSE, AND DO NOT FEAR THE FOAM. At 1oz in 5 gallons I believe that you can drink it, and it will not do any harm. Have some resealable containers to keep it in, it keeps pretty much indefinitely. I have several 4 liter water jugs, use it over and over again. Until it gets a little mucky, then I toss it and make more.

Also not that sanitizing, IS NOT CLEANING, first you must clean, and clean well, then you sanitize. A good cleaner is PBW (Pro Brewers Wash) you an get out at any home brew supply shop.
Always wash, rinse, sanitize and air dry in that order
 
Update, and hopefully answer a few of the comments above.

After thoroughly scrubbing and cleaning all the equipment using boiled water and a food grade detergent, i then sanitised all equipment using ‘Youngs’ sanitiser. I then rinsed everything, again using boiled, cooled water.

At 13:00 yesterday i started the brew, followed the instructions that came with the kit which was basically as follows:

  • Empty Malt Extract into fermentation bucket.
  • Add 3 litres of boiled water and stirred thoroughly to dissolve.
  • Added the Brewing Sugars and again thoroughly stirred to dissolve.
  • Topped up to 23 ltrs with cold water. Stirred.
  • Replaced the lid and stored in final resting place.
  • Allowed to cool as per instructions to below 25 degrees, actual temp was 24 degrees.
  • Added Yeast and stirred once more. )approx 15:00 hrs)
  • Replaced lid and fitted airlock filled with boiled, cooled water.
I’ve just check this morning and there’s a nice 1” thick foam on top of the brew, however there is no sign of activity in the airlock, is this normal? Considering it’s only been around 16 hrs.

Temperature of the brew is 20 degrees at present.
 
I’ve just check this morning and there’s a nice 1” thick foam on top of the brew, however there is no sign of activity in the airlock, is this normal? Considering it’s only been around 16 hrs.
The foam is "Krausen" and means it is actively fermenting! Growth has started - watch your temps. :) No airlock activty means Co2 is escaping elsewhere - NO BIGGIE. Let it ride! When the Krausen falls leave it for another week or two and it'll finish its job!

Congrats! You are on your way!
 
The foam is "Krausen" and means it is actively fermenting! Growth has started - watch your temps. :) No airlock activty means Co2 is escaping elsewhere - NO BIGGIE. Let it ride! When the Krausen falls leave it for another week or two and it'll finish its job!

Congrats! You are on your way!
Brilliant, thanks, i was a wee bit concerned.
 
You may want to run some plastic wrap good and tight around the rim of the bucket lid to make it air tight so you can at least get a clue when your active fermentation is slowing down. Also...did you find the rubber washer for the fermentation lock as that may be another place that's not sealed all the way.
 
You may want to run some plastic wrap good and tight around the rim of the bucket lid to make it air tight so you can at least get a clue when your active fermentation is slowing down. Also...did you find the rubber washer for the fermentation lock as that may be another place that's not sealed all the way.
I’ll try the plastic wrap to see if that works although the lid is, or appears to be firmly sealed as is the air trap and bung.
 
Derek did you rinse your sanitizer off again:p.
No, was i supposed to? I thought it best not to disturb anything as everything looked set up correctly so all i did was make sure the lid was sealed firmly, which it was, then checked the bung and airlock seals were ok. All appeared to be fine so all io did was wrap the lid seal with plastic wrap.

For info, current temp of brew is still 20 degrees and theres still a 1” thick foam on top.
 
No, was i supposed to? I thought it best not to disturb anything as everything looked set up correctly so all i did was make sure the lid was sealed firmly, which it was, then checked the bung and airlock seals were ok. All appeared to be fine so all io did was wrap the lid seal with plastic wrap.

For info, current temp of brew is still 20 degrees and theres still a 1” thick foam on top.
Ah I just read this " i then sanitised all equipment using ‘Youngs’ sanitiser. I then rinsed everything, again using boiled, cooled water."

in your step by step is all. Sorry to be picky just thought you may still be rinsing the sanitizer which as you know is working against you ;).
 

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