nervous

tatea80

Hi all like many of you i am new to this! my fiance brought me a starter kit for christmas with the admirals reserve beer include. i have started the beer today its in the first FV (all streilized) i am just nervous that i havent done it right! all i want to know is how long untill i should see bubbles in the air lock any info on this would be greatfully recived

many thanks

HBO_Staff

Hi there, don't get too worried about it all, it's pretty straight forward and there is not too much you can do wrong, it's meant to be fun so enjoy it! Once you've sterilised the equipment and given it a good rinse out, you add the boiling water to the can contents, then add cold water and mix it all up, just give it a stir. Add the yeast sachet into the mix, pop the lid on the bucket, and leave it somewhere reasonably warm, ideally room temperature around 20 degrees. That's it, the first stage is complete! If you have put the lid on securely and used the airlock by pushing it through the hole in the lid and then half filling the airlock with water, then as the fermentation gets going, you will probably see froth on the top of the brew, and the airlock will begin to bubble probably in around the first day or so. It does vary from brew to brew, and depends on the temperature of where it is kept as to how vigorously it ferments, but leave it for a good 4 to 6 days to ferment, and then you can use the hydrometer to check on its progress - take the plastic tube that the hydrometer probably came in, clean it, then half fill it with the fermented brew. Now place the hydrometer (also cleaned first) into the tube and let it bob around in the beer, and read the number you can see on the hydrometer through the clear plastic where it passes through the brew - this is the gravity reading, and with this particular kit it should as a guide read around 1020 or lower. If you again check this reading the next day and the reading has not changed when you follow the same process of testing the brew, then this means that the brew has finished fermenting and is as low as it is going to go. It's important to make sure that the reading has stopped moving as if it is transferred to a keg or bottles before complete, too much pressure can build up, but it's easily done by just repeating the process of taking the reading of the specific gravity. If in doubt, leave the brew in the fermenter an extra day to be sure it has completed.
It is now ready for transferring into the keg, you need to use the tube to syphon it out into the keg, but try not to disturb the sediment that has now collected at the bottom of the bucket, as much of this as possible should be left behind, it means leaving a bit of the beer behind with it, but this has been allowed for, and your finished brew will be clearer with less sediment in the keg the more of it you manage to leave behind in the bucket. Let us know how you get on, any questions, just ask....

Chris

Hi,

Forgive me for butting in on the discussion, but I too had a starter kit, with Admiral's Reserve, for Christmas. I set mine off for primary fermentation on 29th December. At no stage did I see any bubbles go through the airlock, though there were weak signs of positive pressure in the bucket as the levels in the 'lock were not the same. There was a froth on the surface too, so I assumed fermentation was proceeding correctly. A heater mat kept the brew at around 22-24 degrees throughout.

After five days (3rd January) fermentation appeared to have completed. I checked the SG; this showed as 1010. The kit instructions didn't say anything about checking twice, but suggested fermentation was complete if the SG was less than 1020, and that this should take around four to six days. Therefore, I pressed on with the transfer to the barrel.

Now I'm nervous too, as the base of my barrel is bulging out somewhat. Perhaps this is this normal? But perhaps my primary fermentation hadn't completed? What are the consequences if that's the case?

I did unfortunately lift a little of the sediment (trub?) from the floor of the bucket, just enough to cloud the syphon tube on a couple of occasions. How much of a problem might this be?

As a further point, I had understood that the barrel cap released excess pressure, though I'm not sure where I got this information. Is this correct? This doesn't appear to be happening with my brew at the moment. Perhaps the pressure is entirely normal and if it was a problem the cap would bleed it out? Alternately, if it's not meant to release pressure is there anything I should do at this stage?

I think the problems many of us beginners have is in not knowing what we should be seeing, what's normal or acceptable and what's just plain wrong. That makes us apprehensive that we've wasted the time in preparation of the brew, the cost of the kit, and perhaps most significantly, the waiting time for it to complete. If it's going to be a disaster I would rather know sooner and start again, instead of waiting for several weeks. However, if it's going to be fine, I can't wait to try it.

All the best.

HBO_Staff

Hi Chris, we think you're right, it is the not knowing what to expect and what should and shouldn't be happening that can be worrying, and often brews react in different ways, you can have two different experiences doing the same kits which can make you question whether you've done something wrong when you're sure you've done exactly the same both times. To address the concerns there, you shouldn't worry as you have done nothing wrong, yours had a nice low reading, which is a very good sign that the primary fermentation had completed, no doubt helped by the heater tray which we recommend for hassle-free temperature control. Once the brew is transferred to the barrel and any priming sugar is added to help carbonate the brew, it can be left to condition. Again the results can be different, sometimes it builds up more pressure than others, and the barrels can bulge - the first time you see it, it can be a bit worrying, but the barrels are very well made, and we have never had a report of one exploding. The barrels come as standard with a pressure cap that does let out any excess pressure when it builds up too high, and the injector caps with the brass fitting for CO2 bulbs which comes with our Woodfordes kits also work in exactly the same way. The caps work in a simple way, when the pressure builds up too high, a rubber sleeve is forced open and lets some of the excess build-up escape and automatically re-seals again. If the pressure barrel is swelling massively, and you are very concerned, you could just very, very slowly unscrew it slightly and let a little pressure escape manually, but the barrel needs the pressure to force the finished brew out of the dispensing tap. Although the barrel bulging is a little bit worrying to see, it is a definate sign you have a good airtight seal which is absolutely essential to the brew keeping well and not going stale by coming into contact with air.

In answer to your worry that the fermentation hadn't completed, it would just create pressure in the barrel which the cap will release if needed (you can get excess pressure in the barrel even when primary fermentation has completed too). Any sediment picked up will not spoil your brew, the bulk of it should be left behind when syphoning, but we're all so keen to get as much beer into the barrel or bottles that we always get some sediment too, leaving a little beer in the fermenting bucket seems such a waste! Any sediment sucked into the barrel will settle in the bottom of the barrel, and you may find a trace of it in your beer when you dispense it, but nothing to worry about.

Just remember it's not an exact science, if you barrel it a bit early, or a bit late, or haven't added the exactly right amount of water or sugar, or the readings aren't exactly right, the majority of the time this is not detrimental to the finished brew. Two things you must do is make sure all you equipment is sterilised, and whilst not essential during the primary fermentation, once it is complete and you barrel it or bottle it, it must then be airtight, so lubricate the barrel lid with Vaseline and tighten well. Whilst many instructions then give the minimum timescale to leave for secondary fementation, always try and leave it longer for the flavours to improve, which they always do, it's tempting to drink earlier, but try and wait....

The good thing about it not being critical in many cases as to what you do, means that you can alter things and experiment to try and improve things to your liking - you may want to try and make the beer a bit stronger, so add more sugar, or less water, you might want to use an enhancer in the place of sugar to alter the flavour, perhaps make it more 'hoppy' or darker, or add a flavour of your own preference, perhaps a little honey, etc. You really can try new things, they sometimes are never to be repeated, but sometimes you do something which is a real winner

Chris

Thanks for the reassuring comments, it's good to know what I'm seeing is not unexpected.

I'm really looking forward to trying this brew. It's been in the barrel nearly a week now. I might pour myself a glass after two weeks, just to check it's coming along ok (you understand), but I'll do my best to leave the majority in the barrel for at least four weeks.

I'm also looking forward to starting on the next one off. Looking through the site I get the "kid in a sweet shop" feeling; so many things to try!

HBO_Staff

a sample in a couple of weeks will tell you how well it's clearing too, it will still be young so the flavour will still be developing, but a good brewer must sample regularly! There are often genuine reviews at the bottom of each item from other customers and might give a few tips on what to expect from each brew, and how people found the flavours....