Any home brewers on here? I have an issue
Submitted by tadpole on Tue, 2014-12-30 21:56
Question - put a Coopers Pale Ale on 4 or 5 days ago, mixed it all together and after I threw the yeast in, had a look and the temp on the keg was 40 degrees! 
Thought I'd give it a couple of days to see how it goes, but she was sitting dormant when I checked yesterday so presume the yeast was cooked. So I threw 8g bakers yeast in (it was all I had), and there appears to be a little bit of action, but not much. So after 5 days, is it worth going to grab some more brewing yeast to try and get things going? Or just tip it out and start again? Been brewing for about 5 years, but have never killed my yeast so this is a new one for me. Hope someone can help
Thought I'd give it a couple of days to see how it goes, but she was sitting dormant when I checked yesterday so presume the yeast was cooked. So I threw 8g bakers yeast in (it was all I had), and there appears to be a little bit of action, but not much. So after 5 days, is it worth going to grab some more brewing yeast to try and get things going? Or just tip it out and start again? Been brewing for about 5 years, but have never killed my yeast so this is a new one for me. Hope someone can help
opsrey
Posts: 1200
Date Joined: 05/10/07
What is the start SG and current SG
need more information.
Fireguard
Posts: 75
Date Joined: 13/09/09
dextrose, malt, enhance pack
dextrose, malt, enhance pack ??.... whats the current temp/SG ??, have you tried giving it a good stir
tadpole
Posts: 387
Date Joined: 28/01/13
I don't measure SG anymore.
I don't measure SG anymore. Just mix everything together, let it bubble away, once action stops, I give it a day or 2 then bottle. Its a pale ale with coopers brew enhancer #2 and a packet of Pride of Ringwood finishing hops floating in the top. Its one of the first brews I've done since moving to Leinster and I'm having a heap of trouble keeping the temp down (its hitting 40+ here at the moment). It was at 35 degrees in the keg yesterday arvo when I checked it. Was thinking maybe a bit more yeast and wrapping it in a wet towel with a fan blowing on it?? Will give it a stir when I get home in the morning and see what happens.
tadpole
Posts: 387
Date Joined: 28/01/13
I used to do brews in the
I used to do brews in the middle of summer in Perth in a tin shed while it was 40 degrees and never had an issue
deepwater
Posts: 1921
Date Joined: 09/05/07
Home Brewing
hi tadpole , i would have started again, im here in exmouth and it is really hot here as well ,i start with cool ish {25/30 temp} and let it heat it self up and have never had a problem yet ,we have had over 50s in our shed and what i have is the brew cooks up alought quicker (brew finisheed in 4 days)
i just leave them a bit longer in the stubbies about 3 months
hope this help a little
jeff
opsrey
Posts: 1200
Date Joined: 05/10/07
SG
you can still measure SG now to work out if the sugar has been used or not. It should help you if you decide to add more yeast. Good luck,
opsrey
Posts: 1200
Date Joined: 05/10/07
SG
double post :(
Sea-weed
Posts: 90
Date Joined: 26/12/14
Brewing Temp
Hi guys, it's a bit strange that my first post on a fishing forum is brewing related but anyway...
At 40C you would have most likely fried your yeast or fermentation happened that quickly in that heat it's already finished.
Either way I wouldn't be drinking it and start again. Fermenting at that temperature produces fusel alcohols which will not only make your beer taste like solvents but will possibly make you crook.
For Pales try to maintain temp between 18 - 23C. This will generallly take around 2 weeks for a starting OG of approx 1.040 a 1.045
Also use a good quality yeast preferably over the one that comes with the tin. I use Safale US05 for my Pales.
Over the years I have progressed from can / extract brewing to All grain brewing. The Key to a good brew is quality ingredients, temperature control and cleanliness....
Cheers, Mat..
Marineboy
Posts: 845
Date Joined: 14/03/14
Fermenting
hey check the seals on your fermenter, I once thought I had this problem and I found out the main seal had perished and air was escaping through that seal instead of the air lock. But also at that temp it might have just fermented fully overnight.
Good luck.
My spots are so secret even the fish don't know about them !
tadpole
Posts: 387
Date Joined: 28/01/13
It's buggered. Just checked
It's buggered. Just checked it and I have a white film over the top. Gonna tip it outand start another one. Will try what you said deepwater. Our water comes from an RO tap downtown so I have to collect bottles of it. Will start putting a couple of the bottles in the fridge for a bit to cool them right down before starting the mix
shonky
Posts: 203
Date Joined: 22/04/12
ice
try putting some ice into the fermenter when your'e topping it up after mixing just to bring the temp down, worked a treat for me in karratha where the cold tap water was bloody hot.
This habit is getting expensive!
pale ale
Posts: 1755
Date Joined: 02/01/10
If you ever need to
tadpole
Posts: 387
Date Joined: 28/01/13
Would that also work to start
Would that also work to start a brew? I imagine their yeasts would be of a lot better quality than what comes in their brew cans
pale ale
Posts: 1755
Date Joined: 02/01/10
I never used it, but I have
I never used it, but I have worked in microbiology labs / winemaking and it is bound to work. Technically, a bit of diammonium phosphate would help the yeast to reproduce, bit like vitamins, but not really necessary.
Sea-weed
Posts: 90
Date Joined: 26/12/14
Coopers yeast starter
Yes it does work, I've done it myself. There's a bit more to it though than just adding some sugar to the bottle. There won't be enough yeast to pitch into ~ 22L of wort..
Check this out if you are keen to do it. http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewtopic.php
Fair bit of effort though for not much return. As I mentioned before I use US05 for pales and it works out great.
Lastchance
Posts: 1273
Date Joined: 02/02/09
Also, ditch the brewing sugar
Also, ditch the brewing sugar and use 1kg of honey instead. The less processed the better, big difference in flavour and brew Quality.
Marineboy
Posts: 845
Date Joined: 14/03/14
Lastchance/honey
hey lastchance
do you use honey for all your brews ? I have used it in a beez neez copy and the flavour of the honey really came through but would this not spoil a pale ale or a Mexican ?
My spots are so secret even the fish don't know about them !
Lastchance
Posts: 1273
Date Joined: 02/02/09
G'day marine boy, yep I use
G'day marine boy, yep I use honey on all of my brews these days, probably out of habit more than anything. I find that it doesn't seem to overpower the flavour too much.
tadpole
Posts: 387
Date Joined: 28/01/13
I tipped my brew out and put
I tipped my brew out and put another one on this morning. Pitched yeast at 22° and wrapped the keg in a wet towel with a fan blowing on it. Got a few days before I go back to work to keep an eye on it and control the temp a bit. Just used raw sugar for this one to see how it goes. Seems to be a few guys on here into homebrewing, would you all be interested in having a thread going to share recipes and so forth? I mainly do extract brews but want to get back into partial mash (I think thats the term for part grain brewing) again soon to try and find about 2 recipes I like and can stick with to perfect.
Marineboy
Posts: 845
Date Joined: 14/03/14
Ongoing thread
ongoing thread sounds good.
Id be keen to learn a bit more about partial mash and making my own worts.
There is a home brew supply in Bibra lakes called twoc brewing, I'm sure they run some good courses on weekends they also supply good product reasonably cheap, shame I love in northern suburbs but if I'm down that way I always stop in.
My spots are so secret even the fish don't know about them !
tadpole
Posts: 387
Date Joined: 28/01/13
Cool I'll start one up and
Cool I'll start one up and see how much interest it receives. No recipes from me first up, I lost my recipe book when I moved house so going to experiment on a few in the next couple of months hopefully