First time brewer - help!

[Mitchyb]

Hi there,I have just started and brewed from pilsner lager kit from wilco. Followed instructions to the letter ! Started in fermenting bin then bottled after 7 days, it was full of froth and we struggled to get it into the bottles as it was going all over. Left it for two weeks and then tried it but it was flat as the proverbial! I bought a hydrometer and have just tested it and it is reading 1.040 ? Does this mean it is still fermenting? Can it be saved? Please help.

[neillf]

Welcome to Jim's.
Did you prime the bottles with a small amount of sugar before bottling? 1040 does seem high but if fermenting was still going you would not have flat beer but you would likely have bottle bombs... Where have the bottles been since bottling, meaning at what tempreture? Cheers, N

[orlando]

Followed instructions to the letter !

The instructions are written by the marketing department and are at best ambitious. They want it to sound quick & simple so it doesn't put people off. I recommend you browse the kit brewing section for all the info you need.

Started in fermenting bin then bottled after 7 days, it was full of froth and we struggled to get it into the bottles as it was going all over. Left it for two weeks and then tried it but it was flat as the proverbial! I bought a hydrometer and have just tested it and it is reading 1.040 ? Does this mean it is still fermenting? Can it be saved? Please help.

I'm surprised the kit didn't recommend an hydrometer but along with that and a thermometer you have the most important instruments for any brew. Bottling a beer at 1.040 is potentially dangerous, at this reading the beer is still very fermentable so CO2 is now building up and although beer bottles (they are beer bottles aren't they?) are designed to take pressure they cannot take that.

I do not understand how after 2 weeks in bottle at 1.040 it is flat, this is impossible so something is awry with your measurements. As for whether it is saveable that is a very moot point. All the "handling" of the beer so far suggests multiple opportunities for infection and almost certainly introducing a lot of oxygen. Given it is still probably capable of carrying on fermenting you may get away with it but I would doubt you are going to have a really good kit beer at the end of it. You could put it all back in an FV and see what happens, I too would be interested to know if you primed the bottles also, as this too will have an effect.

One final comment, don't let this put you off, a little research on the fundamentals of kit brewing in that section will furnish you with all you need to make a good beer

[timbo41]

+1 to Orlando's comments.
Kit instructions are rarely that good. In reality two weeks fermenting are essential ..and many would recommend a greater length of time. Unless you're really experienced nothing should be bottled until a low fg ie 1.008 is reached. It's dangerous above that( potentially anyway).
You could decant the whole lot back to fv and repitch a new dry yeast from wilkos, but I reckon you will lose a lot of flavour to oxidation. Get another kit on, read up on the forum, and chalk this up to experience. At least you didn't get a beer shampoo( Tim holds his head in shame!)

[Stomach]

Hi there,I have just started and brewed from pilsner lager kit from wilco. Followed instructions to the letter ! Started in fermenting bin then bottled after 7 days, it was full of froth and we struggled to get it into the bottles as it was going all over. Left it for two weeks and then tried it but it was flat as the proverbial! I bought a hydrometer and have just tested it and it is reading 1.040 ? Does this mean it is still fermenting? Can it be saved? Please help.

Hi Mate and Welcome to Jims!

Orlando has pretty much summed it up but I would be interested to hear:-

How did you bottle the beer?
Did you prime it? If so what with?
Where did you have it fermenting as I would expect it to be lower than 1040 after a week.
I gather that you took the reading after bottling?
What have you bottled them in? Glass? Plastic?

Cheers

[Mitchyb]

Hi again, I primed the plastic bottles with 1/2 tsp sugar as it said. We had the bucket fermenting next to the boiler and after I had bottled it left them there for a few more days then put them under the stairs where it is cooler. When I tried the first bottle and it was flat I brought them back in to the warmer place. When I say flat there is a little bit of fizz but once the bottle is opened it goes flat really quickly. Do you think if I put it all back in the bucket and add more yeast and sugar it will ferment again?. It was really frothy when we bottled it so wonder if it hadn't finished fermenting and I didn't have a hydrometer then. Do you think it will be contaminated and is there an easy way to tell if it is?, don't really want to waste any more time on it if its no good.

Thanks

[neillf]

Hi Mitch, just sounds like the primary ferment hadn't finished when you bottled. Imo transfering back to a fv would cause more problems than help. If you used pet bottles you could keep them at brewing temp and monitor the bottle hardness and release pressure if they are not squeezable ie high build up of pressure. Maybe for a week. You can't do that with glass bottles. I'd keep the bottles in a closed plastic box of some sort to avoid accidents. Have you checked the accuracy of your hydrometer, should be 1000 in plain 22 degree water if that's the calibration for the meter? Oh, and get the fv full again! Cheers, N.

[orlando]

Have you checked the accuracy of your hydrometer, should be 1000 in plain 22 degree water if that's the calibration for the meter? .

Most, these days are calibrated to 20c. 22c will not be far out but any discrepancy might be confusing.

[neillf]

Yes, you're right should be 20 degrees, just got home and checked mine. Cheers, N.

[Mitchyb]

Thanks for your advice, Is there a brewing kit that anybody would recommend? I like a lighter type of lager, like corona etc and will try again after reading up on it a bit more.

Mitch

[The Dribbler]

Your not going to get a really light lager without controlling the temperature of your Fermentation vessel. Most folks build a brewfridge to brew lager, as true lager needs to be fermented around 14c. But this is too much info if your setting off on this hobby/sport and just want to produce a nice drink to enjoy.

Coopers Lager is a well recognised kit which you can brew at normal temps (18-24)c with very good results. But understand it will be more chewy than Corona.

I think your current batch is probably a mess and down the sink. Make sure you use a Hydrometer on the next Batch, to ensure the sugar in the beer has been converted to Alcohol. It needs a Hydrometer reading around 1012 for a few days before bottling. Or leave it alone for 10 days, your fermenting beer can be left for 2 weeks in the Fermentation vessel without ill effects. Prime each bottle with 1/2 a level teaspoon of sugar

[Newt Dundee]

Mitch, I crapped myself the first time I did a brew and spent more time on here looking for answers and reassurance than I did brewing. This was all despite the fact I worked bars and cellars for 10 years and my father used to brew!

I've been doing this less than a year and I can only tell you what I've learnt, none of which is gospel!

Forget your first batch, there isn't a man on here who can honestly say they've never had to ditch a batch so don't feel so bad about things.

Ignore the instructions and listen to the guys on here, they will help you and nothing I've read above is out of the norm.

With regards to brewing length, I now leave my kits for up to 3 weeks, it doesn't harm the beer at all.

The only thing I can really add to what's already been said is make sure you have everything sterilised properly. Soak everything and rinse it thoroughly, contamination can lead to lack of taste and the like. You can get some really good stuff called Star San which is a no rinse sanitiser, expensive, but you want to see how far it goes in the long run!

Do not be discouraged by falling first time, and that's falling, not failing, you get up from falling. Don't be afraid to ask on here, I've asked some of the dumbest questions, or what I thought were dumb, and nobody has ever derided me for it.

You're going to be fine mate and you're in good company now you're here.

Newt

[orlando]

Well said

[tazzymutt]

Newt Dundee has given lots of good advice, the most important part of which is the suggestion that you should listen to all the folks here who've been there and done that. You cannot make a mistake that no one else has made; there simply aren't any left

You did not say how the brew tasted? Was it sweet? You have also not given any indication of how long you allowed the brew to sit in cooler conditions before your trial bottle. I can't help wondering whether you are just rushing the brew (you'd not be the first first-timer to do that!)

If you have the bottle capacity to handle another brew, get one on and just store what you have for a month or more (containing the bottles in a box that will catch any leakage, should a bottle fail, is probably wise). It is surprising how often a brew that seems to have gone awry will recover if left to condition. Waiting a while longer may not help, but it will cost you nothing and you could get lucky...

Having said that, if your trial tasted like something extracted from the sewer, that is probably where it belongs.

Happy brewing,


Ian.

PS: Note to Newt Dundee; I can honestly say I have never scrapped a brew, though the Porter I over did with Molasses probably should have been thrown away, it was drinkable, (just) and I eventually managed to get through it (took me about 70 weeks though).

[Newt Dundee]

PS: Note to Newt Dundee; I can honestly say I have never scrapped a brew, though the Porter I over did with Molasses probably should have been thrown away, it was drinkable, (just) and I eventually managed to get through it (took me about 70 weeks though).

That's not drinking mate, that's just being stubborn! Did you have to ditch the plate, knife and fork after you'd cut it up? *Jest*