Coopers APA - Slow Starter?

[[steve]]

Hey all,

It's been a while since i've done any home brew as temperature fluctuations killed a handfull of the last few One was too cold, then I bought a brew belt and that got stuck on so my brew sat at 28C for 24hours+

Anyway, I'm back and I've invested in a new set up, nothing exciting but have a huge plastic storage box sat on a yoga mat (as flooring is ceramic tiles!), within that I have an aquarium heater that is thermostatically controlled.

I put a Wherry kit in primary FV inside the 'water bath' setup for 13 days with the water at around a third of the height of the FV and this sat at 20.5C (floating thermometer inside the FV AND the floating one in the water bath were the same). As the Gravity remained constant for 24-36 hours, I barrelled this on Friday evening and stuck the barrell back in the water bath for 48 hours. The Wherry is looking and tasting great This came out of the waterbath on Sunday evening.

NOW, I bought a Coopers APA single can kit and also some Youngs Beer Enhancer to go with it, the Youngs enhancer looked pretty much the same as the Coopers No.2 enhancer the kit recommended (but was a tad cheaper).

On Sunday evening I got to work, I poured the malt extract into the FV then added two litres of boiling water, dissolved this completely, then went to add the enhancer, which went all clumpy I then did a quick google which seemed to point to that being ok, I mixed it the best I could but there were still small clumps of the enhancer in there.

**I believe the yeast will find it and get it anyway, but this should just mean maybe the SG reading may be a bit off (as not all sugars were dissolved at the time)**

I topped it up to 23 litres, checked the temp (19C) and pitched the yeast.

The lid then went on and into the water bath the FV went.

I did knock the temperature down a bit and both inside the FV and the water bath read a constant 19C - I have read that because Coopers APA contains both Lager and Ale yeast it needs to ferment at a lower temperature, a lot of people have said 18C but I wanted to err on the side of caution being as this is my first Coopers APA kit!

(I am trying this one with a view to having a play with it in the near future )

ANYWAY (again lol).

The question is - last night after 24 hours there was not frothy head. The lid had expanded so I know something is going on but the yeast looked like a cut down version of the trub that forms on the bottom of the FV. This morning there was a very light froth on top (36 hours later).

Is this normal, is the Coopers APA a slow starter? does it not create much froth whilst fermenting? Is my temperature too low/high?

I'm hoping i've done everything correctly and it'll be fine, I just get a bit twitchy when trying something new and I have heard that the APA is amazing once conditioned, so would be a double smack in the chops if i've buggered it up....

Anyways, any comments gratefully appreciated.

Thanks.

Steve.

[alexlark]

When I brewed this one I didn't have much of a krausen either. Turned out to be one of the best single can kits I've brewed though. This is a good one for lager converts!

I'd say yours is just about right. Should be a nice clean taste if you keep it constant at that temp.

[[steve]]

When I brewed this one I didn't have much of a krausen either. Turned out to be one of the best single can kits I've brewed though. This is a good one for lager converts!

I'd say yours is just about right. Should be a nice clean taste if you keep it constant at that temp.

Excellent, thanks for sticking with my wordy post!

I'm really looking forward to it, I like Amber and pale ales, not a fan of Golden or Dark ales or Stouts... yet lol

I shall leave it be for another week then and then check the gravity.

The guy in the HB shop said the enhancer should mean it's ready to barrel in a week, I'm sceptical of that, but is that correct? I like to have an idea of when it should be finished so I know when to check it!

Thanks again, really appreciate the quick response

Steve.

[Geezah]

Standard rules are 14 days in fermenter before you consider anything.
On day 11 drop your (sanitised) hydrometer in the FV check reading and leave it in there, then check each day until you get 3 identical readings.

[[steve]]

Standard rules are 14 days in fermenter before you consider anything.
On day 11 drop your (sanitised) hydrometer in the FV check reading and leave it in there, then check each day until you get 3 identical readings.

Cheers,

Sanitised Hydrometer is already in there
Will check on Day 11.

Ta.

[[steve]]

Ok, so it's been almost a week since I put this on.

The OG was around 1040 I think, I pitched the yeast and forgot to check it so I checked it after a couple of hours and it was in the red section of the hydrometer, only just, so i'd say 1038-1040.

Anyways, today, the level of the brew is at the top of the black section of the hydrometer, which is 1006!

That gives the brew an ABV of 4.4% after having been on for only 6 days

Does this sound right? The guy in the local HB shop did say by using the brew enhancer it would be done quicker, but I didn't expect it to be that low within a week!

I'm off to friends later for a night out so will check it when I get home tomorrow, if the Gravity is stable I guess I'll get it barrelled!

Cheers.

Steve.