First Homebrew commenced 17th Jan '09

Posted January 18, 2009 - 9:24am by Nick

So I've begun my first homebrew *finally* after much inspiration from Blake.

Initial gravity was 1070, not quite sure what that means...I think it needs to go down as the brew starts.

SO last night ~11pm I checked it and it seemed a stable 25-26C so I figured it didn't need to put on the heatpad.

MISTAKE #1

Got up this morning and its at 18C no sign of bubbles, it must've gotten too cold. I've thrown the headpad on now to give it a boost but I guess i'll cut it soon as the day warms up in the hope that it starts today.

Oh well, I just put a loaf of bread on to bake to try & win some favour with the yeast gods.

Here's a shot of it sitting there last night loving life, little did it know it was in for a chilly evening.

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doughnut's picture

The yeast doesn't die if it

by doughnut - 18/01/2009 - 9:54am

The yeast doesn't die if it drops below 18C. It just slows down/stops. Get the temp back to the optimal range and it'll start doing it's yeasty thing again.

Nick's picture

Alright, I left the pad on

by Nick - 19/01/2009 - 7:49am

Alright, I left the pad on last night even though it was going to be a warmer night. Checked it this morning, ~26 C still no sign of bubbles - although I can't say I'm 100% sure what they're meant to look like.

But I did notice those marks above the waterline which certainly weren't there before so I'm thinking that has to be a sign of action :D

doughnut's picture

Any bubbles today?

by doughnut - 20/01/2009 - 4:56pm

Any bubbles today?

Nick's picture

I can definitely smell

by Nick - 20/01/2009 - 6:45pm

I can definitely smell alcohol making its way out of the valve and those marks are becoming more pronoucned.

But i still haven't seen any actual bubbles make their way from the bottom to the top? What are they meant to look like?

doughnut's picture

Heh. Alcohol doesn't come

by doughnut - 20/01/2009 - 8:33pm

Heh.

Alcohol doesn't come out of the valve, it's like CO2 or something. Whatever the by product of the yeast turning sugar into alcohol.

And you don't see it coming from the bottom of the fermenter, it just builds up and bubbles out through the water valve.

Nick's picture

ohhh hmmmm no. no bubbles

by Nick - 20/01/2009 - 8:40pm

ohhh hmmmm no.

no bubbles coming out of the valve...

how frequent should they be?

doughnut's picture

Fairly frequently during the

by doughnut - 20/01/2009 - 8:44pm

Fairly frequently during the middle of the fermentation process, then they ease off as there's little left to ferment.

It's how you tell when it's done and ready to bottle.

Nick's picture

so if i stand there for 1

by Nick - 20/01/2009 - 8:46pm

so if i stand there for 1 minute i should definitely see one? cos i'm seeing nothing :o

doughnut's picture

My brew doing it's thing.

by doughnut - 20/01/2009 - 8:51pm

My brew doing it's thing.

Nick's picture

oh man! i'm getting none of

by Nick - 20/01/2009 - 9:08pm

oh man!

i'm getting none of that action. looks like my brew's gone bad eh?

doughnut's picture

Maybe not... Wait a few more

by doughnut - 20/01/2009 - 10:16pm

Maybe not... Wait a few more days then take another sample see if it's dropped from 1070.