Advice ?

[dunkinstober]

Hi Folks
Newbie here looking for advice. I started my first extract kit last Saturday a Brupack irish Stout, all went well, I was using a brew belt for the fermentation bucket with a blanket around it and I kept the fermentation bin in the kitchen, checked it yesterday felt very warm so I got one of those stick on thermometers and it was up on 35 degrees ! yikes ! have I made a balls of it ? obviously I have dropped the temp down to around 22 now and am keeping an eye on it how bad is this and is there anything i should do to rectify it, bubbling has also slowed to once every 30-40 mins or more. In theory primary should be finished tomorrow or Friday.

On this note can anyone recommend a good IPA extract kit , I like em strong and Hoppy. I want to get one on for the xmas. How do others control the fermentation temp any advice ? Anyone using an immersion heater? or can recommend a temp controlled system. Also any word on a Nov/Dec meet up for the club, I couldn't make the boat club gig in Oct . Lots of Questions I know , any guidance appreciated.
Thanks
Tom

[montofk]

It might have a few of flavours alright, but mightn't be as bad as you're worrying about. I had a temperature co ck up last year and it was surprisingly drinkable. Take the gravity and if it's ready just bottle it... And get the next beer on while it's conditioning.... At least if it is bad you've got another beer in the pipeline. 
What temp is your kitchen? Any steady 'room temp' should be fine. If you feel you do need the belt then use with one of those plug in timers with the wheel n pins. You could set to come on for cold periods overnight or alternate on and off if it's a particularly cold or unused kitchen. Keep an eye on the stick on thermometer a couple of times a day, you'll soon figure out a strategy.
Don't know about a Nov / Dec meet! Keep an eye on this Galway page. I wouldn't mind one before Xmas!

[St. Fursey]

+1 on Steve's comments. At this stage I wouldn't worry about fermentation control too much;  find a place to leave your fermenters where you know the temperature is reasonably stable (not the hotpress).
Homebrewwest.ie and thehomebrewcompany.ie both do good extract kits. If you want a hop kick, you could always buy hops to add to your brew.

[dunkinstober]

Cheers Lads!

[dunkinstober]

Hi Lads,
I have another newbie question, feckin internet is so full of contradicting info. I have a brupak irish stout extract kit, made a slight balls of the fermentation temp (way to high)  at the beginning its been two weeks and two days in the primary, checked gravity two days ago it was 1020 checked today its 1018.5 or there abouts quite high, forgot to check the OG when starting the beer (newbie error).  I think fermentation is complete and now I'm confused as to what to do, I have a secondary tank,  should I siphon it in there for a week and then prime the secondary for another week then bottle? or can I just prime the secondary with sugar now and then bottle in a week or so? or do I mix the beer with sugar in the secondary bucket and then bottle straight away. When I did this years ago I added sugar to the seccondary and left it condition (always made a balls of it though hence not brewing for last 7 years, I am hopeing extract brewing will cure this for me). Can someone tell me the best process here , lots of conflicting info online, not sure what to do. Any guidance greatly appreciated.
Tom

[Kevco5]

Leave it in the primary for now, it won't do any harm. I give my own at least three weeks.
When bottling, add the suger (dissolved in about 100ml of water and boiled for ten minutes to sterilise) to the the bottling bucket and bottle straight away. The added suger will carbonate the bottles.

[DEMPSEY]

Here is a review of this kit by Delzep. He says the S/G is 1042.
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,5148.msg64192.html#msg64192

[MisterBurns]

Leave it in the primary for now, it won't do any harm. I give my own at least three weeks.
When bottling, add the suger (dissolved in about 100ml of water and boiled for ten minutes to sterilise) to the the bottling bucket and bottle straight away. The added suger will carbonate the bottles.

This step confused me to begin with too.
Add the sugar solution to the secondary before you siphon your beer in from the primary to ensure an even distribution. You need to bottle straight away so that the fermentation of these sugars happens in the sealed bottle to get the resultant CO2 to carbonate your beer.

A good guide here (I know this is the kit guide but it deals with this in step 12)

http://www.beoir.org/index.php/articles-mainmenu-36/brewing-knowledge/kit-brewing-mainmenu-48/33-getting-started-brewing-beer-with-beer-kits

[dunkinstober]

cheers, what about putting the beer into a pressure keg instead of bottling?, I have one of these http://www.wilko.com/content/ebiz/wilkinsonplus/invt/0022554/0022554_l.jpg
should I put it in the keg for seccondary fermentation and prime it after a week or so or should I prime the pressure keg straight away.