Canadian Blonde

[Danny(00833827)]

HI all - first brew in the bucket - Copers Canadian blonde - i added 1kg of Muntons Light Dry Malt Extract. Paid particular attention to the sanitization of all the bits and pieces - the spraymalt had some rock like clumps after it was added so a fair amount of stirring was needed, but got them all. I had no ice to cool it to nearer 20 as i have seen recommended, but it was about 24-25 when i added the yeast. Just sprinkled it onto the foam on top and its about 18-19 in the room its sitting in, this remains fairly constant in here so i hope i have not made a mess of stuff and that it will kick off. Will check it later to see if it kicks off but the plan is to add some Cascade Hops at about day 5 - hope im not being too ambitious on the first effort. :

oh and the OG was 1045

[CB_Phil]

Congrats man, I had mine @ about 26c when adding the yeast & so far it looks ok. As for the Spray Malt, one of the lads advised me stir it into a pan of hot water before adding to the mix & it does help to break it down & it works very well

[Danny(00833827)]

thanks, knew there must have been a trick to it, they were like rocks! melted eventually though.

[LordEoin]

Nice one!
Pitching at 26 shouldn't be a problem, especially if you got the temperatures down afterwards.
Getting clumps of DME to disolve is a balls, but even if you miseed some it's no big deal. The yeast will still munch it up.
Clumping can be avoided by adding the DME to a pot of hot water like Phil says, or by pouring boiling water over the DME in th FV and swirling for a while.

Dryhopping isn't over-ambitious, but be sure to keep everything sanitized and only have the FV open for as long as needed.
Wait 'til the airlock calms down a bit and the krausen starts to subside, then fire your hops in.
Pellets will break up and sink, leaf will float. A boiled muslin bag will keep them from making a mess.

The Canadian Blonde kit ends up with an FG of about 1.006-1.008 as far as I remember.

Now for the hard part. Patience! 

[GrahamR]

Fair play on your first brew, the Canadian was my first ever kit also. Turned out nice in the end, almost like a pils. I always used to add boiling water in the fv with my sugars and stir away till the dem dissolves, worked every time

[Chris]

Congrats, it is a great kit to dry hop as the flavour profile of the kit is so light the hops can make all the difference.

[Danny(00833827)]

Thanks, no activity as of this morning, although its only been in since lunch time yesterday so i will remain patient - room still 18-19 degrees - its a fairly constant temp in there normally.

[Danny(00833827)]

still no activity as of tonight - i dont mind the wait, just curious how long it usually takes to see some bubbles?

[johnrm]

Where did the kit originate?
...and where are you located?
In case there's no activity, you might need to pitch again.

[Chris]

Don't worry about there being no bubbles. If the fermenter hasn't got a good seal there can often be no bubbles. Keep an eye on the surface you should see a kind of scum forming this is the krausen and is a better indication that fermentation has started.

[Danny(00833827)]

Thanks - I peaked under the lid this morning and there is i guess what is krausen - i just sprinkled the yeast on the foam so wasnt sure if it was still that or if there was action

Heres something like how it looks.
http://www.seriouseats.com/images/20110115-krausen.jpg

Seal on the bucket would be good, its a new kit. Will just keep monitoring i guess.

got the kit from homebrew.ie and im brewing in south tipp -

[johnrm]

Thats what you want, congrats!

[Bubbles]

the plan is to add some Cascade Hops at about day 5 - hope im not being too ambitious on the first effort. :

Definitely not! I'd really recommend dry-hopping as one of the downsides of kit beers is the lack of hop flavour and aroma. I dry-hopped my second kit (actually a Coopers English bitter) with Cascade and it turned out great.

[Danny(00833827)]

grand so i will leave it alone for a few days - thought i would see bubbles, i will take a quick photo later of the krausen.

temp is still holding 18-19, nice and steady.

[Garry]

If your fermenter is translucent you should also be able to see a buildup of yeast at the bottom, about an inch thick. This is another indication that the yeast is doing it's job.