First Brew Issues - Leakage

[Alan Batchelor]

Hello,

I am new to Beerdriod and started my first beer 2 days ago, Coopers XPA. Apart from a few issues with the iOS app and connecting to WiFi all went pretty smooth.

Followed the sanitizing instructions to a tee.

I used distilled water rather than tap for my brew since I have quite hard water in my area. I made sure to only fill to the 10L mark. Added the ingredients slowly and in the correct order. Lid is tight as possible.

Started via the app and all ran very smooth until I check this morning. I had a lot of overflow from the lid. Please see attached pictures.

The overflow was very sticky, so probably happened during the night and partially dried. I cleaned off and let the brew continue since there was no error.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Alan

 

 

[Alan Batchelor]

One other thing I noticed. I started the Coopers XPA from the shelf in the iOS Brewart app but the BeerDriod went to custom mode. The temps seem to be correct 62f (17c) so I think it is fine.

iOS app does seem to have some issues namely connecting to WiFi. Could the custom mode be related to the iOS app?

I am just a tad confused as to why it would be custom and not an Ale.

Alan

 

[Alan Batchelor]

Scratch all this post and my questions.

Seems Overflow is normal, as is Custom mode if using a brew print.

After painfully reading all the FAQ's I found my answers. Brewart, if you are reading this, the FAQ page needs a search button to pick up key words. Pretty sure this simple change would resolve a lot of newbie's issues/questions.

All is good.

Alan

[Captain 3 Droids]

6 hours ago, Alan Batchelor said:

Scratch all this post and my questions.

Seems Overflow is normal, as is Custom mode if using a brew print.

After painfully reading all the FAQ's I found my answers. Brewart, if you are reading this, the FAQ page needs a search button to pick up key words. Pretty sure this simple change would resolve a lot of newbie's issues/questions.

All is good.

Alan

Welcome Alan to the forum, Mark here. Glad you sorted it out. You certainly had/have a very active fermentation and yes the overflow is not a major issue and is designed to remove excess krausen. The Coopers XPA is certainly a top drop.

Let us know how it turns out and ask away with any concerns you may have.

Cheers

[Alan Batchelor]

Hello Mark, thanks for replying. I am sure I will have many questions but pretty excited to get going on this. I used PICO brew for many years but this went into receivership recently and not sure it will come back. After reading a lot over the last week or so I think one area I will experiment with will be the dry hops in a tea form or in a Muslin bag rather than the liquid packets. I will run the Coopers XPA as designed and then decide. Cheers Alan

[Captain 3 Droids]

13 minutes ago, Alan Batchelor said:

Hello Mark, thanks for replying. I am sure I will have many questions but pretty excited to get going on this. I used PICO brew for many years but this went into receivership recently and not sure it will come back. After reading a lot over the last week or so I think one area I will experiment with will be the dry hops in a tea form or in a Muslin bag rather than the liquid packets. I will run the Coopers XPA as designed and then decide. Cheers Alan

I find experimenting with hops both as a tea at the start and as a dry hop near the end quite enjoyable and an improvement on the liquid packets. However I believe you do need to produce brews per the Brewprint recipes so as to have a comparison base.

[Paul84]

Yes welcome on board Alan. I float between the original brewprints and ones i have done a few times and like to customise . DH and Hop teas have really added a new level to this adventure. I was always keen on the Pico brew. Lets hope something rises from the ashes. 

[Alan Batchelor]

Hello Paul,

I hope Pico does come back. Pico makes the wort and the BeerDriod does the fermenting and dry hopping. Might be a nice combo.

That said I am really interested to see how good the dehydrated packets are. I read a lot and it seems they have improved immensely to a point that some breweries do not use grain any more.

~Alan