Temperature control

It is important that a brew is kept within the stated temperature range written either in your instructions or stated on your yeast packet. Temperature fluctuations can negatively impact fermentation, leading to undesirable flavours, aromas, and even contamination by unwanted bacteria. Too high a temperature can cause the yeast to ferment too quickly or die, producing off-flavours and aromas, or incomplete fermentation. On the other hand, fermenting at too low a temperature can cause the yeast to become inactive, leading to a slow and sometimes incomplete fermentation process.

There are a few simple techniques you can employ to help keep your fermentation within the correct temperature range:

If brewing in cooler temperatures, try:

• Using a heat belt or pad. These electric heating devices are easy to use and provide steady warmth to the fermenter.
• Keep the fermenter in a warmer area of your house and wrap it in blankets or a sleeping bag to keep it warm.
• Place the fermenter in a cardboard box.

If brewing in warmer temperatures, try:

• Keep the fermenter in the coolest part of your house – if you can keep it in an air conditioned room, even better!
• Wrap the fermenter in a wet town and use a fan to help keep it cool.
• The fermenter can be placed in a shallow pool of water with the towel overhanging so it remains damp. You can also add ice packs to this water for further cooling.

The Specific Gravity or 'SG' is a key measurement in determining when your beer or cider has completed the fermentation process and is, therefore, ready for bottling.

The most commonly used tool to measure this is a 'Hydrometer' which is provided in all our Starter Brewery Kits or available separately. 

The gravities displayed are based on using dextrose brewing sugar, and Mangrove Jack's Pure Malt Enhancer with our pouch kits. If you use Mangrove Jack's Brew Enhancer, use the Pure Malt Enhancer as an approximate guide, your SG may be slightly higher.

Check the SG with your hydrometer, it should be within two points of the table below for two consecutive days. Once fermentation is complete, proceed to bottle your beer. For best results, ensure a minimum of 2 days infusion time between hop additions and bottling.  

Note: Not all varieties are sold in all markets.

Craft Series

** Please note we do not recommend using Dextrose with our Juicy Sessions, Baltic Porter or Mango Pale Ale kits. 

Traditional Series

Brewer's Series

Also Note: ABV stated on the pouch kit is based on using dextrose, unless there is no gravity reading for dextrose in the tables above - those kits are designed to be used with Pure Malt Extract only and therefore the ABV is determined based on the use of Pure Malt Extract. 

Cider 

*Please Note: that when using standard table sugar rather than dextrose with our Cider kits the OG will be 3-5 points higher than the dextrose figures. With Table sugar its hard to give a definitive figure but use this as a guide. 

The cider kits are based on the same SG contribution, so the enhancers are 1.2kg which provides the same SG as 1kg dextrose

Seltzer 

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