Thread: Something's brewing (I hope) Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.
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Posted by TurquoiseTastic (# 8978) on
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A few months ago there was a reasonably popular brewing thread, so I hope it will be OK to resuscitate it...
Yesterday I took the plunge and attempted my first ever home-brew (from a kit). I have put in one 1.7kg can of Cooper's "English Bitter" kit plus 500g of Munton's Light Spraymalt. (And the yeast...). 21 litres of brown stuff now sitting in a fermenter in the hall. I am worried though because it's a bit cold (18 Centigrade) and nothing much seems to be happening... not sure what I can do to warm it up though...
Any top tips for novice beermarkers or wondrous tales from master brewers?
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
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I'm a novice too ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I started my beer and wine making journey about a month ago and I'm now conditioning some Woodforde Wherry and am about to start some Woodforde Sundew. The Wherry is going to taste good, even dh was impressed. I want to try some St Peter's Ruby and Golden Ale next.
Of the wine, I'm currently tucking not some youngs apricot wine which is a very good starter wine.
It might take a day or so to start fermenting, my Wherry was fine at 18 on the floor but got stuck at 1020 (common for this beer). I moved it higher up, on to the kitchen table, where it was slightly warmer and it kicked back in again.
[ 21. April 2013, 14:13: Message edited by: Heavenly Anarchist ]
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on
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Yes, give it time. It should get going- fermentation can sometimes take 48 to 72 to show visible signs. The mantra from a famous brewing book is "relax, don't worry, have a home brew."
For future reference, the Cooper's yeast packs that come with those kits are infamous for not being great yeast- taping a packet to the tin is convenient, but not the best way to store beer yeast. So next time, consider splurging for different dry yeast that was packaged more recently and properly refrigerated.
I'll be putting some wit in bottles soon, and I have a Saison that has reached terminal gravity. Saison yeasts are funny beasts- you let them get going at regular ale temps, then you try to get them up to the high 70s or low 80s (22 to 27) to finish off as dry as possible. Samples are nice and spicy.
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on
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Some great beers are brewed in Colorado. As a young stockbroker, I helped take Boulder Beer public back in the 80s. I miss the porter!
Posted by Timothy the Obscure (# 292) on
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I wouldn't be too worried at this stage. If you don't see any action in a couple of days, you can assume the yeast was dead and try again, preferably using better yeast. The best ones are wet, not dry, are packaged in a foil bag with a starter packet inside. You squeeze the bag to break open the starter, and let it sit at room temp for a couple of hours--when the bag is nicely swollen you open it and pitch. If you use dry yeast, it's always a good idea to proof it before pitching--i.e. dissolve it warm water with a spoonful of sugar or malt and wait till it gets active. This is especially true for the yeast that comes with kits, because it's not high-quality to begin with, and you have no idea how long it's been on the shelf.
Posted by TurquoiseTastic (# 8978) on
:
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
Yes, give it time. It should get going- fermentation can sometimes take 48 to 72 to show visible signs. The mantra from a famous brewing book is "relax, don't worry, have a home brew."
For future reference, the Cooper's yeast packs that come with those kits are infamous for not being great yeast- taping a packet to the tin is convenient, but not the best way to store beer yeast. So next time, consider splurging for different dry yeast that was packaged more recently and properly refrigerated.
Aargh. I agonised about whether to order some separate yeast or not, then thought "Oh Cooper's seems fairly popular; it must be OK at least..." ... bah...
Anyway it might be working now - there seems to be a little foam visible on the edge of the plastic bucket - but it's certainly not racing away. I feel I should test the SG with the hydrometer. How do I go about this - should I open the FV and put the hydrometer right into it, or should I tap some off? And should I be measuring the SG daily? Because if I tap 200ml off to test every day I'll be losing a significant amount of beer!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on
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Mr. B has been brewing wonderful beers for a year or so. My favorite so far is his Norwegian Christmas ale. He's also done an IPA that is very tasty; I normally don't like IPA's.
The trick, he says, for him is getting the temperature right during the fermentation process. Things got ugly when he took to placing the vat of beer in my loom room, the coldest room in the house. Then I became fascinated with the beer---it really is kind of neat, how the process goes---and all was forgiven. Soon I was giving him morning updates on the temperature.
And I make sausage and sauerkraut at home, too :-)
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
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With beer I usually just test in the bucket. With wine I tap off as i use plastic gallon demi johns but I only test rarely, when I think it is nearly finished. Then I put the wine back in (saving a little sample for testing).
I certainly didn't test my beer daily but I was using an airlock on my bucket which does make it easier to see fermentation happening. Perhaps someone more experienced might advise.
Posted by cheesymarzipan (# 9442) on
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Mr marzipan and his friend have been brewing beer (at the house of the friend) for a few months now. Mostly they use kits I think. They use a heat mat underneath the bucket with a thermostat to keep it at a constant temperature (it was one the friend had already as he has some pet lizards). This means that their beer comes out fairly strong (about 6 to 7% mostly). They did read the recipe wrong when making some ginger beer and added twice as much sugar. Delicious but about 11% ABV so you couldn't drink too much at once!
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on
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If you are starting to get bubbles on top, then you probably don't need to bother with the hydrometer yet. Let it ride, keep your nose out of the bucket (easier said than done, I know!) and come back to check when the krausen drops. Unless you are trying to chart fermentation activity over time or sincerely doubt that there has been any fermentation activity, there really isn't any reason to mess around with the hydrometer until visible activity is done. Then, you will want to take measurements on two separate days, to ensure that the gravity is stable and that it is safe to bottle.
I always pull out a sample with a wine thief, measure the gravity in a flask, and then drink the sample. You could probably find an easy way to sanitize everything so as not to lose any beer, but frankly, by the end of bottling day, if you are making 20 l of beer, you won't care that you lost a few ml along the way.
Posted by TurquoiseTastic (# 8978) on
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OK so I can see a layer of sediment on the bottom of the vat, and some froth-stains above the surface. This makes me hopeful that the yeast must at least be doing something. Plan to let it ferment for at least another week before bottling. Am collecting glass beer bottles from as many colleagues as possible in order to have enough to do the bottling when the time comes.
Posted by TurquoiseTastic (# 8978) on
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Specific gravity is down to 8 from 32 (couldn't resist checking) so something is certainly happening! Will probably leave it another week or so before bottling.
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
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That's good news.
I started my Sundew 3 days ago and it is still bubbling away through the airlock so it sounds like it won't get stuck at 1020 like it's brother. The Wherry is still conditioning, it's only been about 10 days in the cask and was still yeasty and unclear when we checked a couple of days ago (still tasted good though! )
I want to buy the St Peter's next, the Golden Ale and Ruby Red, bottling some of each and the rest in the kegs, but my other half has got his eye on a malt and hop kit to make some Black sheep from scratch.
[ 29. April 2013, 08:48: Message edited by: Heavenly Anarchist ]
Posted by TurquoiseTastic (# 8978) on
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Bottled yesterday (about 2 weeks after I planned to!). Goodness it takes a long time. Primed with about 70 grams of sugar in about 20 litres of "TurquoiseTastic Sauce #1". About 40 bottles now sitting in a cardboard box (one of them broke while I was capping it ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
)
Forgot to measure the final gravity before priming, but after priming it was about 1.008 which I guess implies about 1.005 before priming.
Tasted OK although currently a little flat, perhaps slightly lacking in body as well. The priming will hopefully fix the first problem though...
Posted by TurquoiseTastic (# 8978) on
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TurquoiseTastic Sauce #1 was opened and sampled yesterday with lunch! It is not bad I think - reasonably malty and hoppy. Will try giving a few away to colleagues to see what they think...
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
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Sounds good
My Wherry and Sundew both turned out well, the Wherry took longer to clear and taste less yeasty but is now a good pint and the other half approves. I prefer the Sundew but I do like golden beer, it cleared really quickly too.
Posted by TurquoiseTastic (# 8978) on
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I have seen Wherry recommended as an excellent kit. Did you leave it in the cask or bottle it? I must say the bottling process took much longer than I anticipated - a cask sounds easier! But how quickly do you have to drink it before the cask goes off/flat?
Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on
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I have a cask that can take those gas pins, I guess I've drank at least 10 pints of my 40 pints of Sundew over approx 3 weeks and still haven't attached any gas. It doesn't look like it is going to go flat any time soon either.
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