Homebrew Beer Howto

Saruman

sounds good if you are going for a refreshing summer beer. Nice and lively but not as carbonated as a wheat beer.

BaZmO*

Saruman wrote: »

sounds good if you are going for a refreshing summer beer. Nice and lively but not as carbonated as a wheat beer.

I'll just be happy if I get a beer that doesn't make me blind!!

Saruman

No such thing, just a beer that makes you wish you were blind

BeerNut

If your yeast start producing methanol, phone an exorcist immediately.

BaZmO*

Me again with some Q’s!!

I’ll be bottling my first batch on Saturday (after 2 weeks fermenting) so I want to get another batch going on the same day.

Been looking around at different recipes and as I’ve said before I’d like to try a style of Wheat Beer.

The last recipe I tried from ICB had 450g of Spray DME Light and 270g of Honey for a 5 litre batch (which is around a Gallon).
I take it the Honey is used as a food source for the Yeast? I ask that because I want to calculate how much Extract I need if I'm not using Honey.

Is there a general consensus on how much Extract is required for “x” amount of water?
Or is it purely recipe based?

I was gonna use 500g of Extract in this recipe. Should I just use 500 of Wheat Spraymalt or 50/50 Wheat Spraymalt/DME?

Also, Yeast? Does a packet generally do for a batch regardless of size?

Saruman

How much extract you use is up to you. The more you use, the higher your gravity and so the more alcohol. There is more to it than that but for now just look at it that way.

Use a calculator from beertools.com to figure out your recipe. There are lots of recipes there too.

BaZmO*

Ah I see. I have an application called QBrew and I just banged in different combinations of Extract and it shows the different ABVs dependent on qtys.

Although I applied it to the recipe that I brewed already and it's coming out at an ABV of 2%

The more I look into this the more I get confused.

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

I want to calculate how much Extract I need if I'm not using Honey.

As Saruman says, muck about with the recipe calculator on BeerTools until you get an ABV you like.

BaZmO* wrote: »

I was gonna use 500g of Extract in this recipe. Should I just use 500 of Wheat Spraymalt or 50/50 Wheat Spraymalt/DME?

You'll get more body with the 50/50; pure wheat will make it a lighter beer. There may also be a difference in gravity -- again, BeerTools will tell you.

BaZmO* wrote: »

Does a packet generally do for a batch regardless of size?

Yes.

BaZmO*

Actually, I had the entries wrong on that QBrew.
I corrected them for the Honey Ale and it's coming out as 5.5% which would be about right I guess.

I like the idea that you can actually experiment like that with the calculators. I always thought it was just pot luck.

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

I always thought it was just pot luck.

It is really. The software just makes you feel like you're in control. When you're as cack-handed and careless as me, anyway.

Saruman

The actual software is worth the money. I formulate great recipes with it and they usually turn out as expected.
Currently my latest all grain brew is not fermenting, probably a result of out of date yeast so you can not factor in that sort of thing with the software
Going to add another yeast tonight if it is still not moving.

BaZmO*

Just on the subject of Yeast. Is it just a case of add a packet to each Brew? Or do experienced homebrewers keep a yeast starter going for years and just dip into it for each batch the same way bakers do?

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just on the subject of Yeast. Is it just a case of add a packet to each Brew? Or do experienced homebrewers keep a yeast starter going for years and just dip into it for each batch the same way bakers do?

There's all manner of things you can do with yeast -- homebrewers tend not to keep starters AFAIK (brewing yeast is much more fragile than baking yeast), but they may culture yeast from their own beer, or from commercial ones. Or they might dump fresh wort on top of the yeast from their previous brew, as you could do since you're brewing on bottling today. A lot use liquid yeast strains which can give better results for certain styles.

However, if you don't want to ruin your beer you really need to know what you're doing when it comes to yeast. Your brewery hygiene has to be impeccable. And this is why one-sachet-per-brew is just so much easier than the alternatives. I even know of one commercial brewery that works with dried yeast -- just bigger sachets

BaZmO*

Ah don't worry, I wasn't gonna get that far ahead of myself!
Was just wondering. This brewing malarky is starting to consume me. Always looking ahead to next thing.

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

This brewing malarky is starting to consume me.

It'll do that. But as a bonus, you also get to consume it.

BaZmO*

Haha. Yeah it's certainly a bonus

mazza

Slightly off-topic, but just in case any of my brewing buddies here are missing out on this home-brew related thread in the 'Entrepreneurial & Business Management' forum:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055628822

BaZmO*

So got to bottle my first brew on Saturday, and I made a total mess of it. I should've really practised my syphoning technique beforehand. :rolleyes:

I'd gotten my primer ready and put it in a small sanitised container. But trying to syphon from the demijohn was a nightmare. I'd read that you shouldn't suck the tube as you can transfers germs into the liquid, but I'd seen advice that you could use a sanitised biro to suck on and then discard before the flow of beer reached the biro. The simple syphon that I had from the Homebrew company had a little tap on it so I thought I'd use that instead. Didn't work out as planned though. Beer just came p1ssing out of it before I could stop the flow.

I was trying my best not to disturb the crud at the end of the demijohn while syphoning but I was paying too much attention to it and didn't notice the end of the syphon wasn't quite long enough and it popped out of the priming containing. Noticed it before I lost too much beer.

Then while trying to syphon to the bottles using the filling wand I lost the syphon so I had to just pour directly from the bucket into the bottles, not ideal but I did work.

I think the next time I'm bottling I'll make sure that the priming container has a tap on it, that way I won't have to bother with syphoning.

Saruman

You can get an auto siphon which is grand, no sucking needed as you just pump a couple of times to get it going. Also if you need longer tubing then get some, you can get it at B&Q or from the homebrew company

BaZmO*

Yeah was thinking of getting an auto-syphon. I'll definitely need to get some more tubing. Didn't know you could get it in it B&Q, must pick some up later. Cheers

BeerNut

Syphoning's a pain, but it does get easier with practice. Beware of taps, though: they can be a bugger to clean properly.

BaZmO*

Offhand, does anybody know what size the tubing is on the Homebrew Company's simple syphon?

arse..biscuits

It says (7/16 x 9/16) on it

BaZmO*

arse..biscuits wrote: »

It says (7/16 x 9/16) on it

Cheers. Although I'm not sure that's correct. 7/16'ths works out at 10.7mm I.D.
I think it's more like 7mm I.D.


Another thing I forgot when doing the bottling was to take F.G. reading. I only remembered after I had added the Primer. :rolleyes:

There wasn't enough beer left to fill a full bottle so I put it in the fridge to cool down so I could taste it. When it was cooled down I remembered to take a reading. It was 1.012 with an O.G. of 1.048

So using (OG-FG)X131=Alcohol by Volume.

It works out as 4.7 ABV

Did it matter that I took the F.G. reading when it was A) mixed with the Primer and it was cold?

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

Another thing I forgot when doing the bottling was to take F.G. reading. I only remembered after I had added the Primer. :rolleyes:

I did the exact same thing first time out.

BaZmO* wrote: »

Did it matter that I took the F.G. reading when it was A) mixed with the Primer and it was cold?

A) Yes: all you're really measuring is the density of the liquid. That'll be totally thrown out of wack by the priming solution. Yes: hydrometers are calibrated for room temperature. If you have the temperature of the liquid you can correct for temperature with this sort of thing.

I doubt your readings are much good to you.

BaZmO*

BeerNut wrote: »

I did the exact same thing first time out.

Well at least I'm in good company so

BeerNut wrote: »

I doubt your readings are much good to you.

It's a much of a muchness at this stage. Just hope I can at least drink my first batch. I'll worry about the science in the future. Although, it did smell really really alcoholic.

BeerNut

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just hope I can at least drink my first batch. I'll worry about the science in the future.

Exactly the right approach

Saruman

On my first few kit brews I never bothered with a final gravity reading. The alcohol content did not concern me, getting it all working did.

Now of course I do take gravity readings but I have forgotten to take my gravity reading until after the primer so it happens to everyone.
someone told me there is a formula you can use to work it out anyway but it is probably too much math and might make your head explode so I would not bother, especially for your first brew.

BaZmO*

Ah I reckon I could probably manage the maths, but whether I'd be bother to do the maths, that's the real question.

Either way, I would imagine that the the abv is somewhere between 4 and 5%

That'll do me!!

BaZmO*

Got my second brew on the go last night.
Decided to make a Wit Beer.

5 litre Batch

500g Light DME
250g Wheat Malt Extract
7.5g Hallertau (60mins)
5.6g Coriander (5mins)
5.6g Orange Rind (5mins)
Danstar Munich Wheat Beer Yeast


Went pretty smoothly this time, although cooling the Wort is still a pain.
If I was using a Wort Chiller how long should it take it down to the correct temp? I'd be tempted to make one just to reduce the time that I'm waiting around.

Picked up some pvc tubing in B&Q so I could set up a water trap in a pint glass which has worked out much tidier than using a bubbler. Plenty of krausen this morning, so it's obviously working. Worried about the temperature though, finding it hard to get it to stay around 21º