Homebrew Beer Howto

BeerNut

gaz wac wrote: »

I put the bucket up on top of a table, Mrs Wac held the tube in place ( just over wort)while i filled the bottles, ok a little messy but the wort was coming up with it, tried to keep it as steady as i could when lifting it, but it was still disrupted, how do you's get over this?

By "wort" do you mean the trub (yeast sediment)? Wort is unfermented beer. Siphon tubes usually have a u-bend so you can set them in the trub and minimise the amount that goes through.
Bottom left:

gaz wac wrote: »

2) I have a second ferm bin, could i cover it with a very fine mesh, filther the beer into it to collect wort and let it settle for a few more days, that way 90% of the wort is in the first bin?

Pouring your beer like this will cause it to splash which will cause bad oxidised flavours. Secondary fermentation is one way of cleaning up the beer, but you'll always have sediment. It'll settle in the bottle and if you don't like the taste, don't pour it into your glass.

gaz wac wrote: »

3) i had 60 beer bottles, which i filled with a level tea spoon of sugar in each, but there was not a constant amount of gas in each bottle, some were dead, some over flowed, any thoughts?

Batch prime.

gaz wac

Thanks BN

Will have a read of that tonight

Cheers

ManFromAtlantis

thanks BEERNUT. could u recommend apple juice and where / how much . Thanks. all i know is it shouldnt have preserves. but can it be from concentrate or am i talking rubbish. might have a go over the winter from juice.

i added half a spoon of sugar to the bottles before bottling. is that a 'normal' thing to do. ta

BeerNut

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

could u recommend apple juice and where / how much .

I bought Lidl cloudy apple juice for 99p a litre.

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

i added half a spoon of sugar to the bottles before bottling. is that a 'normal' thing to do.

Yes, that should work to carbonate it. I batch-primed mine.

oblivious

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

i added half a spoon of sugar to the bottles before bottling. is that a 'normal' thing to do. ta

Yea but batch priming and boiling the sugar give consistent results and less chance of infection

YourName

Another Question.

If I syphoned the beer when it is finished fermenting into a second bucket for batch priming, mixed it all around, without letting too much oxygen in, then clean the original bucket and syphon and then syphon it back into the original bucket so I can bottle it.

The reason is that I want to try and get a consistent taste and of course avoid infection. I have gotten 3 x 10 litre mayonnaise buckets which I am picking up today and if I cleaned them and all the rest I could use one of them to batch prime it but it doesn't have a tap so I would want to put it back in the original bucket for bottling.

Do you think that would work out OK???? any pitfalls you can see???

BeerNut

YourName wrote: »

Do you think that would work out OK?

Yes, but it seems like a lot of extra work, and any transfer procedure is going to add an extra risk of infection/oxidation. I've never used a little bottler, so I don't know if it's possible to attach it to a siphon hose rather than the tap, but if it is, that's what I'd do, and bottle straight from the mayonnaise buckets. Though you'd need to be careful about your sums when calculating the proportions of priming solution for each 10L bucket.

Does anyone know if just bunging the priming solution into the primary and bottling from there would work?

YourName

Just went in to check on the batch thats fermenting at the moment and the top had come off the airlock, now that could have been off all night, allowing oxygen in to the bucket. Is it going to be recked now???

mayto

YourName wrote: »

Just went in to check on the batch thats fermenting at the moment and the top had come off the airlock, now that could have been off all night, allowing oxygen in to the bucket. Is it going to be recked now???

It will be fine, have not used airlock tops for years Just keep airlock filled with water and all will be well. During initial fermentation the c02 will push all nasties out anyway.

RebelButtMunch

Yep. Never used an airlock top when making wine. Much to the detriment of a few banana flies.

arse..biscuits

One of my home brews exploded, glass and beer everywhere :eek:

I did a few experment bottles, I put honey in the one that exploded (I think it was that one anyway)

Saruman

Ah a bottle bomb. Lucky it was only one, sometimes one can set the others off.

I only had it happen once (one bottle) but I had my bottles in a large crate and its waterproof so no mess.

YourName

So why do they explode??? Is it just that you have added to much suger when you were bottling and this just built up the pressure.

Saruman

Exactly, either that or you just have a bottle with a weakness but usually too much priming sugar.

Many people overcarbonate their beer, especially when starting out because they come from a lager (yellow fizzy stuff) background so think all beer should be like that, it should not and many ales are only lightly carbonated.

I probably posted this before, even on this thread but here are guides for co2 levels for beer:
ALES: -- CO2 VOLUMES
Barley Wine:
" Barley Wine -- 1.3 to 2.3

Belgian Specialty:
" Flanders Brown -- 1.9 to 2.5
" Dubbel -- 1.9 to 2.4
" Trippel -- 1.9 to 2.4
" Belgian Ale -- 1.9 to 2.5
" Belgian Strong Ale -- 1.9 to 2.4
" White -- 2.1 to 2.6
" Lambic Gueuze -- 3.0 to 4.5
" Lambic Faro -- ?
" Lambic Fruit -- 2.6 to 4.5

English Bitter:
" English Ordinary -- 0.75 to 1.3
" English Special -- 0.75 to 1.3
" English Extra Special -- 0.75 to 1.3

Scottish Ale:
" Scottish Light -- 0.75 to 1.3
" Scottish Heavy -- 0.75 to 1.3
" Scottish Export -- 0.75 to 1.3

Pale Ale:
" Classic English Pale Ale -- 1.5 to 2.3
" India Pale Ale -- 1.5 to 2.3
" American Style Pale Ale -- 2.26 to 2.78

English & Scottish Strong Ale:
" English Old Ale / Strong Ale -- 1.5 to 2.3
" Strong Scotch Ale -- 1.5 to 2.3

Brown Ale:
" English Brown Ale -- 1.5 to 2.3
" English Mild Ale -- 1.3 to 2.0
" American Brown Ale -- 1.5 to 2.5

Porter:
" Robust Porter -- 1.8 to 2.5
" Brown Porter -- 1.7 to 2.5

Stout:
" Classic Dry Irish -- 1.6 to 2.0
" Foreign Style -- 2.3 to 2.6
" Sweet Stout -- 2.0 to 2.4
" Imperial Stout -- 1.5 tp 2.3

LAGERS:
Bock:
" Traditional German Dark -- 2.2 to 2.7
" Helles Bock -- 2.16 to 2.73
" Doppelbock -- 2.26 to 2.62
" Eisbock -- 2.37

Bavarian Dark:
" Munich Dunkel -- 2.21 to 2.66
" Schwarzbier -- 2.2 to 2.6

American Dark:
" American Dark -- 2.5 to 2.7

Dortmund/Export:
" Dortmund/Export -- 2.57

Munich Helles:
" Munich Helles -- 2.26 to 2.68

Classic Pilsener:
" German Pilsener -- 2.52
" Bohemian Pilsener -- 2.3 to 2.5

American Light Lager:
" Diet/"Lite" -- 2.57
" American Standard -- 2.57
" American Premium -- 2.57 to 2.73
" Dry -- 2.6 to 2.7

Vienna/Oktoberfest/Marzen:
" Vienna -- 2.4 to 2.6
" Oktoberfest/Marzen -- 2.57 to 2.73

MIXED STYLE:
German Ale:
" Dusseldorf-style Altbier -- 2.16 to 3.09
" Kolsch -- 2.42 to 2.73

Cream Ale:
" Cream Ale -- 2.6 to 2.7

Fruit Beer:
" Fruit Ale or Lager -- varies

Herb Beer:
" Herb Ale or Lager -- varies

American Wheat:
" American Wheat Beer -- 2.3 to 2.6

Specialty Beers:
" Ales or Lagers -- varies

Smoked Beer:
" Bamberg-style Rauchbier -- 2.16 to 2.57
" Other styles -- ?

California Common;
" California Common Beer -- 2.4 to 2.8

German Wheat Beer:
" Berliner Weisse -- 3.45
" German-style Weizen (Weissbier) -- 3.6 to 4.48
" German-style Dunkelweizen -- 3.6 to 4.48
" German-style Weizenbock -- 3.71 to 4.74

YourName

So I'm not getting on all that badly, its bubbling away every now and again and its in there nearly 2 weeks, next step is to put in an order for a bit more equipment a and some kits.

This is what I am planning on getting:
1. Spraymalt
2. Thermometor
3. Airlock
4. Auto Syphon
5. Capper (Proper one)
6. 2nd bucket for bottling

Along with that I am looking at getting about 3 different beer kits. One I definitely want is the Woodfordes Wherry, but low and behold I can't find it anywhere, it seems to be sold out, any ideas???

Do I need anything else???

Do you think I should get the second bucket with a tap and airlock in case I might want to use it for fermenting someday or is there no need???

How much spraymalt do I need, should I just get a big bag of it???

BeerNut

Allow at least a kilo of spraymalt for any kit that asks for a kilo of sugar (apart from strong Belgian-style ones). And it's always good to have more if you want to start tweaking your kits and raising their gravity.

Tapped bins and an autosiphon seems like overkill. I'm not convinced of the benefit of taps TBH.

If your heart is set on Woodforde's Wherry, ask the suppliers when they'll be getting it in again, and wait until then. Or buy something else.

My latest useful purchase has been a siphon clip. What I want next is a bottling tree.

YourName

OK, clears a lot up then, so I should get the biggest bag of spraymalt they do then yeh, as its cheaper to but in bulk.

I wanted a bottle tree, but at the moment it seems like a luxury, so that will just have to wait. I have however got my hands on about 45 bottles of bulmers (brown obviously), not the big litre ones but the ones you get in the pub, so I am getting the labels off now and cleaning them as best I can. My only worry is measuring out the sugar / spraymalt to put in the bottle when bottling??? Any Ideas???

Also I think I have heard of people putting tablets in the bottles instead of sugar, wahts better??? and since I have used sugar in the primary fermentation should I use sugar again when bottling or spraymalt as it will probably be here in time.

So I will put a syphon clip on the order too, may come in handy.

I just got an email back from one of the websites and they are getting it in tomorrow so I will just have to make up my mind on two others I am going to buy.

BeerNut

YourName wrote: »

OK, clears a lot up then, so I should get the biggest bag of spraymalt they do then yeh, as its cheaper to but in bulk.

Yep. And sure you'll be extract brewing in no time

YourName wrote: »

My only worry is measuring out the sugar / spraymalt to put in the bottle when bottling?

Half a teaspoon (sugar) and hope for the best.

YourName wrote: »

I think I have heard of people putting tablets in the bottles instead of sugar, wahts better?

Table sugar's cheaper than carbonation drops. I'd say that makes it better.

YourName wrote: »

since I have used sugar in the primary fermentation should I use sugar again when bottling

Doesn't matter, yeast don't care. For priming, sugar is fine.

YourName

Yeh here now I think your getting a bit ahead of yourself with the extract brewing, I will buy 3 kits, do them and then maybe for my next purchase I might head down that road.

So even for my next few batches I just use spraymalt in the initial fermentation and then sugar when bottling???

Thanks for all the help by the way.

BeerNut

YourName wrote: »

So even for my next few batches I just use spraymalt in the initial fermentation and then sugar when bottling?

Yep. The amount of fermentables you add at bottling time is so small it won't have an adverse effect on your flavour. I use glucose for batch priming because somebody said I should, but I dunno that it makes a whole lot of difference really.

YourName wrote: »

Thanks for all the help by the way.

No problem. Happy brewing.

slayerking

YourName wrote: »

OK, clears a lot up then, so I should get the biggest bag of spraymalt they do then yeh, as its cheaper to but in bulk.

If your content with doing kits for a while, I'd just buy the spray malt in small amounts, like those 500g bags. Reason being is that you wouldn't be doing a full boil with the spray malt so it might be tricky to keep it sterile and also you'd only be using about 1kg at a time, so if you buy a large amount it could turn into a big malteser block if not stored correctly, its tricky stuff to manage, very sticky, clumps at the sight of moisture!!!
But its up to yourself really.

YourName wrote: »

My only worry is measuring out the sugar / spraymalt to put in the bottle when bottling??? Any Ideas???

Will you be using a bottling bucket when bottling?
If so, this is very handy for calculating the right carbonation.

If not half a teaspoon of sugar per bottle should do. Or maybe 3/4 teaspoon of Glucose either.

kaimera

om nom nom...I can't wait to get home and try my first batch.

I think it may have fermented at a bit high temp (went with the coopers pilsner) and then bottled maybe a day early but it's been in the bottles since the end of August and no bottle bombs yet.

another month and I can throw some in a nitro frz freezer and then om nom nom!

awesome there here btw; you guys rock.

ManFromAtlantis

anyone see the cider making on corrigans farm on tv last night. that guy had a nice little orchard.
will take a few years but i'm off to plant a few trees.

YourName

Just trying to put together an order now to get some more equipment and a few kits.

The only bit I am stuck on is the beer kits, I wanted to buy about 3, wherry is definitely one of them, what other ones would be down that street???

I don't like really strong beers but I do like medium beers, and the hint of chocolate in the wherry sounds good.

Any other ones you guys could recommend???

BeerNut

YourName wrote: »

Any other ones you guys could recommend???

Not specifically -- just go for the 3kg ones if you can: Munton's Milestone, Munton's Gold, Brupaks etc.

YourName

Good stuff, and the coopers kits, I know the one I'm doing at the moment isn't the best tasting but is the other coopers kits any good??? Or should I just write that brand off altogether???

Spraymalt, is it the medium one I want??? Was just going to buy a few bags (probably 6) of the 500gms ones and keep them there.

BeerNut

Coopers Stouts can be quite good, I believe.

Best go for the light DME: you can make a beer made with light DME darker, but you can't make light-coloured beer with amber or dark DME.

YourName

I'm going to place my order tonight, going to cost me a good bit, but I will be well stocked up for a while anyway.

The 3 beer kits I am going to get is:

Woodfords Admiral Reserve 3kg

Woodfords Wherry 3kg

Muntons Gold Continental Pils 3 Kg

I know the last one says on the site that it requires no sugar, so I am correct in saying that it doesn't require any DME then no.

The other two kits, do they require it??? You all said earlier that give myself 1kg of DME for each kit, so they sell in 500gm bags, I will just buy 4 of them will I???

The order amounts to over a hundred quid, and I don't mind that, but how much would you guys be paying for this hobby??? I presume loads when you progress into different techniques. But when you think about it, even with buying all the equipment, I am still ending up getting a pint for about a euro, so if you were looking at it on the expenses side of things its actually a bargain.

slayerking

YourName wrote: »

I know the last one says on the site that it requires no sugar, so I am correct in saying that it doesn't require any DME then no.

The other two kits, do they require it??? You all said earlier that give myself 1kg of DME for each kit, so they sell in 500gm bags, I will just buy 4 of them will I???

3 kg kits dont need any additional DME, so you dont need to buy any DME at all.
They have everything needed to make the beer, just add water basically. And a smal amount of sugar for priming when bottling.

The 1.7kg kits need an additional 1kg of DME.

YourName

Oh right, so that takes down a bit of the cost, I can just use normal sugar when I am bottling then.