Homebrew Beer Howto

slayerking

YourName wrote: »

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

Yep, or Glucose. Both available in the Supermarket. Whichever suits you.
About 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar per 500ml bottle or about 3/4 teaspoon of Glucose per 500ml bottle.

BeerNut

YourName wrote: »

Muntons Gold Continental Pils 3 Kg

I don't know what this is going to be like, but I'd recommend steering away from "lager" kits in general.

YourName

Maybe your right, I will just go for Woodfords Nelsons Revenge then.

Just going to place the order now.

I took a hydrometer reading of the coopers kit that's in progress, its at 1.004, I will obviously take another reading or 2 over the next few days and we can see if they stay level. But is that a good reading so far????

BeerNut

That sounds just about done.

YourName

Great, but it is still bubbling every now and again, but I am leaving it for another week, so it should be good.

And as a matter of interest, how do you know when your batch gets infected??? Not that I think mine is but if it was, how would you know???

BeerNut

Depending on the infection, you might see a white latticework on top of the beer. But mostly you know it's infected because it tastes awful.

YourName

Yeh well mine tastes not half that bad. when I was doing the hydrometer readings and that I was having a taste, the only thing is that it is very flat and I would say it will taste a bit better when I bottle it and add the sugar and that.

Just thought about something there, I bought a 2nd fermentation bucket for bottling and maybe doing a bit of fermenting if I had two beers going at the one time, but somebody said here that having the tap is probably a bad thing as it is more places infection can hide, so they just syphon, but when you are taking a hydrometer reading how do you get the beer out???

Also have any of you tried making any of the liqueurs from the kits???

BeerNut

YourName wrote: »

when you are taking a hydrometer reading how do you get the beer out?

Sanitise the trial jar then dunk it to fill it.

BaZmO*

Or you can pick up a turkey baster and use that to take samples. I picked one up the other day for €2 and it works a treat. Just make sure you sanitise it first before dipping it into your beer.

YourName

Good stuff, well the coopers kit will be bottled this weekend, I am just waiting on a bit of equipment to arrive, that will be here tomorrow. Can I bottle tomorrow if the hydrometer readings have levelled out???

Is there a way of attaching the "little bottle" to the auto syphon??? It might just be a little easier when bottling.

I went down to the bull and castle to get some more bottle and they were very nice about it, I must head in there some night to try out some of the beers and the food, it looks really nice.

BeerNut

YourName wrote: »

Can I bottle tomorrow if the hydrometer readings have levelled out?

If you've been getting the same reading the last few times then yes.

ManFromAtlantis

is there any easy way to get the alcohol % of a brew thats been bottled.? thanks.

YourName

BeerNut wrote: »

If you've been getting the same reading the last few times then yes.

Well I got 1.004 on Saturday last, then got 1.004 again Yesterday (wednesday), so if I get 1.004 tomorrow would that be good then???

BeerNut

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

is there any easy way to get the alcohol % of a brew thats been bottled.? thanks.

Without OG and FG measurements, you mean? No.

YourName wrote: »

Well I got 1.004 on Saturday last, then got 1.004 again Yesterday (wednesday), so if I get 1.004 tomorrow would that be good then?

Yes, sounds like you're done.

YourName

So I got the same gravity reading today and I bottled my first batch, but I may have just ruined it.

I opted out of syphoning into the second bucket because I couldn't figure out how much sugar to use, so I just bottled straight from the fermentation bucket, I know it won't be as good but I didn't want to ruin the batch, but I may have done it anyway. I tried to put half a teaspoon into each bottle but I think I put a little too much into each bottle, so when I had the caps just resting on the top of the bottles before I capped them while I was finishing bottling they were clicking up and down because it was obviously creating co2 or something.

So I am worried that they have too much sugar in the bottles and they might blow up.

What do you think???

10-10-20

Home-made bomb factory!
Put them inside a plastic box (toy box etc), seal it with the lid and keep them in a room which is maintained ~18 degrees C.

You'll know in 2 weeks time!

Don't be overly concerned as you will know what you need to improve on for next time!

YourName

Yeh I have them tucked away waiting for the blasts.

No I ain't overly worried about them, this kit was only to help me learn and I have learned a lot from it, tomorrow I am starting some Woodfords Wherry, which should be ready in time for Christmas, hopefully ! ! !

So I will keep an eye on my bottles and keep them at around 16 or 18 degrees, and I should be alright then.

Do you think the taste will change much over the next 2 weeks or so????

Saruman

YourName wrote: »

Do you think the taste will change much over the next 2 weeks or so????

The taste will change yes, that is what conditioning does. It adds character to beer, just like with wine or Whiskey except with the beer, because it is live in the bottle it will keep conditioning.

A beer at one or two weeks in the bottle is usually no where near as good as a beer that has spent a couple of months in the bottle.

Next time, use a bottling bucket. It is so much easier to do it that way, not to mention your carbonation is more consistent as all the bottles have the same amount.
Did you follow the bottling guide on the ICB site?

A good rule when starting out that I found and did not care in getting the right carbonation levels for the style was this. If you have 25 litres or so of beer then use 200g of sugar, boil it with about 250ml of water until its dissolved, stick it in the freezer for a while till its cool. Pour in to the bottling bucket, siphon beer in on top of it (the motion mixes it without adding o2) and then siphon in to the bottles.

BeerNut

Saruman wrote: »

stick it in the freezer for a while till its cool.

You don't actually need to do this. 250ml of hot water is not going to raise the temperature of 25L of wort to any noticeable degree.

Saruman

True but I would have thought that adding boiled water to room temp water instantly might cause a problem, shock some of the suspended yeast or something so I do it that way to be on the safe side.

Besides, the guide did say to let it cool and the freezer is a quick way of doing that.

BeerNut

Saruman wrote: »

shock some of the suspended yeast or something

Kill some, shock some -- sure. But not enough to make a difference to the beer's conditioning or taste.

YourName

I followed that guide alright, and I went to the link to figure out how much sugar to add, but I couldn't figure out what to fill in, all I knew was that I should put half a teaspoon in each bottle. So I went with the simple way to avoid any mistakes.

I am going to do that for the next batch which I am starting tomorrow (Woodfordes Wherry), I have my 2 buckets now and a all so it should be better after all, regardless the first brew is for learning at the end of the day.

No bottle bombs as of yet, thank god, hopefully they should be ok, just have to keep an eye on them and hope for the best.

gaz wac

Saruman wrote: »

A good rule when starting out that I found and did not care in getting the right carbonation levels for the style was this. If you have 25 litres or so of beer then use 200g of sugar, boil it with about 250ml of water until its dissolved, stick it in the freezer for a while till its cool. Pour in to the bottling bucket, siphon beer in on top of it (the motion mixes it without adding o2) and then siphon in to the bottles.

And here I was reading ICB all morning trying to figure out how to prime my latest batch . Started my second batch last night, just trying the Coopers Australian Lager 1.7Kg, as im still learning but I think all went well, concidering I couldnt minus the 3 liters ( boiling kit and sugar ) from the 25 litres so ended up with 26 litres .

so will the above statment still work for me ? Thanks again, you feel stupid asking so many questions, but I defo think that you over think everything when starting out..but when im the Mod of Homebrew, ill be able to help out the newbie's

BeerNut

It'll work, yes. I use this carbonation calculator.

Selecting American Lager and going for 2.6 volumes, it says that for 26L at 20C you need 173g of pure sugar, so not far off. YMMV.

gaz wac

Yea, thats the site I was also looking at, but what is the 2.6 volumes ? where you getting that figure from

BeerNut

You pick a beer style from the drop-down at the top, and then pick a volume number from the range given. I hate overcarbonated beer so I'll generally go on the low side of the options.

"American Lager" would be close to the style your kit is aiming for, and that's 2.6-2.7. The other lager styles listed are in this general area too.

gaz wac

Thanks again BeerNut. Im going to be using 1L plastic bottles for this batch as im not a fan of glass beer bottles and the fact that i have a spare fridge to cool and keep the 1L's upright is an added bonus. Anything I should look out for ?

BeerNut

Nothing I can think of, though it's a long time since I met a home brewer who used plastic. Make sure they're clean and sealed, and open them carefully, I guess.

And, of course, don't put them in the fridge until a fortnight or so after bottling.

gaz wac

Can I just ask why ?

Ill prob get a few 1L glass bottles, i just find with the worth in the bottle and leaving a bit in the end so it dosent go into your glass, you actually only get a small amount of beer ( i drink alot and I wouldnt have the patience for bottles )

cheers

BeerNut

gaz wac wrote: »

Can I just ask why ?

Your yeast will go to sleep in the cold and your beer won't condition. Yeast need room temperature to work.