MYO IPA kit

GazzaW57 · Sep 29, 2024

I started off a MYO IPA kit last Wednesday. According to the instructions I’m supposed to let it ferment for 10 days, adding the hops on day 7. I’m sure though I’ve seen some posts on here where contributors have advised to ignore the instructions and just opt for 2 weeks fermenting (not sure when the hops should go in!), syphon either into bottles or a barrel and then leave in a warm place followed by at least 2 weeks in a cool place before sampling.

Does this ring any bells please? I ask because I tried to find this advice on here, but couldn’t and I’m sure I didn’t imagine it!

jof · Sep 29, 2024

The forums are full of threads saying 2 + 2 + 2 weeks. It's best practice arrived at by consensus of many homebrewers over many years.

The kit instructions are for best case, optimum temperature & rushing to get it complete in the shortest time with a sales pitch of "make your own beer in 3 weeks" or similar.

Don't rush it, allow the yeast to clean up & a few more days for the sediment to settle before bottling.

If this is your first brew you.might even want to do a few bottles with different quantities of carbonating sugar so you can work out what level.of carbonation works for you in future brews.
Just don't put too much in & remember to mark the bottles so you know for next time.

MashBag · Sep 29, 2024

Good advice.

Don't listen to reprobates like me who might suggest 7 days and then bottle it still warm

GazzaW57 · Sep 30, 2024

Thank you both for your responses. I’ve been doing home brew for a few years now and have done this kit before, but I’m sure I didn’t do it for as long when I last did it.

If I followed the instructions I’d be bottling it a week today, but as I’m going to be away that day for the rest of the week (we don’t get back until a week next Friday) that’s not going to happen. I’ll probably try adding the hops just before we go away and bottle it when we get back. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

MashBag · Sep 30, 2024

GazzaW57 said:
Thank you both for your responses. I’ve been doing home brew for a few years now and have done this kit before, but I’m sure I didn’t do it for as long when I last did it.

If I followed the instructions I’d be bottling it a week today, but as I’m going to be away that day for the rest of the week (we don’t get back until a week next Friday) that’s not going to happen. I’ll probably try adding the hops just before we go away and bottle it when we get back. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

2 weeks away?
Hops?
Better... Bottle before you go or rack it into something without an airspace.

At very least... If you were away for a week, you could pop a couple of table spoons of sugar in it, and seal it up again. Gives the yeasties a feed, keeping them in the game & does the square root of nowt to the beer

An Ankoù · Sep 30, 2024

There;s no advantage in blindly following 2+2+2/ Many of us don't rack into a secondary fermenter anyway and some yeasts finish in a couple of days. In any case, fermentation rate and cleanup rates depend on temperature.
My advice would be listen to @MashBag.
And then do the opposite.

Only joking.
Wait until the airlock stops bubbling and the heavy deposits have settled on the bottom of the fermenter. If you're going to rack into secondary, now is the time to do it. If not, wait until the beer begins to clear before bottling or kegging. If you do rack the green beer, the physical movement of the beer often causes it to drop clear, but you should still give it a week or so. If you're going to dry-hop, do it in secondary unless you're specifically aiming for biotransformation of the hop oils, in which case the hops should be added at the peak of fermentation. Two weeks in the bottle is rarely sufficient. I find my beers come to their peak at about 6 weeks after bottling.
Note that some yeasts like to stay on top of the beer and I tend to "top crop" these. They often grow another head and the beer can drop bright beneath the head. VIPA and the Wyeast Yorkshire are examples.
Lager needs to be treated differently. Lager is a long game while pale ales and stouts can be ready much quicker. Lagers tend to favour an extended period bulk conditioning in secondary- probably due to the much cooler storage temperature.

See. @MashBag was right after all.

GazzaW57 · Sep 30, 2024

MashBag said:
2 weeks away?
Hops?
Better... Bottle before you go or rack it into something without an airspace.

At very least... If you were away for a week, you could pop a couple of table spoons of sugar in it, and seal it up again. Gives the yeasties a feed, keeping them in the game & does the square root of nowt to the beer

I know, that’s bothering me too. I was going to bottle the brew, but I may put it all into a barrel before I go away.

MashBag · Sep 30, 2024

An Ankoù said:
My advice would be listen to @MashBag.
And then do the opposite.

MashBag · Sep 30, 2024

An Ankoù said:
Wait until the airlock stops bubbling

Mine stopped bubbbling years ago. I only use them on variable capacity tanks

GazzaW57 · Oct 3, 2024

I think I’m now going to be bottling the IPA on Sunday, but I’m going to syphon it into a clean vessel and add sugar to that before bottling. (The instructions advise half a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle). I’m a little unsure though about how much sugar I should add to the brew and would appreciate advice on this. I’m thinking about 180 grams - would that be about right?

Tommo 2 · Oct 4, 2024

GazzaW57 said:
I think I’m now going to be bottling the IPA on Sunday, but I’m going to syphon it into a clean vessel and add sugar to that before bottling. (The instructions advise half a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle). I’m a little unsure though about how much sugar I should add to the brew and would appreciate advice on this. I’m thinking about 180 grams - would that be about right?

GazzaW57 said:

I think I’m now going to be bottling the IPA on Sunday, but I’m going to syphon it into a clean vessel and add sugar to that before bottling. (The instructions advise half a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle). I’m a little unsure though about how much sugar I should add to the brew and would appreciate advice on this. I’m thinking about 180 grams - would that be about right?

Click to expand...

down load the priming calculator from brewers friend, really useful bit of kit. 180grams is excessive in my opinion and could lead to bottle bombs , I myself would be using around 80 grams for 22.5 litres , but that’s just my opinion of course.

GazzaW57 · Oct 4, 2024

Thank you. I think you’re right.

Nucbrewer · Oct 4, 2024

It depends on the temperature of the finished brew I use the brewers friend calculator.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

GazzaW57 · Oct 5, 2024

Well I was going to bottle it this weekend until I took a hydrometer reading just now and it’s 1012, which is far too high. I’m going to have to follow Mashbags advice and add a few tablespoons of sugar to it and bottle it when I get back from holidays (I’ll be home a week today)

GazzaW57 · Oct 5, 2024

GazzaW57 said:
Well I was going to bottle it this weekend until I took a hydrometer reading just now and it’s 1012, which is far too high. I’m going to have to follow Mashbags advice and add a few tablespoons of sugar to it and bottle it when I get back from holidays (I’ll be home a week today)

As a footnote to this, I was wondering why this brew had taken a lot longer than usual, especially since I was using a heat pad under the FV to keep it at the required temperature. I’ve only just realised that I didn’t plug in the heat pad; I actually plugged in the plug for the smoothie blender which is next to the FV. Aaarrgghhhh. I do worry about myself sometimes. I’ve now, belatedly, plugged in the heat pad, and I’m going to leave it until I get back from holidays! In my defence I’ve had a lot on my plate over the past week, and I didn’t realise or notice that the brew temperature had gone down to 18 degrees.

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