1 week in - queries about hopping, bottling temperature etc

[Do_you_realise]

Hey,

I am now one week through fermentation in my garage with the water bath and aquarium heater setup. I used a BetterBrew IPA kit with 1.5kg Coopers Light Malt Extract instead of the 1kg brewer's sugar. I will be dry hopping with Motueka and/or Chinook (no idea what Chinook is like but bought some on a whim) in the next night or two just because hops.

First query: with this kit, and considering the (hopeful) extra body provided by using LME instead of sugar... how much Motueka by weight should I dry hop with?? Is it even wise doing this with my first kit? I'm desperate to put my own twist on things sooner rather than later.

Before I dry hop I may siphon 2 or 3 bottles worth of my wort/beer(/whatever it's called at this point?!) from the FV into a cleaned/sanitised 2L Coke bottle, fit the lid lightly, and float this inside the FV to maintain the same temperature but not be affected by the hops, just so I can compare the flavour of the kit to the effect my dry hopping has had.
Second query: is this a terrible idea?!

Hoping to bottle this in a week or two - the BetterBrew packet instructions say 10 days but seeing as I've added LME perhaps I should leave it a full two weeks, or longer, depending on SG readings.

My third and final query is about the ideal conditions (hah!) to condition these bottles in. My garage has averaged about 5 celsius for the past week but the water bath has been at 19-20 celsius throughout. I could move the filled bottles inside the house or to my bedroom but the temperature there is on average still quite low and tends to swing dramatically depending on when we put the heating on, cook, or when I say "sod it" and put the electric heater on in my room.

- What is the ideal temperature for bottle conditioning an IPA kit such as this one?
- Does it matter to have a stable temperature when conditioning?
- How long should they be at temperature before moved into storage (bear in mind that storage will be in the garage, which is quite cold)?
- If a constant and accurate temperature is important I'm considering a last resort of piling my bottles up in the FV, filling it with water, and sitting the FV back in the water bath just to maintain the correct temperature. Any glaring errors with this idea?

Cheers... sorry for the long post!

 

[winelight]

If I was dry hopping I'd chuck them in just after the vigorous fermentation has completed, that is, after about 3 days. As for the amount - a handful. Only bother weighing if you're attempting to get fine and accurate control over absolutely everything so you can repeat your results / change one variable at a time.

Generally though the answer to any "how long..." question is 2 weeks. So leave your FV 2 weeks, leave the bottles in the "warm" for 2 weeks, and so on.

I really wouldn't do the coke bottle thing because of the risk of contamination. Sure you will sanitise it, but then you have to touch it, put it down, etc.

My house temperature is quite low and swings dramatically too, especially at night in cold weather. I really don't think it matters much. Go for 2 weeks before you put them in your garage (which is a great temperature for storage).

 

[LeedsBrewer]

I wouldn't bother floating the 2L bottle in the rest of the beer. I try to minimise any sources of infection. So siphon in the 2L bottle and just bring that inside your house and wrap it up.

Ideal conditions:
Once bottled they need to be around 19C for 2 weeks (stable temps are always a good thing) and then at a cooler temp for at least 2 weeks (your garage will be fine for the cooler bit)

Bottle one in a plastic 500ml bottle so you can feel how well it is carbonating.

Ive known others to use water baths for the bottles and they came out fine :thumb:

oh and with regards bottling. I give it a week fermenting and then check the SG if it looks to be finished I check back in 3 days and if its still the same (usually 1.014 or lower) then i'll cold crash it for a couple of days and then bottle.

 

[calumscott]

CHINOOOOOOOK!!!!!

Best kit beer I've brewed is this with chinook!!! About 35g for a fortnight.

Don't bother with the bottle idea, too risky, if you want to compare just brew another 40 pints! :)