A hello and a showcase of my first solo AG brew

[dennisking]

Personally I think we could do with hearing more of Ricks secrets. :whistle:

 

[neilpcraven]

Personally I think we could do with hearing more of Ricks secrets. :whistle:

None of us have got the time for that :P

 

[Dads_Ale]

Looking good. :thumb: . Not so much the Brahma but Lowenbrau glass that makes me shudder. Reminds me of Romford brewery and TW pubs. :sick:

I used to live near the Lowenbrau bar in Sydney. I guess this glass followed someone home last night and it ended up in my hands. Don't care much about the logo but do like the fact it holds a litre :)

You can never have too many litre lager glasses

Great write up by the way

 

[neilpcraven]

A brief update:

Last night I had a quick poke at it to measure the current gravity, to start measuring if fermentation is complete. I used a refractometer (to avoid wasting volume) and adjusted using Northern Brewer's calculator. Putting in the current brix of 7.1, and the starting value of 13.9 it tells me my gravity at the moment is 1.010. Even if it's not super accurate, I'm happy with that since an 80/- doesn't need to be super strong or super dry. I will verify with a hydrometer at bottling time.

My abv is too high for an 80/- but I guess that was to be expected given the OG - I could (should?) have added water after the boil to take the gravity down more into style.

I gave it a taste. It tastes quite 'hot' and green but no overpowering off-flavours and the Special B hasn't made it taste completely of plums which is a relief.

I pushed the temp up to 17 C (63F) on the thermostat, since I expect it's not generating as much heat internally as it was. Will bottle it on Saturday, all being well :)

Now: Here's an important question: :wha:

Do I bottle this as a typical brown ale with about 2 volumes of carbs, or do I treat this like a cask ale and put it in a polypin (which I will like but might upset the locals) and carb lower? I could do 50/50 split, but then I'm going to regret wasting beer on whichever was the 'lesser' option.

 

[DirtyCaner]

Hi mate,

Personally I would bottle it. How many litres do you have?

A polypin is an idea but really, you want a hand pump for it.

DirtyC

 

[neilpcraven]

It's pretty much 5gal in the primary right now. I have a 10L polypin which is roughly half.

You reckon a beer engine is necessary for a polypin? Would gravity not be good enough?

 

[DirtyCaner]

Gonna be a bit flat mate.

I would siphon off to bottling bucket and simmer 80g sugar in a little water. Then chuck it in bucket then bottle. Or do half and half.

Up to you

 

[neilpcraven]

Gonna be a bit flat mate.

I would siphon off to bottling bucket and simmer 80g sugar in a little water. Then chuck it in bucket then bottle. Or do half and half.

Up to you

Cask ale is a bit flat :P
I'll see how it is when it comes out the fermenter and decide then, I suppose.

 

[DirtyCaner]

Ok bud, let us know how you get on.

Bring a bottle camping this year? Seeing as is your first ag...

 

[neilpcraven]

Might just do that - let's hope it doesn't float away or get drunk by a fox this year.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Hi, have you tried http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/ for the refractometer. I found it gives more accurate results.

 

[neilpcraven]

Hi, have you tried http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/ for the refractometer. I found it gives more accurate results.

I had found it but not tried it. Guess I'll give it a go and see how it compares to reality.

This stuff hasn't stopped being munched yet though - had another look today and there's definitely still airlock activity.

Patience, Craven, Patience!

In an effort to stop poking at this one I am going to kick off a saison that doesn't need to live in the fridge while it ferments. Not sure that's gonna help, mind!.