Brew 6. Woodeforde's Admiral's Reserve (5.5%)

[Andyhull]

Personally i would leave it for a full 14 days in thr FV.
I usually start checking mine at 10 days in and end up bottling around 14 days, this give the yeast time to clean up the brew of all the by products from fermentation.

What bottles are you useing?

 

[blackdouglas]

I'm using real ale bottle from the supermarket, cannae mind fursty ferret and hobgoblin and that. Picture in orig post. I just checked up on her and she is still pumping out gas. Will leave it a day or two more. I thought bottling time might be yesterday but I'm now thinking friday.

 

[Andyhull]

You could always transfere it over to a secondary FV if you have one to get it off the trub, but it will be fine for another week or two in the primary.
Mine was in the primary on the trub for around 6 to 7 weeks due to time constraints work/family (etc) and was still absolutely lovely, it only lastet 3 weeks once bottled. :drink:

 

[blackdouglas]

I could probably do that now that I have supped the last barrel dry almost now. I was and still am looking forward to priming this one in glass. If the bottles explode then it will be containable and I'm hoping to also maybe lay off the boozing a bit. I started this to save me money, and I have just ended up drinking more so considering scaling down the production and maybe saving up some bottles from Xmas. I know that wont work, but if I can save a few at least each time.

 

[blackdouglas]

Just took another SG reading, slightly lower than before. It's still pumping out gas a week and a half later as well, smeels really strong. I stirred it round a bit to get rid of the froth to take the reading and it was making some noises, a kind of high pitched crackling sound, like you know that space fizz you used to get when you were a kid that crackled on your tongue, aye it was a kind of rice krispies snap, crackle and pop. Really weird. Anyone care to explain what that was?

Anyway thinking of giving it a few more days, maybe sunday. That would be nearly 2 weeks. A bit scared to leave it any longer than that. I think if I had it bottled it already it might be explody bottle time.

 

[blackdouglas]

OK no answer so I am going to bottle this today. I'm scared to leave it any longer. I just looked in the bucket and thought I saw mould on the top! But it was just froth, it's still gassing. And there are still bits of sediment floating in it.

SG has been fairly level for about a week so I think I can take that as an indication that it's safe to bottle.

I have read of some folk leaving their brew in the primary fermentation for weeks, but I don't want to risk it going off.

 

[eggman]

If it's been in the fv for 2 weeks and the s.g reading is stable get it bottled mate :thumb:

:

 

[blackdouglas]

Done.

No major problems apart from 1 bottle which wouldn't cap. Don't use Hobgoblin bottles as they don't work with some bottle cappers.

Still decided what to do with it, whether to decant it into another vessel or plug it with something . I thought about maybe capping a bottle, then opening it and sticking the cap on and then tying something round the bottle to hold the cap in place, and then probably drink that one in a few days as a first sample.

Any ideas?

I think it was time to bottle, maybe a couple of days ago would have been better. The sediment in the bottle of the barrel was more sold than previous brews and didn't smell as fresh.

Edit. I got round the problem of the bottle that wouldn't cap by performing a quick Heath Robinson job with the bottling stick and a small funnel, and used that to decant the contents into another bottle without stirring up too many bubbles.

 

[eggman]

Nice job :party:

 

[blackdouglas]

Thinking about sampling a bottle tonight. They've settled out nicely and are nice and clear. How long does it take for the carbonation to build up? Will they not be ready yet, not quite ready? Maybe they will go off seeing as I might have a left it a little too long in primary fermentation. Not sure.

What do you think?

Should I drink this half bottle of Glen Foyle and then decide?

 

[blackdouglas]

I'll take that as a you decide then.

 

[blackdouglas]

I just cracked open a bottle in the name of experimentation. It tastes good, but not too fresh and not much carbonation. I think I left it too long before bottling.

 

[fbsf]

If it's only been three days since bottling, the carbonation won't have built up yet. Give it two weeks to carbonate, and another two weeks for that CO2 to be properly absorbed into the beer, and I bet it'll taste better.

I always leave my brews for two weeks in the primary, albeit under airlock, and haven't had any problems so far.

 

[Green Ninja]

Yes, you're rushing it.

For good homebrewed beer you need to learn patience.

2 weeks in the warm to carbonate and as for too long in the FV I've left brews 3 weeks in primary before now for the yeasts to clear things up.

After a week and a half move them to somewhere cool (12 degrees or so)

Then leave them a month to 5 weeks MINIMUM as it's quite a strong brew and therefore needs more time to condition.

At 2 months it'll be a corker, but they'll be gone by then.

To prove this ask her indoors to hide one of the bottles and not tell you where it is for a couple of months.

 

[eggman]

+1 to all of the above :thumb:
Nothing wrong with trying one early but don't expect it to taste great after only 3 days. Give it some time and it'll taste great
:

 

[blackdouglas]

Yes I need to learn patience lol I knew it was a bad idea buying that half bottle of whisky. drank 6 bottles. bit flat still but tasted pretty good already! Going to leave them for a few weeks, I mean I am going to try and leave them for a few weeks. Maybe I should go away for a while so I'm not near them

 

[blackdouglas]

Well it's still a bit early I suppose but this is the longest I let any brew mature so learning the art of patience slowly (much to the relief of my internal organs) just cracked a bottle open out the fridge. Very nice, got more body to it. It's as good as anything I've tasted coming out of a can of Tangle Foot. A nice pint of bitter.

So after a few minor hiccups, I think it's safe to say I have now mastered the art of basic home-brewing : Cheers to you guys for all the help and advice :drink:

 

[eggman]

: The longer you leave it the better it'll get, stash a couple of bottles away for a month or so then try it :thumb:
Get yourself some more bottles or another keg and get another brew on and as soon as that's ready get another one on and before long you'll have a good stash of beers that have matured properly
:

 

[blackdouglas]

Been trying that for a while eggman, but keep getting drunk and binging it all away. Can't afford another kit for another week so will have to exercise restraint, see how well that goes. If only I had some nice pipe weed to go along, like in lord of the rings and all that.

Made some progress on shifting the old gut line though, with any luck I'll carry on with just being generally bored with life most of the time until I can get on an exercise high again. Maybe we will get a Scandinavian winter again this year. Nothing like walking through several feet of snow for tightening those old ab muscles.

:drink: :drink: :drink: +some whisky (no further temptation thus far in the evening)

 

[alanywiseman.]

I tried for some time to get a big enough stash that my beers had long enough to mature before drinking them. I only really achieved this when I started brewing 2 at once. Now my beers have a month before tucking in and I am trying to drink only half the batch before starting the next so that i can get bottles of beer that have been maturing for 6 months +.