Brewferm Grand Cru

[ArchieMcFluff]

Just looking for some tips regarding Brewferm's Grand Cru.

Started fermenting Grand Cru on Saturday and it has been bubbling away ever since, as I believe it should. My first query is after the first fermentation should I be siphoning the beer into another bin along with the priming sugar before bottling? I keep reading various opinions. If it is best to do this how long should I wait before bottling?

No doubt more questions will follow in the coming weeks.

 

[Monte Cristo]

Hi Archie,
I let my Grand Cru ferment out and then syphoned to a second FV and let it stand for 2 weeks before i bottled it, I then transferred to another FV with my dissolved priming sugar, gave it a gentle stir then bottled it.
I think the instructions recommend this approach if memory serves me correctly.
Brewferm kits are very good but the draw back is they do take quite a while to mature, I made my Grand cru in May and i still think it could do with a bit longer. :hat:

 

[ArchieMcFluff]

Perfect, I will take this approach.

I have read it takes quite sometime for Grand Cru, so want to make sure I do everything as I should. Looks like I will need to purchase another fermentation bin.

 

[Monte Cristo]

If this is your first brew i would get another FV and put a brew of something quicker on and leave the Grand Cru to mature. :hat:

 

[ArchieMcFluff]

Update:

Looks like the first FV has come to an end, hydrometer reading is staying at 1.013. I am thinking of starting the 2nd FV today, would you agree?

In relation to the 2nd FV, do I need to add sugar at this stage or is this only at the bottling stage?

Also, I was considering using coopers tablets when priming, would these be suitable? and I assume its just one tablet per bottler?

Sorry for all the basic questions, just want to make sure my first brew is done correctly.

 

[klaus]

I have done the Grand Cru kit in the past, without secondory, bottled and primed with normal sugar. Agree, the Brewferm kits take a bit of maturing so I would leave the bottles for at least a couple months before first tasting. Come to think of it I have never done the secondary, maybe I am missing something?

 

[ArchieMcFluff]

Almost at the bottling stage and was considering using one coopers carbonation drop in each 330ml bottle to prime.

Would this work ok?

 

[LeithR]

I've never used conditioning drops, I've heard that they are considerably more expensive than sugar so haven't bothered.

My approach is to dissolve 5g/L sugar in a little boiled water - thats for British style beer - for a Belgian I'd be inclined to double that as they tend to be fairly fizzy when drunk.

I've got a pair of Diablo kits to do next week and thats going to be my approach unless anybody with greater knowledge suggests a better approach.

Good luck with your brew! :thumb:

 

[LeithR]

Further update.
I just checked the instructions received with my Brewferm kit. It contains brewing instructions for all of Brewferm kits. It clearly states for the Grand Cru that you make the brew up to 9L with 500g sugar added then add 72g (8g/L) sugar when the SG gets down to 1010 ready for bottling.

Sorry if my previous was a little misleading.

 

[ArchieMcFluff]

I have carbonation drops to use so going to try it with them. Fingers crossed it works ok.

 

[ricardo]

And don't forget to leave it for a year before drinking.......

 

[ArchieMcFluff]

That will be the really hard bit.

 

[LeithR]

A couple of other things to think about before bottling.

Do you know how much one drop of carbonation drops equates to in terms of sugar?

Are you planning to drop one drop per bottle OR are you planning to bulk prime from a bottling bucket by dropping the correct amount for the 9L kit into the bucket before bottling?

 

[ArchieMcFluff]

I was planning 1 drop per 330ml. Adding it to the bottle once full.

 

[LeithR]

The problem with the 1 drop per bottle is that the amount per drop varies and some get more "Conditioning" than others. The best approach is to add the conditioning to a bucket then syphon the brew into the bucket to mix the conditioning agent into the brew. Then all bottles get the same amount irrespective of bottle size.

Many references use sugar as the standard for conditioning e.g. 5g/L for British style beer. HERE is an excellent reference which many of us use in our brewing activities, this is an early version and has been superceeded. The hard edition available from Amazon is the 3rd edition and has more up to date details of different conditioning sugars.