Bulldog, Evil Dog Double IPA

[simcoe soup]

Put this on to ferment on Sunday night. Really impressed with the plastic bag/container for the liquid malt, really easy to warm up in the sink and rinse out. SG at 24 litres was 1062.Got their regular IPA ( Rajas reward) to do next. Got high hopes for both!

 

[IOMMick]

I added my hop teabags to the FV after leaving them in a glass of boiling water for 30 mins yesterday (which was day 7 in FV). Now every time my airlock burps (and it is still bubbling every 10 secs on day 8) I get a big whiff of the hops. I'm no ale connoisseur and don't actually know if I like hoppiness yet or not - but I just hope the finished product tastes different to what it smells like at the minute...

 

[Hulpy]

Bottled this today and it still tastes very sweet but the reading has dropped down to 1005 which means an ABV 7.3%

Its not very clear in the picture but this is very pale, has had a week in the second Fv (solid bung under pressure) with beer finings, and has thrown a lot of sediment.

slightly cloudy in the bottle I'm hopping it will clear after a week and not throw too much sediment in the bottle.

Ive put the last 2.5 litres in a demi john and will syphon off a couple more pints when it clears
All in all Ive got about 45pints from this kit which clocks in at 56p a pint which is very good considering the strength.

In hind site i think i should have used both hopps teabags as its a bit sweet, but hey we live and learn. :hmm:

 

[Trucker5685]

I bottled my Evil Dog nearly 3 weeks ago, it's carbonated nicely (I always bottle 1 or 2 of each brew in a PET bottle so I can squeeze it) and is clearing well (got a couple in clear bottles)
Can't wait to taste it :drink: there's a lot of hype about this kit

 

[IOMMick]

Day 14 this is still bubbling once every 20 seconds or so. I'm getting impatient now :evil:

I've kept it at a pretty steady 18-20c but I ran out of heating oil on Saturday and didn't get the house heated back up until last night, so the temp probably dropped < 10c - but even at that it was still bubbling.

 

[IOMMick]

Had a day off today (day 15) and hoped to bottle, but it was still bubbling and there were still fermentation bubbles forming on top so I think I have to leave it another few days.

My dodgey hydrometer is reading about 1003 at the minute, with a SG of 1061 that makes it about 7.7%.

 

[Beer@22]

Hi all

I started an Evil Dog 8 days ago and it's still fermenting nicely, although I'm only on my third brew (Black Rock Whispering Wheat first, which tastes pretty poor at the mo, and just about to bottle a St Peter's Ruby Red which tastes much better already) so I really don't know what I'm doing :-)

I have not added the hops to the Evil Dog yet as I like a strong hop flavour, so I'd like to add them as late as possible. It's been fermenting at a pretty constant 21C (+/- 0.5C ish), and I'm guessing it's got another few days to go, so should I be adding the hops in the next day or two?

I'm also not sure what to do about letting it clear before bottling. Is it worth racking it off to a keg to get the beer off the trub, and then leave it in a sealed keg for a week or two, then batch prime and bottle? I have a keg with a tap and little bottler, so if I keg it for a week or so, can I then add the priming sugar solution to the top of the keg and bottle directly from the keg, or should I rack it off again on top of the priming solution before bottling? Or should I just leave it in the primary FV to clear, then rack and bottle it? So many questions :-)

 

[IOMMick]

Hi all

I started an Evil Dog 8 days ago and it's still fermenting nicely, although I'm only on my third brew (Black Rock Whispering Wheat first, which tastes pretty poor at the mo, and just about to bottle a St Peter's Ruby Red which tastes much better already) so I really don't know what I'm doing :-)

I have not added the hops to the Evil Dog yet as I like a strong hop flavour, so I'd like to add them as late as possible. It's been fermenting at a pretty constant 21C (+/- 0.5C ish), and I'm guessing it's got another few days to go, so should I be adding the hops in the next day or two?

I'm also not sure what to do about letting it clear before bottling. Is it worth racking it off to a keg to get the beer off the trub, and then leave it in a sealed keg for a week or two, then batch prime and bottle? I have a keg with a tap and little bottler, so if I keg it for a week or so, can I then add the priming sugar solution to the top of the keg and bottle directly from the keg, or should I rack it off again on top of the priming solution before bottling? Or should I just leave it in the primary FV to clear, then rack and bottle it? So many questions :-)

I added my hops day 7 and had a little sample today (day 15) and it tastes extremely hoppy, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

I like high carbonation, so I'm planning on batch priming by putting 150g sugar into a pressure barrel (with a bottler attached) then syphoning straight from the FV and bottling it straight away. I'm just giving it another day or two until the fermentation completely dies as I don't want any sweet tastes. I'm not worrying too much about clearing before bottling - my theory is the yeast will help carbonate it better and the bottles will clear by themselves.

 

[Markdon]

My understanding is if its not clear going in the bottle, it wont be clear coming out of the bottle.

Leave it to finish, then leave it some more. Crash cool to drop out and clear, then bottle, if you are happy with the clarity.

Easier to rack than to fanny on trying to not get sediment from bottle to glass.

My two penneth.

I will be starting this kit soon.

 

[mattyhall22]

My understanding is if its not clear going in the bottle, it wont be clear coming out of the bottle.

Leave it to finish, then leave it some more. Crash cool to drop out and clear, then bottle, if you are happy with the clarity.

Easier to rack than to fanny on trying to not get sediment from bottle to glass.

My two penneth.

I will be starting this kit soon.

None of my beers have been completely clear when bottling but after the initial conditioning periods they have all become crystal clear. There is a very small amount of yeast compacted at the bottom of the bottle, but it doesn't get stirred up when opening or pouring. :

 

[IOMMick]

My understanding is if its not clear going in the bottle, it wont be clear coming out of the bottle.

Leave it to finish, then leave it some more. Crash cool to drop out and clear, then bottle, if you are happy with the clarity.

Easier to rack than to fanny on trying to not get sediment from bottle to glass.

My two penneth.

I will be starting this kit soon.

None of my beers have been completely clear when bottling but after the initial conditioning periods they have all become crystal clear. There is a very small amount of yeast compacted at the bottom of the bottle, but it doesn't get stirred up when opening or pouring. :

+1 - I'm no expert having only bottled 3 batches so far, but every one has been cloudy going into the bottle and has cleared within a few days to a week (the bottles taken from the bottom of my bottling barrel tend to clear the fastest, as in like they clear within a day or two while other bottles take a week, I'm guessing because of more yeast at the bottom).

 

[Beer@22]

My understanding is if its not clear going in the bottle, it wont be clear coming out of the bottle.

Leave it to finish, then leave it some more. Crash cool to drop out and clear, then bottle, if you are happy with the clarity.

Easier to rack than to fanny on trying to not get sediment from bottle to glass.

My two penneth.

I will be starting this kit soon.

Hi Markdon

When you suggest crash cooling, would you add the priming solution and then drop the temperature, or keep it cool for a while and then batch prime and bottle? If I batch prime and then crash cool, I can that it will help the beer to clear, but will there be sufficient yeast left in suspension to allow the beer to secondary ferment when I bring it back into the warm? Surely the point of crash cooling is to cause most of the yeast to drop out as sediment, then it is possible to rack off and leave the sediment behind, but don't I need some yeast for the secondary?

Sorry I'm not trying to be argumentative, just trying to understand the process! Like I said, I'm a noob and know next to nothing, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can. This forum is a great resource, and I really appreciate all the advice I have learnt from some great members on here.

 

[serum]

My understanding is if its not clear going in the bottle, it wont be clear coming out of the bottle.

Leave it to finish, then leave it some more. Crash cool to drop out and clear, then bottle, if you are happy with the clarity.

Easier to rack than to fanny on trying to not get sediment from bottle to glass.

My two penneth.

I will be starting this kit soon.

Hi Markdon

When you suggest crash cooling, would you add the priming solution and then drop the temperature, or keep it cool for a while and then batch prime and bottle? If I batch prime and then crash cool, I can that it will help the beer to clear, but will there be sufficient yeast left in suspension to allow the beer to secondary ferment when I bring it back into the warm? Surely the point of crash cooling is to cause most of the yeast to drop out as sediment, then it is possible to rack off and leave the sediment behind, but don't I need some yeast for the secondary?

Sorry I'm not trying to be argumentative, just trying to understand the process! Like I said, I'm a noob and know next to nothing, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can. This forum is a great resource, and I really appreciate all the advice I have learnt from some great members on here.

My understanding is that you'd crash cool before batch priming. I've done this with Brewferm kits which recommend fermenting, racking to secondary and cooling for a few more weeks to clear, then racking again and batch priming before bottling. It's worked well for me and resulted in less sediment and a clearer beer at the outset. You still have enough yeast to eat up the priming sugar after getting rid of the scum at the bottom.

 

[Beer@22]

My understanding is that you'd crash cool before batch priming. I've done this with Brewferm kits which recommend fermenting, racking to secondary and cooling for a few more weeks to clear, then racking again and batch priming before bottling. It's worked well for me and resulted in less sediment and a clearer beer at the outset. You still have enough yeast to eat up the priming sugar after getting rid of the scum at the bottom.

Fantastic, that's just the sort of info I was hoping for.

Is there a problem with oxygen affecting the beer - after all even with minimal splashing the beer's being moved between vessels a few times and if it's in the cold to clear then it won't be making a whole lot of CO2 to protect itself. Or am I worrying too much?

 

[simcoe soup]

I put the 2 hop tea bags in last night. Straight into the FV, no soaking or steeping. Hoping to bottle on Monday or Tuesday, turning my brewbelt off on Sunday night to let it cool down to 14oc for 24-48hrs. Started the fermentation process on Sunday 12th Jan. It was at 1008 last night with a SG of 1061

 

[serum]

My understanding is that you'd crash cool before batch priming. I've done this with Brewferm kits which recommend fermenting, racking to secondary and cooling for a few more weeks to clear, then racking again and batch priming before bottling. It's worked well for me and resulted in less sediment and a clearer beer at the outset. You still have enough yeast to eat up the priming sugar after getting rid of the scum at the bottom.

Fantastic, that's just the sort of info I was hoping for.

Is there a problem with oxygen affecting the beer - after all even with minimal splashing the beer's being moved between vessels a few times and if it's in the cold to clear then it won't be making a whole lot of CO2 to protect itself. Or am I worrying too much?

I'm not the most experienced brewer but I've done 5 or so of the Brewferm kits like this and never had a problem. I'll always have an airlock on the FV so, apart from a little contact with the air when syphoning, nothing can get at the beer.

If evil dog creates loads of sediment then I'd say it's a very good idea. You can keep it in the existing FV when crash cooling and only rack just before bottling but I racked twice because that was what Brewferm said would work best so I just went with that. It seemed to work well.

The main thing is that you don't want to prime a long time before bottling as the yeast will have eaten up the sugar by then and the beer will be flat.

 

[IOMMick]

Bottled mine last night straight from FV (day 17) - probably should have cold crashed as there was more sediment than I usually see in normal kits at the bottom of the bottles this morning.

How long we all giving it until cracking open a trial bottle? I had a couple of sips last night and it had plenty of flavour, but was a little bit sweet (I had just primed it to be fair), hoping it will dry out a fair bit.

 

[roosterjones]

I think this might be my 2nd brew. Still waiting on the Coopers pale to finish up.

 

[Hulpy]

Have cold crashed and used beer finings dont think we can escape heavy sediment on this one

Am about to do my first ag 1gallon and am intrested to know more about bottles which throw a lot of sediment i suspect the ag crowd will help us on this one? Anyone?

 

[simcoe soup]

Bottled tonight after 16 days. Got down to 1006 so ended up about 7.4%
Tasted a large shot glass full and got to say it tastes better than anything else I've done at this a stage.