Bulldog, Hammer of Thor

[Tean Buns]

I forgot that I had some of this in the fridge in the garage until the other day, so I went and took a couple of bottle`s out, they had been in there for 7 months and wow they were really nice, glad that I forgot them, but alas now there is only one left, so I might just pop and have it now, :drink:

Go for it ... tomorrow in the worst case scenario could be too late !! :grin:

 

[Tean Buns]

I bought this one to serve to my neophyte guests, and yes it works, they like it. :party: But I am not going to convert them to the Dark Side of the Force for a while ... my Target ESB is just a bit too much :sick: ... for the moment, but little do they know the power of the Dark Side of the Force.

 

[mogger]

I too bought this in the hope of getting a few other people interested in drinking my brew rather than just me and it sounds like it might just do the trick.
I noticed that this post started with 'kegbelly' saying his went into a keg. Can I get away with doing the same or do I have to bottle? Can I bottle some and keg the rest?
I take it this particular brew isn't a lager lager if you not what I mean.
Also as I am very new to this can anyone recommend the best type of bottles?

Nice to meet you all anyway.

:drink: : :drink:

 

[Tean Buns]

I too bought this in the hope of getting a few other people interested in drinking my brew rather than just me and it sounds like it might just do the trick.
I noticed that this post started with 'kegbelly' saying his went into a keg. Can I get away with doing the same or do I have to bottle? Can I bottle some and keg the rest?
I take it this particular brew isn't a lager lager if you not what I mean.
Also as I am very new to this can anyone recommend the best type of bottles?

Nice to meet you all anyway.

:drink: : :drink:

I bottled mine because it is easier to get the stuff carbonated. I can also put a 75cl bottle in the fridge for guests who assume beer is meant to be chilled. I can't put a pressure barrel in the fridge. When you say 'keg' do you really mean keg or pressure barrel ? With a keg there'll be no problem getting the beer carbonated correctly, with a pressure barrel it'll be flatter and not very lager like at all. I often bottle some and put some in a pressure barrel ... just to see if it makes much difference to the taste ... and I find it a lot easier hiding a bottle away for a couple of months to see how it conditions up ... pressure barrels seem to go down at an alarming rate.

Bottles : if you are running on a tight budget, then you can always use re-cycled plastic lemonade bottles ... make sure they have been well cleaned and sanitised before bottling of course. There are numerous flaws. PET bottles allow oxygen to sneak in, they are not very good for keeping the beer any serious length of time. They are also clear so you will need to keep them seriously protected from any light sources, UV makes beer go skunky. When I have used them, I just wrapped them up in old newspaper, glued the lot into place and shoved the bottles in a nice dark cupboard. You can not rinse them out with boiling water ... so you do not have the 'belt & braces' of sanitiser + boiling water rinse to make sure they are totally clean.

Personally, I just bit the bullet and bought myself about 120 x 75 cl brown glass bottles and a bench capper. The bottles take 26mm crown corks, they really look the business and they are perfect for keeping beer. They are all the same size, so I have just set up the capper once ... no hassle. You can also buy swing-top bottles but you have to pay attention to the washers when cleaning them.

You can always use recycled beer bottles. The disadvantage is that you'll end up with different sized bottles and will either need a lever capper or worse a hammer capper. Most commercial beer bottles are not very big, that means you will be doing a lot more washing and bottling for the same volume of beer.

Hope that answers a few of your questions :hat:

 

[mogger]

Thanks Tean Buns.
I am literally using the beginners kit that I got for christmas, 1 FV and 1 Pressure Barrel, that'll do me to get started.
I think I'll have to just go down the glass bottle route. The only place I can really store the stuff will be either in my outhouse, which gets really hot in the summer and really cold in winter, or my garage and then of course the fridge.
Can anyone tell me if I'm on the right path with this brew?
I started it last Tuesday with a hydrometer reading of 1.060, the airlock went mental for a couple of days and then completely died off.
I put the bag of hop pellets in on Sunday and took another reading, this time 1.020, so something must be working, airlock started bubbling again for a few hours then died again.
Today took another reading just now, 1.012 and again the thing has started bubbling again.
Sound O.K?
I am preparing to fail on this one as my first batch went so well but I had a little taste and it seems alright. I'm on the last couple of pints of my first lot now, was meant to wait till my birthday in March before starting and now it's nearly all gone. :drink:

Mogger.

 

[Tean Buns]

Thanks Tean Buns.
I am literally using the beginners kit that I got for christmas, 1 FV and 1 Pressure Barrel, that'll do me to get started.
I think I'll have to just go down the glass bottle route. The only place I can really store the stuff will be either in my outhouse, which gets really hot in the summer and really cold in winter, or my garage and then of course the fridge.
Can anyone tell me if I'm on the right path with this brew?
I started it last Tuesday with a hydrometer reading of 1.060, the airlock went mental for a couple of days and then completely died off.
I put the bag of hop pellets in on Sunday and took another reading, this time 1.020, so something must be working, airlock started bubbling again for a few hours then died again.
Today took another reading just now, 1.012 and again the thing has started bubbling again.
Sound O.K?
I am preparing to fail on this one as my first batch went so well but I had a little taste and it seems alright. I'm on the last couple of pints of my first lot now, was meant to wait till my birthday in March before starting and now it's nearly all gone. :drink:

Mogger.

Sounds like everything is going fine to me ... 1012 is brill, even better if you can get it down to 1008. The addition of hops, pellets in particular, always helps the CO2 come out of solution, sounds like it's all going brill. I left mine in the FV for at least two weeks and added gelatine finings about three days before bottling ... the beer was perfectly clear. And I have absolutely no problems with a beginners kit ... I have got a friend started over here, he has just one bucket and a stash of plastic lemonade bottles, he's gradually collecting re-cycled swing-top bottles but it is taking some time. Space and cash are at a premium for him but he is still doing his HB ... and it's a brill hobby.

Temperatures ... one of the best bit of kits you can invest in is a sticky LCD thermometer that you wang onto the side of your bucket ... half the battle of getting your brew into decent form is getting the brew into the correct fermentation temperature range and keeping it constant.

Storage temperatures ... if you can find somewhere where temperatures are pretty constant it would be better. Make your wife happy and stash it all under the bed !!! :grin:

 

[TartanSpecial]

I think you're on the right path....mine went down to 1.009 after about ten days. Won't do any harm to leave a few days longer. I bottled all of this batch because I want it for summer and my king keg sits in the garage which will be a bit too warm for lager in spring/summer. I might do another batch of Thor next November and bottle 5 or 6 ltr's and keg the rest...December and January should be a reasonable lager temperature in the garage weather permitting.
I'm currently doing a Wherry kit which will go into the pressure keg (plus a few bottles) when its done. Then plan Wilko golden ale and st Peters Ruby for the keg.
If you are bottling, one of those 'little bottler' thing make life a lot easier.

 

[TartanSpecial]

...so I'd say, bottle the lager and get another brew on quick of some ale to go into the pressure barrel. :

 

[Tean Buns]

...so I'd say, bottle the lager and get another brew on quick of some ale to go into the pressure barrel. :

Yep ... good idea that one ... times of beer and no money see you through better than times of no beer and money ... get those stocks up. :whistle:

 

[IOMMick]

Started this one on February 3rd and it's still in the FV, albeit been in the garage cold crashing for 9 days as I've been on holiday. Will bottle tomorrow, have a little trial sip and get some photos up.

 

[TartanSpecial]

I bottled mine on the 18th Feb (started on same day as you) and is currently stored at 20 deg c (luckily we put underfloor heating in when expanding the kitchen..its ideal for brewing since keeps a constant 20 deg C +/- 1 deg 24 hrs a day...until summer that is) will move to the shed next Monday. Will leave a couple of weeks before tasting, but am pretty confident it will be good.

 

[Tean Buns]

I bottled mine on the 18th Feb (started on same day as you) and is currently stored at 20 deg c (luckily we put underfloor heating in when expanding the kitchen..its ideal for brewing since keeps a constant 20 deg C +/- 1 deg 24 hrs a day...until summer that is) will move to the shed next Monday. Will leave a couple of weeks before tasting, but am pretty confident it will be good.

Mine was in the bottle for six weeks before it started coming into form, it's up to nine weeks now and the beer seems to have stabilised ... who knows, it could carry on getting better, only time will tell.

 

[IOMMick]

Didn't take any photos as nothing exciting was happening but it's all been bottled today with 170g of priming sugar (I upped priming a bit as I had a taste from the FV and it was completely-utterly-dead-flat, unlike the Evil Dog which held much more of its carbonation).

Despite cold crashing for 9 days I struggled to keep the sediment out of the syphon going into my bottling barrel - there was shooting sediment flying upwards in the FV as I syphoned which made the beer so cloudy I struggled to see enough to keep my syphon out of the trub. So yeah the bottles are cloudier than I would want, will wait to see how they clear.

 

[Tean Buns]

Didn't take any photos as nothing exciting was happening but it's all been bottled today with 170g of priming sugar (I upped priming a bit as I had a taste from the FV and it was completely-utterly-dead-flat, unlike the Evil Dog which held much more of its carbonation).

Despite cold crashing for 9 days I struggled to keep the sediment out of the syphon going into my bottling barrel - there was shooting sediment flying upwards in the FV as I syphoned which made the beer so cloudy I struggled to see enough to keep my syphon out of the trub. So yeah the bottles are cloudier than I would want, will wait to see how they clear.

Shame for the sediment, mine was absolutely crystal clear but I did fine with gelatine at the quarter gravity mark. I am surprised too, the yeast cake was totally compact in mine ... let us know how the beer comes out, it'll be interesting to see what happens. :hat:

 

[mogger]

Thanks for the advice. :
I have gone for it and bought 50 brown glass bottles, caps, capper and also invested in a drainer and rinser. I've got sterilizer, sugar and siphon tubes. Is there anything else I need before I go for it on Saturday? Do I have to rack the brew into a second vessel to add the sugar? Buy more stuff!!!!
I was gonna buy another kit to go in the barrel but it depends on how much I spend on bottling this lot.
:

 

[Markdon]

I always rack before bottling, then leave in the shed for a week before the big day, anything to reduce sediment.

At a push you could get a bucket / bin/ container that holds 23L, clean and sterilise it, rack to it, clean out & sterilise the original fv, than rack back into it?

 

[Tean Buns]

Thanks for the advice. :
I have gone for it and bought 50 brown glass bottles, caps, capper and also invested in a drainer and rinser. I've got sterilizer, sugar and siphon tubes. Is there anything else I need before I go for it on Saturday? Do I have to rack the brew into a second vessel to add the sugar? Buy more stuff!!!!
I was gonna buy another kit to go in the barrel but it depends on how much I spend on bottling this lot.
:

Wow ... I know it hurts financially but I am fully convinced that it is good investment. You might well find yourself drinking some of the brew in November and you will certainly be using the bottles again. If you can rack the beer off for a few days into a secondary that would be great, hence the relative need for a second bucket but it is not absolutely necessary. My buckets have taps on the bottom, this helps with bottling even if I haven't racked, I can wait until the beer is absolutely clear and then bottle. Fining with gelatine three days before bottling helps enormously. If you don't have a tap on the bucket, then it is going to be a lot more difficult to get the beer totally clear unless you rack off and then syphon from the 'clean' bucket, but it is not indispensable. After all, you are only brewing a kit, most of it will probably get drunk before the yeast has time to start giving off flavours and if you really do have to pour a couple of old bottles down the sink, considering the price difference between a second bucket and even a pint in the pub ... you are going to be a winner all the way. Dave Line sums it all up for me ... roughly in his words, home-brewing is a trade-off between convenience and quality. Given the choice, in your situation ... I would rather get another kit and wait for the second bucket to arrive when it's ready. Sorry, got onto a bit of a ramble on that one ... hope it's helpful. :hat:

Priming ... this is one of the old chestnuts. To batch prime or prime each bottle. Batch priming requires racking off into a bucket with your sugar and then bottling immediately. If you have already racked into secondary, this means a third racking. Each transfer increases the risk of the beer becoming infected. Individual bottle priming on the other hand reduces the risk of infection but achieving consistent carbonation is more difficult, the difference between 4gr per litre and 5 gr per litre if you are measuring out the sugar with a teaspoon ... well, it's a bit hit and miss. Personally, I prefer to prime each bottle, I calculate the amount of sugar I need and then boil up a syrup. For example, for a 25 litre brew, I boil up enough for 30 litres with 30 tablespoons of water. All I need to do is add 1 tablespoon of sugar syrup to each litre bottle. The extra is there for when I inadvertantly give the saucepan a kick ! Hope this has all been helpful ... happy home-brewing :hat:

 

[mogger]

Thanks again!
Now please excuse me if I sound thick but I really don't want to screw this up.
So I get another vessel (with a tap on it), siphon the batch into that, leave a few days and then bottle? Does the sugar solution go in that second vessel then or do I add the sugar just before bottling?
Initially I was under the impression that I was going to bottle straight from the first vessel once fermenting had finished but I am willing to listen and take in all the advice I can get here. Much appreciated.
If I started it on the 18th and move it to the second vessel tomorrow that will be 11 days fermenting, is that too long?
:

 

[Tean Buns]

Thanks again!
Now please excuse me if I sound thick but I really don't want to screw this up.
So I get another vessel (with a tap on it), siphon the batch into that, leave a few days and then bottle? Does the sugar solution go in that second vessel then or do I add the sugar just before bottling?
Initially I was under the impression that I was going to bottle straight from the first vessel once fermenting had finished but I am willing to listen and take in all the advice I can get here. Much appreciated.
If I started it on the 18th and move it to the second vessel tomorrow that will be 11 days fermenting, is that too long?
:

Not thick at all, just never done it before. You have two choices.

Number 1 you can bottle directly from the primary but it is not very good practice, you invariably end up with a lot of surplus yeast in the bottle and it doesn't keep well. But that doesn't mean that you can't do it. You can get round the problem of surplus yeast by fining with gelatine and then waiting for the beer to drop perfectly clear. If the bucket doesn't have a tap, then use your standard siphon tube with the sediment trap on the end, I'm sure your beginner's kit came with one, they usually do. Use some sort of clip to keep the tube in just one place so that the siphon doesn't waggle about in the bucket and stir up the yeast cake. It would be useful to have a bottling nozzle valve thing if you are doing it that way. It's a doodah that you stick on the end of your siphon tube and all you have to do, once your siphon is running, is to insert it in the bottle, push down on the tube and the bottle fills automatically. When you release the pressure, the beer stops running. IF you do have a tap on the bucket, then all you need to do is fit a short piece of sanitised tubing on the tap and away you go, you can bottle directly and not mess around with getting a siphon going. I find it much easier than messing around with siphons. If you bottle directly from the fermenting bucket, then you will need to prime each bottle individually. If you start mixing the sugar into your brew in the bucket, you will just stir up the yeast cake, that is a definite no-no.

Number 2 and this is your better choice, siphon your beer from your fermenting bucket into a secondary vessel of some sort. You don't need to worry about some of the gunk going up the siphon tube because you are going to let the beer clear in the secondary vessel and it will have been removed from its yeast cake. Once the beer has cleared, either bottle using a siphon or using a tap, as you see fit or according to what kit you have available. At this point you can choose to either batch prime or prime each bottle individually. Batch priming requires transfering into another vessel (the third transfer) and you mix all of the sugar up in the third vessel and bottle immediately. Or you forget the third transfer and bottle directly from your secondary vessel but you prime each bottle individually. This is what I do. Your secondary vessel could always be your pressure barrel, just make sure it doesn't pressurise the beer, you need to loosen the cap before bottling to make sure the beer is flat.

Choose the method that best suits your kit and your wallet ... you don't have to use a bucket with a tap, you don't have to rack into a secondary. I do it that way because I find it easier ... but each to his own.

I hope that was clear enough for you. I'll keep going if it hasn't been clear enough

and it's the week-end ... woo hoo. :drink:

 

[mogger]

I get it! So the general idea is to get as much of the sediment away from the beer before bottling. See they don't put stuff like that in the instructions do they but I guess the thing with the kits is to make them look as easy as possible to make a brew.
I think I'm gonna go the long route on this and see how clear I can get it.
Get more involved this now, I love it!
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