Bulldog, Hammer of Thor

[Tean Buns]

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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Thanks for the feedback ... it makes me happy, puts good spin on the weekend. If you are looking to go further, get yourself a book. The John Palmer seems to be the reference at the moment, not that I have read it, I am waiting to pick up a second-hand copy ... tight git. Graham Wheeler's CAMRA book is fine but I find it a bit skimpy on basic technique for the neophyte brewer. I am still a great fan of Dave Line's Big Book of Brewing despite many of the fraternity out there poopoohing it for out of date units, practice etc. Charlie Papazian is great fun to read too. The only drawback with the American authors is that it is a bit hard to get hold of their ingredients, I also find their recipes overly complicated ... even when they are giving recipes for extract brewing. Ramble on ... :hat:

 

[TartanSpecial]

I just racked my off from the primary fermenting vessel into a secondary one with a tap at the bottle, to which I'd already added the priming sugar (100grm dissolved in boiling water and allowed to cool a bit...I know some people use a little more), then a gentle stir to ensure even mixing (don;t want bottles exploding). Then bottled using that little bottler thing I mentioned in a previous post (tube with valve at the end...not necessary but makes things a lots easier and quicker). I find batch priming less hassle. For the Thor it remained cloudy for about a week but is now clear with what looks like a pretty thin compact layer of yeast at the bottom. One thing someone mentioned in another thread was if new to crown capping, practice on a couple of empty bottles to get the hang of it. Mine will go to the cold shed on Monday. Good luck :thumb:

 

[TartanSpecial]

correction 'tap at the bottom'.....

 

[mogger]

So I siphoned the batch from the first vessel into the second and will leave until Wednesday. I took another reading, 1010, box says it should read 1008 so I guess this is ok.
On Wednesday I'm gonna put the batch back into the first vessel and proceed to bottle from there with the sugar added.
I've now got 2 vessels with taps on bottom and a 'little bottler' so I've got all the gear now lets see if I can't mess this up.
YEEHAW!! :drink:

 

[Tean Buns]

So I siphoned the batch from the first vessel into the second and will leave until Wednesday. I took another reading, 1010, box says it should read 1008 so I guess this is ok.
On Wednesday I'm gonna put the batch back into the first vessel and proceed to bottle from there with the sugar added.
I've now got 2 vessels with taps on bottom and a 'little bottler' so I've got all the gear now lets see if I can't mess this up.
YEEHAW!! :drink:

Excellent news ... just make sure everything is clean and you'll be fine. Keep us all posted on how nice your beer turns out. :drunk:

 

[mogger]

Excellent news ... just make sure everything is clean and you'll be fine. Keep us all posted on how nice your beer turns out.

Yeah! Will do. I had a taste from the tester it was alright, little strong but nice. Definitely looking forward to a proper session on it.
I'm also looking forward to bottling for the first time, all part of the learning curve, ended up with an 'Emily' capper, looks like it should do the job. Then to start another ale for the keg. :drink:

 

[Tean Buns]

Excellent news ... just make sure everything is clean and you'll be fine. Keep us all posted on how nice your beer turns out.

Yeah! Will do. I had a taste from the tester it was alright, little strong but nice. Definitely looking forward to a proper session on it.
I'm also looking forward to bottling for the first time, all part of the learning curve, ended up with an 'Emily' capper, looks like it should do the job. Then to start another ale for the keg. :drink:

I don't think you would last long on proper session with the Hammer of Thor, at about 6% ABV it certainly has a kick to it. Just one 75 cl bottle and I'm already rocking ... but maybe I am a bit of girlie when it come to sessions ? :grin:

Learning curve => that's what makes it all so fun ... :drink:

 

[mogger]

O.K... Bottled last night. Didn't have a clue how much sugar to make up so went for 120g which went into 38 x 500ml bottles. I looked on here and someone put 80g in, someone else 150g so I went somewhere in the middle.
The missus is paranoid there will be some kind of explosion, I'm just worried that the caps aren't on properly.
Anyway, I will leave them in the kitchen for a few days and then stick them all in the garage for as long as I can resist.
So now I have 2 empty FV's and an empty keg..... Time for some more ale me thinks. :drink:
Also I've got to add that the bottle tree, rinser and little bottler are definitely money well spent, I couldn't imagine doing it without them.

 

[Tean Buns]

O.K... Bottled last night. Didn't have a clue how much sugar to make up so went for 120g which went into 38 x 500ml bottles. I looked on here and someone put 80g in, someone else 150g so I went somewhere in the middle.
The missus is paranoid there will be some kind of explosion, I'm just worried that the caps aren't on properly.
Anyway, I will leave them in the kitchen for a few days and then stick them all in the garage for as long as I can resist.
So now I have 2 empty FV's and an empty keg..... Time for some more ale me thinks. :drink:
Also I've got to add that the bottle tree, rinser and little bottler are definitely money well spent, I couldn't imagine doing it without them.

Generally 80 gr in a pressure barrel and 150 gr for a 23 litre brew to be bottled ... but it's a bit more complicated than that. I have reduced the dose of priming sugar to 50 gr in the barrel because there is insufficient ullage to store all of the gas, it just gets vented off or I end up with a seriously over carbonated PB. For the bottling, I work on 4 to 5 gr per litre. 4 gr of sugar produces 1 litre of gas, so if you put 4 gr in a litre bottle you'll end up with something like 1 to 2 volumes of gas depending on the residual sugars ... I prefer the lower end, about 1.2 volumes. At 120 gr of priming sugar, you shouldn't have any problems at all with your bottles. And it sounds like your bottling went fine by the very fact that you have not mentioned any disasters ... excellent. :hat:

 

[TartanSpecial]

Mogger, glad the bottling went OK. I don't have a bottling tree but it is next on the list of things to buy. Your 120 grams should be fine. I was a bit paranoid about the first crown capped bottles I'd done for decades, but they seem to be OK, so yours should too. I'm planning to sample my Thor on 21st March will post with comments then.

 

[Tean Buns]

The final comment on this kit ... it is a success, my guests are actually asking to drink the same beer as they had last time, which is the The Hammer of course. That about says it all for me. :thumb:

 

[mogger]

The final comment on this kit ... it is a success, my guests are actually asking to drink the same beer as they had last time, which is the The Hammer of course. That about says it all for me.

Excellent!
So now mines been bottled how long do you reckon I'll have to wait for the same response from my guests?
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[Tean Buns]

The final comment on this kit ... it is a success, my guests are actually asking to drink the same beer as they had last time, which is the The Hammer of course. That about says it all for me.

Excellent!
So now mines been bottled how long do you reckon I'll have to wait for the same response from my guests?
:

I had to wait two months before the beer stabilised but it was very drinkable after just one month. At two weeks the beer was still very green and had bubble gum like flavours and sweetness ... it was still fun trying it tho'. :drink:

 

[Tean Buns]

The real test is today, I have lots of people coming round for a curry and a booze up. There is a fridge full of Heineken downstairs ... will my guests actually ask for the Hammer when they know there are tinnies of H to be had instead ? And, will any of them be adventurous enough to try some of my more difficult brews ? The proof of the beer is in the drinking so they say, I will find out this afternoon. :whistle:

 

[Tean Buns]

Not one tin of Heineken was drunk ... success. There are only three bottles of the Hammer left now, it looks like I will have to buy another kit. :drunk:

 

[9bz]

Not one tin of Heineken was drunk ... success. There are only three bottles of the Hammer left now, it looks like I will have to buy another kit. :drunk:

that's great news iam just about to try my thor its been 5 weeks now . this was my first kit. so hope its going to be a great drink... #80)

 

[Tean Buns]

that's great news iam just about to try my thor its been 5 weeks now . this was my first kit. so hope its going to be a great drink... #80)[/quote]

Let us know how it goes, as said in previous posts, mine took two months for the beer to stabilise.

One of my neighbours had at least four 75 cl bottles on Saturday ... he had problems getting up the front steps at the end of the evening, it's not called the Hammer for nothing. And I had another count of all the bottles that were left down in the cellar on Sunday morning ... there are none, I had to count them twice but there are definitely none, it looks like I am going to have to be ordering another kit.

And incidentally, I see you are from Cornwall, I am from Devon originally. Enjoy your beer. :drink:

 

[9bz]

@ tean Buns my beer turned out to be a nice pint
dark golden blonde color with a great head and fiz to it
a bit hoppy but after 1/2 pint it was going down fine
the second pint was a treat to drink liked it alot. then i felt the hammer. #80)
will give the rest two more weeks then try a few more

 

[Tean Buns]

@ tean Buns my beer turned out to be a nice pint
dark golden blonde color with a great head and fiz to it
a bit hoppy but after 1/2 pint it was going down fine
the second pint was a treat to drink liked it alot. then i felt the hammer. #80)
will give the rest two more weeks then try a few more

It's funny you got hops coming out, mine was mostly fruity, nothing hoppy at all. but that could be due to it being done with the brew belt on ... the fermentation happened at 18°C ... who knows ?

Enjoy your beer ... I am getting revved up for the next brew day, I have got two barrels free and a shed load of bottles, I could probably put sixty litres through no problem ... but the next one will be AG. :hat:

 

[mogger]

Hammer of Thor is gonna be good me thinks!
Sampled a couple this weekend and they were well on the way to being a really nice pint.
Already pretty clear after just over 3 weeks, little bit of fizz on opening, nice bit of froth and tasted quite good already. A bit "homebrewy" but I'm sure that will go leaving a cracking pint.
Updates to follow.....

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