Can I add a packet of hops to a 40 pint brew of lager

[jMac]

p.s what would you suggest I use them hops on if anything at all? and they go in the freezer now or only once opened?

You can just put them somewhere dark and coolish until you need to open them. Only need to go in the freezer once opened.

As to what to use them in - you’ll probably get as many answers as posters! I don’t know Perle, but looking at hopslist (Perle - Hopslist) suggest they wouldn’t be out of place in a lager style beer. As long as you use moderation (ie. dry hopping with only 15-20g in the whole batch) I’d suggest sticking to your original plan.

 

[Datanode101]

Thanks, ah well then, I guess I shall experiment with them all over the next few weeks.

I was going to ask why do they call it "dry hopping" but google will be my friend...lol

You know when I get the hops, and say do a 20 gram bag, do i just whack it in? they sink don't they? the hops? just wondered about them being in the bag that's all.

Like I read about sprinkling your yeast on the top rather than mixing it in but then I've read about aerating your mix and the yeast for about 5 mins..??


And Q back on temps of the yeast, I'm quite surprised by how low some of them can be made at...! like 18 degrees and stuff! It's defo been a learning curve on here today about that. and the hops! and the sugar!

I was always wrapping my brew up in sleeping bags during the winter months to try and get the temps up to above 20 ish (Which i guess isn't a bad idea) it never drops below say 16 in here with no heating on, anyway, that's another story.

Thanks again.

I just picked up these, god I'm dead excited!

 

[Skyler]

I would strongly recommend always freezing the hops. Yes, assuming they are in a mylar bag that is vaccuum-sealed and/or flushed with an inert gas, they will keep longer than if not, but it is still better to store them at a lower temperature. Is it absolutely essential? Probably not. But if you have space in the freezer anyway, the freezer is the best place for them, followed by the fridge and then a cool dry place.

You just pour the hops right into your beer to dry hop. No stirring (you don't want to add any oxygen to already-fermented beer). When "aerating for five minutes" is appropriate is after chilling your wort, but before pitching yeast (or right when you pitch). It is not really necessary when pitching a pack of high quality dry yeast, as the yeast does not require additional oxygen. However, if you are pitching liquid yeast, or 2nd generation yeast or an off brand of yeast (if that even exists), then aerating your wort or adding some pure oxygen is a recommended best practice. As a beginner, I just recommend buying whatever dry ale yeast your shop sells and adding it to your chilled wort without bothering with any aeration/oxygenation.

 

[terrym]

I was going to ask why do they call it "dry hopping" but google will be my friend...lol
You know when I get the hops, and say do a 20 gram bag, do i just whack it in? they sink don't they? the hops? just wondered about them being in the bag that's all.

Try this instead.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/a-newbies-guide-to-dry-hopping-your-beer.61045/

 

[Datanode101]

This has got to be the first forum I've ever been able to ask dumb questions without being shot down.......Thank You. !

 

[jMac]

This has got to be the first forum I've ever been able to ask dumb questions without being shot down.......Thank You. !

We love the easy questions here - makes us look clevererer than we are!

 

[An Ankoù]

But if you haven't done these kits before its often good to do them as they come to judge how best to improve them , if necessary, next time.

Spot on with that. Otherwise if there's something you don't quite like, you won't know whether it's the kit or the additions. On the other hand, you could split the batch, after primary fermentation, into two smaller fermenters and add half the amount of hops to one of them. Then you'll be able to get a side-by-side comparison.

 

[Datanode101]

Here's one that's sitting on it's 2nd stage of fermentation....

So remind me again on the hydrometer, I've bought that to measure when the home brew has finished fermenting and If i'd taking a reading at the beginning I could have worked out the specific alcohol content? Is that what they are used for?

 

[Datanode101]

Water.....so when all the sugar has been eating then it's safe to bottle...but leaving the home brew long enough would have done the same thing no?

 

[Skyler]

A hydrometer measures the sugar in your wort or beer. Most pre-fermented wort will have a specific gravity ("SG") anywhere from 1.030 - 1.1, or more likely from 1.040 - 1.090. When it is fermented, that number goes down, depending on how much sugar was consumed. Different yeast strains and brewing processes and choices of fermentable ingredients will effect how much of the wort is fermented. Simple sugars (like dextrose/sucrose) ferment ~100% with any commercially-available brewer's yeast. Some ingredients, like crystal malt, will contribute a lot of sugars (like maltodextrin) that will not ferment out, making beer sweeter. Some common malt-based sugars, like maltotriose will be consumed by some yeasts and not others. Still, even those complex carbohydrates that can't be eaten by standard brewer's yeasts will be consumed by certain "wild" yeasts like brettanomyces, which are used in the production of a variety of specialty beers, such as the Belgian Lambics produced by Cantillon in Brussels.

In practice, if your beer is made with 4 kg dry malt extract and has a specific gravity of 1.062 and you ferment it with BRY-97 yeast, you will likely have a final gravity of 1.015. If you measure it and it is 1.016, then you wait two days and measure it again and it is still 1.016, it is done and you got 73% apparent attenuation (that's how much sugar it looks like your yeast ate). You can use those two measurements to determine the alcohol content, using a calculator, such as this one. That beer that went from 1.062 to 1.016 has approximately 6.04% alcohol by volume ("abv").

Now, let's say instead that you used 3.6 kg of dry malt extract and 400 g of plain cane sugar (I think you call it castor sugar), that beer would have a SG of 1.062, the same as before, but the yeast would now eat all that cane sugar, in addition to 73% of the sugars in the dry malt extract. Your SG might be 1.062, but your final gravity will now be 1.015 and your abv will be 6.2%.

My advice to a newbie: measure your SG before you pitch your yeast and note it down somewhere. Then, when your beer appears to be finished fermenting (after a week or so), give it another week or two beyond that point. Then measure your gravity again when you are ready to bottle or keg.

 

[jMac]

View attachment 31059

Water.....so when all the sugar has been eating then it's safe to bottle...but leaving the home brew long enough would have done the same thing no?

Just wanted to say that if that hydro is in water, it appears to be at least 2 points out (possibly 4, although may just be the angle). To me that’s reading about 1.002-4. It should be read at the water line as you look straight through the trial jar, not at the raised circle of water directly around the hydro shaft. Just discovered it’s called the meniscus.

 

[Datanode101]

Thanks so much for the replies, I'd read about where to take a reading with the water level, is this hyrdomter out a lot then? what should it be or where should it be should I say on the scale?

Thanks again for the detailed replies.

 

[terrym]

@Datanode101
First check your instructions to find out if you should take the reading at the bottom of the meniscus not the top. Most are from the bottom, but a few, oddly, are from the top. Your scale looks to be from a Stevenson Reeves hydrometer and they are read from the bottom.
If its meniscus bottom read your hydrometer is reading 1.004 when it should be reading 1.000. It is reading 0.004 too high and so you have to correct your readings by that amount. So if you take a reading and it is 1.020 before correction, the actual reading is 1.016 etc. Its not a major problem just a nuisance
More on reading hydrometers here
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ic-gravity-using-a-homebrew-hydrometer.60895/

 

[Datanode101]

Thanks for this, the guy that sold me it told me this in a PM..

Thank you for your message.
For water the reading should be 1 however, this is at a temperature of 4C, the warmer the water, the higher the reading.
I don't know what temperature your water sample is, but i would think this reading would be correct in the images.

Seems a little odd to measure it a 4 degrees like......LOL

 

[jMac]

Thanks for this, the guy that sold me it told me this in a PM..



Seems a little odd to measure it a 4 degrees like......LOL

That is strange. AFAIK hydrometers are generally calibrated at 20° for general ambient/tap water temp.

 

[Datanode101]

I sent him a message back saying...

Thanks for the message, so are you saying that these are calibrated at 4 degrees, temperature of water, seems rather low....

This calculator now supports different hydrometer calibrations. Look on your hydrometer (or its instructions) and it should tell you. Old hydrometers are calibrated to (59° F / 15° C) and newer ones are typically (68° F / 20° C).

I might be new and that but the manufacturers chill water to 4 degrees to calibrate a hydrometer!

 

[jMac]

Take a look at your hydro at the bottom of the shaft. It should say its calibration temp. Mine is 20°.

 

[dad_of_jon]

This has got to be the first forum I've ever been able to ask dumb questions without being shot down.......Thank You. !

We're a friendly bunch united in our pursuit of great, cheap or great & cheap beer

 

[Datanode101]

Mines the same, so he could possible be telling fibs, it'll be interesting to see what he says as 4 degrees might have been a typo for 20 degrees! LOL

 

[jMac]

Mines the same, so he could possible be telling fibs, it'll be interesting to see what he says as 4 degrees might have been a typo for 20 degrees! LOL

View attachment 31316

I see yours doesn’t say Stevenson Reeves LTD at the bottom. Not that that’s necessarily an issue. Was this an eBay or Amazon marketplace purchase by any chance? Just that if it’s a generic hydrometer rather than a branded one, there might be a higher chance that QA is not as thorough as you’d expect. Even more so if your guy is just a random importer/reseller of mass produced stuff and not someone with a particular interest in the homebrewing scene.