Coniston whatever, advice wanted

[Kingfisher]

I've brewed my first AG batch of using a Coniston Bluebird recipe and added a small amount of Chinook hops at the end. Pictures to follow.

I have ended up with a batch of just over 15 litres from 25l of wort boiled. The brewery isn't complete yet and I couldn't control the boil properly which was quite hard, finished SG is 1050. Can I add water to this to bring it down to around 1036 as suggested or is it best left as it is

 

[Dunfie]

Well done - its the first one that teaches you the most. :clap:

If you are losing too much in your boil you shouldcut down the boil time. Not sure how long you boiled for but if you were getting a good vigourous boil then you could reduce to an hour.

 

[Wez]

Firstly - Nice One!!! :

I have added water after the boil to hit volume and gravity. It's best to add boiled and cooled water for this however I used to regularly get away with adding it straight from the tap

Beersmith dilution tool suggests that to dilute 15L of 1.050 wort to 1.036 you should add 6L so you'll end up with 21L 1.036

Tell us how you get on

 

[russt1969]

You can add water. I think the workings out are as follows.
1.050 to start. You want 1.036. And you have 15Ltrs.
So 50 divided by 36 multiply by 15 Equals 20.83Ltrs

So make the batch up to 20.83 Ltrs and that should give you 1.036.....

Please check it as your adding the water though. Because if my workings are wrong it may be even less....... And at least you'd be able to stop before it gets too low.

Russ

 

[Wez]

:lol: :lol: Nice one Russt I used the old Beersmith disclamer It is good advise to check gravity as you add water - oh and make sure the wort has been well mixed, I find that it is a higher OG at the bottom of the FV until it's been stirred :)

 

[Kingfisher]

Thanks for the quick replies guys My water supply is filtered against chlorine so should not need boiling. The boil time was 90 mins as recommended in the recipe but I may not have taken into account dead space, I'll bear in mind a shorter boil next time. I got about a litre of liquor from under the hop filter which is cloudy. I haven't added it. It's cling filmed in the fridge at the moment. Can that go in when it settles

20-21 litres that sounds better, I must say I enjoyed the day :grin: once again thanks for your help.

K

 

[Kingfisher]

I ended up with 20.5L I could possibly have squeezed a little more but kept it slightly above 1036. I've just had a look at the cloudy wort I took from under the false bottom and tap outlet. Is it worth putting in It's settled now and could be strain, or am I just being greedy

 

[Wez]

Really pleased you enjoyed it K :party:

Re the wort from under the hop filter - i'm not sure if i'd throw it in or not :hmm: adding 6L water aint so bad but then again if 1 of those L were wort it would be better, sorry bud, I'm undecided on that one....actually, no I'd leave it out, better the devil you know (If you've threw it in already though - i'm sure it'll be fine)

Welcome to AG :drunk:


Edit - we crossed posted (wow - cross posting, the forum must be getting busy :grin: )

 

[Kingfisher]

I think you're right W. It's in the compost tomorrow. I've got away with doing this with wine but beer

 

[Frisp]

Bluebird was a great first AG for me. trouble is It has no off switch, so I nearly drown myself when I go near it its a topping pint. You will enjoy it
Well done.
What have you planned for AG#2.

 

[Vossy1]

Glad to see AG brew #1 went well KF

 

[Kingfisher]

Pics of my brewday:

The ad hoc brewery:

Mashing

Exactrocount

Wort chiller

The result L - R The brew Coniston Whatever, Heron Bay Gewurtraminier, Leyland house white. back row TC, rhubarb, elderflower.

 

[Vossy1]

Gr8 pics Kf..love the mashing one...it's kind of freaky :shock: :lol:

 

[Wez]

Yep, great pics, I had to do a double-take at the mashing one :lol:

 

[Kingfisher]

I've now cornied the brew

and put it just above 10psi constantly from the gas bottle. How long should I leave it like this

There was about 3/4 of a pint left so I necked it :drink: It's much better than the "real ale" they sell done the local pub and I can taste the small amount of chinook I put in. It came out at 3.9 ABV. I'm really pleased :party: :party: thanks for the help along the way. :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

and put it just above 10psi constantly from the gas bottle. How long should I leave it like this

If you're confident you have no leaks in your system then you can just leave it attched to the gas and once the beer has been saturated with C02 at that temp it will stop absorbing gas.
If you're not so confident just keep opening and shutting the gas supply every time you pass the set up. After a few days you won't here any more gas escaping into the corny and you have saturation...assuming no leaks.

Remember though that if you chill the corny after saturating it at room temp the pressure will fall as the beer will absorb more C02 cold than when warm, so effectively you have to start the process again.

 

[Kingfisher]

Thanks V1, I've soap tested and not found leaks so I'll leave the gas on. The cornies outside in the garage so the temperature will be lower. How long do you reckon before :drink: :drink: :drink: