Evil Dog IPA on the go.

[Andybiker]

Hi Guys,

I kicked off an Evil Dog IPA last Saturday and all seemed good for the first few days.. I had to use a brew belt on and off to try to maintain a decent temp.

Room seems to vary between 16 and 19 degrees. With the brew belt on it shoots up to 26 which seems a bit warm but without it's usually around 20. definitely get more bubbles from the airlock with the brew belt on but was worried about killing the yeast

Its now day 6 and it seems to have slowed a little - maybe every 10 seconds or so without the belt

My question is my FV has no tap or anything so to draw some off to test with the hydrometer do i just open the lid and dip it in or should i use a syphon?

Also as i dont have enough bottles yet and if it's finished soon am i ok to add the hop pellets and leave for a couple of days or can it spoil in the FV if it's finished and sat at room temp for a bit longer than it needs to?

Thanks in advance

 

[Bobtheblob]

I just sterilise a small glass and scoop up a small amount of liquid for the hydrometer.

 

[Duxuk]

It'll now have plenty of alcohol to protect it from infection. I'd be leaving it for at least 14 days in the FV so you could dry hop at 9 or 10 days. Personally I don't think there's any need to rack to a clean FV. Just bottle from what it's in.

 

[Andybiker]

Thanks guys,

Bought 3 bottles of Citra & Proper Job from Tesco today as i needed the bottles and they came with free beer in them.

 

[Andybiker]

Hi all,

Tested gravity today and it's around 1014 so still a bit to go. By my reckoning with the initial gravity around 1060 that makes it currently around 6% I'll test in another few days and then add the hops.

What should the final gravity be so I know when it's done?

Is that when I add the hops and leave for a couple of days before bottling or do I add hops before its finished?

Thanks.

 

[Andybiker]

Bump

 

[Andybiker]

Hi Guys,

Bottled this last Sunday.. had a taste and have to say it tasted a bit funny.



Tried it a couple of days before when testing the gravity and tested ok.

But it just seemed a bit watery and flavourless.. all I had done was added the hop bags 2 days before. Didne even taste hoppy at all.

Hoping my taste buds were a bit off and will come good after 2 weeks secondary fermentation and a couple of weeks in the garage.

All I did was add 1.5 carb drops, fill all the bottles and cap at the end.

Maybe I should have capped as I went along? Could this make a difference?

I'd be surprised.

 

[Rigsby666]

Andy, I brewed this a while back. I took it up to SG 1.080 with some brewing sugar, made it a little short to 35 pints, and also added a hop tea of Cascade when I put it into my keg. I left it to condition for a few weeks and it was absolutely cracking, albeit a bit strong :-)

 

[Kevsan1]

Hi Guys,

Bottled this last Sunday.. had a taste and have to say it tasted a bit funny.

View attachment 21114

Tried it a couple of days before when testing the gravity and tested ok.

But it just seemed a bit watery and flavourless.. all I had done was added the hop bags 2 days before. Didne even taste hoppy at all.

Hoping my taste buds were a bit off and will come good after 2 weeks secondary fermentation and a couple of weeks in the garage.

All I did was add 1.5 carb drops, fill all the bottles and cap at the end.

Maybe I should have capped as I went along? Could this make a difference?

I'd be surprised.

Hi Guys,

Bottled this last Sunday.. had a taste and have to say it tasted a bit funny.

View attachment 21114

Tried it a couple of days before when testing the gravity and tested ok.

But it just seemed a bit watery and flavourless.. all I had done was added the hop bags 2 days before. Didne even taste hoppy at all.

Hoping my taste buds were a bit off and will come good after 2 weeks secondary fermentation and a couple of weeks in the garage.

All I did was add 1.5 carb drops, fill all the bottles and cap at the end.

Maybe I should have capped as I went along? Could this make a difference?

I'd be surprised.

I did this one a month or so ago as my first brew, I had a low reading 1.048 which I think was due to me not really shaking the wort, but who knows. I left it for 12 days then added the hops, I didn’t stir them in very well and it never really had that hoppy taste, when finished it almost had a cider smell, maybe it was infected! Anyway I just started this again and got my first reading of 1.070 som I’m hopeful!

 

[Duxuk]

A cider smell may be acetaldehyde. It's a precursor in the yeast's production of alcohol but sometimes doesn't all get converted. Hopefully all of it will be changed to alcohol during conditioning though I have once had to throw a brew because of it. That was a summer brew so it's possibly connected to fermentation temperature.