Feeling Hoppy

[YouFUMS]

Got my 'Feeling Hoppy' kit brewed on Monday. I added a jar of Holland and Barret malt extract (450g) to the brew and brewed slightly short at 21 litre. OG was 1.052. It is bubbling away nicely now in the spare bedroom at 22 degrees. The hops supplied are Amarillo, but not much of them, so thinking of adding extra hops. Anyone know which hops would compliment Amarillo?

 

[Rover69]

How did the feeling hoppy go Andy and Youfums? Did you add more hops Guns?
Wife gave me feeling hoppy for Crimbo and wondering which hop would be best as an addition,also yeast as seems kit yeast not much use.

 

[Rover69]

Sorry Fums not Guns.

 

[Pablosaurus]

Andy, I would advise that you put your bottles somewhere safe. Are they glass bottles? 1 teaspoon of sugar per bottle - on top of a brew that may not have fully finished the primary fermentation - could lead to bottle bombs. I.e, the pressure build up could cause the bottles to explode, so put them in a reasonably warm room (20 degrees), but put them on an old towel, with another on top of them.

The rule of thumb for brewing is 2 weeks (14 days) for primary fermentation. You have just done 11 days by my calculation. then another 2 weeks secondary in the bottles in a warm place for carbonation. then finally 2 weeks in a cool place for conditioning (clearing). So 6 weeks in total.
I know it's a balls-ache as you want to be enjoying your beer ASAP, but your patience will be rewarded. Also now you've got a fermentation vessel (FV) free....you can start your next one

This is good advice, Andy. If you've kept your bottles around a warm house, I'm guessing your secondary fermentation should be nearly done now, so if nothing's gone pop, you're probably in the clear.

What you might find, however, is that your beer 'gushes' like a shaken coke can when you open it, so once it has cleared, try a few over the sink, pet or partner's head, before you put your feet up with the bottle opener.

I love your honesty in this thread - the excitement/impatience of the first few brews is all part of the fun - but the advice to be patient and meticulous is really worth heeding. It's a good idea to keep the work rolling too, then after your third brew (or so) you'll always be drinking beer that's properly conditioned so are less likely to tuck into the younger stuff prematurely.

Having a frankly ridiculous amount of awesome beer also qualifies you as a total badass. But I'm sure you know this already. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Rover69]

I mistakingly brewed my hammer of Thor short, 21 litres,marker was squint on fv.As didn't want to strong I bottled at 1.012 starting at 1.064.Aroma was lovely when bottled.I checked gravity at 11 days and tasted sweet but nice,another check at 12 days and sweetness gone replaced by lovely hoppiness.On day 12 of second ferment
then two month conditioning, hopefully not all foam when eventually open bottles.

 

[Pablosaurus]

@Rover69 - be careful with the idea that you can control the strength of the brew by bottling before the fermentation is complete - it doesn't really work like this; the fermentation will just continue in the bottle instead (powered by your priming sugar), so you'll end up with the same strength anyway, and you introduce the risk gushing/exploding beer.

Better to add some more water to the FV (check the temp is 18-20 before you do) when you realise it's too short, or just accept that you're going to have a stronger beer (no great hardship really). I haven't done the calculations, but 2ltrs short won't make a huge impact on the abv - I'd guess at less than 0.5%.

 

[Rover69]

Yes Pablo,I was thinking if left to full ferment then added the priming sugar it would end up at about 12 to 15 %.Hoping now that will be around 8 or 9% after second ferment.The gushing I know about so hoping a long condition will help that.It was 1.012 for two days running so will just have to see how it pans out.

 

[Rover69]

Hoping that being same fg two days running fermentation had stopped,very little activity in airlock.

 

[Pablosaurus]

Yes, if it was stable for a couple of days you should be fine.

 

[Rover69]

Very clear after 12 days of second ferment,in front bedroom which is 20c constant.

 

[Rover69]

So no idea what going to happen when cold crashed.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Yes Pablo,I was thinking if left to full ferment then added the priming sugar it would end up at about 12 to 15 %.Hoping now that will be around 8 or 9% after second ferment.The gushing I know about so hoping a long condition will help that.It was 1.012 for two days running so will just have to see how it pans out.

I have a suspicion you’ve made a mistake calculating your alcohol level. The alcohol level is the number of points fermented x 0.13125 so if your beer started at 1.064 and finished at 1.012 you will have

64 - 12 x 0.13125 = 6.83%

The priming sugar makes very little difference and will maybe add up to 0.1%

 

[Rover69]

Yes 6.83% was what the forum calculater said, didn't realise the fermenting sugar made so little difference.definate start of 1.064 and end of 1.012 .

 

[Rover69]

I was also going on like you said it might not have finished fermenting,but if two days at 1.012 hopefully had.I was going by other posts for the two day in a row same reading then bottle.

 

[Rover69]

Sorry ,what Pablo said about if still fermenting in fv be same when bottled.