First brew after many years "Nut Brown Ale"

[Mr P]

Hi Guys i have just started my first brew after a break of probably 15 years or maybe even a few more :wha: Anyway with kids out of the house i now have more time and space for my own projects.

Anyway i ended up buying 3 kits, the first to get started is this Muntons Nut Brown Ale kit, i was also recommended to buy the enhancer + new fermenting bins and some other bits and pieces

So this then







became this :mrgreen:




Last time i made my own i had varied results from watery tasteless bitter to a horrible lager which became killer 6 months later, this time i intend to take my time let the beer do its thing :pray: and Hopefully collect in Inspiration and ideas from this Forum so i can make something drinkable.
I have a question, maybe i should post this elsewhere but, in the instructions it refers to an option of 2 stage fermentation.
Tranferring to another FV after 2 days. Will this make a big diferance to the final product, is it worthwhile ? any advice appreciated


cheers :

 

[ian808]

Hi mr p I had a few years off brewing and upon starting again stumbled across this forum best thing i'd done. Now fermenting a lot longer which gives a better beer and using spraymalt and enhancer. I move my brew into second FV after about a week and leave for another week you can put into cold to clear I have done this before but not something I bother doing as beer is clear after 2 weeks

 

[Mr P]

Thanks for the reply Ian i shall leave it a week then before moving to the second FV :thumb: I had a look in on this morning going by the plop plop sound it is fermenting nicely, FV temp appears to have risen to 23c


and sorry for the lack of photos the system keeps telling me i am a spammer :nono: So Photos to follow eventually i presume

 

[LeithR]

Morning Mr P and welcome back to brewing after your break. You will find that things have moved on from your previous experiences in that from an amateur brewers perspective there is more in-depth knowledge and access to grains/hops etc available now than in the past.

You will probably end up with a number of Fv's as you progress in your brewing activities, if for no other reason than you will probably want to brew more than one brew at a time. Keep a look out at car boot sales, and on Freecycle/Freegle and you might get lucky, I have amassed far more than I should have done!

There is no absolute need to move the brew from a bucket to an enclosed FV as the brew will while fermenting create a blanket of CO2 above the beer, as long as you don't disturb it too often this will keep the brew sanitised. The phases of brewing are related to the initial phase where the yeast is growing within the brew, there is little evidence that anything is going on but it is, may last 36Hrs. Phase 2 is where the fermentation gets under way and a thick layer of froth known as krausen develops above the beer, you can harvest this and keep it in the fridge for future brews. Phase 3 is when the krausen settles down and it is often at this point when people move the brew into another FV with an airlock (thats my normal practice) if you want to.

To avoid brewing thin beer you can brew short, instead of 23L you can brew to 20L, this will improve the strength and taste of the beer, you can also add additional hops and you can boil up some grains to add if you want to experiment with a kit. This all helps to add to your understanding and may encourage you to move on to All Grain brewing in the future.

Good luck with whatever you attempt and you need to have posted I think 5 or maybe 10 posts before you can post pictures. It helps to deter spammers.

 

[makebeerbehappy]

There is arguments on both sides of the Secondary divide but after researching this myself the most current thinking seems to be that it's not necessary (unless adding fruit etc) and only increases the chance of infection.

 

[ian808]

I use a secondary so I can get primary clean easier as if been in for over 2 weeks it is a bugger to clean

 

[LeithR]

I generally use a secondary vessel because I recover my yeasts from the bucket and re-start ready for my next brew.

 

[beermaker]

I don't use a secondary, but only because I don't have one! Certainly planning to get one for the reasons mentioned above though. At the moment I leave it in the primary and then drop straight into cornies, but a secondary would have the benefits of less trub carried over and freeing up the primary for cleaning and reusing.

 

[Mr P]

Morning Mr P and welcome back to brewing after your break. You will find that things have moved on from your previous experiences in that from an amateur brewers perspective there is more in-depth knowledge and access to grains/hops etc available now than in the past.

You will probably end up with a number of Fv's as you progress in your brewing activities, if for no other reason than you will probably want to brew more than one brew at a time. Keep a look out at car boot sales, and on Freecycle/Freegle and you might get lucky, I have amassed far more than I should have done!

There is no absolute need to move the brew from a bucket to an enclosed FV as the brew will while fermenting create a blanket of CO2 above the beer, as long as you don't disturb it too often this will keep the brew sanitised. The phases of brewing are related to the initial phase where the yeast is growing within the brew, there is little evidence that anything is going on but it is, may last 36Hrs. Phase 2 is where the fermentation gets under way and a thick layer of froth known as krausen develops above the beer, you can harvest this and keep it in the fridge for future brews. Phase 3 is when the krausen settles down and it is often at this point when people move the brew into another FV with an airlock (thats my normal practice) if you want to.

To avoid brewing thin beer you can brew short, instead of 23L you can brew to 20L, this will improve the strength and taste of the beer, you can also add additional hops and you can boil up some grains to add if you want to experiment with a kit. This all helps to add to your understanding and may encourage you to move on to All Grain brewing in the future.

Good luck with whatever you attempt and you need to have posted I think 5 or maybe 10 posts before you can post pictures. It helps to deter spammers.

Moved on you are not kidding a few searches and you allmost drown in info and opinions. Like the second FV iam finding a definate division on the subject. I feel some reading up on the basics will be a must before i start another Brew :hmm: If anyone has any good recommendations ?
Short brew interesting allthough i suppose logical, a little late for this kit as its allready on. As for the FV collection i have a way to go but did buy my third on the way home today :
Post count i better get writing then :mrgreen: The whole forum internet thing does not work well without photos

Thanks for your input

 

[Mr P]

I use a secondary so I can get primary clean easier as if been in for over 2 weeks it is a bugger to clean

Actually this is what the guy in the shop commented on

 

[Mr P]

I generally use a secondary vessel because I recover my yeasts from the bucket and re-start ready for my next brew.

:hmm: This is what i mean by needing to read up !!

 

[Mr P]

I don't use a secondary, but only because I don't have one! Certainly planning to get one for the reasons mentioned above though. At the moment I leave it in the primary and then drop straight into cornies, but a secondary would have the benefits of less trub carried over and freeing up the primary for cleaning and reusing.

Hi beermaker by freeing up an FV we can move onto the next exciting project. I have to ask but whats a cornies

i think that makes 5 fingers crossed i can add photos

 

[beermaker]

Cornies are cornelius kegs - stainless steel kegs which hold 4 uk gallons with gas and beer connections. They're eye wateringly expensive but they're great: easy to clean, strong, long lasting and look very cool and professional! Whats the next exciting project?

 

[pittsy]

welcome aboard , here is a good place to start with reading http://www.howtobrew.com/ :

 

[Mr P]

Cornies are cornelius kegs - stainless steel kegs which hold 4 uk gallons with gas and beer connections. They're eye wateringly expensive but they're great: easy to clean, strong, long lasting and look very cool and professional! Whats the next exciting project?

Thanks i better start saving

Next i have a Danish lager and a India PA kit allready bought in but i really would like to get a Stout on the go first. I started another thread asking for recommendations

 

[Mr P]

welcome aboard , here is a good place to start with reading http://www.howtobrew.com/ :

Hei pittsy thanks for the link :thumb:

 

[Mr P]

Ok as if by Magic i can now add the missing photos

The starting point

and waiting expectantly......

 

[LeithR]

Here's a link one of the best books covering the brewing craft. Its an online early draft version but a very useful link to have. You can get either version 3 or maybe 4 now from Amazon, its certainly worth buying.

 

[Mr P]

Excellent thankyou will get one ordered straight away :

 

[Mr P]

I checked in on this today, day 6 and the fermentation has settled from its frantic beginnings to a more sedate Blop noise from the Airlock once every 50 seconds The Room smells wonderfull too, alot better now than when my son still lived here with his dirty socks left under the bed for a month or two :lol: