first brew bottled

[the_bing]

well, my first brew (a muntons bitter kit) is now bottled.

FG 1.006 (a bit low?)

i've got 37 500ml bottles (shared with my brewing pal). So about 18 beers.

we're planning to crack the very first bottle we filled on 13th December, which is a little over 2 weeks. Just to try it. The others are going to condition longer.

Lets hope none pop whilst conditioning...

 

[dennisking]

I know it's hard but the longer you leave it the better.

 

[MattN]

It is a great feeling isn't it? I didn't wait that long until trying my first one, but as Dennis says, the longer you leave it, the better it is.

Matt

 

[the_bing]

thirsty...

nearly 13 days to go

 

[the_bing]

well, a belated merry christmas and happy new year all! :

ok, so the first batch has all but gone (one bottle left), drunk and distributed to various family members for the festive season. i have also been collecting bottles for the next batch.

After waiting approx 3 weeks, the first drink was, frankly, a little disappointing. Flat. :wha:

But myself and my brewing buddy deduced that after bottling, the beer needed to be stored at a reasonable temperature to allow the second fermentation to occur in the bottle. the fact that the bottles were stored in a chilly garage shows an obvious rookie error.

Bottles duly transferred into the homestead and another taste only 2-3 days later confirmed the error of our ways. Won't be doing that again. So beers were left in the house over christmas and those given to relatives were instructed to keep them indoors for them to condition. But still, after 2-3 weeks indoors, the carbonation wasn't amazing and head retention wasn't good. :wha:

Drank 'em anyway, of course. :drink:

Anyway, my question is: would a FG of 1.006 explain the low carbonation and lack of fizz? Or is it the storage of bottles in a cold garage that is the only thing to blame? :hmm:

as ever, any help gratefully received.

 

[MattN]

How much priming sugar did you use?

 

[mattyhall22]

did you give them two weeks in the warm to condition before putting them in the cold garage?

:thumb:

 

[the_bing]

MattN: i measured out 2 grams for each 500ml bottle. I used normal granulated sugar instead of Priming sugar (as i heard there was no difference). Is this wrong? i was worried about over-sugaring and exploding beer...
either way, i've bought a few kilos of brewing sugar for the next batch..

mattyhall22: no. once bottled, they pretty much got lobbed straight in the garage :whistle:

 

[mattyhall22]

Yeah they need to stay in the warm for two weeks before you put them out, otherwise the yeast ferments really slowly or goes to sleep :thumb:

 

[MattN]

Normal sugar ok and what MattyH said.

 

[the_bing]

duly noted guys! thanks!
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