First brew questions.

[damienair]

Hello all,

I am a complete newbie and just joined this Forum yesterday. I started my very first kit brew on Monday evening. It is a Simply Lager which I got with a starter set up. I got two Fermentation Buckets in the starter kit, one with and one without a tap. I started the brew in the Fermentation Bucket with the tap as thought it would be best for taking gravity samples at the end. I will not be bottling for another week yet, but I was wondering if I should syphon from the current FV or is it OK to bottle direct from this Fermentation Bucket using the tap and a bottling wand? The tap should be well above the sediment, but don't know if it would be cleaner to syphon or not. I would have to syphon from one bucket to another and back again after cleaning and sanitizing the bucket with the tap.

Another silly question - Do you have to change the self-adhesive Liquid crystal thermometer each time or do they last for multiple brews?

Many thanks,

Damien

 

[Banbeer]

I always used to bottle from the FV that I brewed in as mine also had a tap and I used a bottling wand but if you want to batch prime then you may want to use the other FV for that? and for the thermometer strip they last years, I still have one on mine from 15+ years ago.

 

[Doive]

Welcome to the forum, exciting to be making your first brew. As @Banbeer has said, your thermometer will last for decades if looked after. When I used to bottle (have moved on to kegs now) I would always transfer from the primary fermenter into another fermenter onto the priming sugar solution, to avoid the hassle of individually priming the bottles. In your case you have a bucket without a tap - I would be inclined to do the primary fermentation in this, and use the other bucket for the batch priming, and siphon into that in future. As you are already in the bucket with the tap, this time round you could pour directly from the one with the tap into the one without the tap to batch prime, clean the one with the tap, and siphon back into it for bottling. Also in the future, it would definitely be worth adding a tap to the other bucket to make things easier.

 

[damienair]

Thanks so much for your speedy replies. I have Muntons carbonation drops for this one so I will not be batch priming. And I will be bottling into 500ml PET Bottles, so two drops per bottle.
For my next brew I will use the FV without the tap to brew and then siphon to the FV with the tap for batch priming and bottling. I've learnt a lot since Monday. If it will not damage the brew by gently syphoning back and forward just before bottling I might just transfer the brew back to the FV with the tap after cleaning sterilizing it. I'm sure there are loads of silly mistakes ahead of me yet. Thanks again for your advice.

Damien

 

[Banbeer]

Where do you fly out of? I passed my PPL and IMC 19 years ago and flew out of Bagington Coventry and Sywell Nothant's

 

[damienair]

Hey @Banbeer, I have been flying since 2005. I live in a town called Navan in Ireland about 30 minutes north of Dublin. I started first flying 3-Axis Microlights and had a lovely Skyranger 912 which I flew all over the UK and Ireland. Those were the days. Then the kids came along, clipped my wings and the disposable income halved when my wife stopped full time employment. I kept up the flying but switched over to Weightshift Microlights after selling the Sktranger in 2012. I fly a lovely 20 year old Quantum 503 now out of a lovely Airfield called Ballyboy. It is cheap flying when work, weather and family allow. So rarely. Are you still flying?

 

[Banbeer]

Are you still flying?

Not flown this year at all due to lockdown/furlough and now redundant so not happening anytime soon, enjoy flying when you can as you don't know what's around the corner.

 

[foxbat]

Hello all,

I am a complete newbie and just joined this Forum yesterday. I started my very first kit brew on Monday evening. It is a Simply Lager which I got with a starter set up. I got two Fermentation Buckets in the starter kit, one with and one without a tap. I started the brew in the Fermentation Bucket with the tap as thought it would be best for taking gravity samples at the end. I will not be bottling for another week yet, but I was wondering if I should syphon from the current FV or is it OK to bottle direct from this Fermentation Bucket using the tap and a bottling wand? The tap should be well above the sediment, but don't know if it would be cleaner to syphon or not. I would have to syphon from one bucket to another and back again after cleaning and sanitizing the bucket with the tap.

Another silly question - Do you have to change the self-adhesive Liquid crystal thermometer each time or do they last for multiple brews?

Many thanks,

Damien

You can dissolve your priming sugar in a few hundred mil of boiled water, pour it into the FV and GENTLY stir it. Leave for half an hour or so to properly mix then bottle direct from the tap on your FV. After two weeks in the FV the yeast will have flocculated nicely and shouldn't come off the bottom when you mix the priming solution in.

I shudder when I see the "bottling bucket" still in use. It's nothing but a pointless exercise in oxygen exposure. Especially as you are doing a lager where you will notice oxidation.

EDIT: an exception to the rule where a secondary vessel could still be useful is when you want bulk age on some ingredients like oak chips, nibs etc. that are common in big stouts.

 

[damienair]

Thanks @foxbat for your advice. I will leave well alone then and just bottle direct from the current FV with the Tap. I appreciate all the advice.

Damien

 

[terrym]

Welcome to the forum.
You might find this useful if you are just starting out
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...de-to-brewing-your-own-beer-from-a-kit.57526/