general questions

[Philjobooboo]

Hi all. So I went to my lhbs today to get some bottles. And asked a few questions. They said to follow the kit instructions to the t. I've now done 3 kits all roughly the same instructions. No1 leave in warm place for 2 days then move to cool to clear. But general consensus here is 2 weeks in warm. Why is this different to the instructions? Also not to add camdem tablets to water. But again here add them to remove chlorine flavours. So need some straight advice please. I live in Telford Shropshire really hard water here too

 

[Ceejay]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum.

Yeah, I don't know why instructions in kits are so bad. For that matter, I'm getting a bit frustrated with the standard offerings in the homebrew market these days. Maybe I'm just tired and grumpy!

Anyhow, have a read of this: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=4022 thead. It's a really good guide.

Generally speaking, a good ale fermentation will be done in about 7 days. You'll want to try and keep a consistant temperature over this period, preferably not too warm. 19 to 21C is about the sweet spot for English ales.

Many of us will let it go a few days more to let the yeast "clean up" the beer. Look up "diacetyl rest" for more info on that. After all that's done, you can cool the beer before packaging (keg or bottle) and this will help the yeast settle to the bottom, clearing your beer.

If you're using tap water, you definitely need to treat with campden tabs (potassium metabisulfite). It will remove chlorine & chloramine, which if left in, can produce off flavours in the finished beer. These can range from cloves to medicinal type off flavours - not what you want!

 

[dennisking]

Probably the kit makers want to you to finish it quickly and buy another. I would leave at least a week. You only need camden tablets if you mashing grains.

 

[Ceejay]

Probably the kit makers want to you to finish it quickly and buy another. I would leave at least a week. You only need camden tablets if you mashing grains.

Sorry, and I hate to do this, but I have to disagree with you there. I forget the source, but I've definitely read that kit and extract brewers should still be concerned about chlorine. Yeast are able to assimilate it and produce chlorophenols. I understand that mashing with chlorinated water can produce more precursor, but that doesn't mean it's a problem limited to AG brewing.

 

[dennisking]

Probably the kit makers want to you to finish it quickly and buy another. I would leave at least a week. You only need camden tablets if you mashing grains.

Sorry, and I hate to do this, but I have to disagree with you there. I forget the source, but I've definitely read that kit and extract brewers should still be concerned about chlorine. Yeast are able to assimilate it and produce chlorophenols. I understand that mashing with chlorinated water can produce more precursor, but that doesn't mean it's a problem limited to AG brewing.

The forum is all about debate :thumb: As a non kit brewer it's just something I've heard repeated many times.

 

[oldbloke]

If you boil all your water that will sort the chlorine(s)

 

[Ceejay]

Hehe. I forget I'm not meant to agree with everyone all the time! Cheers Dennis. :

So, in the spirit of the debate, if I were a kit brewer I'd much rather throw in a campden tablet than boil all of my water. :grin:

To the OP - you'll need to get used to this kind of thing! As you can see, in brewing there are many ways to do things, much down to personal preference and the limitations of your own system/space. Also have a look at this excellent resource:

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

There's not much about kits on there, but a basic kit is just hopped malt extract, maybe some sugar and some yeast. Same as extract brewing. The principals are the same. :thumb: