Is this ready for the barrel yet?

[MarconiBrew]

Tom Caxton Real Ale kit.

Does that froth need to clear entirely?

Hydro reading is in the black, which I think is 1.010?

Thanks.

 

[terrym]

a)How long has it been in the FV?
b)How long has it been at 1.010.
If the answer to a) is 8 days or less I would be leaving it at least four more days, but...
If the answer to b) is 'this is my first reading', leave it two more days take a reading, if it's the same put it in a cold place for two more days to clear then you can package. If its gone down repeat until your SG reading has bottomed out.
All thats said it still looks like its fermenting to me. So I would be putting the lid on and leaving it for another 2 days at least before I took another reading.

 

[MarconiBrew]

It's been in the FV since last Friday 6th, yeast added Saturday 7th when the temp was cool enough.

I didn't measure it yesterday, but it was higher the day before. So I should measure it every day now to see how it's changing.

 

[terrym]

I didn't measure it yesterday, but it was higher the day before. So I should measure it every day now to see how it's changing.

Its only been fermenting 6 days! Some advice given on this forum to new brewers is to leave it a full two weeks in the FV before you start to take readings (look for the 2+2+2 rule)
Otherwise my earlier comments cover what I think you should do.

 

[Pavros]

1 week isn't long enough - it hasn't finished yet. Leave it another week for the yeast to do it's job. A lot of the yeast and hop particles will drop in this week to leave a clearer beer to keg/bottle.

Don't keep opening it up to take a reading every day (even though it's tempting). I would leave it for 3 or 4 days before taking another reading, then follow Terry's advice depending on what that reading is.

 

[MarconiBrew]

Thanks guys. I did wonder, as the Tom Caxton instructions say to bottle or barrel after 4 days, but I wasn't sure if it was ready yet.

I did have concerns about letting too much CO2 out each time I open it. Should I now fix the lid down tight or just leave it sitting on gently?

 

[Pavros]

All kit instructions are 'optimistic' with timings presumably as a marketing ploy to entice people into the hobby/purchase.

I never use an airlock and fasten my lids down all the way round then unclip about 2 inches. I usually leave for 10 days before taking the first reading. I think the concern is more about letting nasties in rather than letting co2 out.

 

[terrym]

@MarconiBrew
If you are still relatively new to brewing you might find this useful
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...de-to-brewing-your-own-beer-from-a-kit.57526/

 

[MarconiBrew]

So, this Sunday, it will be two weeks since the yeast went in.

 

[terrym]

So, this Sunday, it will be two weeks since the yeast went in.

So take an SG reading tomorrow, and if its the same on Sunday you can go ahead and bottle it. But in the unlikely event that it has crept down some more, you just repeat until its settled out.

 

[MarconiBrew]

So take an SG reading tomorrow, and if its the same on Sunday you can go ahead and bottle it. But in the unlikely event that it has crept down some more, you just repeat until its settled out.

I was thinking of doing a hyrdometer dip tonight, but what I'll do is do one tomorrow, then Saturday and then if the same on both days, then I'll do one before barreling on Sunday.

 

[Rodcx500z]

All the above, i came back to brewing in 2019 as a hobby in my retirement. I started with kits first thing i learned throw the instructions in the bin follow 2+2+2 rule and the best to learn is patience this is the brewers friend, i now do full biab ag brewing and i still do kits, recently i bought a 21L stock pot for stove top first brew i did a few weeks ago was a total **** up but is the best brew i ever made and can never replicate it 19 bottles i would happily pay for in a pub, Just take your time you will be fine happy brewing

 

[MarconiBrew]

Thanks all so far.

So I'll soak the hyrdometer in some Milton soon and dip the bucket and take a reading tonight and again tomorrow.

 

[MarconiBrew]

I've done a dip. The Hydrometer reading is where the black and yellow meet. I've no idea if thats 1.010 or lower. Although not being new to test and measurement, I'm not 100% certain how to read this hydrometer. It's a Wilko hydrometer. The yellow area says bottle. I'll take a reading tomorrow and Sunday before it goes in the barrel.

 

[terrym]

I've done a dip. The Hydrometer reading is where the black and yellow meet. I've no idea if thats 1.010 or lower. Although not being new to test and measurement, I'm not 100% certain how to read this hydrometer. It's a Wilko hydrometer. The yellow area says bottle. I'll take a reading tomorrow and Sunday before it goes in the barrel.

Try this
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...ic-gravity-using-a-homebrew-hydrometer.60895/If your Wilko Hydrometer is like this
https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-floating-hydrometer-for-wine-beer/p/0022575from looking at the picture and what you have said you have a reading of 1.006 and it is unlikely to go any lower. My advice is to forget tomorrow's reading but then take another on Sun just to confirm they are the same before you package your beer.

 

[MarconiBrew]

Thanks. I did previously wonder if it was 1.008 or so. I'll probably do as you say, just measure it Sunday.

 

[Stonedhouse]

Best general guide is if gravity readings stay same for 3 days then you're done - whether its been in fermenter for a week or 3 weeks. If that's only taken a few days to get there then always best to leave a little longer anyway but if you keg then thats a good place to leave it to develop flavour / mellow further anyway.

 

[MarconiBrew]

So, today's the day.......

Just going to have a quick read up on the barreling process, just to make sure that I don't make any mistakes.

 

[MarconiBrew]

Should I add my secondary fermentation sugar into the FV and mix it up before transferring to the barrel? Or put the sugar into the barrel and then transfer the beer from the FV?

 

[terrym]

@MarconiBrew
If you are using your PB for the first time you need to check that it is leakproof before you transfer beer into it. Best find out any problems now rather than discover you have flat beer in two weeks time. Even new PBs are not without problems. More on that here.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/guide-to-a-standard-home-brew-pressure-barrel.67042/But if you have used your PB before then its best to add sugar into your clean and sanitised PB and put the beer on top of it. Making up a sugar syrup is probably best, since taht will mix better.
Finally, if you have a 25 litre PB and it's first time out, then the normal recommended max amount of priming sugar is about 90g table sugar.