My First Brew - questions

[Gawain]

Thanks again for all your advice. I think I'm going to transfer to the serving barrel if fermentation has stopped by Sunday, then leave to condition until just before Christmas - so another 2 weeks from Sunday. Hopefully then it'll taste good, and by new year even better.

One final question, if I may? The sugar calculator confused me somewhat. I pitched at 24c but it'll have been at 18c for 13 days by Sunday - so I'm not entirely sure what figures to put into the calculator. Also, the kit obviously never mentioned adding anymore sugar once it was ready to serve - is it absolutely necessary - or is it just a matter of improving the quality and slightly increasing the strength with the extra?

Thanks again.

 

[brewpirate]

The temperature of the beer calculates the total dissolved CO2 in solution which you need to know as a baseline before adding more sugar to make more CO2.

 

[baggybill]

If you're not force carbonating it or adding a CO2 cylinder to your barrel, then yes, adding the additional sugar is a necessity in order that the remaining yeast carbonates your beer (secondary fermentation).

Unless of course, you liked the taste and mouth feel of the flat sample you hopefully took and measured. :?

Personally, I rack about 18-19 litres to a Corny for force carbing (no additional sugar) and the rest to about 6-8 PET bottles with a Coopers carb drop just for comparison a few months down the road (few months <-- pfft! Make that a few weeks!).

No matter, don't worry, I'm sure you'll have a fine pint for Xmas :grin:

 

[Gawain]

Thanks again for responses. It seems I may leave in the FV for another week. When I dropped hydrometer in today, the gravity was measuring between 1.008 - 1.006, so guess it's still doing its thing. I am surprised as I wouldn't expect this IPA kit (I've since realised it's brew maker not brewmaster as I originally stated) to have dropped below 1.010 to be honest.

By my figures the ABV must be around 4.6% now (with a 1.040 start reading). Would anyone expect this to drop much further than its current level?

I am also planning to load the barrel with around 80g of sugar once I transfer, and will then let it sit in the barrel for another week to complete second fermentation and condition. Do I need to dilute the sugar before adding it to the barrel, and if so - how do I know how much water to use?

All in all, it'll be around 4 weeks start to finish. Hopefully it'll be drinkable by then.