My first Brew !

[AxlFoley]

hello

this is only my seccond post (written with a light head after a litre of homebrew) lol

any way I have done one brew and am over the moon with my results, i bought a kit from the art of brewing and this

after following the instructions I made my brew, arrund two weeks later i began drinking, with awesome results, my only problem is that the results vary from bottle to bottle, as it was my first brew, i just collected lots of different bottles from friends and relitives, these varied from 500mm Ribena bottlels to 1L Magners bottles (my fave) with wine bottles in the middle, i am putting my varying reslts down to differences in the amount of suger in each bottle.

i have read a few posts on here about brewing times, on my instructions, it stated that as soon as the beer is clear it is ready to drink, after botteling that is, is this correct?

also can any one tell me how to guage the alchahol volume?

Thanks

Mark

 

[Wez]

hello

this is only my seccond post (written with a light head after a litre of homebrew) lol

any way I have done one brew and am over the moon with my results, i bought a kit from the art of brewing and this

after following the instructions I made my brew, arrund two weeks later i began drinking, with awesome results, my only problem is that the results vary from bottle to bottle, as it was my first brew, i just collected lots of different bottles from friends and relitives, these varied from 500mm Ribena bottlels to 1L Magners bottles (my fave) with wine bottles in the middle, i am putting my varying reslts down to differences in the amount of suger in each bottle.

i have read a few posts on here about brewing times, on my instructions, it stated that as soon as the beer is clear it is ready to drink, after botteling that is, is this correct?

also can any one tell me how to guage the alchahol volume?

Thanks

Mark

Hi Mark,

Firstly when bottling select bottles that can handle the pressures built up by the secondary fermentation you get when you add the sugar to the bottle, wine bottles won't take the pressure, magners are OK I understand but really you want to get your bottled ale drinking friends to save you their empty thick brown glass bottles and use a crown capper.

Drinking times, well some of the guys here would dip a straw in a fermenter (me included) :lol: basically it's ready to drink when you think it tastes spot on, in general terms though a rule of thumb that I have heard is 1 week per 10 gravity points, for example a 1.040 beer needs 4 weeks after fermenting a 1.050 beer needs 5 weeks. That said, my current line of thinking is that some of my beers are much better younger.

Calculating ABV, a simple method to do this (assuming you have a hydrometer) is to take a reading before you pitch the yeast (eg 1.040) then after fermentation (eg 1.010) then subtract the last figure from the first (1.010 from 1.040 means a reduction of 30 gravity points) then divide 30 by 7.45 to get an approximate ABV, in this case 4.0% abv.

Hope that helps :thumb:

 

[A T]

Just one thing to add, try adding the priming sugar to the fermenter about a half hour before bottling. It saves a lot of work and makes sure there is the same amount in every bottle

 

[Vossy1]

Glad to hear your first brew turned out to be a good'un AF

 

[AxlFoley]

yeah, i really enjoyed it, problem is you really need to start another one as soon as you bottle the first to make sure you have a constant supply!

Firstly when bottling select bottles that can handle the pressures built up by the secondary fermentation you get when you add the sugar to the bottle, wine bottles won't take the pressure, magners are OK I understand but really you want to get your bottled ale drinking friends to save you their empty thick brown glass bottles and use a crown capper.

I have a few of these, but i think i had a problem fitting the caps, they didnt seel very well, also they are 500mm so i would end up with loads of bottles all over the place, the 1L Magners bottles take up less space and is enough beer for one night in front of the TV! lol

Drinking times, well some of the guys here would dip a straw in a fermenter (me included) basically it's ready to drink when you think it tastes spot on, in general terms though a rule of thumb that I have heard is 1 week per 10 gravity points, for example a 1.040 beer needs 4 weeks after fermenting a 1.050 beer needs 5 weeks. That said, my current line of thinking is that some of my beers are much better younger.

do you mean have a sample when its still in the bucket?

[/quote]Calculating ABV, a simple method to do this (assuming you have a hydrometer) is to take a reading before you pitch the yeast (eg 1.040) then after fermentation (eg 1.010) then subtract the last figure from the first (1.010 from 1.040 means a reduction of 30 gravity points) then divide 30 by 7.45 to get an approximate ABV, in this case 4.0% abv.

I have a Hydrometer, i'll give that a go, thanks.

[quote:2d22ewf3]Just one thing to add, try adding the priming sugar to the fermenter about a half hour before bottling. It saves a lot of work and makes sure there is the same amount in every bottle

[/quote:2d22ewf3]

what? add the suger to the bucket? i guess i would need to stir it then?

 

[Dunfie]

If you have a second bucket then you can batch prime. Here is my routine.

Once I am ready to bottle:

1, Fill a second 5gallon bucket that has a tap fitted with water and some SWP. I throw in my syphon tube and my "little bottler". I then use this solution to sterlise me bottles (which already been thoroughly cleaned and de-labled). I also put the appropriate number of crown caps in a small bowl and cover with some of the solution.

2, Boil up 80g of suger in about a half pint of water (this works well for me for a 5 gallon batch - unless I'm doing a HEfe when I double it). Simmer for a few minutes.

3, Once all the bottles have been sterilised I empty and rinse out the bucket. SWP is strong stuff so this might take 3 or 4 rinses.

4, Pour the priming solution to the empty bucket.

5, Rack the beer from primary fermenter into the bucket with priming solution (trying to avoid too much splashing).

6, Once the bottles have been fully rinsed I fit my little bottler and get bottling.

7, Rinse off the crown caps and get capping.

8, I then leave in the house for a fortnight to prime, and although they will improve with age, they are generally ready for consumption. I will then move to the garage.

I used that process the other night and it took me around an hour and a half to get 42 bottles. :