New brewer needs some advice.

[CptnChunk]

Hey guys been looking through google and all the sites that come up there and thought why not come to people that know what they're on about.

Basically I'm a tax dodging student and beer enthusiast. I've been wanting to make my own brew for a while now and when loans came I was in good old Wilkinsons and saw all the kits so thought hell why not.

I got the Tom Caxton Real Ale kit and have followed the insructions as best I could and now need a little bit of advice.

I've not got anything fancy just a fermentation barrel, 5 gallon which is airtight with the air lock thing on there and everything and it's been brewing for 5 days now.

I'm just wondering how can you tell when it's ready to bottle?
I messed up with the hydrometer tests and forgot to take a reading before adding the sugar (doh!)

If anyone can give me any advice that'd be awesome.
I look forward to brewing some more and reading how the pro's do it :)

Cheers
:
Chunk

 

[prolix]

honestly Caxton kits are forgiving just leave it another five days and bottle, 2l fizzy bottles are fine if you don't have beer bottles, cider bottles are free from the pub if you ask.

 

[robsan77]

Hi chunk, if you ever think about going all grain or need any help, I'm a Nottinghammer too :

 

[Dieseljockey]

Hi..you say you have a hydro...take some out of he FV with a turkey baster...take a reading..DON'T return this sample to the FV...drink it..wash your hair with it...then take another reading next day...if it's the same then it may be finished....if it's not leave it a day and repeat ..until you get 3 days in a row with the same reading.

When you hit this point then you have to get your bottles ready...prime them ..fill....put them some where warm for another 4/5 days...then outside in the shed.

 

[Alan Robinson]

..........needs some advice;

My advice is don't rush things, because you might be disappointed and give up brewing as a bad job. In general, take the beer out of the fermenting bucket after maximum 9 days, this to separate it from the sediment in the bottom that can spoil the beer. By this time, if you have kept it at a decent temperature, the lion's share of the fermentation should be over and done with. When the density has fallen to about 1011 kg/m3 you can bottle it. If you have no hydrometer, I'd say you risk bursting bottles if you bottle it before it is 2 weeks old.

After bottling, I recommend leaving it for at least another two weeks before drinking. You might think this is a long wait, but I prefer to leave my pale ale as much as 3 months before drinking it.

Good luck with it, and be patient..... :

 

[CptnChunk]

Cheers for the response guys, much appreciated.
I'll probably leave it till the weekend so that I know it's definitely ready and then bottle it up.
How much sugar do I need to put in the bottles when bottling?
Once bottled I'll leave for two weeks but maybe crack one or two open during that time to see how it's coming along :P

I've got enough bottles for this batch but where's the cheapest place to get them from? Apart from recycling them.

 

[Alan Robinson]

Cheers for the response guys, much appreciated.
I'll probably leave it till the weekend so that I know it's definitely ready and then bottle it up.
How much sugar do I need to put in the bottles when bottling?
Once bottled I'll leave for two weeks but maybe crack one or two open during that time to see how it's coming along :P

I've got enough bottles for this batch but where's the cheapest place to get them from? Apart from recycling them.

If you use different sized bottles you'll have to put different amounts of sugar in each. I have 1/2 and 3/4 litre bottles for example. To get around this - and to make life easier in my view - I siphon off the beer from the collected sediment, mix the priming sugar with the beer, and stir it well before bottling. To get a light fizz, use 10g per litre of brew, a medium fizz comes from 11g per litre, and 12g per litre is the maximum before bottles start exploding. I shot the bottoms off quite a few bottles before I decided 12g per litre is maximum.

Some people put the priming sugar directly in the bottles though, which means you'll need to put between 5 and 6g sugar in a half litre bottle. Just how you measure that accurately is beyond my poor ability. :cry:

 

[fisherman]

1/2 tsp per pint in the bottle,