Nuisance newbie

[chojo]

Hi guys, sorry to mither but as you can imagine with my first brews I'm losing what little hair I had! Hambleton bard bitter has been in the FVnow for 9 days with no bubbles for the last 4days but I think the airlock maybe leaking, now the tin says 4-8days fermenting then take a hydro reading and it should be 1006 or below. So today I gingerly opened the lid and apart from a few floaters on the top all was quiet, so I took a reading and got 1011 then allowing for one degree temp difference in hydro calibration I make it 1012. So is this a slow fermenter or could something be wrong? Or am I just worrying over nothing and talking out of my arse.
Thanks for any input. :

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Be ok that mate, ready to bottle or keg.. :thumb:

BB

 

[winelight]

I would still give it the full 2 weeks, then move to the cold for another week.

 

[PD]

take another careful reading tomorrow and see if the result is the same. If so its reading for a few days cooling. If its dropped a little, leave it another day continue till the readings are the same...then move it on.
When its finished fermenting it needs a few days in cool to help the yeasts drop and clean up their work. either in same fermenter or syphon to a clean one.
After that you can keg bottle or roll...

 

[chojo]

Thanks for the help guys :thumb: the instructions say once i've had the same reading for 2 days on the run i should keg it then leave in the warm for another week before moving to a cool place. i never thought it would be so complicated ! I'm inclined to go with the advice on here though as you're the ones brewing all the time. so i leave it till i get the same readings then move to the cold right?

 

[PD]

yep you got it...then leave it for 2 weeks or so ( if you can ) before drinking.

 

[winelight]

If you follow the kit instructions you will get a drinkable beer, but I've learnt over the last few months from the excellent advice in here that you can get a vast improvement in quality just by following a few tips. The most important extra ingredient seems to be patience! What I do now is 2 weeks in FV, move to cold for one week, bottle, leave in warm for 2 weeks to carbonate, move to cold for a minimum of 5 minutes, er, 2 weeks before drinking.

 

[Stu]

If you follow the kit instructions you will get a drinkable beer, but I've learnt over the last few months from the excellent advice in here that you can get a vast improvement in quality just by following a few tips. The most important extra ingredient seems to be patience! What I do now is 2 weeks in FV, move to cold for one week, bottle, leave in warm for 2 weeks to carbonate, move to cold for a minimum of 5 minutes, er, 2 weeks before drinking.

Yup, I'd go along with this. You can make a completely different brew from a kit by following ScottM's instructions - I'm going as far with my cider as 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, bottle condition (2 weeks warm, 2 weeks cold) and then leave for at least a month. My lager wasn't quite as keen - I was drinking it after a month, but then again, I had nothing to drink :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Ian...]

The most common (and most accurate) advise you will get on here is 'give it more time'! Makes a heck of a difference and well worth following. That first brew is a real patience tester though. Just go out and buy some while you wait. Then the first thing to do is to put another brew on, or even better put two on at the same time. You will build up some stock very quickly and very soon drinking beer that is mature and really excellent.

 

[chojo]

Thanks again for all the advice :thumb: I'm starting another brew this week to try and get myself in front, unfortunately I'm struggling for space as I keep my brews in the bedroom which now stinks like a brewery but I can't open the window as the temperature drops too much so between that and bubbling air locks all night I think I'm gonna sleep on the couch!

 

[Ian...]

you don't need airlocks for beer. the co2 sits on top of the wort protecting it from the air. Some people use them, its their preference, but I have done over 20 brews now without using one with no problem. :

 

[winelight]

What I did, which worked quite well, was to rush the first kit, because I wanted something to drink, and then gradually took longer and longer.

The point is, I could notice quite an improvement, so I realised that the extra trouble was well worthwhile.

 

[chojo]

Well I just did a second test and got the same reading as yesterday so hi ho hi ho it's in the keg it goes. (Can't believe I just said that)

 

[Inneed]

If you follow the kit instructions you will get a drinkable beer, but I've learnt over the last few months from the excellent advice in here that you can get a vast improvement in quality just by following a few tips. The most important extra ingredient seems to be patience! What I do now is 2 weeks in FV, move to cold for one week, bottle, leave in warm for 2 weeks to carbonate, move to cold for a minimum of 5 minutes, er, 2 weeks before drinking.

That sounds incredibly well worked out. Part of the brewer evolution no doubt.

Is there a difference to warm/cold, primary/secondary and all the shuffling about though, or is it just time? Would I see an improvement if I left beer in the FV for 3 weeks, then bottled and left for 7 weeks (so total of 10 weeks) as opposed to moving to secondary after 2 weeks, moving to cold for 2 weeks, back to warm in bottles for 2 weeks, then cold bottles for 4 weeks (also 10 weeks)?

Just being lazy and not wanting to cart things around the house...

edit - what I really mean is having to cart around the FV before bottling

 

[bunkerbrewer]

Yep, temperature is really important for brewing.

Ferment at the right temperature, then if you cool your FV for a couple of days it'll help the beer clear as proteins and hop particles will drop out of suspension.

After you bottle, you need some warmth to help the yeast produce CO2 from the priming sugar. Then after a week or two you move these bottles to the cold, again to help with clearing, but also cooler beer will hold more CO2 in solution. Cooler conditions are generally better for storage and conditioning too.

A secondary is only really needed for lagers, so you can take some faff out of the process there.

 

[winelight]

Some people say it's better to rack into a second FV than cart the first one around, but it occurs to me you still have to cart the second one around to get it into the cold...

I just walk very very very slowly with it (it's only about 2m to get from the kitchen into the outside cloakroom) so as not to disturb the trub.

 

[Brewbob]

2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, bottle condition (2 weeks warm, 2 weeks cold) and then leave for at least a month.

Sounds like the method of champions, now I'm getting a stash, I've jotted that down in my brew bible and I'll give it a go. Everything I've done thus far has been a bit Heath Robinson, but I'm learning... :hat:

 

[chojo]

Hi guys, well i was going to keg it today but after a visit to my lhbs i'm thinking of going down the bottling route instead and keeping the keg as a bottling bucket as the guy in the shop (incidentally the shop i bought my kit from has closed down so this is a different guy) reckons the one i have is renowned for buckling and falling over or just exploding as theres no release valve. Anyways he suggested i syphon from fv to keg then prime it and give it a really good shake to dissolve the sugar then bottle. Now it's the shaking bit that concerns me as i was under the impression that getting air in your brew at this stage was a bad thing leading to a cardboard taste that can't be rectified. So any suggestions as to my next step?

 

[bunkerbrewer]

Hi guys, well i was going to keg it today but after a visit to my lhbs i'm thinking of going down the bottling route instead and keeping the keg as a bottling bucket as the guy in the shop (incidentally the shop i bought my kit from has closed down so this is a different guy) reckons the one i have is renowned for buckling and falling over or just exploding as theres no release valve. Anyways he suggested i syphon from fv to keg then prime it and give it a really good shake to dissolve the sugar then bottle. Now it's the shaking bit that concerns me as i was under the impression that getting air in your brew at this stage was a bad thing leading to a cardboard taste that can't be rectified. So any suggestions as to my next step?

You're right, and you were right to be skeptical! Don't oxidise beer after it's fermented!

FWIW I once used a pressure barrel for bottling when the bottling bucket was being used as a secondary. It worked fine, but the little bottler doesn't fit the keg tap. Easily solved with a short length of silicone hose.

 

[andyd]

bunkerbrewer is right, do not shake it to dissolve the sugar. I'd suggest dissolving it in a little boiling water first, about 150ml maybe, add this to the bottling bucket and then syphon in your beer. It should mix up ok just with this but if you're worried just give it a gentle swirl to make sure.