Sugar query

[klaus]

….both the hydrometer reading and the sample look good, yes ?

I didn’t try it so I’ll sample it tomorrow which is looking like bottling day

Every time I take a reading and bottle, at least a shot glass to check quality Brewing should be fun.

 

[damienair]

Don’t worry. I had loads of questions with my first couple of brews too. Your beer looks great. It still has another month to go. I leave mine to ferment in the fermentation bucket for 2-3 weeks. I then bottle the beer, I batch prime as I said before because for me I find it piss easy and I always get good consistent carbonation. Once bottled I leave my beer up in the airing cupboard again for another 2 weeks and then down to the garage to condition for another 2 weeks. The beer clears loads over the next 4 weeks.
The real secret now is to get another batch going ASAP. Build up 2-3 batches and keep it rolling. Good luck.

 

[Agentgonzo]

does the sample look ok ie, is it typically this cloudy and murky at this stage ?

Sample looks fine. The murkyness is probably yeast still in suspension and will do no harm. Give it a week or two at room temperature to carbonate, then the yeast will gradually drop out of suspension and the beer will clear over the following 2-4 weeks (faster if you keep it somewhere cool like the garage).

There are things you can do to make it less murky at the bottling stage. Adding finings etc or cold crash (ie chilling it for a few days). The reason to do this is so that you end up with less yeast in the bottom of the bottle (the clearer the beer into the bottle, the less yeast settles out to the bottom of the bottle and it's easier to pour a clear beer). The yeast isn't a problem though and in those small quantities doesn't really affect the flavour of the beer.

 

[stripeyjoe]

For amount of sugar per bottle, I just use the priming calculator with a ’batch size’ of 0.5l. For my particular beer I think it suggested 2.3G a bottle, so just one of the smaller drops.

 

[devexwarrior]

All,

Apologies for the continued messages and paranoia but I’ve just measured half teaspoon of granulated sugar on my wife’s jewellery scales which are mega accurate and it comes in at 4g which appears to be twice what all the calculators advise

Am I missing something / doing something wrong ?

As mentioned I am brewing an ale and planning to bottle on Thursday in 500ml PET

I wouldn't over think the minutiae of weighing. A little either way shown;t make a great difference. You've one u with a way of finding which method suits you best and a lite variation shouldn't matter. We are not producing a fie work of art for high end customers but a beer we want to drink. Good luck brewing and as long as you produce an enjoyably drinkable brew, nothing else really matters.

 

[Beerwegoagain]

% this.

There is a wealth of information on these forums, all of which is valid and correct. But you can ignore all of it and eyeball everything and still make a beer that's probably 90-95% as good as obsessing over every detail.

One wise old brewer on this site gave me some sage advice as I agonised over the details of something or other.
Drink your mistakes,
Learn
move on

 

[starseeker]

Yes they both look good, if you have had a stable hydrometer reading over a couple of days then like you say ,its time to bottle .

 

[shd]

One wise old brewer on this site gave me some sage advice as I agonised over the details of something or other.
Drink your mistakes,
Learn
move on

 

[damienair]

One wise old brewer on this site gave me some sage advice as I agonised over the details of something or other.
Drink your mistakes,
Learn
move on

Brilliant advice. . I’ve made loads of mistakes and was guilty of over thinking initially. But every brew has been lovely and each time I’ve tweaked my process to improve some part of the bottling, batch priming or transfer to bottling bucket etc. 23 brews done and I’m still tweaking and learning.

 

[shd]

So second gravity reading looks to be 1012 so think it’s ready….agree ?

I did have a taste and tbh it tasted weak

Is that normal ?

 

[devexwarrior]

So second gravity reading looks to be 1012 so think it’s ready….agree ?

I did have a taste and tbh it tasted weak

Is that normal ?

Most brews taste a bit thin until they've had chase to mature in the bottle. Trust your readings to give you an accurate alcohol content and then enjoy the flavour maturing as you test your brew. If you are anything like me you'll get to the last three bottles and think 'It's just about right now'.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I did have a taste and tbh it tasted weak

Is that normal ?

Yes, that's absolutely normal. The flavour matures with age, and the carbonation adds to the flavour as well.

It's good to taste the beer at every stage (like you just did) so you get used to that it tastes like at every stage and how the flavours develop.

 

[damienair]

So second gravity reading looks to be 1012 so think it’s ready….agree ?

I did have a taste and tbh it tasted weak

Is that normal ?

As I said before there is another month to go before you will be drinking it. And if I was you as soon as this is bottled get another one on. And try to build up 3-5 brews at a time. That way you will have a new one going on regularly which will leave your beers longer to mature and give you a choice.
I’ve made beers which were not nice after 6 weeks in the bottle. But 6 weeks later they were amazing. Patience and time are key. But the only way to do that is to build up a healthy stash.