The story so far......

[matthew_pullin]

Ok so far this is what iv done

Everything scrubbed and sanitized
300g of Malt steeped in 2 lts of water at 60 odd degrees for 30min, added to FV
beer kit mixed in 3lts of hot water
300g of sugar dissolved in the wort, added to FV
topped up to 20lts with water
original gravity reading is about 1043
yeast added at wort temp of around 23 degrees
Lid on, air lock in place, seal checked and placed in the only warm place left in my flat (the back of my wardrobe next to the boiler, a steady 19 degrees)

Apart from the fact my work shirts are going to smell like a brewery for the next two weeks, does any of that seem wrong to the trained eye? :wha:

 

[LeedsBrewer]

looks good mate :thumb: What shop did you go to in the end? Morley or Kirkstall?

 

[Dieseljockey]

Now I have not done a kit in years but what you've done looks ok to me. :clap: you could if you wanted to, try a bit of dry hops.

 

[matthew_pullin]

I went to the Morley one in the end, nice place. Just an after thought, after steeping the malt some of the tiny bits got through the net and into the fv. Should i be worried about that or will they just float to the bottom with the rest of the gunk?
I like the idea of trying some hops in the brew what type should i go for with an IPA? also can you give me an idea of how much and when to add?

cheers

 

[Dieseljockey]

Take a look HERE a post from last year on dry hopping.
What hops to use??? that's all down to your palate & taste buds..take it easy to begin with, in the past I've used Goldings or Tettnang.

 

[PD]

dont worry over any bits floating around they will either drop to the bottom with the rest of the gunk or will be left behind when you syphon off.
Dont try fishing them out, you leave yourself open to infecting your brew if not very careful

 

[matthew_pullin]

Im getting regular glugs from the airlock so its alive!! i really should not feel this pleased with myself over something so simple As long as i can hear it gluging away im not opening the lid for at least 5 days at which point ill check the SG.

Dry hopping sounds good from that post but i only have 1 FV and hardly any room to store more, i live in a 2 bed flat and iv had to ferment this one in Narnia :lol: . From that post it seems you need 3 fv's, is that correct?? can i just add hops in a muslin bag to the beer towards the end of primary fermentation? or will that affect the yeast action?

As its my first time deviating away from the kit instructions i have decided to make a label for this brew. Im going to try and add an image below but i don't know if its going to work.


beerbottle by mattypullin, on Flickr

 

[Dieseljockey]

Right as you only have 1 FV that's ok, pop a few hops in a muslin bag for the last 3/4 days. Then when you get around to bottle or keg just pull the bag out...and no your image is not there.

 

[matthew_pullin]

haha figured it out in the end, i should have got that right first time. I work in IT support, beer gets me through the long weeks. Im sure ill be corrected on my punctuation but what the hell