Youngs American IPA

[wheazy_joe]

So I opened my first bottle of this to try it out this evening. 330ml bottle carbed with one carb drop. Only been in the bottle eleven days after three weeks in the FV. Bottle been in the fridge from last Sunday so was well chilled. Opened with a good hiss and poured with a nice thick creamy head. Beer is still very cloudy however this seems to be quite common with this kit when still very young. Carbonation level is spot on, not too fizzy. Beer is still obviously very young so a bit rough around the edges, with a fairly hefty bitter end to it.

Not gonna judge it yet as it still has a lot of conditioning to do, but all in all pretty happy with this at the moment.

 

[lloydo]

Evening all,

First post and first time brewing... i got this kit up and running 6 days ago following the instructions. After 24 hours or so it was bubbling away nicely and this continued until two yesterday, and this morning it seems to have stopped bubbling all together. I waited until this evening and still no change, no bubbling at all. I cracked the lid and saw all the krausen has faded away and there's only remnants of it left.

It's been in a utility room that's at seemingly constant 24c, I can't seem to cool the room down at all, even by a few degrees.

Has anyone got any advice or ideas about what might be happening? Hoping it's not failed completely

 

[Gavb0]

That's normal leave it another 2 weeks at least, 24 is a bit warm but wouldn't worry to much as long as it doesn't get much warmer in there this game is all about patience 👍

 

[wheazy_joe]

Hi and welcome on board. I just bottled one of these 2 weeks ago so recent experience. Mine bubbled quite aggressively for at least a week after taking a good two days to get started. I'd be inclined to take a hydrometer reading if you have one. See how it's getting on then take another in 3-4 days to compare.

I'm sure it will be fine, try to be patient and don't open the lid unless you really need to.

Is there pressure on the lid even tho no bubbles?

 

[lloydo]

Thanks! I'll take a hydrometer reading tomorrow after work.

If I lightly press on the fv lid it'll force air through the air lock, so there's a bit of pressure there, but nothing much!

It doesn't smell too bad, so I'm hoping it'll sort itself out.

 

[wfr42]

Don't panic about a lack of bubbling, you may not have made as good a seal after your peak inside and co2 takes the easiest route out.
I'm looking forward to sampling my 2nd attempt at this kit. Best advice I can offer is try not to drink it too quickly!

 

[stevey]

I've got 3 fermenters, 2 of which seal well so I get lots of bubbles through the airlock. The other is one which came with the youngs starter kit from wilko, and the lid is a sort of floppy plastic compared to the other 2. It snaps on like its sealing but it never sends bubbles through the airlock.

I don't think they are designed to be used with an airlock, so I don't use that one all that much because I sort of like the noise :-D.

I'm sure your beers fermenting, this is the best kit I've ever made reliability wise. If it was wherry I'd suspect it, but not YIPA.

 

[kimosabby]

Gents,

couple of quick questions. Gunna be bottling in next few days after nearly 2 weeks in FV. Dry hops added yesterday at SG of 1009 so gunna wait for them to settle and SG equalise.
1. Once intially bottled what should warm room temp be for the first 2 weeks?
2. Onto the cold conditioning after 2 weeks what room temp should they be and can you do this in the fridge or is that too cold?
3. Concerned about dry hops going into bottles. I have a coopers bottler tube but this is the first time ive used dry hops. Would a tea/kitchen strainer do on bottom of bottler or is that 2 course? If not can I get the muslin bags from shops and how would it be best attached to the bottling tube?

Many thanks in advance

Kimo

 

[lloydo]

Day 12 of this one for me, left it alone for a while longer... just taken hydrometer reading and we're at 1012, so will check in another two days time and hopefully nearly be at the stage of adding hops.

 

[wheazy_joe]

Gents,

couple of quick questions. Gunna be bottling in next few days after nearly 2 weeks in FV. Dry hops added yesterday at SG of 1009 so gunna wait for them to settle and SG equalise.
1. Once intially bottled what should warm room temp be for the first 2 weeks?
2. Onto the cold conditioning after 2 weeks what room temp should they be and can you do this in the fridge or is that too cold?
3. Concerned about dry hops going into bottles. I have a coopers bottler tube but this is the first time ive used dry hops. Would a tea/kitchen strainer do on bottom of bottler or is that 2 course? If not can I get the muslin bags from shops and how would it be best attached to the bottling tube?

Many thanks in advance

Kimo

1. Keep at normal room temp for a couple of weeks, say 20 degrees C. That said mine carbed up in one week, so just keep an eye on them.
2. If they are fully carbed up no reason you can't keep them in the fridge after that.
3. I always put my hops in a muslin bag before adding to the FV, saves mess. If you haven't done this and just put them in loose, I know some folk will wrap muslin or even a pair of the Mrs. tights (clean of course!) over the end of the syphon. No idea how to actually go about attaching it I'm afraid.

 

[wheazy_joe]

Think my American IPA has now been in the bottle for three weeks and is still pretty cloudy, anyone else noticed this with this kit?

 

[kimosabby]

1. Keep at normal room temp for a couple of weeks, say 20 degrees C. That said mine carbed up in one week, so just keep an eye on them.
2. If they are fully carbed up no reason you can't keep them in the fridge after that.
3. I always put my hops in a muslin bag before adding to the FV, saves mess. If you haven't done this and just put them in loose, I know some folk will wrap muslin or even a pair of the Mrs. tights (clean of course!) over the end of the syphon. No idea how to actually go about attaching it I'm afraid.

Mr Joe,

thanks for advice. When you use the muslin bag how do you sterilise it?

 

[terrym]

When you use the muslin bag how do you sterilise it?

Wot I do is...
1. Boil it in water for 10 minutes in a saucepan making sure that it's covered. Allow to cool in the same water before using.
2. After it's used and old hops etc discarded, it's then washed out several times with cold water, and then boiled again in water before air drying, and then stored fully dry not damp. Boiling at this stage is essential to kill any old yeast cells which may be in the muslin and be a potential source of infection next time it's used

 

[kimosabby]

Gents,

help me out FFS. This kit has been behaving itself until I dry hopped. The story is:
Short brewed 20.5l
OG 1061
Yeast added at 24C
Temp has been 20-22. Have been using heating belt where necessary as worried about temp dropping below 20 as per destuctions
Day 11 SG 1011
Day 12 SG 1009 Dry hops added to brew (no bag)
Day 13 SG 1010
Day 14 SG 1010 20C
Day 15 SG 1014! 22C (today)

WHF going on? The temp has been between 20-22C. 22C today (Day 15) and yesterday was 20C (day14). Also notice today all the hops on the surface are rapidly breaking up and sinking. Are the hops messing with the SG

Any thoughts

Kimosabby

 

[terrym]

You are probably right, the hops are interfering with the SG reading in some way. It is pretty much impossible for the bulk SG to rise from 1010 to 1014 without adding more fermentables.
If you have hops floating about in your brew, and the SG has still not stabilised I suggest you leave it alone. This will allow the hops to settle and will give you the best chance of minimising hop particle carry over into your bottles/keg.
I normally dry hop all my brews but use a fair sized weighted muslin bag and usually leave the hops in contact with the brew for about five to six days before bottling, and others appear to leave it longer than that, so you still have a few days to go yet in my opinion, although I wouldn't leave it much longer (unless the gravity keeps falling) since you could end up 'over hopping' the longer you leave it especially if you have used all the 100g of hops supplied with the kit.

 

[kimosabby]

Gents,

help me out FFS. This kit has been behaving itself until I dry hopped. The story is:
Short brewed 20.5l
OG 1061
Yeast added at 24C
Temp has been 20-22. Have been using heating belt where necessary as worried about temp dropping below 20 as per destuctions
Day 11 SG 1011
Day 12 SG 1009 Dry hops added to brew (no bag)
Day 13 SG 1010
Day 14 SG 1010 20C
Day 15 SG 1014! 22C (today)

WHF going on? The temp has been between 20-22C. 22C today (Day 15) and yesterday was 20C (day14). Also notice today all the hops on the surface are rapidly breaking up and sinking. Are the hops messing with the SG

Any thoughts

Kimosabby

Gents,
Continuation of readings from above are now:
Day 16 SG 1010
Day 17 SG 1010 (today)



Can I bottle?
Also using supplied bag of priming sugar and bottles. How many g's of sugar per 500ml bottle.

As ever thanks for your help in sdvsnce

Kimosabby

 

[terrym]

Gents,
Can I bottle?
Also using supplied bag of priming sugar and bottles. How many g's of sugar per 500ml bottle.

Looks like its done and although the hops have been in long enough, you could leave it another day or two to give it chance to clear some more. Your choice.
You can use this http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/ to calculate the priming sugar.
I seem to remember that the priming sugar supplied with this kit weighs about 130g, and is brewing sugar. Assuming you get about 22 litres of brew into the bottles, and use all the sugar and it is 130g, that will give you about 2.2 volumes CO2 which is at the low end of the scale for American Ales but OK. This is equivalent to about 3g per 500ml, or 2/3 level tsp. It might be better to batch prime if you have another FV you can siphon into before bottling.

 

[kimosabby]

Looks like its done and although the hops have been in long enough, you could leave it another day or two to give it chance to clear some more. Your choice.
You can use this http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/ to calculate the priming sugar.
I seem to remember that the priming sugar supplied with this kit weighs about 130g, and is brewing sugar. Assuming you get about 22 litres of brew into the bottles, and use all the sugar and it is 130g, that will give you about 2.2 volumes CO2 which is at the low end of the scale for American Ales but OK. This is equivalent to about 3g per 500ml, or 2/3 level tsp. It might be better to batch prime if you have another FV you can siphon into before bottling.

Mr terry,

thanks for the reply. No other vessel so gunna do straight into bottles. Ur right its 132g with packet for supplied sugar what a good memory uve got. As I short brewed at 20.5l and a few trial jar readings am down to about 19.5 litres. Was going for 1tsp - 4g's. Is that 2 much? Also I was going to use some coopers drops instead of the supplied sugar for a few bottles; they 3g each so 1 and 1/4 drops just for something slightly different.

Couple of other quick ?'s. Isnt over 3 days too long for dry hopping? Have read different things about it kills the hop taste if in too long or can be over hopped which is a little conflicting?

Also I was going to use a tea strainer to cut out the hop sediment. What ur thoughts

:) Kimo

 

[DeniG2]

Have you got a tea strainer? Lol
Four Finger Jack is a Bulldog kit if memory serves? My Rajas reward was p*** too! to be fair though I got a refund. :thumb:

Hi Racinsnake, my Raja's reward is currently conditioning in the bottle but I wasn't happy with how it fermented and have a feeling it's also going to taste like p***. How did you get a refund, from Bulldog or your LHBS

 

[lloydo]

Had this bottled 6 weeks ago, cracked one open at 4 weeks and found it wasn't quite ready....however, now! It's tasting pretty damn good!
On the left of is my brew and on the right is Brewdog Punk. So looking pretty similar! and so far, some people have got them wrong on the blind taste test!