Youngs American IPA

[homebrew23]

I think with a 1005 reading you should be ok to dry hop. You should get a really hoppy beer with a bit of a kick - not a session beer for a school night!

 

[Twostage]

Just thought even if bubbles were in the sample and lifting it wouldnt that give a higher rather than lower gravity reading?

Yep. realised while I was driving today that I had it the wrong way round.

 

[Beerlover]

I'm drinking this at the moment and have to say that mine isn't very hoppy at all?! I've also got the American Amber Ale which I put into a PB last week and that's the same, hardly any hoppiness, I don't know why as the razorback IPA and others I've done have had less hops to add but have been much stronger in smell and taste?

 

[bobby_d1978]

My AIPA has been in the fv for 21 days with the air lock bubbling every 30 secs. I checked the s.g today witch was at 1010 but it still has a massive foamy head. I've had a steady temp of 18c through out. Does this sound about right?

 

[HisDudeness]

So had the hops in for 3 days and it smelt amazing! I switched off the heater to help it clear and racked it off today. Had a little sample and its looking pretty good, tastes very strong but nice fruity flavour and bitter finish very much like a flat goose island at the moment. Looks like slightly high fermenting temp didnt cause any issues. Will give it a couple more days to clear and then bottle. Very pleased with progress after 16 days and looking forward to the finished product :p

 

[Badseed1974]

Just tested mine tonight, down to 1.005 from a starting point of 1.056 and looks exactly as above, tasted pretty minging though, very bitter

Will bottle tomorrow and hopefully a few weeks will sort it out.

 

[Badseed1974]

While I'm here, can I ask some probably daft noob questions?

I was planning to bottle to 1 litre cheapo sparkling water bottles (that I haven't bought yet). Would I have to sterilise these after emptying them like I would if I was using old used bottles?

Also, was planning to syphon off to a bottling bucket via a sieve to catch all the hop residue, any downside in doing this?

Cheers

 

[HisDudeness]

I'm no expert myself but, nothing wrong with syphoning off via a sieve to bottling bucket just ensure everything sterilised as per usual and try to minimise splashing and bubbling that might introduce oxygen into the brew. Pouring down the side of bucket helps with this. I used one of the festival kit filter bags over the end of the syphon stalk which works really well, you could do this with a normal muslin bag I suppose.
As far as the bottles go they probably are sterile but I wouldnt take the chance and would clean them anyway. The main problem might be ending up on your arse cos you are drinking it by the litre! :mrgreen:
Mine was very bitter on the first couple of samples too but has improved already after a few days cooling and racking off, sure it will be fine :thumb:

 

[Covrich]

Also, was planning to syphon off to a bottling bucket via a sieve to catch all the hop residue, any downside in doing this?

Cheers

In reality how would you do it without splashing? When I spyhon off you want the end pipe to be filling at the level or under it so it fills from the bottom upwards, going via a seive I think would be impossible to not introduce oxyden.

What you could do is attach a sanitised hop bag over the end of your syphon and that will fill up as you transfer.

 

[Badseed1974]

My first brew mate so never syphoned before, I was hoping I'd manage it with help from my missus.

I'll update later with my no doubt tale of disaster

 

[HisDudeness]

In reality how would you do it without splashing? When I spyhon off you want the end pipe to be filling at the level or under it so it fills from the bottom upwards, going via a seive I think would be impossible to not introduce oxyden.

What you could do is attach a sanitised hop bag over the end of your syphon and that will fill up as you transfer.

That's a fair point! Didn't really think that through in terms of the sieve, muslin hop bag at one end or the other of the siphon is the way to go.

That's my only real criticism of this kit so far that there is no method for filtering out the hops provided as you get with festival range, that being said after a couple of days cooling most of the hops in mine had dropped to the bottom so you can probably get a relatively clean siphon without a filter if you are very careful don't disturb the trub

 

[Badseed1974]

hops have been in 3 days now and still seem to be floating on the surface. Think I'd be better waiting to see if they drop to the bottom?

 

[DoctorMick]

hops have been in 3 days now and still seem to be floating on the surface. Think I'd be better waiting to see if they drop to the bottom?

My hops didn't sink so I wouldn't worry. They will try and block up your syphon when you get near the bottom tho.

Finished my last bottle of this over the weekend, shame as it is definitely my best brew to date.

 

[terrym]

So from above it seems there is a good likelihood of siphoning off some of the 100g of disintegrated hop pellets whether it's settled into the trub or simply floating about.
At some time onwards from the end of this week I will be dry hopping. So to avoid hop carry over from the FV into my bottles the options appear to be either dry hop using a large (sterilised) muslin bag and then siphon direct to bottle, or dry hop without the bag but then rack off to a secondary vessel before either bottling straight after or leaving it for a few days to condition and settle before bottling.
What do others think?
Ta

 

[Badseed1974]

In hindsight I'd have used a bag instead of chucking them straight in.

We live and learn :)

 

[Twostage]

So from above it seems there is a good likelihood of siphoning off some of the 100g of disintegrated hop pellets whether it's settled into the trub or simply floating about.
At some time onwards from the end of this week I will be dry hopping. So to avoid hop carry over from the FV into my bottles the options appear to be either dry hop using a large (sterilised) muslin bag and then siphon direct to bottle, or dry hop without the bag but then rack off to a secondary vessel before either bottling straight after or leaving it for a few days to condition and settle before bottling.
What do others think?
Ta

I'm no expert but I'd worry about leaving it for a few days in a second vessel if it's stopped fermenting in case the air spoiled it. I think a few people on here rack and then bottle after half an hour or so.

 

[Yeastmaster]

I used a sanitised hop bag for dry hopping this brew and it was fine. Would do this again.

 

[Ste_Mog]

I bottle straight from the FV via the tap and bottle wand so dry hopping is always a problem for me. I chucked them straight in the first time but the hops were still floating at the top 4 days later. Safe to say LOTS got in the bottle but didn't effect taste.

The second time I put them in a bag with a hand full of marbles to weigh it down. This worked a lot better and no hops got in the bottle, just the usual bit of sediment. I did have the leave it for an hour or so before bottling after taking the hop bag out as it disturbed the sludge being sat on the bottom.

 

[Badseed1974]

Bottled this up tonight and I wont lie, very cloudy looking indeed and rank tasting.

I'll try it in a few weeks but I'm not hopeful

 

[HisDudeness]

Bottled this up tonight and I wont lie, very cloudy looking indeed and rank tasting.

I'll try it in a few weeks but I'm not hopeful

If this is your first go it could be you are expecting a bit too much taste wise at this point. When I said mine was tasting good that is relative to what I know a lot of brews can be like after initial fermentation, in other words it still quite bitter and green or harsh tasting but I can see the potential of it once it has conditioned! If yours is still quite cloudy that means you are also sampling yeast and possibly hops that are suspended in the beer which hopefully will clear in the bottle dramatically improving the taste. If you have followed the instructions and kept everything clean it should come good with time