Youngs American IPA

[jgpp]

Hi, I'm a complete novice so bear with the stupid questions, I've only ever brewed tea before. Going to start this tonight in one of Youngs screw top FV. I intend bottling this and reading the instructions it tells me after fermenting and hopping to transfer to another container and add primary sugar and bottle from that. My stupid question is, can I not add the sugar to the FV and syphon from that to bottles ?

Second stupid question should I use a hop bag/piece of muslin for the hop pellets to avoid clogging things up or will this alter the effectiveness of the hops?

Thanks in advance

 

[sausagefingers]

I prefer to add the sugar to the bottles.If you add the sugar to your fv you will stir all the crud up.I just chuck the pellets in once the ABV is low enough then use the muslin bag on the end of my syphon tube but some folk use it as you suggested. Works for me
Good luck, you've picked a cracking kit - one of my favourite brews :drink:

 

[Coups]

Hi jgpp,

No such thing as stupid questions here my friend, the questions are only asked as you dont know the answer :)
If you have a 2nd fermenter i would transfer it to that, with the priming sugar already dissolved in boiling water then cool it to room temp. If you dont then what sausagefingers said about priming in the bottle is fine. I would make sure you dont move your fermenter prior to transfer or bottling for upto 24hrs to let the sediment settle - creates a clearer beer.
As for the hops, either use a bag and put them in (thats what i do) or chuck them in and use the bag on the end of the syphon. I have about 4 bags from festival kits so i use them for both hops and syphoning.

 

[Covrich]

Hi, I'm a complete novice so bear with the stupid questions, I've only ever brewed tea before. Going to start this tonight in one of Youngs screw top FV. I intend bottling this and reading the instructions it tells me after fermenting and hopping to transfer to another container and add primary sugar and bottle from that. My stupid question is, can I not add the sugar to the FV and syphon from that to bottles ?

Second stupid question should I use a hop bag/piece of muslin for the hop pellets to avoid clogging things up or will this alter the effectiveness of the hops?

Thanks in advance

It is not a stupid question, in fact a lot of us do what coups said.

Whatever works for people, I find bath priming as it is referred too as a good way of getting a universal mix, and if you use a wand, you can bottle the same amount same carbonation every bottle. and also you can be sure by boiling it in a bit of water it is steralised.

 

[jgpp]

Thanks Gents, both methods mentioned so I can be flexible. If I buy another FV and transfer do i use syphon or gently pour ?

If I decide to 'prime ' the bottles, how much in each bottle, there appears to be loads of different opinions on this and do you just add the sugar or a boiled sugar solution.

Not starting till Sunday now as I wont be able to keep an eye on it whilst it starts fermenting till then, don't want any overflows etc

Thanks again chaps

 

[CiderSnob]

I remove my cider from one demijohn to another (leaving behind the sediment) and then add priming sugar and bottle, it helps keep things even and minimse sediment!
im sure this could be extrapolated to larger FVs!

 

[chuff76]

Hi, I'm a complete novice so bear with the stupid questions, I've only ever brewed tea before. Going to start this tonight in one of Youngs screw top FV. I intend bottling this and reading the instructions it tells me after fermenting and hopping to transfer to another container and add primary sugar and bottle from that. My stupid question is, can I not add the sugar to the FV and syphon from that to bottles ?

Second stupid question should I use a hop bag/piece of muslin for the hop pellets to avoid clogging things up or will this alter the effectiveness of the hops?

Thanks in advance

Hi there jgpp - We're in the same boat, but I'm a few weeks ahead. I just completed my first ever brew, using this very kit.
Was quite nervous about it all, but it worked a dream - I bottled it last night and it looks, smells and tastes amazing - Cannot wait until it's fizzed and ready.
My humble experience:
The fermentation took 3 weeks in total(the instructions say 15 days), I then added the hops for 4 days and bottled last night. Next time I wont start it on a sunday, bottling on a schoolnight was a time consuming and messy PITA.
23 Litres at room temperature, I got a 'greenhouse' thermometer that records high and low temps - According to that the lowest it hit was 16 and the highest 25(which must have been towards the end with the recent sunshine).
I would highly recommend a muslin bag for the hop pellets as they turned into mush - The bag did a grand job(fiver for 10 on amazon).
When it was finished, I boiled up about 300ml of water with the priming sugar, added it to a second bucket and siphoned the beer into the bottling bucket. Because I hadnt moved the FV at all, it seems all of the yeast had settled into a thin, solid layer at the bottom about 1cm thick at most which was incredibly easy to avoid (much better than I expected)- everything above that was liquid gold and it's already looking really clear, barely any cloudiness at all.
From the 23 litres, I ended up with 45 x 500Ml bottles full, barely a drop wasted :)
I was very careful about adding the yeast at the correct temperature. The airlock was bubbling like mad the next morning.
One thing I regret - Not using an FV with a tap(to sample progress as I went)
Very glad I used a bottling bucket
I got hold of some Starsan sanitiser - It's bloody brilliant and I doubt I'll ever use anything else. I have been... crazy about sanitising everything, and I think that has contributed to my success.
6.56% ABV
I don't think I could have asked for a better introduction to brewing, will buy another one of these kits soon! :

 

[jgpp]

Thanks for that Chuff, really encouraging, think I will go and get another FV and transfer for the bottling.

 

[jgpp]

Bubbling away, not a lot else to report !

 

[chuff76]

The process is pretty easy eh? Much simpler than I'd anticipated

I've heard tales of failed fermentations and no bubbling on this very thread so you're ahead already.

Mine's been in the bottle for 6 days now, I had a gentle but good look at one earlier and could see a stream of tiny bubbles, carbonation in action.

Patience is frayed, I need to taste it soon see what I've created!

 

[Coups]

Haha chuff, patience is definately required to make sure the beer you brewed will be excellent, but 6 days its been in the bottles, im gunna go ahead and twist your arm and say open one on friday night after a week of work and see where your brew is, enjoy!

 

[Covrich]

Patience is frayed!

The most difficult and testing part of this hobby

 

[jgpp]

The process is pretty easy eh? Much simpler than I'd anticipated

I've heard tales of failed fermentations and no bubbling on this very thread so you're ahead already.

Mine's been in the bottle for 6 days now, I had a gentle but good look at one earlier and could see a stream of tiny bubbles, carbonation in action.

Patience is frayed, I need to taste it soon see what I've created!

So far it seems ok , bubbling every second at the moment, plenty of time to mess it up yet I guess but will follow instructions to the T. The bottling and wait could be a challenge .

 

[ProjectBeer]

I brewed this kit over a month and a half ago as my first ever kit. Don't be dissuaded by the taste after the first week, it gets better! I still wasn't convinced I had a decent brew until after 3 weeks conditioning.

 

[chuff76]

It's had 3 weeks in the bottle now and it's pretty damn good!

 

[jgpp]

So, bottled it today, all appears to be ok , the long wait begins... May do something else in the meantime now that there's two empty FV's sat in the corner. Any recommendations , something that will be ready quicker than the 6 weeks ish of the IPA, is easy for a novice and should be drank cool / cold ?

 

[dad_of_jon]

Any recommendations , something that will be ready quicker than the 6 weeks ish of the IPA, is easy for a novice and should be drank cool / cold ?

sounds like you've just described a wheat beer !