Young's American IPA

[alhenderson]

Since I'm down to the dregs of my last brew (Young's American Pale Ale - which was rather nice), figured I'd better start the next one. Had a couple of hours spare this afternoon so got it going. The APA was a fairly easy beer to make so I have high hopes for this one too (that's gone and cursed it now!). I love the likes of Goose Island IPA etc so hoping this will taste similar and save me a fortune :smile:

With my previous two brews I have struggled with temperature control during fermentation, have just had to choose a room in the house and cross my fingers. Having seen a few posts on here, I have a water bath and an aquarium heater this time to try and improve that. Fermentation for my last couple took a fair bit longer than expected due to the temperature - hoping to avoid that this time. Mind you, I'm not 100% convinced that the aquarium heater's working yet - there's no light on it to indicate anything. Time will tell.

Anyway, quick pic of the FV - not the most exciting thing in the world!

beer by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

One other thing I would be interested in is any tips for bottling. My first brew went into a keg, for the second I used 2l water bottles which did the job fine. The first pint that I poured from a bottle was gorgeous and clear, but subsequent ones were cloudy due to having stirred up the sediment. Are there any little tricks to getting more than one clear pour from a bottle?

Cheers,
Al.

 

[MyQul]

You need a water bath and aquarium heater at this time of year! :shock: Where are you brewing, in an igloo

 

[DoctorMick]

The American IPA was the best kit I made, you shouldn't be disappointed...it's nowhere near the quality of goose island but for the price I'm sure it'll make a great substitute.

 

[DoctorMick]

You need a water bath and aquarium heater at this time of year! :shock: Where are you brewing, in an igloo

I thought that, even my garage is consistently in the high teens at the minute. It does get progressively colder the further north you go tho.

 

[Slid]

Since I'm down to the dregs of my last brew (Young's American Pale Ale - which was rather nice), figured I'd better start the next one. Had a couple of hours spare this afternoon so got it going. The APA was a fairly easy beer to make so I have high hopes for this one too (that's gone and cursed it now!). I love the likes of Goose Island IPA etc so hoping this will taste similar and save me a fortune :smile:

With my previous two brews I have struggled with temperature control during fermentation, have just had to choose a room in the house and cross my fingers. Having seen a few posts on here, I have a water bath and an aquarium heater this time to try and improve that. Fermentation for my last couple took a fair bit longer than expected due to the temperature - hoping to avoid that this time. Mind you, I'm not 100% convinced that the aquarium heater's working yet - there's no light on it to indicate anything. Time will tell.

Anyway, quick pic of the FV - not the most exciting thing in the world!

beer by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

One other thing I would be interested in is any tips for bottling. My first brew went into a keg, for the second I used 2l water bottles which did the job fine. The first pint that I poured from a bottle was gorgeous and clear, but subsequent ones were cloudy due to having stirred up the sediment. Are there any little tricks to getting more than one clear pour from a bottle?

Cheers,
Al.

Yeah - Here is the Tip

You buy a 2L jug from Wilko for £1.

You line up a pint glass and Wliko jug together.

You pour your first pint into a pint pot, then pour the rest of the clear beer, without pausing, into the said jug.

Then you put the jug in the fridge instead of the 2L bottle.

This works well, because, even if the 2L bottle is a bit "lively", and the pint glass looks like just foam at first, as long as you don't panic, the most of the contents in the 2L jug will be fine.

When the beer starts to pick up yeast towards the end of the pour you either chuck the remnants or pour the rest into a further container (250 ml lemonade bottle?) for later clearing. (This sort of works, but is really experimenting, more than anything else).

 

[ian808]

I use 2 litre bottles for some of my beers and I pour the whole bottle into jug so as not to disturb the sediment and cloud the beer up

 

[alhenderson]

You need a water bath and aquarium heater at this time of year! :shock: Where are you brewing, in an igloo

I'm a bit paranoid about the temperature, I guess. Instructions say it should be between 20 and 24 degrees, my garage is nowhere near that. Might be high teens, I guess. When I did the APA I had it fermenting in the house at around 18 C and it took a fair bit longer to ferment than it should have done. The results, were fine, mind you.

Cheers,
Al

 

[alhenderson]

Yeah - Here is the Tip

You buy a 2L jug from Wilko for £1.

You line up a pint glass and Wliko jug together.

You pour your first pint into a pint pot, then pour the rest of the clear beer, without pausing, into the said jug.

Then you put the jug in the fridge instead of the 2L bottle.

This works well, because, even if the 2L bottle is a bit "lively", and the pint glass looks like just foam at first, as long as you don't panic, the most of the contents in the 2L jug will be fine.

When the beer starts to pick up yeast towards the end of the pour you either chuck the remnants or pour the rest into a further container (250 ml lemonade bottle?) for later clearing. (This sort of works, but is really experimenting, more than anything else).

That's so simple it's brilliant! Thanks very much for the tip - will keep that one in mind for when I start drinking this batch :

Al.

 

[coopsy]

Maybe bottle in 500 m/l bottles, works for me........

 

[MyQul]

I'm a bit paranoid about the temperature, I guess. Instructions say it should be between 20 and 24 degrees, my garage is nowhere near that. Might be high teens, I guess. When I did the APA I had it fermenting in the house at around 18 C and it took a fair bit longer to ferment than it should have done. The results, were fine, mind you.

Cheers,
Al

18C is actually a great temp for an APA. afaik the style requires a clean taste to showcase the hops. As 18C you wont get any esters from the yeast (provided your using a 'cleaner' strain). 18C-20C is the recommened temp for ale fermentation. Ignore the instructions. 20C-24C is fine, you shouldn't get any off flavours or anything but you will get esters which is not always appropriate for the style

 

[alhenderson]

18C is actually a great temp for an APA. afaik the style requires a clean taste to showcase the hops. As 18C you wont get any esters from the yeast (provided your using a 'cleaner' strain). 18C-20C is the recommened temp for ale fermentation. Ignore the instructions. 20C-24C is fine, you shouldn't get any off flavours or anything but you will get esters which is not always appropriate for the style

Thanks for that hint, very good to know. Don't get that kind of information reading the instructions! I'll nip out to the garage and turn down the heater. I guess brewing's just like cooking - whenever I ask the good lady wife how she knows how much of ingredient x to put in to her lasagne she "just knows". Experience, judgement, and a good dose of guesswork, no doubt!

Al.

 

[HarrowBrewer]

I picked up a one litre beer stein from my local charity shop. Works perfectly for drinking the one litre pets I sometimes use for bottling, and allows me to over-indulge whilst convincing myself that "I've only had a couple of bottles...."

 

[alhenderson]

I picked up a one litre beer stein from my local charity shop. Works perfectly for drinking the one litre pets I sometimes use for bottling, and allows me to over-indulge whilst convincing myself that "I've only had a couple of bottles...."

:drunk: I think I need one of these steins!

 

[MyQul]

I picked up a one litre beer stein from my local charity shop. Works perfectly for drinking the one litre pets I sometimes use for bottling, and allows me to over-indulge whilst convincing myself that "I've only had a couple of bottles...."

Which pop/water bottles did you use/ where did you get the 1L PETS? I was thinking of getting some 1L swing top growlers but there very expensive

 

[HarrowBrewer]

They are just used ginger ale and lemonade bottles from Morrisons, I only use them when I'm low on glass ones or for something that I know I don't intend on storing for too long.

 

[alhenderson]

Which pop/water bottles did you use/ where did you get the 1L PETS? I was thinking of getting some 1L swing top growlers but there very expensive

For my last brew I used tesco value water bottles - 19p each or something silly. Did the job admirably.

Al

 

[MyQul]

For my last brew I used tesco value water bottles - 19p each or something silly. Did the job admirably.

Al

Do they come in 1L size then? I thought most of the supermarket water bottles come in 2L & 5L sizes only

 

[alhenderson]

Do they come in 1L size then? I thought most of the supermarket water bottles come in 2L & 5L sizes only

No, these were two litre bottles.

Al

 

[alhenderson]

So, almost 3 weeks later, SG is down to 1.007 from a starting point of 1.055 and I think it's going to be Hops time soon. Quick question which I think I know the answer to. There's a *lot* of froth on top of the brew, more than I think I saw with the last kit I did (although I may not have been paying that much attention last time round!). Should I take any steps to remove any of this before hopping, or just throw them in? I'm guessing they'll soon sink, and the instructions don't say anything about removing anything before hopping, but thought I'd ask :-)

Had a little taste of the sample I took, and it was quite pleasant, although a little sharp maybe. Very good considering it's not the finished article.

Al.

 

[wfr42]

I've just sprinkled the hops on top both times I've done this kit and I have been very happy with the end results.