Young's American IPA

[alhenderson]

Cheers, thought that was the case, but the more I thought about it, the less sure I was ☺

 

[alhenderson]

Thought I'd post a quick update for anyone who's interested :-) I started this brew on 23rd August and set it to ferment in the garage in a water bath with the aquarium heater set to ~22C. SG at the outset was 1.055. 18 days later, the SG was 1.007, since the instructions said to add hops below 1.010 I decide this was the moment. Just sprinkled the contents of the packet onto the top of the FV and put the lid back on. 6 days after that, the SG had settled to 1.004 so I decided to bottle, aware that it had been quite a while since hopping. My main reason for using the water bath was to try and get faster fermentation times due to better temp control. It didn't appear to make much difference to the time that the SG took to settle.

Anyhow, the few mouthfuls I got whilst bottling were quite pleasant, so looking forward to tasting it proper. By my calculations (well, the internet's calculations) this stuff should be 6.69%, which is plenty for me :-)

And to finish, a picture of what looks like a lot of muddy water in my new Kilner bottles :-)

IMG_20150917_214052 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

Now the waiting for clearing begins :-)

Al.

 

[pms67]

Thought I'd post a quick update for anyone who's interested :-) I started this brew on 23rd August and set it to ferment in the garage in a water bath with the aquarium heater set to ~22C. SG at the outset was 1.055. 18 days later, the SG was 1.007, since the instructions said to add hops below 1.010 I decide this was the moment. Just sprinkled the contents of the packet onto the top of the FV and put the lid back on. 6 days after that, the SG had settled to 1.004 so I decided to bottle, aware that it had been quite a while since hopping. My main reason for using the water bath was to try and get faster fermentation times due to better temp control. It didn't appear to make much difference to the time that the SG took to settle.

Anyhow, the few mouthfuls I got whilst bottling were quite pleasant, so looking forward to tasting it proper. By my calculations (well, the internet's calculations) this stuff should be 6.69%, which is plenty for me :-)

And to finish, a picture of what looks like a lot of muddy water in my new Kilner bottles :-)

IMG_20150917_214052 by Alistair Henderson, on Flickr

Now the waiting for clearing begins :-)

Al.

Its a very nice pint although you do Have to wait a while for the carbonation to be right and the harshness of the hops to fade a little.
Enjoy

 

[Covrich]

Unusual looking bottles there!!

I think when I did one of these kits it took a few weeks to blend together/ the hops to calm down and for it to look less like a urine infection

 

[pms67]

Not sure what anyone else thinks but a few of your bottles look like there is a lot of space,this could lead to a build up of carbonation, just be careful when opening., did you use a little bottler?

 

[alhenderson]

Not sure what anyone else thinks but a few of your bottles look like there is a lot of space,this could lead to a build up of carbonation, just be careful when opening., did you use a little bottler?

I just siphoned straight from the keg where I primed it, using a plastic tube with a little tap on the end. Got a bit fraught at times so I probably underfilled most of them as I was more worried about getting beer all over the floor. I did also wonder if I was supposed to leave some space for the gases to gather and so reduce pressure on the bottles. Probably seemed like a good idea in my head!

Al.

 

[alhenderson]

Unusual looking bottles there!!

I think when I did one of these kits it took a few weeks to blend together/ the hops to calm down and for it to look less like a urine infection

I checked the bottles last night and they appear to have cleared already, which came as a big surprise, was expecting that to take weeks. The last one I filled has some very big bits of something suspended in it, guess it'll take longer.

Al.

 

[alhenderson]

Not sure what anyone else thinks but a few of your bottles look like there is a lot of space,this could lead to a build up of carbonation, just be careful when opening., did you use a little bottler?

I'd never even heard of a little bottler! Am I right in thinking it attaches to the tap on the keg and then reaches down into the bottom of the bottle? Looks like that would make the whole process a lot easier..

Al.

 

[Covrich]

I checked the bottles last night and they appear to have cleared already, which came as a big surprise, was expecting that to take weeks. The last one I filled has some very big bits of something suspended in it, guess it'll take longer.

Al.

Normal, last bottles are always "testers in my mind" they will have the most of the drop out

These were dry hopped and I foudn after chilling they hazed up.. Dry hopped beers can be hazy

 

[pms67]

I'd never even heard of a little bottler! Am I right in thinking it attaches to the tap on the keg and then reaches down into the bottom of the bottle? Looks like that would make the whole process a lot easier..

Al.

Yes your right,a great device,fills any shape or size of bottle to the perfect amount

 

[alhenderson]

Not sure what anyone else thinks but a few of your bottles look like there is a lot of space,this could lead to a build up of carbonation, just be careful when opening., did you use a little bottler?

So, I opened up my 'tester' bottle (the last one and the smallest) yesterday for a sneaky sup. However, as soon as I opened it, the whole thing went mad and frothed up, stirring up all the sediment. Lost a load of the beer in froth before I could put the lid back on. Is this what you were talking about?

If so, how might I reduce the chances of it happening to my other bottles? There won't be a lot of drinking to do if that keeps happening :-( Will it settle down if I leave them for a bit, or should I try opening the bottles a tad to release the pressure (although that could go horribly wrong)>

Cheers,
Al.

 

[pms67]

You may be ok as the last one might be the worst one as there may be more yeast/sediment which will cause more carbonation, if im wrong others will help with the correct answer.
Good luck

 

[alhenderson]

Took the opportunity whilst watching the rugby the other night to open another bottle of my brew. Had buckets, mops, cloths and all manner of kit ready in case it all kicked off. Happy to report that there was nothing more than a very satisfying fizz. Following advice from this forum, I poured the whole bottle into a jug so I could have more than one clear pint. All worked perfectly, and the beer is lovely. I'm no good with flowery language, but it definitely meets my expectations, and has lost the bitterness that it had when I was bottling it.

Not sure its going to last until Christmas :-)