My first bubble!

masseyno9

Started my first brew this morning, and learned plenty along the way, despite having read infinite amounts about the process!!

I used a young's lager kit and added hops, wheat spraymalt, orange peel and coriander to try go for a hoegaarden type thing. I'm not too fussy if it's exactly the same or a bit (or a lot!) off, but if it turns out drinkable I'll be happy! OG was 1.042, which seems ok. Fermentation has started, and I got my first bubbles through the airlock this evening about 5 hours after pitching yeast. I used 2 packs of munich yeast, rehydrated as per instructions, in accordance with the recipe I was following.

I'm absolutely delighted with it. I know there's a good way to go yet, but I'm very excited about it. Now to ask my friendly local for some bottles! I'll keep the thread updated as I progress.

Martyn1989

masseyno9 wrote: »

Started my first brew this morning, and learned plenty along the way, despite having read infinite amounts about the process!!

I used a young's lager kit and added hops, wheat spraymalt, orange peel and coriander to try go for a hoegaarden type thing. I'm not too fussy if it's exactly the same or a bit (or a lot!) off, but if it turns out drinkable I'll be happy! OG was 1.042, which seems ok. Fermentation has started, and I got my first bubbles through the airlock this evening about 5 hours after pitching yeast. I used 2 packs of munich yeast, rehydrated as per instructions, in accordance with the recipe I was following.

I'm absolutely delighted with it. I know there's a good way to go yet, but I'm very excited about it. Now to ask my friendly local for some bottles! I'll keep the thread updated as I progress.

Fairplay, thats a fairly adventurous first go. Keep me updated how its turning out!

masseyno9

Well since last night the fermentation has continued at a nice pace. The dog has taken a dislike to the constant bubbling, and was standing there barking at it this morning. There was also a strong smell filling the room, so it's been banished to elsewhere. I have googled about the smell and it seems fairly normal with the type of yeast. Nice krausen forming on top, but not as crazy as pics I have seen, even if the overall appearance is similar. It's a 22l batch in a 33l bin so there should be loads of space for foam. I'm expecting a short enough fermentation so i'll take samples starting at day 7.

Is it a good idea to cool it (or store it somewhere cooler) before bottling?

Martyn1989

Mine always sits in the one spot at 19/20C for 3 weeks, then I move it into the Kitchen which is a bit cooler. I dont know of any reason to cool it first.

BeerNut

Martyn1989 wrote: »

I dont know of any reason to cool it first.

Taste.

mayto

masseyno9 wrote: »

Is it a good idea to cool it (or store it somewhere cooler) before bottling?

Your beer should be pretty clear after two weeks in primary. If its still a bit cloudy I would transfer it to a second fermenter for a week before bottling. Some people do not bother with this but I think I get a clearer beer. Now I have the use of a fridge in the garage hooked up to a temp controller and a heatbelt, I can chill my beers before kegging/bottling. I will keep the beer at 2C for a few days and the beer should be crystal clear with enough yeast left for bottling.

Martyn1989

BeerNut wrote: »

Taste.

So do you chill the beer and then bottle it?

BeerNut

Oh right. No. I think I was getting confused with superdaddy's thread and chilling before drinking. Sorry.

Martyn1989

mayto wrote: »

Your beer should be pretty clear after two weeks in primary. If its still a bit cloudy I would transfer it to a second fermenter for a week before bottling. Some people do not bother with this but I think I get a clearer beer. Now I have the use of a fridge in the garage hooked up to a temp controller and a heatbelt, I can chill my beers before kegging/bottling. I will keep the beer at 2C for a few days and the beer should be crystal clear with enough yeast left for bottling.

I was just thinking about this, would the fermentation happening in the bottle for carbonation not spoil these efforts? Also does chilling the beer not make the yeast sink to the bottom of the vessel, meaning that if you allowed this go on for too long you may not have enough yeast in the beer for carbonation?

mayto

Martyn1989 wrote: »

I was just thinking about this, would the fermentation happening in the bottle for carbonation not spoil these efforts? Also does chilling the beer not make the yeast sink to the bottom of the vessel, meaning that if you allowed this go on for too long you may not have enough yeast in the beer for carbonation?

A lot of the yeast will sink to the bottom when you chill the beer alright,but even if you keep it near zero for a few days there will be eough yeast to carbonate. If you keep near zero for a few weeks you might have trouble carbonating but some say it will still have enough yeast. True bottle fermenting will create more yeast but you might get a sprinkling of yeast like sierra nevada.

masseyno9

Just to keep this updated. Fermentation is still going, albeit a whole lot slower (I think). I've taken a reading and the gravity is at 1.010. I'm not expecting it to go much lower, but i'll take another reading tomorrow and see. Once it stops, I suppose it's time to get my hands on some bottles, move it to somewhere colder for a few days to clear a bit and get on with bottling! I realise this is quite a quick fermentation, but everything i read about this style, and my ingredients/yeast lead me to believe it's ok....I think!

I also had a taste of the sample the other day, and it wasn't bad. Certainly tasted like it's on the right track - but as it's my first brew, I could be way off!! Also not sure how close to hoegaarden it will end up, but as said before, I don't really mind too much.

What are people's setups for cooling before bottling? I was thinking of the shed, but I'd then have to move it to bottle - undoing all the clearing and settling done in the preceding days. Ideally, a secondary bottling bucket I imagine, but I don't have one. Should I just stick it wherever it think I'll be bottling and forget about cooling it?

Thanks for the help. You can only read so much without having questions!

mayto

I would not be too bothered about cooling before bottling unless the beer is still fairly cloudy. I would usually just transfer to a second fermenter for a week or so for it to clear.

Carawaystick

Time is always your aid, it's been a week and a half since pitching, which is short.

you should wait (at least) 6 weeks from brewing to drinking, but there's no harm having a taste in the meantime. It'll take time from bottling to get the fizz in the beer.

I'd bottle then let go away for a fortnight, then cool, the allow to drinking temp.

You need the yeasties to do their thing to glass the beer and ad the right flavour then cooling to clear the beer for a while, before pouring carefully.

masseyno9

Right, a long overdue update. Bottled today due to only getting my hands on bottles yesterday. An odd combination of procrastination and patience left me with a pretty clear looking beer. Colour is slightly darker than miller/heineken type, and taste is not bad. It's a little bitter, but I'm expecting this to mellow out with time. Bottled using 1 carbonation drop per 300 or 330ml bottle, and 1.5 in the few 500ml bottles I had.

Took my final sample, and using the brewzor android app, I have around 4.5% abv, which is what I expected. Pretty happy with it, and excited about tasting the first of them in a week. I'll leave them longer, but taste weekly. Next up is a stout. I've heard good things about the coopers Irish, so might give that a go, with maybe something else added, just because I like messing with things!