Your current / planned brews

lang

BeerNut wrote: »

You can get the same effect with just a longer primary. That's why I'd suggest giving everything at least two weeks of fermentation time.

Interesting....I am constantly learning!! I am loving this Brew-lark. Why did it take me nearly ten years (after it became legal for me to drink) to find Homebrewing??!! I'm sure making up for it now!! :P

oblivious

lang wrote: »

BeerNut wrote: »

You can get the same effect with just a longer primary. That's why I'd suggest giving everything at least two weeks of fermentation time.

Interesting....I am constantly learning!! I am loving this Brew-lark. Why did it take me nearly ten years (after it became legal for me to drink) to find Homebrewing??!! I'm sure making up for it now!! :P

Haven't done a secondary in four years, 2 weeks primary does most beers , enjoy

engrish?

oblivious wrote: »

Haven't done a secondary in four years, 2 weeks primary does most beers , enjoy

Just curious - do you ever dry hop in the primary? Do you wait the full two weeks until fermentation has stopped or do you just chuck in the hops towards the end of the fermentation?

lang

engrish? wrote: »

Just curious - do you ever dry hop in the primary? Do you wait the full two weeks until fermentation has stopped or do you just chuck in the hops towards the end of the fermentation?

I'd love to know the answer to that one too.

Also, when bottling from primary, do you syphon the brew into a second bucket, or just syphon straight to bottles? (I am assuming there is no tap on Primary vessel). If Primary has tap, then would it mean no need to transfer to second bucket? I use Carb drops - have not progressed to batch priming.

scrapsmac

lang wrote: »

I'd love to know the answer to that one too.

Also, when bottling from primary, do you syphon the brew into a second bucket, or just syphon straight to bottles? (I am assuming there is no tap on Primary vessel). If Primary has tap, then would it mean no need to transfer to second bucket? I use Carb drops - have not progressed to batch priming.

When I bottle I do it straight from primary with a tap and bottling wand. Primary vessels can have taps also. I also use carb drops because I am lazy Although next weekend I will be bottling with dextrose, about 5g each bottle.

I have never tried batch priming. it is something I would be interested in but for the meantime carb drops are simples.

Also, I need some suggestions for my next brew as I am ordering ingredients and a wort chiller (woohoo) today,

At my disposal I currently have:

1.9kg Crushed Maris Otter;
500g Flaked Wheat.

Should I stick with the Wheat Beer? Maybe get a bit of Wheat Malt and go for something along the lines of an Erdinger? I was half thinking of knocking up a proper session beer also or Fizzy Yellow Beer as I have seen mentioned on other forums if I can get a second FV.

oblivious

engrish? wrote: »

Just curious - do you ever dry hop in the primary? Do you wait the full two weeks until fermentation has stopped or do you just chuck in the hops towards the end of the fermentation?

lang wrote: »

I'd love to know the answer to that one too.

I dry hop in the primary all the time, sometimes I will start the dry hop just fermentation is dropping of. This has the advantage of there is still fermentation and co2 been produce and it will scrub out any oxygen the hops will introduce.

Other than that I will wait a week till fermentation stop and dry hop for a week

lang wrote: »

Also, when bottling from primary, do you syphon the brew into a second bucket, or just syphon straight to bottles? (I am assuming there is no tap on Primary vessel). If Primary has tap, then would it mean no need to transfer to second bucket? I use Carb drops - have not progressed to batch priming.

I keg mostly, if I was to bottle a batch. But to make like easer I would transfer to bottling bucket with a tap so i could attach a bottling wand. They make life so easily, but not as easy as a kegging

syngindub

oblivious wrote: »

I dry hop in the primary all the time, sometimes I will start the dry hop just fermentation is dropping of. This has the advantage of there is still fermentation and co2 been produce and it will scrub out any oxygen the hops will introduce.

Other than that I will wait a week till fermentation stop and dry hop for a week





I keg mostly, if I was to bottle a batch. But to make like easer I would transfer to bottling bucket with a tap so i could attach a bottling wand. They make life so easily, but not as easy as a kegging

sorry for the stupid question.
What is dry hopping?
I have some hops and planning a hob tea..what's the procedure in doing this?

Tube

Not a fan of dry hopping as it can introduce a grassy flavour. I nearly always get this from pellets. I get it from Messrs Maguire Pale Ale too, so I'm guessing that's also dry hopped.

As hop flavour and aroma fade over time I prefer to dry hop (if I am going to) closer to serving time.

BeerNut

syngindub wrote: »

What is dry hopping?

Adding hops during fermentation. For a 20L batch I usually just toss 20-30g in loose, about a week before bottling.

syngindub

BeerNut wrote: »

Adding hops during fermentation. For a 20L batch I usually just toss 20-30g in loose, about a week before bottling.

what about the risk of contamenation doing this?

stuchyg

scrapsmac wrote: »

Quick update on my Wit beer. For those who don't know I had a bit of a crisis (that totally could have been avoided :rolleyes:) last week.

Anyway, took a reading yesterday and it's sitting at 1.011 after 7 days in the FV. It smelt very very good. Infact it smelled almost identical to a Blue Moon.

Took a cheeky taste test too. It tasted quite bitter, sharp. I'm slightly concerned but I imagine that is because it is only 7 days in the FV. I plan on giving it the full two weeks before bottling

Was this using a kit or extract brewing. My missus loves blue moon and I would like to be able to brew something similiar for her

BeerNut

syngindub wrote: »

what about the risk of contamenation doing this?

Hops are a natural preservative. They're effectively self-sanitising.

Ratsathome

syngindub wrote: »

what about the risk of contamenation doing this?

Hops is "self sterilizing".The alpha acids have a mild antibiotic/bacteriostatic effect against bacteria :rolleyes:
If you use your own bag you can sterilize the bag.

oblivious

Tube wrote: »

Not a fan of dry hopping as it can introduce a grassy flavour. I nearly always get this from pellets. I get it from Messrs Maguire Pale Ale too, so I'm guessing that's also dry hopped.

As hop flavour and aroma fade over time I prefer to dry hop (if I am going to) closer to serving time.

The pelletisation proceed though the die ruptures the plants cells wall, this is hat can give grassy flavor from dry hopping with them

scrapsmac

stuchyg wrote: »

Was this using a kit or extract brewing. My missus loves blue moon and I would like to be able to brew something similiar for her

It was my first Partial Mash.

20 L batch. Approximately 2.4 kg grain bill made up of Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat and Flaked Oats. I then added Extra Light Dry Extract and Dry Wheat Extract.

Added some coriander and orange peel. It smells great, hope it tastes good too!

oblivious

scrapsmac wrote: »

stuchyg wrote: »

Was this using a kit or extract brewing. My missus loves blue moon and I would like to be able to brew something similiar for her

It was my first Partial Mash.

20 L batch. Approximately 2.4 kg grain bill made up of Maris Otter, Flaked Wheat and Flaked Oats. I then added Extra Light Dry Extract and Dry Wheat Extract.

Added some coriander and orange peel. It smells great, hope it tastes good too!

And any general ale yeast

scrapsmac

Two 20L brews planned with BIAB method. Both shamelessly stolen from homebrewtalk. Advice welcome!

AG#1

Cream Ale

2.5kg Maris Otter
1.1kg Flaked Maize
0.5kg Minute Rice

Safale US-05


AG#2

Simple Blonde Ale

3kg Maris Otter
0.4kg Carapils
0.2kg Crystal

Safale US-04

I have some East Kent Goldings and Northern Brewer to play with. I expect both to be simple tasty brews!

stuchyg

Will be bottling my Cascade hopped IPA later today. Roll on 3 weeks

scrapsmac

stuchyg wrote: »

Will be bottling my Cascade hopped IPA later today. Roll on 3 weeks

Waiting is the worst part of homebrewing!

lang

scrapsmac wrote: »

Waiting is the worst part of homebrewing!

I tried a couple of bottles from my Coopers Pilsner after about 2 weeks and I have to say it was bloody lovely. I was surprised how carbonated it was after such a short time. I'd say in a few more weeks it'll even better. Head retention wasn't too bad on it either. Had brewed it for the other half as she prefers lighter beers, but she was not made on it.

Think I'm gonna do a Mexican Cerveza for her in the coming weeks

oblivious

scrapsmac wrote: »

stuchyg wrote: »

Will be bottling my Cascade hopped IPA later today. Roll on 3 weeks

Waiting is the worst part of homebrewing!

Then start another brew

stuchyg

Ginger Beer to be brewed next week followed by a blue moonish clone, basically wheat beer with a bIAB of coriander and orange zest. Also have a 5 ltr turbo cider which will be bottled in 2 weeks

Fart

Coopers Brewmaster India Pale Ale.

Going to add the recommended 500g light spraymalt and 300g brewing sugar.
Will it do it any harm adding in 500g brewing sugar? I plan to leave it in the primary for 4 weeks, then I'll bottle it then condition it until Christmas time.

I'm hoping it will make it a great brew.

Dont be at yourself

Fart wrote: »

Coopers Brewmaster India Pale Ale.

Going to add the recommended 500g light spraymalt and 300g brewing sugar.
Will it do it any harm adding in 500g brewing sugar? I plan to leave it in the primary for 4 weeks, then I'll bottle it then condition it until Christmas time.

I'm hoping it will make it a great brew.

Going to sattempt to same brew this evening using a mixture of spraymalt and brewing sugar. This will also be my first brew using bottled water (got 5 x 5L bottles from Aldi). Wonder if it'll make a noticeable difference...

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

engrish?

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Going to sattempt to same brew this evening using a mixture of spraymalt and brewing sugar. This will also be my first brew using bottled water (got 5 x 5L bottles from Aldi). Wonder if it'll make a noticeable difference...

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

It'll be a bit of a pain in the arse if you are batch priming.

Out of curiosity, what water have you been using to date? I've used the 5L bottles from Lidl and found them fine - I have had a bit of an aftertaste from my brews though which I have been thinking is either down to the water or down to my inexperience. Most likely the latter but I look forward to hearing what you think.

Dont be at yourself

engrish? wrote: »

It'll be a bit of a pain in the arse if you are batch priming.

Why is that? Couldn't I just add the priming sugar to each bottle as normal? I'd likely be consuming each bottle in one go (with some help!), so I wouldn't be too worried about loss of carbonation after opening.

Out of curiosity, what water have you been using to date? I've used the 5L bottles from Lidl and found them fine - I have had a bit of an aftertaste from my brews though which I have been thinking is either down to the water or down to my inexperience. Most likely the latter but I look forward to hearing what you think.

I've only done two previous brews -- both using tap water (one in Frankfurt, one in Dublin). Taste was OK, but I'm curious to know if bottled water does in fact make a difference.

engrish?

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Why is that? Couldn't I just add the priming sugar to each bottle as normal? I'd likely be consuming each bottle in one go (with some help!), so I wouldn't be too worried about loss of carbonation after opening.

Batch priming is adding the sugar to the fermenter before you put it in bottles, it saves you having to add carbonation drops or 5g of sugar to each 500ml bottle - I didn't think you meant that you were going to drink it straight from them!

I don't know how air tight the bottles will be so you wouldn't get good carbonation. It would also be a lot of mess if one split during carbonation!!!!

You might find a cheaper keg option?

BeerNut

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

It'd be handy if you're planning to split the batch and do different things with it, 5L at a time. It'd be a pain and an extra risk of infection and oxidation otherwise.

But if by "secondary fermentation" you mean conditioning, ie carbonating: don't. Still water bottles aren't designed for holding carbonated drinks at pressure.

Fart

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Going to sattempt to same brew this evening using a mixture of spraymalt and brewing sugar. This will also be my first brew using bottled water (got 5 x 5L bottles from Aldi). Wonder if it'll make a noticeable difference...

Also eyeing up re-using the empty 5L bottles for secondary fermentation. Anyone ever done this?

How much were the bottles in Aldi?
I'm thinking the exact same thing .

Dont be at yourself

Fart wrote: »

How much were the bottles in Aldi?
I'm thinking the exact same thing .

Around €1.50 per 5L I think...