Homebrew Beer Howto

raxy · 21-10-2019 09:13AM

I always found 1 undercarbed for me. I moved to batch priming after a few batches.

24-10-2019 08:37AM

If a batch is still 1016 on the hydrometer after 2 weeks what would have happened? Also, is it a down the sink job?

raxy · 24-10-2019 08:58AM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

If a batch is still 1016 on the hydrometer after 2 weeks what would have happened? Also, is it a down the sink job?

How does it taste. The fg would depend on a lot o things. Mash temp, fermentables added. 1016 May just be your fg, doesn't mean there's a problem.
How does it taste?
I'd bottle it if the fg is stable & wait & see how it tastes carbonated. I've had batches that tasted bad before bottling that turned out great.

mordeith · 24-10-2019 08:59AM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

If a batch is still 1016 on the hydrometer after 2 weeks what would have happened? Also, is it a down the sink job?

Not in my experience. I wouldn't place too much I took the expected FG on the instructions. As long as you are getting stable readings over two days. It might be weaker but still perfectly drinkable

24-10-2019 09:24AM

My hydrometer says if I bottle above 1.006 I'll burst the bottles. Will I leave a little extra space if I bottle now then? It's definitely stable (was 1.016 on Monday too). Don't think it tastes bad anyway.

mordeith · 24-10-2019 11:43AM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

My hydrometer says if I bottle above 1.006 I'll burst the bottles. Will I leave a little extra space if I bottle now then? It's definitely stable (was 1.016 on Monday too). Don't think it tastes bad anyway.

If the readings are stable then fermentation is finished (unless it's stalled for some reason). Burst bottles are more likely to occur from over priming and/if primary fermentation is far from complete

26-10-2019 09:02AM

I bottled it anyway. It doesn’t smell bad but it smells woefully sweet so may not be drinkable, but I need the bottle practice anyway.

What could make it stall and is there a way of kicking it back into action again? Would dry hopping it have stopped it?

raxy · 26-10-2019 12:15PM

Dry hopping wouldn't have stopped it. Yeast health, the water used, temperature during fermentation might affect it.
If you have temperature control raising the temp can kick it off again if it had stalled. Gently stirring up the yeast at the bottom can also get it going again but you risk oxidation.
For your next brew buy a brand yeast instead of using the kit yeast, might work out better.

mordeith · 26-10-2019 12:41PM

raxy wrote: »

Dry hopping wouldn't have stopped it. Yeast health, the water used, temperature during fermentation might affect it.
If you have temperature control raising the temp can kick it off again if it had stalled. Gently stirring up the yeast at the bottom can also get it going again but you risk oxidation.
For your next brew buy a brand yeast instead of using the kit yeast, might work out better.

As above but the kit yeast should be fine. Where did you keep the bucket during fermentation?

26-10-2019 02:03PM

Up on a chair in the dining room wrapped in a couple of towels. It’s hard to tell from those stick on things but any time I checked it (2-3 times a day) the 18/20/22 was coloured.

Should I be using the heat belt? I wasn’t sure where (how high) or when (constantly or on and off) to use it.

.

raxy · 26-10-2019 07:36PM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Up on a chair in the dining room wrapped in a couple of towels. It’s hard to tell from those stick on things but any time I checked it (2-3 times a day) the 18/20/22 was coloured.

Should I be using the heat belt? I wasn’t sure where (how high) or when (constantly or on and off) to use it.

.

When I was making kits & fermenting in a spare room I used to leave the heat belt on but towards the top of the fermenter, an inch or 2 below the beer line. Worked ok for me but it was a cold house. I wouldn't leave it on if I couldn't keep an eye on it either.
The lower you place it the more it will heat the beer.
If your willing to invest get an inkbird controller. You can plug the heat belt into it & if will turn it on/off to keep it at the right temp. It will also give you a more accurate temp reading.

26-10-2019 10:00PM

raxy wrote: »

When I was making kits & fermenting in a spare room I used to leave the heat belt on but towards the top of the fermenter, an inch or 2 below the beer line. Worked ok for me but it was a cold house. I wouldn't leave it on if I couldn't keep an eye on it either.
The lower you place it the more it will heat the beer.
If your willing to invest get an inkbird controller. You can plug the heat belt into it & if will turn it on/off to keep it at the right temp. It will also give you a more accurate temp reading.

I was actually going to say before about building some form of temp control as I have some gear lying around but for all the price of that inkbird thing it wouldn’t be worth while bothering starting making. Does it just read off the outside temp of the bucket?

mordeith · 26-10-2019 10:23PM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

I was actually going to say before about building some form of temp control as I have some gear lying around but for all the price of that inkbird thing it wouldn’t be worth while bothering starting making. Does it just read off the outside temp of the bucket?

You're probably overthinking it at this stage. Jusy wait and see how it it turns out. You'll probably find too have a grand drinkable beer. If not you can troubleshoot then.

26-10-2019 10:31PM

mordeith wrote: »

You're probably overthinking it at this stage. Jusy wait and see how it it turns out. You'll probably find too have a grand drinkable beer. If not you can troubleshoot then.

True, but although the process isn’t expensive it’s a very long process to end up with something that can’t be drank. I think I’ve lost another one as well, it was sitting beside the first one and is stable for the past 3 days despite only being a week in.

Might actually be more interesting to knock something up over the next while though, there’s a few scrap machines in work with temp controllers and thermocouples in them so all I’d need is a small plastic box from Farnell and hard wire the heat belt into the controller.

30-10-2019 09:02PM

Any tips or do’s and don’ts that people have learned from batch priming? My first two brews have been near enough disasters (first one is dead as a dodo after near two weeks in the bottles and the second never fermented out) but I want to give this stout the best chance possible as it seems to be fermenting ok (1.041 to 1.010 in the 10 days so far).
I’ve yet to work out the amount of sugar I need (seems to depend on the type of beer, type of sugar, temperature, and amount of fizz required) but am I right as follows?:

- dissolve x amount of sugar in y amount of water and cool to room temp
- put mix in bottling bucket
- siphon beer to bottling bucket
- mix it up? (not sure about this as I read about letting oxygen in)
- I read something on an irish home brew site about putting a spoon of the yeast block at the bottom of the bucket into the bottling bucket but I presume this would need some vigourous mixing as that always looks the consistency of butter. Maybe this can be skipped.
- let it sit for half an hour
- put in bottles. I flipped them over a couple of times when I used the drops, would you still do it?
- anything else can be done to help or make it easier that people have found with experience over the years?

Where’s the best place to store the bottles? I just left mine in a cardboard box under a table but maybe it’s too cold and that’s why I’ve no fizz.

Cheers.

BeerNut · 30-10-2019 11:36PM

Do not mix it, do not do the spoon thing, do not let it sit. Just siphon the wort onto the sugar solution and then bottle straight away. No need to flip the bottles. Leave them at room temperature.

The ones that didn't carbonate: is the carbonation drop still in there? If it's not, the issue may be be that the bottle isn't fully sealed.

31-10-2019 09:00AM

BeerNut wrote: »

Do not mix it, do not do the spoon thing, do not let it sit. Just siphon the wort onto the sugar solution and then bottle straight away. No need to flip the bottles. Leave them at room temperature.

The ones that didn't carbonate: is the carbonation drop still in there? If it's not, the issue may be be that the bottle isn't fully sealed.

There's no drop still in the bottles. They're the Grolsch top style ones, maybe they're no good. Then again it was my very first attempt so I most likely did something wrong.
I'm going to dump those bottles and the second batch that didn't ferment out fully (bottled at 1.016), as from looking up bottling to see what I did wrong I'm worried now that they're going to explode on me. I might switch to PET for the next few goes until I find out what I'm doing wrong.

BeerNut · 31-10-2019 11:39AM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

didn't ferment out fully (bottled at 1.016)

The number by itself does not tell you if the beer is fully fermented or not. Only the change, or lack of it, tells you. I've have plenty of beers finish fermenting at 1.016 and higher.

01-11-2019 09:11PM

BeerNut wrote: »

The number by itself does not tell you if the beer is fully fermented or not. Only the change, or lack of it, tells you. I've have plenty of beers finish fermenting at 1.016 and higher.

To be honest, once chilled, this first one with all the mistakes is class.

03-11-2019 03:43PM

The stout smelled amazing while I was bottling, just hope I didn’t overdo the coffee. Batch primed it with brown sugar after (hoping 115g was right for 22l). Took a while to figure out the siphon but I tired it out on them chemsan a few times first so hopefully I didn’t blow much air in.

.

13-11-2019 09:16AM

How much does ageing in the bottles help, and what aspects does it improve? Opened a stout to try it after 10 days just for a nosey but it's just fizzy black water. Tastes thin, if that makes sense.

Sleepy · 13-11-2019 10:35AM

I haven't done a stout yet but a grapefruit IPA I did earlier this year improved immeasurably after 4 to 6 weeks of bottle conditioning.

20-11-2019 09:02PM

Would something fermenting quicker than you’d expect affect when you dry hop? I’ve a mangrove jacks kit on that says I fire in the hops after a week if the gravity is below 1.025. I started it Sunday at 1.046 and this evening it’s at 1.020. Just leave it the week and then give the hops a week?

BeerNut · 20-11-2019 09:36PM

Dry-hopping should be timed backwards from bottling, not forwards from brewing. I'd aim to give them a week with the beer before bottling. A first week of fermentation and then a further week with the dry hops should be the minimum. No harm in leaving it another week before adding the hops.

20-11-2019 09:40PM

BeerNut wrote: »

Dry-hopping should be timed backwards from bottling, not forwards from brewing. I'd aim to give them a week with the beer before bottling. A first week of fermentation and then a further week with the dry hops should be the minimum. No harm in leaving it another week before adding the hops.

I’d meant to ask that ages ago actually. Leaving something 2 weeks fermenting, say it was done fermenting after 10 days, is it any harm it sitting for the 4 days before bottling? Or do you need to be checking every day near the end for two straight constant days?

BeerNut · 20-11-2019 11:25PM

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

say it was done fermenting after 10 days, is it any harm it sitting for the 4 days before bottling

The opposite. Always give a beer at least two weeks of fermentation, regardless of the gravity. If you want to leave it three or four you'll only improve it.

21-11-2019 05:35PM

BeerNut wrote: »

The opposite. Always give a beer at least two weeks of fermentation, regardless of the gravity. If you want to leave it three or four you'll only improve it.

Good to know cheers. I’ve bottled 2 weeks after starting even if I didn’t really have time for it so it’s grand to not have to until it suits better.

11-12-2019 05:35PM

Stout turned out deadly and after my latest ipa attempt I’m just going to stick to the former from now on. The three ales all just tasted weird.

11-12-2019 05:43PM

Related to this though I have made errors with the pale ale when I used dark liquid malt extract instead of sugar after I mixed up two kits starting off. Not sure why it gave it an aftertaste of cider though.

And on the IPA, the kit actually called out for 1.2kg of liquid malt extract but I used 1.2kg of dry malt extract by accident. Is there much of a difference between the two in ratio as it just smells of pure alcohol.

BeerNut · 11-12-2019 05:46PM

No. If it doesn't taste right I'd say something else went wrong.

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