Homebrew Beer Howto

BeerNut wrote: »

Yeah, but there's no need to do this after four days, right? It's for ten days in and you're still far off the target FG, isn't it?

Yea, but it can depend on the yeast been used something like ring wood may need it ever day! or if it was if the wort was under pitched

guildofevil wrote: »

I really doubt any kit beer would be supplied with a yeast that requires rousing and there is no reason to think that this beer needs it. Best policy: don't fiddle with it.

yea, but silliegillie give it a good two weeks in the primary if you can or want check the gravity with a sterilized hydrometer and rouse if the gravity is still high (1.020 or so)

I am all for it and Beernut is the man to put it together if it gets the go ahead.
It does not have to be restricted to beer either. Wine and cider can be made just as easy as beer, in fact wine is easier than beer to be honest.

zippy84 wrote: »

I'm using Young's Super Wine Yeast compound to ferment wine. I'm new enough to the whole thing but it says on the tub to keep refrigerated once opened. What implications does this have for reuse?

you can reuse yeast but if its dry yeast the cost and reduced risk of infection it can be eraser to by a new dry yeast

zippy84 wrote: »

I've read somewhere that the tempreture of the water/must and the temp of the yeast should never be more than 7 degs C apart when rehydrating the yeast...so do I cool the water or allow yeast to reach room temp??

rehydrate at 20-25 c, you will be fine

zippy84 wrote: »

Also as this yeast is a compound and advertises speedy fermentation do I need a nutrient or does this contain all necessary? It contains clearing agent too.

I would add the nutrient if its has come with the yeast, as wine fermentation will stress out the yeast and to get the most from them the additional nutrients maybe be required.

The clearing agent will be added after fermentation to pull down the yeast, but some wine make filter to mask the wine bright

zippy84 wrote: »

I thought it had to be rehydrated at this temp, but does this mean allowing the yeast to come up from refrigeration temp to room temp first??

You should yes. For an all grain brew this is no problem as you will take out the yeast when you start and it will be up to 8 hours later that you actually add the yeast. So after a few hours you can rehydrate.

If you are doing a kit, this can be an issue in the sense that a kit only takes an hour at most so if your yeast is fresh from the fridge you may have issues.

It is not a big problem per say but you may stress the yeast and it could produce off flavours.

The way I do it is I rehydrate with some runnings from my mash tun. I set aside some runnings and then boil it for a few minutes to sanitise and then chill it then once it is about 20c or so I add the yeast and it eats away nicely. That way the 2l starter I have added will not alter the flavour of the beer much, other than it did not get boiled with the rest of the wort.

A starter is not necessary of course, you just get a much faster start on the fermentation which is always a good thing. My last batch was bubbling within an hour of pitching the yeast.

filthymcnasty wrote: »

hi all, i made my first brew (Beer) yesterday from a kit.
The wort is in the bucket fermenting- but when i checked earlier after 24 hrs, I can see only a small amount of froth/foam and only very slight bubbling going on. The brew is been kept in a spare room where the room temp is about 16-17 degrees (too low??).
should i be seeing more 'activity' at this early stage or is this the norm?- (sorry if this has been answered already- read thru most of the thread but cant see anything)many thanks.

A Krausen (the froth) on top of the beer and bubbles is a good sign the fermentation has begun. Your in business!!:D

16-17 degrees is a touch on the low side though. If you have a blanket knocking about it might be a good idea to wrap up the fermenter in it. The heat produced by the fermentation will raise the temperature of fermentation slightly. 18-20 degrees would be a better range to go for general ale yeasts. A blanket should get you close to that range.

What kit is it that your fermenting?

I generally use glucose (from the baking section in Dunnes!!) for priming when I'm bottling but normal table sugar is fine too. I used sugar in my last batch actually
Either is will do the job.

I will be starting my second batch soon. I used Glucose for fermenting and table sugar for Priming my last batch. For priming I was thinking of trying Coopers Carbon Drops or should I just stick with regular table sugar. Should I expect a different taste by using Different priming sugars ?

silliegillie wrote: »

For priming I was thinking of trying Coopers Carbon Drops or should I just stick with regular table sugar.

There are pros and cons to everything.

The pros with the carbonation drops are they are simple, no mess, consistent carbonation, quicker to do than a bottling bucket or trying to measure the amount of sugar for each bottle if doing it that way.

The Cons are that they are more expensive than sugar and you have no control over the carbonation level of the beer.

I have some that I only use for bottling what does not fit in the keg. These are my sample bottles to see how the beer is progressing while conditioning. The carbonation level is not much of an issue for these samples so the coopers drops are handy.