My New Hobby: Home Brew :)

[sealover1]

well the mrs said she may be up for going to the beer fest

[Bobsbeer]

Great. Booking should be opening in the next couple of weeks. If you join as a member now you will get newsletters sent when it does. You need to be a member to attend so you might as well join now.

[Bobsbeer]

Once you bottle and prime you need to put the bottles somewhere around 20c for a week or two to get them to carbonate. I generally keg, but also fill a plastic bottle and you can tell when it's primed by feeling the bottle. The lower the temp the longer it takes. Try not to go above 25c or below 18c. Once primed I would leave for about a month for the beer to mature. But most seem to find that they need to check the taste before a month for some strange reason.

[Deleted]

sealover1 i hope your making alot of home brew
beerfest and vapefest will be hosted in your garden
this year

[sealover1]

lol @ @zuza I dowt anyone will want to drink what I brew mate 1st time and all that

@ Bobsbeer when I bought the brew kit the guy in the shop said to ferment in the bucket for a week and then bottle for a week I take it he got it wrong then?? or is it a case or the longer you leave it the better it gets?

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2015 18:58:40 GMT sealover1 said:

lol @ @zuza I dowt anyone will want to drink what I brew mate 1st time and all that

@ Bobsbeer when I bought the brew kit the guy in the shop said to ferment in the bucket for a week and then bottle for a week I take it he got it wrong then?? or is it a case or the longer you leave it the better it gets?

Am sure someone will have a phone in hand to call 999 emergency
lol

[Bobsbeer]

It gets better if you leave it a few weeks. A guide is 1 week conditioning for every 10 points SG. So if it started at 1.040 then 4 weeks and so on. Also darker beers such as stouts need at least a month or more. Kits always underestimate the time. It looks better.

[sealover1]

when you say 1 week conditioning bob does that mean 4 weeks in the fermenting tub or is it 2 weeks in the tub and 2 weeks in the bottles making it 4 weeks in total? you would think the shop would tell you all this wouldn't you. he seemed like nice guy to really honest

[Bobsbeer]

No you are getting mixed up. The initial fermentation takes about a week, although this is temperature dependent, but we will assume you have had the brew stored at around 22c. 20c is better but tkes a bit longer. This is the first stage. After the initial fermentation, check with your hydrometer that the gravity is not dropping any more. For most pale ale beers you will get a reading of around 1.010. But that is not a precise figure, and may be a couple of points either side of that. What you are checking is that fermentation has finished, and checking it daily for 3 days will confirm the reading isn't changing. Assuming it hasn't changed, you now want to move the brew to somewhere cooler if you can. This will allow the beer to clear. Some people rack at this point, called secondary fermentation, and leave it to sit for a couple of weeks to clear. I don't rack, but move it to somewhere cooler for 2 weeks.

Once the beer has cleared, it's time to bottle. You have 2 choices. Bulk priming, which involves racking the beer off the lees to another bucket, adding your priming sugar, which is usually granulated sugar dissolved in some boiled water, gently mixed. Or you can add granulated sugar to each bottle. I use the bulk method as it's easier. Trying to get 1 tsp of granulated sugar into 40 bottles is a faff. But if you don't have another bucket you are stuck with the latter method.

Just a reminder.

At this stage you need to avoid splashing the beer too much, and make sure everything that comes into contact with it is sanitised. Once the beer is in the FV you MUST be careful and make sure nothing gets in that you have not sanitised. Or you will get an infection and ruin the beer. Remember there are only 3 rules for home brew.

1. Keep EVERYTHING clean
2. Don't worry
3. Keep EVERYTHING clean
4. Don't worry

Follow those rules and good beer will be the result.

Anyway back to business. Once the beer is in the bottles, move them to a warmer place, 22c ish. And leave for up to 2 weeks to carbonate. After 2 weeks give a bottle a try. Then leave for another 2 weeks. But by now your beer is ready for drinking. Enjoy. :cheers:

[sealover1]

ok cheers bob I don't have a hydrometer bloke at the shop said I never needed one and not sure I would know how to use one lol

its in the airing cupboard at the moment and the temps are between 18 & 26c ish not much I can do about the temps being winter. that's the only place I can keep it really.
it gets cold in the kitchen at nights so cant keep the bottles in there and wondering now where to put the bottles when there full, I'm going to have to use the teaspoon of sugar as don't have a 2nd bucket
when its done I was going to keep it in the garage where its chilled its a shame it cant go in there when its bottled up but at them temps the 2nd fermentation wont happen as its far to cold in there at the moment.
space I need more space lol maybe the bottles can go in the attic?? will have to put a temp gauge up there and see what its like

[Bobsbeer]

You could ferment in the garage with a brew belt, but that won't help with bottling. Your temp of 26c is a bit high, but as long as it's not at that temp for long you should be fine. And it doesn't matter too much once it's bottled. After a couple of weeks in the airing cupboard you can move the bottles to the garage. Which frees up the airing cupboard for another brew. Try a Woodfordes Wherry. Very nice.

But get a hydrometer. They cost less than £5 and is the best investment you can buy for home brewing. Just don't drop it.

[sealover1]

yeah think I will go buy a hydrometer looked on you tube they don't seem to hard to use

[Bobsbeer]

They are dead easy. They come with instructions. Just ignore any colours on the scale, and read the figure. Not sure why the home brew shop guy said you didn't need one. Clearly knows shit.

[sealover1]

And so the 2nd part of my Larger home Brew... Soon lol