Home Brewing (Complete Noob)

hywelg

victorludorum said:

The bubbling has stopped again after a brief return yesterday. Current temp 21.

Keep it warm. Ignore lack of bubbling, go only on hydrometer reading. Take a reading every day, when it stops changing then you are done and safe to bottle.

hywelg

victorludorum said:

hywelg said:

1018 finish is about right for a strong brew and won't necessarily taste overly sweet. If you're worried about bottle bombs it's time to get a keg.

I always raise the temp at the end of fermentation to 22-24°C before dropping it again to 14°C for dry hopping so perhaps that will help it drop a few points. What was the OG btw?

The Nut Brown ale is 1045 ish i think, but I don't know how much the other elements added.

So does the kit comprise 1 can or two? Did you measure the OG ? What were the additional items added to the kit? Was it the extra can plus 150g of grain? or just the grain?

bertie

RedRabbit said:

otter extract 

  

victorludorum

hywelg said:

victorludorum said:

hywelg said:

1018 finish is about right for a strong brew and won't necessarily taste overly sweet. If you're worried about bottle bombs it's time to get a keg.

I always raise the temp at the end of fermentation to 22-24°C before dropping it again to 14°C for dry hopping so perhaps that will help it drop a few points. What was the OG btw?

The Nut Brown ale is 1045 ish i think, but I don't know how much the other elements added.

So does the kit comprise 1 can or two? Did you measure the OG ? What were the additional items added to the kit? Was it the extra can plus 150g of grain? or just the grain?

One can of Nut Brown, one can of Maris Otter and then 150g of grain. I've done the 2 can kits before, but I wanted to try this one and it's only available as a single can, so i thought I'd use the Maris Otter syrup instead of sugar. I'm following someone's recipe from YouTube, an Aussie guy. I didn't measure the OG at the start to be honest as i thought it would similar to the 1045/50 claim on the kit.

RedRabbit

victorludorum said:

hywelg said:

victorludorum said:

hywelg said:

1018 finish is about right for a strong brew and won't necessarily taste overly sweet. If you're worried about bottle bombs it's time to get a keg.

I always raise the temp at the end of fermentation to 22-24°C before dropping it again to 14°C for dry hopping so perhaps that will help it drop a few points. What was the OG btw?

The Nut Brown ale is 1045 ish i think, but I don't know how much the other elements added.

So does the kit comprise 1 can or two? Did you measure the OG ? What were the additional items added to the kit? Was it the extra can plus 150g of grain? or just the grain?

One can of Nut Brown, one can of Maris Otter and then 150g of grain. I've done the 2 can kits before, but I wanted to try this one and it's only available as a single can, so i thought I'd use the Maris Otter syrup instead of sugar. I'm following someone's recipe from YouTube, an Aussie guy. I didn't measure the OG at the start to be honest as i thought it would similar to the 1045/50 claim on the kit.

I think it should have been around the 1049 I mentioned before then with a FG of around 1012.

If raising the temp caused some bubbling I'd be inclined to leave it a couple of days and take another reading.  As @hywelg suggests, lack of bubbling doesn't mean there's no activity especially towards the end of fermentation.

victorludorum

I think it might be too late to chuck in some more yeast anyway, so I'll give it until the weekend and bottle it afterwards without adding any sugar. I'll keep the bottles outside under some stairs...

Cheers for all the input chaps ;-)

hywelg

victorludorum said:

I think it might be too late to chuck in some more yeast anyway, so I'll give it until the weekend and bottle it afterwards without adding any sugar. I'll keep the bottles outside under some stairs...

Cheers for all the input chaps ;-)

No, don't go by time, go by FG. Measure and when it stops then its ready to be bottled. If you can cold crash it, do.

victorludorum

@hywelg I can definitely cold crash it, but I presume i should do that after it stops dropping?

hywelg

victorludorum said:

@hywelg I can definitely cold crash it, but I presume i should do that after it stops dropping?

Most definitely. Will help drop out yeast and trub. 

victorludorum

Thanks for all the input :-) It smells good to me, sweet, but a definite improvement on my last 2 double can efforts, so fingers crossed. I'll keep you informed...

duotone

How’s everything going guys?  Just thought I would do a quick Spring check-in.

1) Whats everyone up-to brew wise?
2) What are you drinking atm?
3) Any new fancy brewing gear & gadgets?
4) Any other business, questions etc?

For me:

1) Haven’t brewed anything since October, but after checking the dates on a couple of malt extract kits, I need to get around to doing the Muntons Hazy IPA, so it’s ready for the summer & I plan on doing the St. Peter’s Cream Stout for drinking in Autum/Winter. A good friend of mine loves IPA, so I’m hoping that it turns out good. If both of these kits have that ‘twang’ then I will probably call it a day on malt extract kits for a good while & just stick to all grain brewing.
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/muntons-flagship-beer-kit-hazy-ipa/
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/st-peters-cream-stout/

2) Black German Pilsner - Really happy with how it turned out. https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/weird-beard-brew-co-faithless-spreadsheet-ninja/

3) Nothing! The last order I made from the Malt Miller was very boring, just some PET bottles in October, so I could bottle my Black German Pilsner 
 

4) Still watching David Heath Homebrew (thanks for the recommendation on here!) & Flora Brewing on YouTube, to learn from & also get some inspiration/motivation on what to make & learn next.

usedtobe

I used to make some cracking beer. Got really into it, starting with kits, and going on to full mash, although I would still used malt extract, sometimes. Never could make a decent lager, and wine could be hit and miss..
Unfortunately, I also got REALLY into drinking, but that’s probably for a different thread..

RedRabbit

Brewing has slowed right down as I'm off the booze for a while (fatty liver that needs sorting).

I've got some of my oatmeal stout left and I brewed a low alcohol IPA (<0.5%) that I put on tap last night. Far too bitter to be really enjoyable but it'll do while I'm abstaining.

Already thinking what I'll brew once I'm back drinking - a Belgian pale is sounding good at the moment but I'll probably change my mind several times over the coming weeks.

RedRabbit

Had a couple of pints of the low ABV IPA last night - it's okay.  It's definitely beer but I don't think many would confuse it with a full strength version.  I'll be drinking it in preference to the becks blue I've got in and I didn't actually mind the becks too much.  The hops choice in my IPA was perhaps not the best - lemondrop does exactly what the name suggests and the beer has a faint lemony aroma that reminds me of cleaning products.  The next iteration will use something else, maybe something I'm more used to like cascade or mosaic.

In terms of new equipment I've got the newly released "pill" from kegland on the way.  It's their version of the tilt/iSpindle hydrometers that floats in the beer during fermentation and uploads SG and temp readings to the cloud (and into brewfather in my case).

hywelg

Not brewed for ages. Got a Riwaka IPA, a Citra Amarillo galaxy IPA and Choc Stout on tap . 

Been working on my workshop extension where I will start brewing properly. Just bought a ss 75l conical fermenter 70l kettle and 30l kettle all off Facebook. Both kettles need modding for triclamp fittings, the bosses arrived from AliExpress last week. Now I just need to learn to Tig weld (bought an R-Tech AC/DC Tig welder last month)

Just need the electrics installing but have hit a snag and 'trician thinks I might need to install a new feed from the house, approx 40m of single wire armoured cable to bury under the driveway. 

duotone

Brewed a batch of Belgian Wit in June 2021 & bottled it in 500ml PET bottles https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/coopers-amber-pet-bottles/

July 2021 I drank 4 of the bottles, which were very Hoegaarden like, lighter in ABV % but really delicious. Tried 2 bottles last week & I’m sure they are darker in colour & just don’t taste anywhere near as good. Also 1 bottle I poured into a pint glass & could see visible small black flecks floating around, so immediately poured it down the sink.

1) Have I kept the beer for too long?
2) Are the PET bottles to blame?
3) Should I make sure I only use glass bottles in future?

Cheers for any advice!

RedRabbit

PET is okay for shorter-term storage, though I'm led to believe that past 6-8 months there can be a noticeable amount of oxidation as the plastic is slightly permeable.  Did the beer have a noticeable smell or taste?  Oxidation is meant to have a musky/wet cardboard/wet dog taste and smell to it.  Oxidation will darken a beer.

 First thing that comes to mind with the black bits is dead yeast or some grain that got into the bottle and so would probably have been fine to drink (barring the above).  I don't bottle condition much though and, when I do, nothing lasts 12 months so I'm not sure on this one.  Unless you had some sort of bug growing in there I'm not sure what else it could be.  How were the bottles stored before drinking?  Do you have any left?  I'd be interested to know if you still get the black bits after a few days upright in a fridge and a careful pour.

So, in answer to your questions

1.  Possibly, yes.  
2.  For the darkening/possible oxidation - likely, yes.  For the black bits - probably not, it's either nothing to worry about or down to cleaning/packaging technique.  There's no such thing as being too sanitary when brewing.
3.  Glass would probably be better for long term storage but doesn't come without issues.  Capping is tedious and you aren't guaranteed a good seal, swing tops can be easier but you need to keep an eye on the seal and replace washers when needed.  That said, I'm guessing you didn't intend to leave it conditioning for this long so the answer might just be to mark your PET bottles with bottling dates and try to remember to drink them within 6-8 months.

duotone

RedRabbit said:

PET is okay for shorter-term storage, though I'm led to believe that past 6-8 months there can be a noticeable amount of oxidation as the plastic is slightly permeable.  Did the beer have a noticeable smell or taste?  Oxidation is meant to have a musky/wet cardboard/wet dog taste and smell to it.  Oxidation will darken a beer. The beer tasted ok, just pretty different to what it tasted like in July 2021. It definitely isn’t a musky or wet cardboard taste.

 First thing that comes to mind with the black bits is dead yeast or some grain that got into the bottle and so would probably have been fine to drink (barring the above).  I don't bottle condition much though and, when I do, nothing lasts 12 months so I'm not sure on this one.  Unless you had some sort of bug growing in there I'm not sure what else it could be.  How were the bottles stored before drinking? They were stored upright in the Coopers box that they came in, with the lid closed and left in a dark room. So out of any sunlight basically. Then left upright in the fridge for a couple of days before pouring. 

 Do you have any left?  I'd be interested to know if you still get the black bits after a few days upright in a fridge and a careful pour. Yes I have about 15 bottles left. I will pour one out Friday evening and report back. The PET bottle will have been upright in the fridge for 4 days then.

So, in answer to your questions

1.  Possibly, yes.  
2.  For the darkening/possible oxidation - likely, yes.  For the black bits - probably not, it's either nothing to worry about or down to cleaning/packaging technique.  There's no such thing as being too sanitary when brewing.
3.  Glass would probably be better for long term storage but doesn't come without issues.  Capping is tedious and you aren't guaranteed a good seal, swing tops can be easier but you need to keep an eye on the seal and replace washers when needed.  That said, I'm guessing you didn't intend to leave it conditioning for this long so the answer might just be to mark your PET bottles with bottling dates and try to remember to drink them within 6-8 months. Yeah I didn’t plan on keeping it for this long, I will make a note in future and perhaps do a test when I next do some brewing, most likely it will be a Hazy IPA.  Thinking of half a batch stored in PET bottles & the other half in glass bottles. Drink them all before 6-8months is up & see if there are any taste/smell/visual differences. 

Also would it be worth me trying a different method of conditioning the beer, so I’m not bottle conditioning it? Which should greatly reduce the sediment left in the bottles. Or not?

Thanks @RedRabbit This is very helpful!

RedRabbit

Sounds like storage and serving were fine but I'd still be inclined to think it's yeast rather than anything nasty.

Still think the change in colour and taste is most likely oxidation.  Could just be that it's not gone far enough to be that noticeable in the taste yet.

The only alternative I'm aware of to bottle conditioning is kegging and force carbonation.  I love my kegging set up but there's a whole host of new issues to contend with (sourcing CO2 being a major one recently).

A word of caution on the hazy IPA - it's a style that's very susceptible to oxidation so is best drunk young especially if you are bottling.

duotone

Thanks for this great advice @RedRabbit ;

I will keep the 15 bottles a while longer & see how much they deteriorate, and how close they get to the cardboard/wet dog smell.

I will hold off the bottle conditioning & kegging then for a while, if there are no other good alternatives. I just thought it might be worth experimenting but I know that methods requires more equipment & gear and as you say, hard to get hold of C02 atm.

It’s this Muntons kit: https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/muntons-flagship-beer-kit-hazy-ipa/
I think I will try the 50/50 glass/PET bottles & see how it goes, but will definitely drink it young. <6 months OK?
I am hoping that as it’s a bit more of an expensive new kit, it doesn’t have have such a prominent ‘home brew’ aftertaste, like I got with a Hefe Weizen kit I did a couple years ago.