Conditioning Conditions?

[bobbytinner]

What are the ideal procedures to follow for conditioning?

I'm brewing a 10g TTL in a Hop and Grape system.
So far - 2 days in primary, 8 days in secondary until 1 deg of final gravity was reached.
Then i dropped into two seperate basic barrels under s30 valves.
Do i place in a cool place straight away?
Or do i keep at 20 degrees for another couple of days then cool.
I intend to bottle after two or three weeks.

Any advice welcome

Cheers
BT

[bobbytinner]

Thanks for that

[colin84]

I only live in a studio flat so the only rooms I have available to me are the lounge/kitchen/bedroom and the shower room. Given that the place is tiny, it's probably no surprise that the entire flat is at the same temp - around 19-20 deg. This is pretty ideal for fermentation, but conditioning is a bit of a problem.

What will happen to my beer if I leave it to condition at this temp? My current (and first) batch has been conditioning like this in a plastic barrel for 2 weeks now and although it tastes ok, it is v cloudy (yeast still in suspension?). Is the cloudyness the only side effect I'm likely to see or is it likely to have a more detrimental impact?

The only colder place is the fridge, but I'm not convinced the missus would appreciate me taking it over with beer (given I've taken over the rest of the flat with equipment!)... plus I like the simplicity of the barrel - less washing at the end of it all!

[DarloDave]

I dont do any cold conditioning, all my beer stays at the same temp, around 20C from fermentation to being drunk, and I've never had any problems. Weirdly, the beer comes out of the cornies at..hang on let measure around 14C which is weird, but is pretty much perfect temp for me, if I want it any colder I just have to fill a jug and leave it in the fridge for a bit

[colin84]

Unless you're prepared to move house, you're stuck with the conditions you've got. Don't let it put you off, you'll still be able to make pretty good beer. There are much more important factors when it comes to making a decent pint such as dechlorinating the water before use and replacing sugar with spray malt.

Excellent, certainly fills me with more confidence knowing that it won't matter too much. With it being my first AG brew I don't plan to go overboard on water treatment and just follow Grahams books 'simple' technique for doing the basics (boil it up day before + gypsum + epsom salts I think). There are so many little things to worry about that by themselves may not have a big impact, but combined could see my brew going down the toilet!

I still have the holes to drill in my plate to complete the false bottom (the first one fractured during drilling) but otherwise I think I'm all set to go AG. My only remaining concern is that after reading Grahams book (I've read it cover to cover a good number of times now!) I went down the route of getting Windsor yeast over S04 and looking over these forums I see some people having problems with it. My stuff is all geared to making 2 gallons, so if I use a whole pack (designed for 5 gallons) am I likely to be able to get good results even with the static conditions or should I forget it for now and get myself some S04?

[Philipek]

I've been using Safale-04. I rehydrate and chuck the whole lot in. Makes for a very clean tasting brew. In fact, my first brew, following the recipe on 180000 feet, turned out a bit like a cross between a lager and a bitter. Not at all what I intended but absolutely delicious and really impressed my friends.

I'm thinking of using Cooper's. Apparently, it has a little more character. At some point, I intend to use liquid yeasts.

Chris, why should one replace sugar with spray malt?

I've started using 500ml of the original wort to prime my beer. Is that a crazy idea? I don't see why it wouldn't work, but I haven't noticed anyone saying that they do it too. My second batch comes on-line tomorrow - that was primed with wort from the original batch, saved in a bottle in the fridge, boiled (again) cooled and added to the beer on bottling day.

[sib67]

I've started using 500ml of the original wort to prime my beer. Is that a crazy idea? I don't see why it wouldn't work, but I haven't noticed anyone saying that they do it too. My second batch comes on-line tomorrow - that was primed with wort from the original batch, saved in a bottle in the fridge, boiled (again) cooled and added to the beer on bottling day.

Can't see a problem with that as long as sanitation is good, and as you're re-boiling the wort, you should be OK.

I was talking to the head brewer at the Marble Arch brewery / pub in Manchester recently, and they prime in a very similar way, except they use wort from that day's brew. I presume there are other breweries that do the same.

[Philipek]

If you are going to put the effort into making beer i'd go for a 100% malt extract beer, replacing all the sugar (except the priming sugars) with dry malt extract or if you are making a lager or running beer, replace the additional fermentables with around 25% of sugar and 75% malt (usually 250g sugar + 750g dry malt extract).

Oh thank goodness for that. I completely misunderstood you. I have 5 brews down, and I thought you were advising against the use of priming sugar. There are two bottles of wort in the fridge waiting to prime my latest two batches. My first and third batch used priming sugar, but I started using wort because I read somewhere that smaller bubbles are produced by bottle yeast consuming malt extract rather than corn sugar. My LHBS didn't know what spray malt was, and I think their bag of DME was quite expensive and I'd rather spend that on grains. So I went for wort.

I got into homebrewing because I was starting to get tired of the crazy carbonation they go for over here in Canada.

Phil

[Philipek]

Yeah, I thought spray malt and DME were the same thing but wasn't sure so didn't risk it.

I think I'll chuck the wort and go back to corn sugar, my canning involves iodophored bottles and freshly boiled wort. There's no pressure cooker, though I am saving up for one for yeast washing. Good practice but not impeccable. I was intending on boiling it again come bottling, but I'll play it safe and go with corn sugar.