The 'Top Tips' Thread!

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dave-o

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by dave-o » Wed Jun 09, 2010 10:49 am

raiderman wrote:Don't bottle it in whisky bottles. First brew I ever did, I bottled it in old Bells bottles, it looked great in clear bottles, tasted pretty good - I can still remember sipping it revising for my O levels and thinking this is the life. I left it in the airing cupboard and after ten days I heard this crump crump noise followed by beer dribbling through the ceiling. A painful lesson!

That's more to do with leaving it in the airing cupboard than using whisky bottles.

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EportJake
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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by EportJake » Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:32 pm

A spare thermometer is a must imo.
I also got some Hoselock type fittings for my CF heat exchanger from Wilko at a fraction of the branded type price. Much more convenient than using Jubilee clips. :)
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simple one
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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by simple one » Wed Jun 09, 2010 11:12 pm

Deebee wrote:
simple one wrote:
trucker5774 wrote:Bulk prime when bottling..........it's way too much hassle to spoon onto bottles (and not accurate) even a syringe is a pain. I sometimes prime in the FV, which is not as daft as it first sounds.....try it :wink:

Bottle with no primings. It really works.
please give more info? does it still carbonate (but must take longer)
Yes it takes a little longer. Priming with sugar can give you, ahem... gas within 3 days. No primings will take about 2-3 weeks to be properly carbonated. But then I think most people would leave them at least this long prior to sampling. It's ideal for the stronger stuff too, which can very easily over carbonate.

I would still prime my Belguims and lagers though.

colonial

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by colonial » Thu Jun 10, 2010 5:49 am

My philosophy is treat your yeast properly and you'll have great beer. It's what makes the beer.

Pitch enough yeast, add as much oxygen to your brew as possible (I give mine a five-minute, bloody-good frothing with my spoon before pitching) and ferment at the right temperature for the yeast. Then, leave it on the yeast for two weeks before secondary or kegging. Once you do all that you can to get rid of yeast off-flavours, you can tweak your recipe and process to change things around.

dave-o

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by dave-o » Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:22 am

Deebee wrote:
simple one wrote:
trucker5774 wrote:Bulk prime when bottling..........it's way too much hassle to spoon onto bottles (and not accurate) even a syringe is a pain. I sometimes prime in the FV, which is not as daft as it first sounds.....try it :wink:

Bottle with no primings. It really works.
please give more info? does it still carbonate (but must take longer)

The one beer I have tried not priming has now been more than 2 months in the warm, and it is still flat as a pancake. Never again.

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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by WishboneBrewery » Thu Jun 10, 2010 6:08 pm

I'll always Prime, I'd say you'd be silly not to.

leedsbrew

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by leedsbrew » Thu Jun 10, 2010 6:30 pm

A watched brew kettle never boils!............Take your eyes off the fecker though and you'll have a boil over! :D

Blackjack

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by Blackjack » Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:41 pm

When brewing in SUMMER, stick to slightly maltier stronger and hoppier brews, because they will be more resistant to infection and they will taste better if you are limited on keeping them cool or carbonated ( ie. artificial). Perhaps just a half or a single pint of sweet nectar on a summers evening.
SO...strong golden sweeter beers NOT wintery dark stouts.

EccentricDyslexic

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by EccentricDyslexic » Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:35 am

STOP! =; Dont store your beers at room temperature if you can at all help it. [-X Get onto freecycle NOW and pick up a free fridge or freezer, and store your beers in there between 1c and 10c, this will slow down your beer going off and if you have aquired any infections from wild yeasts in the air or any nasty bacterium from pipe work etc, you will slow down their beer destrying capability alowing you more time to drink it before it goes undrinkable! \:D/ Dont do as i have done and store them at room temps, i have had beers go off quick time...its not worth it....get a fridge!!! #-o

(or flash pasturise...more on this in a thread coming soon...!) :shock:

Steve

Tony01

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by Tony01 » Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:50 am

EccentricDyslexic wrote: (or flash pasturise...more on this in a thread coming soon...!) :shock:

Steve
Be really interested to see that ED!
:D

Andy__

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by Andy__ » Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:15 pm

Use bottles with screw or fliptop caps.

Poor your beer, wash out the bottle and sterilise if your really keen straight away, then put the cap back on. When your ready to bottle so are your bottles.

mysterio

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by mysterio » Mon Jul 05, 2010 5:43 pm

- Scrub the inside of your corny keg dip tubes, they attract an unbelievable amount of crud

- Clean or at least rinse bottles/brewery equipment after use, a stitch in time saves nine

- Use liquid yeast and learn how to make a starter, control fermentation temp

- And a good tip from Brotherton Lad (I think it was), run (at least) a mile for every pint you drink. I started doing this last month. Just because you're a beer drinker/brewer doesn't mean you have to be a slob :D

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Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by Naich » Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:44 pm

1. If you are priming bottles individually, make a solution up so you've got the right amount for a 5ml dose and inject it with a 10ml syringe. After a bit of practice you can pull up 5ml with one hand, pop off the bottle foil with the other, inject and then put the foil back on again in one smooth motion.

2. Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

3. Grease up the thread of a King Keg tap to make it easier to control the flow.

4. Use an oven to steralise bottles - Cover the tops with foil and cool at 170C for 60 minutes or 140C for 180 minutes.

5. If you use a chlorine based steraliser, rinse with hot water to get rid of it better.

6. If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid - that's the one I live by.

EoinMag

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by EoinMag » Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:53 pm

pdtnc wrote:I'll always Prime, I'd say you'd be silly not to.

There is a way to do this properly, not just using guesswork and not causing bottle bombs. You take a small sample from the main FV and ferment it warmer and with lots of yeast so that it goes faster, then you know your terminal gravity before your main batch will get there, then if it's to finish at 1.010 you can bottle when it gets to 1.015 for example and the last five points drop will carb the beer.

adm

Re: The 'Top Tips' Thread!

Post by adm » Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:55 pm

mysterio wrote:
- And a good tip from Brotherton Lad (I think it was), run (at least) a mile for every pint you drink. I started doing this last month. Just because you're a beer drinker/brewer doesn't mean you have to be a slob :D
Top tip! Although I'm trying to either cycle ten miles per pint or swim 1km. (I hate running - and after I mangled a leg in a motorbike smash years ago, I can't do it!)

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