My First Brew!

[jdt199]

Gravity on my Nelson's Revenge kit has dropped by 0.0002 points only since yesterday to 1.0163. Will give it another day or two, but I would guess it's gone as far as it's going to. How's yours JDT, still dropping or has yours more or less come to a halt.

Good grief what sort of hydrometer do you have? I'm lucky if I can read min to within +- .001 Anyway I took another reading today and as I have been away for the weekend and its only dropped .0015 to 1.015 so I guess it can't be far off. Still very cloudy so I guess its still going. Definatly gonna leave it 10 days before kegging now.

With regards to priming I thought the spraymalt may be better than suger as it may add more body to the dring but from reading here it seems that in such small quantaties its makes no difference so I will probably use the body brew which from what I can tell is just brewers suger with something that aids head retention. Anyone else used it for priming and if so how much.

I have already got a Wherry bitter kit ready in waiting for the FV when done with this. Im gonna have to buy another keg or maybe I will try bottling next time?

[vinceg]

Actually got 3 hydrometers off a guy who used to be in the brewing industry. They cover the range 1.00 to 1.08, only trouble is they're too big for trial jars so I have to let them float in the FV. I reckon mine's stopped fermenting now, but won't have time to keg before Tues anyway, so it'll have a couple of days to carry on and maybe reduce by a few more fractions.

I got 2 kegs off eBay for £15, so have a look and see if you can find a abargain there. I'd like to leave the Nelsons Revenge in the keg for as long as possible so would also like to bottle more, but it's hard to find decent bottles. You have to buy them with beer in, which defeats the object, or pay through the nose for them at Wilkos or somewhere. Tried that Freecycle website but no bottles in my area. Last option is to try my local - I know they bin a lot of bottles, but will have to ask if they bin them because they're not strong enough to be re-used.

[vinceg]

Not taken a reading for 2 days as I bust my lovely mega-accurate hydrometer Really pissed off with that

Bought a crappy Young's one today, bit too small to read in the FV, so will have to buy trial jar too now, but it looks like my gravity has dropped to just above 0.014 now, so that's good enough for me.

I'll probably keg it in a day or two when I get the time. It won't hurt it to sit there for another couple of days.

[jdt199]

Well that's it! I have kegged my first brew! Primed with 80g of "body brew" in 100ml of boiling water. Spent ages sanitizing everything though. May have gone a little over the top. I finished at about 1014 also. After a few hours I pulled the rubber ring on the valve of my budget barrel to purge some oxygen so it seems that the barrel is holding pressure and that priming is working! Also I forgot to buy some Vaseline to grease the o ring of my lid so I used some of the missus strawberry lip balm, seemd to do the trick.

I drank the last pint that was in the bottom of the fermentor as I diddn't want to pull any sediment through the tap and if that cloudy stuff is drinkable I have high hopes for the final result.

I’ll keep you posted.

[vinceg]

Nice one mate, I'll be in the keg in a day or two as mentioned, when I have the time one evening. Not actually sampled my brew, not sure what it would taste like so "young", but if yours tastes OK I'll also have a tipple when I keg it and let you know.

Here begins the tricky bit. Leaving it alone for a few weeks!!!!

[vinceg]

Yup, I'm in the keg as well, did it last night which was day 11 after my brew struggled down to 1.014. Also did 5 bottles which are going away for Christmas.

[vinceg]

Well, I'm just sitting here feeling highly smug, as I am just supping my first ever pint of my own brew, Woodforde's Nelson's Revenge.....and it tastes mighty fine, oh yes!! In fact there's an almost primeval satisfaction about it, like I've just gone out and killed a wild animal to eat. Sorry, I'm sounding like some kind of caveman...

Sitting at my computer, the tap on the barrel 2 yards behind me on the chest of drawers has been calling my name all night (the tease!), so having just drunk the last bottle of Grimbergen in the house (on offer at 99p from Tesco in Ipswich), I've succumbed and poured myself one. In fact, I've quaffed that and am now reaching over for another!

With my sensible head on, it could probably do with a week or two more in the barrel considering the fact I only started the kit off on 20th Sept, but it tastes like a decent drop of beer to me and, apart from just a hint of a bitter aftertaste, seems about ready for drinking. There's a slight sparkle to it, but it's not especially carbonated, and so it's similar to the sort of real ale I like. On a scale of 1 to 10 of clearness I reckon it would rate a good 8½, i.e. it is not crystal, but I've been served a lot worse in pubs and been charged the best part of 3 English pounds for the privelege.

I'm sure it will improve with age; that bitter aftertaste might mellow and it might clear a fraction more, but I've got over 4 gallons of the stuff so there's plenty of time for that.

Cheers fellas,
Dead Chuffed of Ipswich

[jdt199]

Well Done vinceg Sounds like a big success! I have been resisting cracking into my barrel. I have been priming the beer in the budget keg at 20 deg the last week (as I read you should) to let the yeast work on the priming sugar's a bit and am going to move it to the cooler kitchen (about 10 - 15 deg) for a couple of weeks to let the gas absorb better. Is this correct?

I'm sure Ill have a cheeky sample after moving the keg tonight though.

[vinceg]

Congratulations on having considerably more willpower than me!

Indeed, I've done the week's priming, so really I should move mine to a cooler environment too, perhaps the porch although I don't want postie having a crafty swig every morning! I frequently get other peoples' mail through my door as it is, when he's sober (presumably).

Trouble is I've got nothing to sit the barrel on in order to dispense it adequately. Will have to try and find a cheapo tressle table or something.

Mild should be nearing its target gravity in a day or two, will be starting readings tonight. Gonna have to get another budget keg. Happy days!!

[shandypants5]

Well done Vinceg, having the keg that close to the computer might affect your posting abilities eventually.

I did a "Nellys Revenge" recently and it tasted superb, but it got a LOT better on the 3rd weekend just before it ran out.

I have just kegged another and I treated my water this time too, so I am determined to let this one sit for 4 weeks if I can.

I might even "buy" some cans... *spits*... to tide me over till its ready.