Temperature??

[canuck]

Also one more question how often should I be taking hydrometer readings? especially if the woodefordes wherry is know to stick maybe i should do it once a day?

There's little point continually looking and taking readings, once you've confirmed fermentation is underway, you know (in most cases) it's going to last for a couple of days at least, so leave it alone until the vigorous stage of fermentation has completely passed and it looks like it's dying down. Take a reading at this point and hopefully it will be within a couple of points of the predicted FG.

Take another reading the next day, if it hasn't dropped and hasn't reached the FG, check the temperature and give it a stir then have a look another look 24hrs later, if it still hasn't dropped you might want to start considering what other course of action you're going to take.

Thanks, that makes sense. the airlock is slowly dying down in action but i can hear from just the airlock that there is still stuff hapening. Its only day 4 since i pitched the yeast. day 2 and 3 the airlock was going off quite a bit now its starting to settle down a little but can still tell there is stuff happening. Will give it another 2 days before taking a reading i think.

[brysie]

hi canuck

i too am new to brewing and i also used to stress too much about my brews.
following some excellent advice on here, i now just try to make sure that i follow basic procedures...

a. sanitise everything
b.make kit
c.chill....

there is little point to continually looking and taking readings, but its very tempting..so
i put clingfilm over the top of the fv under a loose lid so i can check on progress every day without anything nasty falling in, and
after the first few days of fermentation have calmed down, i chuck in a sanitised hydrometer. that way i can easily watch the gravity drop
with no stress. im still amazed by the whole process.

[canuck]

i put clingfilm over the top of the fv under a loose lid so i can check on progress every day without anything nasty falling in, and

when you put the cling film on the bucket do you make a hole in it to release the gas? do u stick an airlock in the loose lid on top of the cling film?

[brysie]

nah, i just stretch it over and see how big a dome it forms before the gas escapes. its ace.

i dont use airlocks anymore because i could never get the bledy barrel to seal properly and would worry about the lack of bubbles.
now i ferment in a bucket and use the barrel for racking/bottling only.
and, i chuck a sanitised hydro in after a few days so i can tell when its ready.

roberts your muvvers brevver, so to speak.

[canuck]

well i took a reading today day 5 and it was 1.014 so I guess I've passed beyond the point of where the wherry kits have been sticking. there are still little bubbles coming to the surface so it looks like its on schedule. Today is day 5. So will check again after the weekend to see where its at

[brysie]

yeh, they dont often go much lower than that.

[gaztop]

I am a noobie as well, after reading this thread I'm wondering if it is worth using a heat tray or beer belt then.
I have put both on my FV . Should I turn them off?

[canuck]

Just to update I bottled this Wherry on April 28th and had a first taste yesterday May 6th, yes I know its early but it still tasted good. Maybe a little 'yeasty' flavour. And it was a bit cloudy.

I forgot to take a proper OG so I don't have an idea about the alcohol content but it seems to me that its no where near the 4.5% that they put on the box. I did everything by the instructions and it fermented out to the desired FG. I guess next time I just might make it using 20L instead of 23L of water or just add some spraymalt at the begining.

[brysie]

hi canuck

just read your last post on this thread and wondered if your wherry had cleared yet?
these wherry kits usually start around 1036-1040 and if you got it down to 1014 its probably around 3 to 3.5% abv [i dont think they ever go to
4.5% by the way. not sure its possible] ive experimented with a few, adding extra sugar at the beginning and if im honest it spoils the taste a bit.
and, you have to check the og man, or how else will you know what changes to try in the future?

i think what im saying is `wherry kits are great for a good tasting session beer. if you want a stronger pint, then youre probably better off
doing a different kit to start with rather than tweaking one of these.` anybody else got a recommendation?