Help/advice on first brew.

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:58 pm

Stupid me didn't take the OG, but I definitely will next time.

Thanks for the reassurance Meaty, let me know how it tastes!

Still not sure what to do next, IPA, Stout & Lager. As long as the reading is 1010 I'll be bottling tomorrow!

Meatymc · Post by **Meatymc** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:50 pm

Likewise - keep the thread going - looking forward to hearing about the 'ultimate outcome' of all your efforts. My 2nd brew has been in for just over a week - a Cerveza from Wilko with a bit extra DME for luck! Been the same experience as my first brew - not a great deal of activity in the FV so will be taking a 'reading tonight to see how things are going.

Bit intrigued by your moniker by the way - does the Beeston bit mean Leeds (where I work) or Nottingham (where the daughter lives) or nothing to do with either???

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:41 pm

Will do, keep you all updated. I think it's best to share so other can learn from mistakes. I'll be going Wilko's tomorrow hoping they have some homebrew equipment in stock. What should the final reading be before bottling? Anything it ends on constant?

Beeston is my surname, that's all. Although it is a castle, you can imagine I live there if you like!

Wekslap · Post by **Wekslap** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:33 pm

I'm not an expert but I think if you have a constant reading of between 12 and 8 final gravity for two or 3 days it ready to bottle.

John

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:52 pm

Well I'm currently bang in the middle, thanks!

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 10:58 pm

Finally bottled, got about 63 bottles out of it. A mixture of glass bottles, 270-330-500-600 ml.

All seemed to go pretty smooth, siphoned into the second fv, used the little bottler which is great! A must buy for anybody bottling. Batch priming seems much easier and ill definitely be doing it next time, when I have such a mixture of different sized bottles not sure how many to put in, but still lets hope it turns out well.

Oh and I 6 different flavours! I have done 2 bottles of 25 ml lemon double strength cordial, 2 bottles of blackcurrent 25 ml double strength cordial, 2 summer fruits Robinson's with a couple of squirts (one of those stupid squashed things), 2 with a drop of honey, 2 with a drop of treacle and the rest regular!

Hope they all turn out well and don't explode!

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 10:29 am

How do you guys store your bottles when there fermenting? I have put them all in boxes (5 of them) and stacked them up in the back bedroom. (It's currently unused and gets the sun so it's the warmest room in the house, about 20-23 degrees) then I have chucked a old duvet over the boxes.

Is this a good way?

Meatymc · Post by **Meatymc** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:12 pm

Now then Mr Beeston - quite a list of additives you have there - should be one hell of an opening evening!

I'd managed to get over 60 x 500ml bottles thanks to a concerted drinking effort recently. Speckled Hen/Bombadier/Spitfire all at £1.25 per bottle at Lidl certainly helped the cause. My FG seemed high at 1014 so when I had them 'curing' in the airing cupboard for the first few days I had them in plastic boxes with a 7 ply sheet on top of each box plus a couple of old double sheets over the lot just in case any bottles blew. None did (actually the brew is almost flat when tasted which may be a topic for another post from me) so they are now sat in our disconnected back-up fridge (comes into play at Xmas) in the garage.

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:47 pm

Oh yes! a bit of trial and error, hoping the all turn out well!

I still have another 50 bottles, a lad at work is collecting them for me from local pubs, the things people will do for a couple bottles of beer ay! ;D

How long have they been in for?

Meatymc · Post by **Meatymc** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:00 pm

Bottled 10 days ago - in airing cupboard for a week and then into garage. I'm really happy with the taste - particularly as everyone is adamant it will improve further, but apart from a tingle on the tongue, it's almost flat. It only came in at 3.7% which is well down on the package figure of 4.5%. Nothing added to the basic kit but brewed slightly short to 21lt so loss of nearly 1% is dissapointing. However it's the first brew so as long as it taste (more than) OK I'm happy enough this time.

I do want to understand why I've lost % and head however so I'll probably post again on this later.

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:39 pm

Ahh right ok, how long does carbonation take once bottled?

Meatymc · Post by **Meatymc** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:59 pm

Good question. Through much reading it seems a bit open ended although 2/3 weeks conditioned in bottle at cooler temperature seems to be the minimum recommended. I've also been reading a couple of noted experts who recommend secondary fermentation for 2 weeks before bottling - so 2/3 weeks initial fermentation, transfer to a second fermenting vessel (which we've 'discussed' before) for 2 further weeks and then bottling. Although this sort of timescale seeme to be poo-poo'd by others.

A theme everywhere though seems to centre on 3 main aspects - particularly for a novice like me - sanitation, yeast and temperature. I think I'm on top of the first and I've already decided to source a better yeast than the supplied kit one for the next brew. What I need to concentarte on is temperature I think - finding a way of getting it within known limits both before and after pitching and then keeping it constant. My problem is the house is up for sale so no point in getting overly creative.

I'd recommend reading through the site below if you've not already seen it - basics plus a lot of technical explanation on what is going on during each process.

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 6:24 pm

Yes I have noticed with a lot of the brewing process their is no definite answer, there are many ways to do everything, i think it's just personal preference. The problem is with a lot of it is time, people don't have the patience, including me! I want to open a bottle now

Alls I've done for the past couple of weeks is read up on websites, but I'll save it for future reference, thank you.

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:04 am

After 8 days in the bottle I decided to crack one open yesterday! When I first got them out there was a white ring at the bottom, I'm guessing this is the priming drops plus a bit of sediment, should I have mixed it up or left it? I ended up mixing it up then put it in my fridge for 5 hours, when I got it out it was still cloudy and hasn't settled again, drank it anyway and overall I've got to say I'm quite pleased with the taste!

I also tried a black current one, tasted like cough medicine, my mate can have the other bottle!

Looked at the lemon ones and there were bits in them, almost looked like lemon bits! (I wish) but there was nothing on the bottom. All the rest are fine so I'm guessing this is some infection from the lemon squash.

Here's a pic of the ingredients, hope somebody can point out what's wrong so I and other don't make the same mistake!

Grantbeeston · Post by **Grantbeeston** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:58 pm

Anybody have any ideas what could have caused this?

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