Ok, so my Castlemaine lager is bubbling away in the FV and I have a few questions before bottling.
1) When taking hydrometer readings do I just dip it in and if so how long do I hold it for?
2) I will need to siphon into bottles. I only have a simple tube, does anyone have any tips to prevent me getting sediment into the bottles
3) Given its lager, I think the recommendation is 1 tea spoon of sugar for 500ml. I have 1 litre bottles but have read I should dissovle the sugar in boiled water? If so how much water per bottle. Or can I just put the sugar granules into the bottles
4) Should I put the sugar solution straight into the bottles or into the FV first?
5) Should I be using spray malts or brewing sugar instead of plain table sugar?
6) If I decide to fit a tap to my FV rather than siphoning, then will these work on the curved FV surface ok, rather than a square surface?
7) When siphoning, should I immers the tube in the beer in the bottle, or keep it clear of the liquid?
Thanks
Verno
Newby Questions
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Ska_J
Hey, haven't been doing this too long myself, but here's what I can answer...:
1) If your hydrometer is the same as mine then you need to drop it in, maybe give it a gentle spin to get any bubbles off and then read where the waterline meets the scale. Its just about the density of the beer, so the time it's in there won't matter.
2) I guess just be careful, but you can get/make a piece of equipment which is basically a tube with a hole a little away from the end so that you can hold it right on the bottom of the fv and not to suck up sediment.
3)+4) I think the boiled water is to make sure there are no nasties around, so just enough to disolve it all in and let it boil for a little bit. Then just split it up so that all the bottles get the right amount of sugar. Or you could probably pour it into the FV, but be careful not to stir too much and mix up all the sediment. I think you'd be fine adding the sugar into the bottles though (using a sanitised (but dry) funell might make it easier).
5) I don't think this is enough sugar to affect the taste to any noticable degree. Plain table sugar should be fine.
6) I bought mine with a tap as I am too scared of DIY, but don't think you'd have any trouble. Hopefully someone else can advise...
7) You don't want to oxidise the beer, so the tube (sanitised of course) should go all the way in to let the beer in as air free as possible.
Hope that helps!
J
1) If your hydrometer is the same as mine then you need to drop it in, maybe give it a gentle spin to get any bubbles off and then read where the waterline meets the scale. Its just about the density of the beer, so the time it's in there won't matter.
2) I guess just be careful, but you can get/make a piece of equipment which is basically a tube with a hole a little away from the end so that you can hold it right on the bottom of the fv and not to suck up sediment.
3)+4) I think the boiled water is to make sure there are no nasties around, so just enough to disolve it all in and let it boil for a little bit. Then just split it up so that all the bottles get the right amount of sugar. Or you could probably pour it into the FV, but be careful not to stir too much and mix up all the sediment. I think you'd be fine adding the sugar into the bottles though (using a sanitised (but dry) funell might make it easier).
5) I don't think this is enough sugar to affect the taste to any noticable degree. Plain table sugar should be fine.
6) I bought mine with a tap as I am too scared of DIY, but don't think you'd have any trouble. Hopefully someone else can advise...
7) You don't want to oxidise the beer, so the tube (sanitised of course) should go all the way in to let the beer in as air free as possible.
Hope that helps!
J
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PMH0810
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verno
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kenny850
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verno
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maxashton
Verno,
First of all, your tap. Most of the taps have a thick rubber o-ring. The nut goes on the inside of your fermenter, and pulls the tap tight against the o-ring forming a watertight seal.
Second, your hydrometer. Once you've fitted your tap, buy a 100ml sample jar from Wilkinson's or your homebrew shop. When you need to take a sample, tap some of the wort into the sample jar (about 80-90ml i think, you'll figure it out). Float your hydrometer in the wort then either drink or tip the sample away.
If you want to boil up the sugar, best thing to do is have a bottling bucket. I'd say since this is your first entry into brewing you can leave that alone. If you really want to boil up the sugar, you can put the total ammount of sugar into a saucepan and add just enough water to turn it into solution. If you have a dosing syringe, i think 5ml is 1 tsp.
Edit: It's also worth noting some people like to boil up the sugar in a small ammount of the fermented beer.
First of all, your tap. Most of the taps have a thick rubber o-ring. The nut goes on the inside of your fermenter, and pulls the tap tight against the o-ring forming a watertight seal.
Second, your hydrometer. Once you've fitted your tap, buy a 100ml sample jar from Wilkinson's or your homebrew shop. When you need to take a sample, tap some of the wort into the sample jar (about 80-90ml i think, you'll figure it out). Float your hydrometer in the wort then either drink or tip the sample away.
If you want to boil up the sugar, best thing to do is have a bottling bucket. I'd say since this is your first entry into brewing you can leave that alone. If you really want to boil up the sugar, you can put the total ammount of sugar into a saucepan and add just enough water to turn it into solution. If you have a dosing syringe, i think 5ml is 1 tsp.
Edit: It's also worth noting some people like to boil up the sugar in a small ammount of the fermented beer.
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kenny850
You only need to do this if you drop the hydro in the FV,if you draw some of into a test jar and drink or throw it away afterwards youll not need to steralise. OH MY GOD! ive just corrected Jim(runs round room screaming like a girl with hands in the air) sorry Jim, couldnt resist it,youll get your back when i next ask for adviceJim wrote:I'm sure you're aware of this, but don't forget to sanitize your hydrometer before you put it in the beer.
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Ska_J
Well, since you don't have a tap, something is going to need sterilising to get it out of there. Even if you do get a tap I don't suppose you'll be fitting it with this batch in the FV (that I'd like to see!)
In which case maybe you'll just want to stick with Jims advise and sanitise the Hydrometer and pop it in there.
J
In which case maybe you'll just want to stick with Jims advise and sanitise the Hydrometer and pop it in there.
J
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ashbyp
I don't have taps on my FV, so I use a turkey baster to extract a sample. The baster needs sanitizing in that case. Just another option.Ska_J wrote:Well, since you don't have a tap, something is going to need sterilising to get it out of there. Even if you do get a tap I don't suppose you'll be fitting it with this batch in the FV (that I'd like to see!)
In which case maybe you'll just want to stick with Jims advise and sanitise the Hydrometer and pop it in there.
J
I nearly added that caveat, but decided to leave it as an exercise for the reader.kenny850 wrote:You only need to do this if you drop the hydro in the FV,if you draw some of into a test jar and drink or throw it away afterwards youll not need to steralise. OH MY GOD! ive just corrected Jim(runs round room screaming like a girl with hands in the air) sorry Jim, couldnt resist it,youll get your back when i next ask for adviceJim wrote:I'm sure you're aware of this, but don't forget to sanitize your hydrometer before you put it in the beer.
