Yorkshire Terrier Bitter

[GTATTY]

Hi All

I'm new to this brewing thing and have recently purchased some kit.
I started of the brew as directed on the side of the kit box but while it's fermenting the instructions say to aerate daily by stirring although other info around says not to stir.

Will my brew be ok?

Please help

Regards

Graham

PS I've had a 3" froth on top of the ferment for 2 days

[Orfy]

What's the kit?

I wouldn't aerate after fermention starts. I consider that to me bad advice.
Do you have an hydrometer? Two days foam sounds like it's doing fine. Although and hydrometer is the only way to be sure.

[GTATTY]

The kit is York Brewery Yorkshire Terrier
I'll check it with the Hdrometer but the Foam on top is approx 1" thick now and when I take off the lid the smell of CO2 makes my eyes water and takes my breath away.

I assume this is a good sign?

Regards

Graham

[GTATTY]

I started the brew on Tuesday night and I've just measured the SG to be 1018.
Does this sound ok?

Sorry to sound too stupid but I've just started this week and have only registered on here today.

Regards

Graham

[GTATTY]

Thanks for help guys

Regards

Graham

[GTATTY]

Just tested brew again.
Most of the froth has gone and there is just a very thin layer on top in places. The wort is now starting to look clearer with a nice warm brown colour and it tastes quite nice!
There are lots of co2 bubbles in the wort and the SG is between 1016 and 1014.

I will hopefully be putting it in my Pressure Barrel on Tuesday Evening.

Am I best adding light spraymalt or Glucose powder to the Pressure barrel for secondary ferment?

Regards

Graham

[tubby_shaw]

Graham,
Basically any sugars added to the barrel are there as priming sugars. This means that it will be used mainly to produce CO2 which will give your beer a bit of sparkle, put an inert gas layer over your brew to protect it and help you pour your first couple of pints.
So IMHO using malt extract is a waste and I alway prime with glucose dissolved in boiling water
This of course is just my way other people do it differently

[jogger321]

Hi mate welcome to the world of home brewing!..I personally have had two failed attempts with the kit you mentioned..On each occasion it came out cloudy..You are correct the instructions say aerate the brew..I think the mistake I made was that I stirred it with far too much vigour..I went back to the manufacturers (who own a home brew shop in Perry Barr, Birmingham) who told me you are only supposed to very lightly aerate the yeast at the top..

Be interested to hear how you get on..if it doesnt work out don't worry there are loads of other good kits to try!

[GTATTY]

I got the Kit from the same shop in Perry Bar. It's called "Hamstead Brewing Centre" and they have Cellar Supplies, aseparate wing to replicate the York Brewery recipe.
I stirred the kit for the first 3 days but only slowly .
I'm gonna use Light spraymalt aswell when I transfer to the barrel as this is what they recommend.

Regards

Graham

Hi mate welcome to the world of home brewing!..I personally have had two failed attempts with the kit you mentioned..On each occasion it came out cloudy..You are correct the instructions say aerate the brew..I think the mistake I made was that I stirred it with far too much vigour..I went back to the manufacturers (who own a home brew shop in Perry Barr, Birmingham) who told me you are only supposed to very lightly aerate the yeast at the top..

Be interested to hear how you get on..if it doesnt work out don't worry there are loads of other good kits to try!

[GTATTY]

Hi all

I syphoned the brew from my bucket into my pressure keg last night but I'm concerned about the colour and taste. The sg had dropped to 1011 over two days being constant.

I primed with 85g of light spraymalt as instructed but the colour is a light yellow and not mid brown as I thought and it's very bitter!


Will the colour darken and the hoppy bitterness subside and smooth out?

Any ideas?

Regards

Graham

PS The brew has got a very good head on it when being poured at the mo

[Jim]

Graham, the colour won't change, but the bitterness should mellow out a bit once the beer's had a chance to mature. Patience is called for!

[GTATTY]

I suppose one saving grace is that it tastes ok, not nasty and it smells great just like a real beer with quite a nice flowery aroma!

It crtainly appears to be a better style that the brews I've done in my Beer Machine that I had bought for me a few years ago. They were ok but had no head on them!

[Orfy]

GTATTY,

The best way to increase the quality of the beer is a method that all good brewers use and is surprisingly simple and cheap. Not everyone can do it though and sometimes you have to develop the skill.















Patience.

Don't rush it. leave it in the fermenter another week or even two if you can wait that long. Even better, rack it (move it) to a secondary fermenter. It will clear further maybe ferment another couple of gravity points and mellow and mature, developing a more complex flavour profile.
Then put in the barrel.

You could use the time in between to do another brew to refill your primary fermenter.

[Garth]

good advice from Orfy there, there's no better thing than a bit of patience

[GTATTY]

Thanks guys for all the info so far.

The brew looks delightful now and is almost clear which I'm very surprised with!
The taste has mellowed and is very moorish and appears quite strong.
I purchased my first Corny Keg today from Norm together with Co2 gas bottle and Regulator with gauge. What a great bit of kit and a very nice Chap. I'm sanitising the keg as I type and will probably transfer my brew next week into the Corny. Think I'm gonna start my second brew tomorrow!

I also met Tubby Shaw and had a good old chat with him and Norm.

Maybe have more laughs with others on here in the future.

Cheers

Graham