Home brewing kits ....

Etheco said:
So i am going to check Gravity tonight been busy, but just checking how much sugar i need i have the brewing sugar from wilko (dextrose) so i went on Priming Sugar Calculator and it states i need 83.04g of it.

I am going to fully keg the entire brew, so i assume i mix the sugar in some hot water let it cool put it in the fermenter stir carefully and then syphon it in to the keg.
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No add the mixed boiled water & sugar to the keg then siphon in fermented wort without splashing it about
 
I read somewhere to mix it in the fermenter and slightly mix it in, Without disturbing the crap at the bottom.

I assume this isn't the best way I have done it, but it has barrelled up so will see how it ends up in 3-4weeks.

When I had a little taste when getting the gravity which was around 1.010, It tasted really strong, and also slightly sourly maybe but also smelt very yeasty.

Oh well it is my first, live and learn is the way forward :) will just pray it turns out at least drinkable heh.

Thanks all for the help so far, its rather interesting seeing how it changes overtime and all the science behind it, be it fairly straight forward science (I think).
 
Squid said:
well its good that gravity is right where it should be when finished hope it looses that sour smell in a few weeks..
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Yeh, That is the main reason for just fully barrelled it encase it doesn't lose the sour taste, I hope it does so will give it a week at the 20-22c and then chill it for a week and give it a half pint taster :D
 
If you put sugar in at the end to make it have a bit of pressure in the bottle, make sure you don't put too much in. I had one explode in a cupboard that had been fine for a month.
 
Well my tap sprung a leak, Lesson number 2005352 re-re-check your tap lol. I had clearly failed to check it properly d'oh.

Although didn't lose all that much and have tightended it a further 1/4 so will monitor that today.

Glad i spotted that today, as i am away for 4 days from Friday.
 
So looks like nothing leaked over the weekend, So must have sealed correctly now question is do i do a force co2 bulb to provide what ever leaked out over the 2days?

Also at what point can i take a taster from the barrel?

Cheers
 
Whenever you want to, but the week you've left it should have made it a fair bit clearer than when it came from the fermenter, might have some carbonation too. Try it. If you feel you then want to leave it longer you can.
 
I did the American IPA and drank it over Christmas. It was lovely! I got complements from everyone that tried it. it was pretty potent at 6.5% too!

I've got the Oak Rum finish one to brew at the end of the month.
 
We've done the APA which was very nice, and the AIPA is currently in a secondary clearing a bit before we put in a barrel (probably tonight).
With both, because you are adding so many pellets to dry-hop with it was very, very cloudy. We barreled from primary for the APA, but it took months to clear in there. I'm hoping that being in a secondary on a cold floor might have helped more yeast and hop detritus to drop out.
But yeah, would recommend the Youngs American kits as being great.

As for the Bulldog Brews, tried one or two as they sounded great. We didn't find them great. Not bad, but was hoping for something better. Can't really remember them much other than not being overly inspiring.
 
We haven't. I've always been worried that it's like isinglass (pretty sure that was where Saruman the White lived) it might reduce the life of the beer as any residual gelatin goes off in the barrel.
Not that drinking a barrel within a couple of months is usually a problem with friends and family coming round too.
To be honest, it's pretty rare that we'd put into a secondary anyway, we usually barrel straight from the fermenter. If we're bottleing we'll syphon into a bottling bucket with a long narrow tap, and bottle from there, so that we can batch prime it.
 
Lol...I always had that thought when reading about isinglass too.

Personally all the beers I make are extremely hoppy IPAs so are generally best when fairly young anyhow. As such I haven't really worried about things going off. I can understand how it might be a concern though. I think the oldest bottle I've had (where I've actually used gelatin - I don't use it all the time) was probably 4 months or so. It was fine, if a little blah as the hops had faded a lot.
 
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