Home brewing kits ....
- Thread starter Aliboy
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so i had syrup left but hopefully as the kit was meant to make 48 bottles it balances it all out still.
Associate
Looking brilliant there Etheco. So, when do you start your next kit 
Soldato
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The gravity my brew is still very very slowly creeping down but is taking an age and is still hover around the 1.02 area. Will fermenting this slowly adversely affect the beer?
Having done some reading, I'm going to give it a gentle swirl later to try to get things moving again, unfortunately I don't have anywhere else to move the bucket to that would be warmer. ..
Having done some reading, I'm going to give it a gentle swirl later to try to get things moving again, unfortunately I don't have anywhere else to move the bucket to that would be warmer. ..
Looking brilliant there Etheco. So, when do you start your next kit
In a few weeks i think, once i can start emptying some of this batch for bottles.
Not fully sure on what kit to jump into next though will have to goose around the brew shop
Scared my self thinking i might have bottle-bombs though, I opened one that was half full and it made a huge hiss.
but reading up that this actually happens due to the biology and so much oxygen in the bottle so i have put a full one in the fridge and going to open it later and see what its like just to put my fear to bed.
Don't believe longer fermentation effects beer at all from what i read over the place, what sort of temperatures is the fermenting sitting at ?
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Is it possible and/or wise to try to brew a really 'big beer' (thinking a Belgian Quadrupel) using an extract route? Other possibilities would be a high alcohol Old Ale or something similar... I'm not alcohol mad, I just savour the complexity of stronger ales and enjoy them as a slower drink. Anyone got a straight forward recipe to recommend?
Man of Honour
It's possible but it takes a long time to finish and even then you'll want to age it for a long time in order for it to be as good as it is going to be. If you're the patient kind, go for it. I'm not, so I tend to make beers that drink well whilst slightly green (e.g. IPAs) 
Soldato
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That's good to hear, I felt like I had read much the same but thought I'd check.
It's about 20 degrees at the moment where it's sitting but I've not got anywhere else I can put it really as my little boy would most likely knock it over, or drink it or something....lol
I'll give it a swirl this evening and maybe a gentle warming with a hair dryer...lol and see if it's doing any better in a day or two....so much for the 5-7 days the instructions mentioned...lol
In a few weeks i think, once i can start emptying some of this batch for bottles.
Not fully sure on what kit to jump into next though will have to goose around the brew shop
Scared my self thinking i might have bottle-bombs though, I opened one that was half full and it made a huge hiss.
but reading up that this actually happens due to the biology and so much oxygen in the bottle so i have put a full one in the fridge and going to open it later and see what its like just to put my fear to bed.
1007 IIRC was the magic number to get to before bottling (dosing with sugar in the bottle).
I opened one and was a little disappointed when the pop was tiny xD but even after that 5days its produced some carb and was rather tasty so will now just leave it and not worry to much
Soldato
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Finally had a chance over the weekend to remeasure the gravity of my brew and it has dropped a little bit more but still not quite ready for bottling (next time I'll look into a fermentation container heater thingy to keep it a bit warmer and hopefully ti won't take so blooming long to ferment).
I also gave it a bit of a stir and it spent the day Saturday (lovely hot day) happily fermenting away with the air lock bubbling every few minutes, so hopefully in a few more days it'll be ready for bottling.
Before I stirred it, it was looking nice and clear and actually tasted like beer (albeit warm flat beer which is never great...lol)
I also gave it a bit of a stir and it spent the day Saturday (lovely hot day) happily fermenting away with the air lock bubbling every few minutes, so hopefully in a few more days it'll be ready for bottling.
Before I stirred it, it was looking nice and clear and actually tasted like beer (albeit warm flat beer which is never great...lol)
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Decided to go ahead with the 'big belgian beer' I planned as a final extract brew before starting down the path of all-grain brewing. The basic recipe I came up with for a 30 litre batch is
7kg light liquid malt extract
2 kg extra light powder malt extract
0.5 to 1.5kg table sugar (depending on what target ABV I aim for)
500g (each) of Aromatic, Biscuit and Special B grains
50g Magnum hop pellets (60 mins)
WLP500 Trappist ale yeast
Intend to leave it for 5 weeks in primary (I don't do secondaries) and them bottle it and leave for a further 5 weeks at least.
A couple of questions:
1) Will a single pack of yeast be ok for such a big beer? Assuming I make a decent starter
2) Do 'bigger beers' give a bigger Krausen? If yes then I may have issues with the size of my feremtation vessel as it is wont have much headroom with 30 litres of wort in there.
3) I don't have capability for cold crash and have never worked with such a hardy yeast strain. Will I have issue getting the yeast to settle? My hope is that by leaving it in the primary for 5 weeks it will give it plenty of time to finish its work and settle out. Am I likely to run in to problems with yeast settling? What is best solution, more time in fermentor or adding a gelatin solution? Will autolysis be an issue with leaving it for long times in the primary?
4) I assume even if I get decent yeast sedimentation then I will still have sufficient quantities in the beer to carbonate?
5) Where can i buy a decent draw string grain bag that I will be able to fit all (1.5kg) of my grains in?
All advice appreciated!
7kg light liquid malt extract
2 kg extra light powder malt extract
0.5 to 1.5kg table sugar (depending on what target ABV I aim for)
500g (each) of Aromatic, Biscuit and Special B grains
50g Magnum hop pellets (60 mins)
WLP500 Trappist ale yeast
Intend to leave it for 5 weeks in primary (I don't do secondaries) and them bottle it and leave for a further 5 weeks at least.
A couple of questions:
1) Will a single pack of yeast be ok for such a big beer? Assuming I make a decent starter
2) Do 'bigger beers' give a bigger Krausen? If yes then I may have issues with the size of my feremtation vessel as it is wont have much headroom with 30 litres of wort in there.
3) I don't have capability for cold crash and have never worked with such a hardy yeast strain. Will I have issue getting the yeast to settle? My hope is that by leaving it in the primary for 5 weeks it will give it plenty of time to finish its work and settle out. Am I likely to run in to problems with yeast settling? What is best solution, more time in fermentor or adding a gelatin solution? Will autolysis be an issue with leaving it for long times in the primary?
4) I assume even if I get decent yeast sedimentation then I will still have sufficient quantities in the beer to carbonate?
5) Where can i buy a decent draw string grain bag that I will be able to fit all (1.5kg) of my grains in?
All advice appreciated!
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Associate
1, WLP500 is not a pack of yeast is a liquid culture I don't know your OG but for 20L OG 1083 I used a 2 step starter 1.75L + 1.75L on a stirplate for 30L you will need a good few of these. Don't be surprised if it finishes at 1002/4.
2, Not necessarily if you can start fermenting at 18°C then raising 2°C per day to reach 24-28°C it should be OK note that some of these yeasts will stall if there is a drop in temp at any time which will cause you trouble.
3, That's not good TBH I would leave brewing this beer till you have temp controlled fermentation. I would ferment 18-26°C and hold at 26° (it can take a week to get the last few gravity points) then lower the temp 1.5°C every 12 hours to 0.5°C and hold for 3 weeks. These yeasts can be hard to clear hence the 3 week lagering period autolysis is unlikely to be an issue.
4, It should be OK but making such a high strength beer and lagering I re-yeast with 2-4g of bottling yeast but Nottingham, Gervin, Wilkos should be fine.
5, don't know.
As said above I would get controlled fermentation sorted out first, get to grips with making yeast starters before attempting this type of beer which will benefit all you brews even if it's just a fridge that gets to 5°C or below.
Just to add Magnum is a clean bittering hop, I would choose from the following or a mix from the following.
Hallertau, Sazz, Syrian Goldings, Perle, East Kent Goldings, Tettnang. And you may want to consider how you are going to separate your hop pellets from the wort I use leaf myself and have never used pellets.
Sorry edited again..
Intend to leave it for 5 weeks in primary (I don't do secondaries) and them bottle it and leave for a further 5 weeks at least. 5 months would be better.
2, Not necessarily if you can start fermenting at 18°C then raising 2°C per day to reach 24-28°C it should be OK note that some of these yeasts will stall if there is a drop in temp at any time which will cause you trouble.
3, That's not good TBH I would leave brewing this beer till you have temp controlled fermentation. I would ferment 18-26°C and hold at 26° (it can take a week to get the last few gravity points) then lower the temp 1.5°C every 12 hours to 0.5°C and hold for 3 weeks. These yeasts can be hard to clear hence the 3 week lagering period autolysis is unlikely to be an issue.
4, It should be OK but making such a high strength beer and lagering I re-yeast with 2-4g of bottling yeast but Nottingham, Gervin, Wilkos should be fine.
5, don't know.
As said above I would get controlled fermentation sorted out first, get to grips with making yeast starters before attempting this type of beer which will benefit all you brews even if it's just a fridge that gets to 5°C or below.
Just to add Magnum is a clean bittering hop, I would choose from the following or a mix from the following.
Hallertau, Sazz, Syrian Goldings, Perle, East Kent Goldings, Tettnang. And you may want to consider how you are going to separate your hop pellets from the wort I use leaf myself and have never used pellets.
Sorry edited again..
Intend to leave it for 5 weeks in primary (I don't do secondaries) and them bottle it and leave for a further 5 weeks at least. 5 months would be better.
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Soldato
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Hi All
I think my kit has finally finished fermentation, (has taken weeks...next time I shall look into options for warming the fermentation vessel as the only space I have seems to be too chilly really) The gravity after another week is the same as last week sitting at 1.010
The instructions with the kit say that once it reaches 1.010 or below, then it's ready for bottling, however I've also read in various places that beer needs to be 1.006 before you bottle else too much pressure is likely to build up in the bottles...
Not wishing to create 40 odd bottle of exploding beer I'm not quite sure what I should do no, do you experienced brewers think this will be ok?
When it comes to bottling, I'm intending on transferring from my fermentation vessel to a second vessel for batch priming and then bottling. I have brewing sugar for the priming and have read (on here) about making a syrup to add. I need to work out how much sugar is needed but not really sure how I go about doing it?
Any help will be very much appreciated.
I think my kit has finally finished fermentation, (has taken weeks...next time I shall look into options for warming the fermentation vessel as the only space I have seems to be too chilly really) The gravity after another week is the same as last week sitting at 1.010
The instructions with the kit say that once it reaches 1.010 or below, then it's ready for bottling, however I've also read in various places that beer needs to be 1.006 before you bottle else too much pressure is likely to build up in the bottles...
Not wishing to create 40 odd bottle of exploding beer I'm not quite sure what I should do no, do you experienced brewers think this will be ok?
When it comes to bottling, I'm intending on transferring from my fermentation vessel to a second vessel for batch priming and then bottling. I have brewing sugar for the priming and have read (on here) about making a syrup to add. I need to work out how much sugar is needed but not really sure how I go about doing it?
Any help will be very much appreciated.
Associate
If it's sitting at 1.010 for a week then it's reach it's final gravity beers finish at different gravity depending on the style, ingredients, yeast.
For priming you can use a Beer Priming Calculator
For priming you can use a Beer Priming Calculator
Associate
Make up your syrup by gently boiling in water for 10mins to sterilize then cool to about 20°C transfer the beer to your bottling FV taking care to keep splashing to a minimum and add the syrup during transfer or add the syrup first and transfer the beer on top but make sure it's mixed well (gently without splashing or you will shorten your beer life). If you don't mix it your bottles will have different carbonation depending how much sugar get to each bottle.
You want to use a min amount of water for making the syrup but don't stress about it as it wont make much difference over 23-30L try and use 0.5L but 1L will not harm it.
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Thanks for the reply. I've already ordered all the ingredients so despite your guidance I'm just going to jump in and see how it turns out... Hopefully, I get something drinkable, worst case it goes down the drain (will have to be REALLY nasty to let this happen) and I've wasted £40 or so.
In answer to your points.
1) Yes, I only recently realised WLP500 is a liquid culture. My plan is to take 300g of the dry extract and boil up a 3 litre starter. I'll cool the wort to around 18 deg C and pitch the yeast in to the starter around 24 hours before I brew the beer proper.
2) I won't be monitoring fermentation temperature. After pitching the yeast the beer will simply be left for 5 weeks. Really, nothing I can do about this so will be an interesting experiment to see what happens.
3) I realise Magnum wouldn't be used in a proper Belgian ale however I have some left over and it has a reasonable AA content so I wont have to use too much. Besides, it seems like hop bittering will be the least of my problems for this brew.
4) Hopefully, if the lack of control of fermentation means I get some crazy flavours, these can be 'mellowed' with extended ageing to give something drinkable. Like I said it's have to be pretty horrible (worse than special brew) for me to contemplate throwing it away.
Will let you know how it goes (brewing this weekend), even if its a total disaster will post so you can have a good chuckle!
Associate
OK shaking your starter every time you go past it will increase your yeast count, and good luck if the weather is warm it may help keep the temp up as these beers are best fermented warmer than ales (but start low if you can)
Soldato
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Yeah, having looked at the instructions for the kit it does say 1.010 so I'm fairly happy it's done. I guess because it's a gluten free kit it will differ a little to a standard kit
Had a look at the calculator and I'm a little confused...how do I know what to put for the 'volumes of CO2'? I know there's a list below it which gives me an idea (it's a US style beer so between 2.2 and 2.7) but what figure should I use?
Thanks, that makes it sound nice and simple (which is perfect for me...lol) I'll be syphoning from my FV to the bottling FVso splashing should be minimal (or it'll go everywhere and make a right mess...)