Home Brewing

Anything else NON- BBQ
jdonly1
Posts: 490
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:15 am
Location: East Gippsland Vic

Re: Home Brewing

Post by jdonly1 »

a stilling mission today :mrgreen:
Will take a pic when up and running :wink:
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

Loving the new finds - Here is the set up so far.

The big one is 54L and the smaller is 24L. Big one has a tap and line that come from the Under side, Will need a freshen up but..

Image

Both the same as Image

The keg was used to boil bottles in, Will now be turned into a spit BBQ

Time for some big 50L brews
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

An update on my first batch.

OG was 104, Took one last night and it was 065

From what i gather im reading the dam thing wrong!!

Have not seen 1 single bubble out the airlock, but there is plenty of condensation and the beer tastes and smells great so far.

Its has been in for 1 week, Looking to leave it till next Monday - cant wait to get another batch on.
peteru
Posts: 487
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:16 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Home Brewing

Post by peteru »

sydking wrote:OG was 104, Took one last night and it was 065

From what i gather im reading the dam thing wrong!!
Probably. I'll guess that the OG was 1.104 and the current SG is 1.065. Unless you are using a yeast with very low attenuation or have a lot of unfermentables, it's unlikely to be done just yet, but it seems to be going fine.
Have not seen 1 single bubble out the airlock
Could be a poor seal on the lid or airlock itself. The CO2 is escaping via some gap that doesn't have the counter pressure of the airlock liquid. That's not necessarily a big problem, as long as the lid keeps most filth out of the beer (especially early on), you should be fine. Some of the best beers in the world are fermented in open tanks.
the beer tastes and smells great so far.
That's the main thing.
____________
"Beauty lies in the hands of the beer holder."
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

Something that's just come to mind - When i rack my beer into the priming sugar solution, ie another container. Do i make sure not to suck up any of the sediment in the bottom of the primary fermenter, or is it all good stuff, Ie let it all mix back together before bottoling.

Next time I will be fermenting in a different container, So I can just rack into fermenter with the tap and bottle straight from there with the wand.
Only option this time is to rack, then re rack back to the primary after a quick wash and sanitize,

When I take the hydo reading, I use the tap and into the hydrometer container, This bottom stuff is full of sediment, will that effect the readings at all?
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

try not to such any of the sediment up mate,
rack to a separate one then bottle from there.
those numbers dont look right ether mate unless your talking in brixs. if you are thats right and it will almost be ready to bottle.
one tip once you get a stable reading for a couple of days leave it for a week and it will clear up a bit more so you will have less sediment in the bottle.
peteru
Posts: 487
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:16 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Home Brewing

Post by peteru »

sydking wrote:Do i make sure not to suck up any of the sediment in the bottom of the primary fermenter
Yes, you want as little of the sediment as possible. Get a long neck bottle and open the tap slowly, drain the first bit of the sediment that's around the tap, then connect your hose and rack to your bulk priming bucket.
When I take the hydo reading, I use the tap and into the hydrometer container, This bottom stuff is full of sediment, will that effect the readings at all?
Yep, that will give you completely bogus numbers. What you are measuring is the "density" of the wort/beer. By including the solid bits of trub you will get wrong numbers. You will also get incorrect readings if you have any bubbles in the solution or stuck to the hydrometer, since those will cause the hydro to float. I usually open the tap only very slightly and slowly fill a glass until I start getting clear beer, then I quickly swap glass for the test tube with the hydro and when I get a large enough sample I turn the tap off. Once I get a reading, I do a taste test ;-)

What's your recipe? The numbers you have quoted would be for a very strong beer, possibly a Scottish or Belgian strong beer. Probably not the best thing to try for your first brew. For a typical ale, I would have expected on OG of around 1.050 and FG at around 1.010 or less. Mind you, the FG is not important, what you are looking for is no change in the SG for two or three days.

Welcome to another addictive craft. :twisted:

Next stop: roasting your own coffee. 8)
____________
"Beauty lies in the hands of the beer holder."
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

sydking wrote:Put my first batch on last night,

Wal’s Pale
1kg Euro Blend
150g Crystal Grain
12g Amarillo (Inf.)

Think i stuffed how how i did the grain, There was no mention of it in the instructions which was a bit annoying. I let it sit in boiling water, Then strained the grain letting just the water into the wort.

The hydro meter was reading 104

It was at 26 degrees, So ive had it wrapped in frozen bottles and towels over night.

Slowly bubbling away this morning
heres his recipe,
the reading can never go up unless the first reading was never correct.
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

I took another reading this morning, Monday will be two weeks in primary fermentation, Reading is 1.008 ( watched plenty of vidoes last night on taking readings so im sure its right :) Will take a pic tomorrow morning)

I will bottle depending on another reading tomorrow morning.

The beer smells and even tastes good...... im sure everyone says that about there first brew :)
jdonly1
Posts: 490
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:15 am
Location: East Gippsland Vic

Re: Home Brewing

Post by jdonly1 »

Mixed up a few brews today,about 375 litres :mrgreen:
Image
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

that reading looks better mate,
hoping to brew this weekend sometime. dont know when yet.
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

Made a fool of myself again - The reading is 1.108

Either way the reading did not change for 2 days. I bottled up on Sunday morning with a bulk prime of 7g per L

Lets see how we go :) Will be putting a big towel over my shelves in the cellar were the bottles are. Just in case....
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

i dont know if your making a fool of yourself.
try taking a reading in just plain water you should get 1.000 on it. if not the hydrometer is out of wack.

did you get the foam layer on top of it when it was fermenting? if not id be curious to see if the yeast started or not.
the other point is how does it taste? like flat beer thats good, sweet and sickly not good.
sydking
Posts: 343
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:38 am

Re: Home Brewing

Post by sydking »

barls wrote:i dont know if your making a fool of yourself.
try taking a reading in just plain water you should get 1.000 on it. if not the hydrometer is out of wack.

did you get the foam layer on top of it when it was fermenting? if not id be curious to see if the yeast started or not.
the other point is how does it taste? like flat beer thats good, sweet and sickly not good.
I tested in water, Reads 1.000

Ive had a glass or two out the fermenter. It does taste like a flat beer, and a good one at that, All its missing now is the gas.

I did have a lid on the fermenter so i did not see much foam, When i racked it to a secondary i noticed a ring around the top that had dried a little with a few floaties which indicates there was foam/activity.

Never got anything from the airlock - But not going to use that as an indicator. Next batch i will be using a Cling film lid.

My aim for the next one is a more constant temp control.
barls
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:02 am
Location: sydney

Re: Home Brewing

Post by barls »

good to hear then mate, dont know about your readings then, they just dont look right.
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