P.D's Brewery.

Due to work I had to leave my latest brew ( Betterbrew Premium India Pale Ale ) in its FV for a day or two longer than I think I should have. However I managed to bottle it today and its looking nice, bottled on day 9. As is the norm when I'm doing a new to me kit I do it exactly as instructed so I have a bench mark for any future brews. This was started on 20 June 2012 and romped away as it coincided with a mini heatwave and the starting temp was high at 26 degrees. However after a day or two, ( normal British heatwave ! ) it stabilised at around 23 degrees and worked out well. I managed 38 500ml pet bottles and 1 clear Grolsh bottle as I want to be able to check on how its colour develops. It looks a little er pale at this stage... :grin:
All equipment cleaned up ready for a double brew day tomorrow ( a St Peters red ruby ale and another Coopers Dark Ale, there will be a slight alteration to this 2nd batch of Dark as I'm using half kg of dark spray malt and half kg of brew enhancer. My original Dark made as per kit, has gone down well with the family and If this " improvement " fails I am bound for Botany Bay apparently !
I had to buy a 2nd brew bin and unfortunately my local shop did not have any with taps already fitted so I bought an auto syphon in anticipation of syphoning it off after its initial ferment into a new bin with tap and bottler combined. The owner of the shop mentioned that in the last few months his sales of bins with taps and bottling wands have shot up, everyone seems to be bottling direct from the FV. I must admit I find it an easy and convenient method.
I also received my cheap digital thermometer in the post today ( only ordered it yesterday morning ! ) The lead from the unit to the probe is quite thin and I'm wondering it I can get away with trapping it between the lid and bin side instead of having to drill a hole for it. A dry run looks ok but obviously I can't check if I'm getting a sufficiently good seal so the air lock works ok. My ultimate aim with this thermometer is to use it in combination with a fish tank heater with the FV sat in a larger bin in a temp controlled water bath for the winter period when my garage temps are very variable due to central heating boiler.
Quite looking forward to having a day in the Brewery tomorrow. :party:

Good luck with your two brews :)

What abv did your IPA finish at?

How are you finding the pet bottles?
When I made some turbo cider the sediment on the bottom of the bottle moved about and mixed in with the cider, since then I've used glass bottles and never had an issue

My gravities went from 1.044 down to 1.004 which means around 5.8 abv I think. Although I never adjust Sp G for temps so its not exact, and to be truthfull with kit making I don't really bother about it too much, the experts who put the kit together know best, make it as directed and ferment it as far as you can.
Since returning to home brew I've exclusively used plastic PET bottles and am impressed with them. Cleaning and sterilising them is a dream compared to glass bottles, the yeasts nowabays are brilliant in sinking to the bottom of the FV and forming a glue like substance which all in all stays put with careful handling. I've as yet not had any problem with bottle sediment. Theres always a little obviously but apart from the last one or two bottles that I squeeze from the ferment, its never an issue. Most of my brews have come out very clear and some are sparkly. I've been hard put to find much yeast in the empty bottles after supping. The Gods must be smiling on me, or perhaps I'm not leaving it in the bottle long enough... :party:

Anyone know what its like in Botany Bay !
My first brew of Coopers Dark made with 1 Kg of Young's Beer enhancer had a starting gravity of 1.050. today's brew had 3 quarters of a Kg of beer enhancer and half a kilo of spray malt, the gravity is only 1.044. am puzzled :pray:

However........ its fermenting like a " gud un " Twice today its breached the air lock and the lid has a bulge to it... :rofl:
I wish you could purchase those brew bins like they use in the Coopers starter kit separately. You don't need an air lock with those as the whole lid lifts up in what they call the " burping " method. :clap: Much easier than fitting and maintaining an air lock.....

Out of interest, which timescale did you base it on, in my better brew ipa there were 3 different timescales that contradicted eachother :hmm:

Sorry, you lost me there I don't understand what you mean...

Make that 4 breaches in the day and the fermenting temp is 21 degrees

I have made this kit twice (I like ipa) and the instructions on the pack when I read them contradicted its self on timings several times?

Did I just get a bad print?

Doh ! thicko that I am understands now.

To be honest I don't work to a set time scale I prefer to let the brew decide and use my hydrometer. Initial fermentation is continued until the activity in the brew appears to have stopped, I then wait a further day and take a hydro reading. The next day I take a further reading and decide if the brew has worked itself out, if it looks like it may drop a little more I leave it a further day. When I get a couple of readings the same consecutively I bottle. After priming the bottles get moved into my airing cupboard where two plastic trays manage to hold that complete brew (approx 38-40 bottles.) Its then left there in the warmth for 4 to 5 days and then placed on my garage floor in cooler conditions. When the next brew reaches this stage the first brew is placed in boxes or trays and added to the " stash ". I wish !
I'm not a big drinker as such although my son makes up for the pair of us, so the stash does not grow very fast although I do sneak a few bottles of each brew to store out of sight for ...whenever.
Because of the lack of space this system allows me to make 3 or 4 brews a month which is ample for our needs but the amount can vary depending on our mood and any activities planned... :party: :party:

to add to this post.
I found one remaining demi-jon lying forlorn in the loft this morning, so leaving it to clean and sterilise I called at Morrisons and to the wifes surprise, 4 litres of conc. apple juice fell into our trolley... er together with a litre of lime juice a new can opener a measuring jug and inexplicably, a turkey baster
On arriving home I decided to make use of this good fortune and put down a gallon of apple cider.. :clap:
4 litres of apple juice
half litre of lime juice
a large mug of strong tea and to make the S G up to a reasonable level 50gms of glucose SG 1.052
In my brewing box I " found " a packet of cider yeast and the brew was complete.
Unfortunately the Gods forgot to leave any Malic acid so I'll have to make do and mend without.
Two hours later in the warmth of the kitchen the airlock began to bubble so its joined its larger cousins ( my two brewing FV's ) in the garage.
In the mean time I've contacted my local brew shop and ordered a 40 arm bottle rinser that he will have in stock by Thursday ( the 80 arm one is huge ! )
It should help when cleaning the 500ml PET bottles in the bath as being so light when empty, I end up chasing rolling bottles all around the bathroom.
This brewing lark gets under your skin....

and the day after I started a further cider brew. Toffee Apple Cider... :party: I was a little wary of using my wife's treasured saucepans for boiling up the honey, so I used a replaceable if damaged camping saucepan. Keeping the honey just off boil for 20 minutes was fun ! It froth's a lot. However no damage was caused and getting the last bit of honey out of the saucepan into the demi jon was easily accomplished by using a little hot apple juice.
A tin of mashed pears,lime juice and tannin and some malic acid this time, and in a few hours I had got a Lava Lamp bubbling away on the worktop.
Both these ciders I hope to produce as clear ( ish ) fizzy sweet ciders so I will probably sweeten with something like Splenda before they go into bottles
The toffee apple one should come out stronger at around 8.5% abv while my apple and Lime cider should be around 7%. Will be interesting to taste the effect of the boiled honey.
Only getting 8 or 9 bottles from a gallon brew is a bit of a bummer tho... :) But I've consoled myself that if they turn out half decent and taste as if they will continue to mature over a period I will do a 5 gall brew.

Racked off my turbo apple cider with lime today.
SG's were OG 1.052 FG 1.006 equals around 6.1% alcohol.
first taste after racking, in front of wife son daughter and 2 ladies having their hair cut....they all had to have a taste :hmm:
my reaction..... looking nice and clear though not sparkly, very young and little mouth feel, strong lime taste with apple background flavour... :whistle:
conclusion very drinkable, looking forward to a bit of maturity next brew to reduce the amount of lime juice.
wifes view. its an apple and lime juice drink ....
son too limey. what it's strength. :rofl:
daughter dad made it so its good... :clap: :clap:
and the two ladies......... can we have another ? : :
So all in all a decent first attempt that can only get better but must reduce the lime juice !

had a bottle of my Better Brew I.P.A........ to say it was only bottled on the 29 June 2012...... its...... good.
better than the Coopers brew master in my opinion, light in colour ( like a dark lager if that makes sense ) but has that malt/hop flavour that lager doesn't.
Very good long lasting head, plenty and not too much fizz. Could certainly sit down for an evening with two or three of these.

I succumbed to another Betterbrew I.P.A. today ( already look at the time ts ) hmmmmmm :party:

Well the Betterbrew IPA gets better and better. I was in the garage on the front last night moving things around trying to fit all the bottles and paraphernalia for home brewing into some kind of order. I had a bottle... my neighbour wandered across. He had a pint. My son heard us talking and came down. He had a pint. my neighbours wife came across " looking " for him. She had a glass of TC with Lime. The wife heard the neighbours wife she came around. She brought her cup of tea ! Conversation continued and so we all had another pint!
Yes it scored top marks. Lovely creamy pure white head plenty of carbonation and not a drop of crud to be seen in any of the bottles. The TC with Lime has mellowed a little too and is losing its eye screwing tast of lime. its getting to be a nice refreshing drink now.
The IPA was only bottled on the 29th June so I'm over the moon with it. I've got two empty FV's at the moment so this weekend they are both getting an IPA put in.Beautiful session drink although by the gravity readings it is 5.3%. Its very light and easy to drink.
I've moved my toffee apple cider onto the cold garage floor as its nearly finished working, occasional bit of pear pulp half heartedly rises a little The cold floor should help it to finish off . I'm impatient to try a sample of this as if its half as good as the ordinary TC there's a 5 gal brew of it getting started. It should be better as its got pears and honey in it and the gravities should allow it to work out to 8% My turbo cider was 5%.
Nearly reached the end of my first batch of Coopers Dark Ale and that's been good and improving The dandelion and burdock taste has mellowed and its a fine dark fizzy brew. The 2nd batch has been bottle conditioning for 5 days now so a taster is due in a few days time.
Not so good news on the St Peters Red Ruby as yet. and its entirely my fault. I was in a rush at bottling time, and had got all the bottles sugared up before starting to bottle it was too dirty and should have been racked off into a 2nd FV and not bottled. However we bottled. It was christened " Muddy Waters " . That was on the 8th July, today its clearing lovely but there's a heavy deposit in the bottles. We shall see in a week or so what its like.
Been busy in the garage tonight but no folks dropped in.. :clap: I've made two clamps for the pair of auto siphons to fix to the wall. They are out of the way but still handy. I remembered to plug the ends of the plastic tubes with a cotton plug dipped in Sodium Met to stop any home hunting creepy crawlies getting in. And I've just made a trolley on castors to hold a water bath that will hold 2 FV's in warm water for winter time brewing when my garage temps drop a little. Just got to get a large plastic tub and a aquarium heater. Nowt like being prepared !

My toffee apple racked and bottled.... ts all that work for 8 measly bottles ! give me 5 gall brews anyday
Anyway at this time I'm glad I ain't got 5 gall of it.... its smelly and not good looking it will have to improve in the bottle a lot. So to get over my disappointment I started 2 x 5 galls of Betterbrew IPA intended for wife's birthday party end of September I promise I will not touch...I promise...
Today I'm using my 3rd and last FV and putting down a 5 gall TC with 2 litres of pineapple and lime juice cordial added, with a can of mashed up pears. Tannin and Malic acid will be used too.

well the toffee apple cider has cleared in the few bottles I got,was not so impressed when I bottled so will leave it a good couple of weeks.
My 5 gall turbo cider is bubbling away very nicely with a good thick head have left 2 litres of apple juice out of the brew to be added when the vigorous ferment has died down a bit.
Betterbrew IPS is smelling wonderful. 2 day old boiled egg sandwiches ! he hee its making the garage whiff a bit.

Coopers Mexican Cerveza looks like its nearly finished ( on day 7 ) SpG is down to 1.008 which gives a abv of 4.8. will leave for 2 days and check again. Its been a very quiet ferment this little frothing taken place, strange how beers vary.
Have many bottles in various places in the house to keep them warm while they are conditioning, they will all come together in a corner of the garage on the floor to cool eventually. I like the method of marking the bottles with those chalk pens very handy although you have to be careful in inadvertently wiping it off with your thumb !

Had time on my hands today so ended up bottling the Cerveza, its quite clear and hopefully will be drinkable in due course.
So as there's a FV free, my son made up the 2nd IPA which is intended for wife's birthday party.
Had a further sample of 2nd batch of Coopers Dark Ale. with the reduced sugars used in bottling, this brew is more of an ale than the first fizzy batch, however at the moment I seem to like both versions !. Its a good brew. That's the beauty of home brewing you can make and alter beers to suit your own palette.
Noticed lots of fruit flies and other flyers around the brewing station lately, must be that time of year. So I've made up a batch of bleach in a spray bottle ( 2 times the strength of the bleach I use for sterilising equipment.) Several times a day I give the benches a good spray down and also the outside of all the covered FV's None of the liquid can get into the brews ( hopefully ! ) All my little bits and bobs used in brewing are safely inside a medium sized covered plastic bin.

Bit of a disaster yesterday bottling my 5 gall cider. My syphon broke and I was stuck with getting my brew into a Fv with a tap fitted so I could bottle it. Like a fool I ended up pouring it from one FV to another.... :shock: I should have got some tubing and started a manual syphon....hey ho. I've now got it settling in its 2nd FV but I've probably mixed too much oxygen into it. Its also very very dry the FG went down to 1.004, if it survives I will need to back sweeten it with some unfermentable sugar like splenda. Don't think there's much chance of bulk storing a few gallons of it too see if a malic/lasctose ferment would start...
Started my next batch of Betterbrew IPA destined for the wifes party in September and bugger me the temps are starting to rise can't get the FV below 24 degrees at the moment last few weeks they have held steady at 21.

Stash is growing tho....

Had a sample today ( 1 bottle only ! ) of the St.Peters Red Ruby Ale. It was a 2 can kit made as per instructions. I bottled it on 8th July when it was a whole 8 days old.... I thought I'd mabe a boo boo as it was really mucky didn't smell very nice and was christened " Muddy Waters ".
it went into warm storage then direct to my beer shelf as I was running out of space.
Today it's 20 days old.... and reaching middle age..., so how was it ?

Well I thought I'd opened the wrong bottle I was very surprised. First visually ... It was crystal clear a little solid sediment in the bottom of the bottle that stayed there when being poured. It smelled faintly of beer but very little aroma to be honest. But I was bowled over by its colour... Its called Red ale, but its a nice dark amber with a red tint and it was shining in the sunlight through the glass. There was little carbonation and the bubbles remained throughout the drink but the head did't last. As I said its very young and needs another couple of weeks at least in the bottle. I had to taste it, it looked that good.
Wow ! for a miserable looking and smelling brew its changed in two weeks into a decent pint... No a very decent pint. I could happily have a couple more even though its very young. It has a good bitter taste although not overpowering I don't like over bittered beer. It had a clean taste on the tongue with a hint of a chemical taste right at the end which I'm sure will disperse with time. It made me smack my lips though.
I was sorry I'd only opened a 500ml bottle.
I can't get over how much its cleared in the short time it's been in the bottle and am left wondering where all the sediment has gone as there is not a great deal left in the bottle...
This has gone up to brew 2 in my " Like " list behind the Betterbrew IPA, and in front of the Coopers Dark Ale, however its a totally different beer to those and as it ages I think its not going to be a session beer, it seems far too strong for that. A darned good bitter !

edit SG = 1.044 FG = 1.012 so around 4.2 % but it tastes well balanced and strong.

edit to the above. when I do another brew of this, I will leave it my normal 2 weeks in Fv and then possibly rack into a second FV before considering bottling. Don't ask me why I didn't do it this time. Put it down to my age... whats my name ?...