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Having taken advantage of the Wilkos offers a few weeks back i finally managed to get my first brews started last night. I've got a wherry and a wilko golden ale bubbling away in the corner of the kitchen. I am supprised by the amount of bubbles!

Ive got a keg for one and will bottle the other. Any recommedations for which to bottle?
 
Cheers Bob.

I have another kit of each so can try the ither way round at nother date and see what happens.

Just need to sort out a capper and some caps.
 
If you can stretch to it, try and go for a bench capper - it'll cap any beer bottles, whereas the twin-handled ones can have problems with some (I found it tricky with San Miguel bottles and nigh-on impossible with wychwood bottles).
 
Yes i was thinking of getting a bench capper. They look like a more long term tool than the hand cappers.
 
+1 for the bench capper :thumb: - I had a hand capper first and as stated there are a few types of bottle you simply cant cap, Wychwood being a prime example. Bench capper - so far not had a bottle it wont cap and its a lot easier and feels more secure than the hand capper.
 
got a bench capper, plus starsan, bottle tree, bottle washer and caps as well as a keg for one brew.

The next question is; now that its stopped bubbling, should I be looking to bottle/keg asap (need to check SG first) given the warm weather or is it still fine to keep in the FV at a slightly higher than ideal temp?
 
I have done both of these and split the batch in both cases ie. bottled 10 pints and kegged the rest. Unfortunately the golden ale is still conditioning so i will have to wait a few weeks before giving you a verdict on that one. However, i would say the wherry was much nicer from the keg than in bottles. I might have bottled too early or overprimed though, the main problem was too much fizz. But i would also say the kegged had a smoother finish, more like a pub beer.

Hope that helps.
 
I would say leave it alone completely for 10 days (don't even open it, that way nothing will get in), then check the FG. If it's 1.011 or below, it's safe to bottle. Warmer temps at the end of brewing aren't as detrimental to flavour than earlier in the process.

Also, if you are syphoning the beer into bottles, try and keep it as lidded as possible, and bottle in batches if you are doing it by yourself (fill 5, cap 5) as those pesky fruit flies get everywhere when it is this warm...
 
Thanks fbsf, thats what I was hoping to hear. I was probably looking to bottle/keg this weekend so it will have been in the FV for 12 days in total with around 5 days inactivity. should I extend this to next week?

I plan to transfer from FV to second FV (with lid) for batch priming then using a little bottler to fill bottles so I think I could cap as I go which a bench capper?
 
That's the ideal way, yes. The bottling bucket allows a lot more control over the priming sugar levels, and allows the addition of a hop tea if that's your thing too.

I tend to line up about 10 empty bottles next to the bottling bucket at a time, then fill each bottle and place a cap over it until the full batch is done, then properly cap each bottle in the batch with the capper.

It just seems a bit more efficient for me to do it that way, but whichever suits you really.
 
I cap wychwood bottles with a normal capper. It's a bit of pain in the ****, but easier than finding other bottles if you already have them. I generally just try and cap as normal but rotate the bottle a few times. Probably pull the levers up and down 5 or 6 times, but it goes on and I've never had any problems. I've sorted a technique now and it probably takes about 20 secs to cap a wychwood bottle with it... not the end of the world and the £30 odd you would spend on a bench capper could be used to buy;

2 or 3 new kits,
a cooler box and pipes necessary for a mash tun
half pay for a 50L stockpot
probably a wort cooler
a pressure barrel
a STC-1000 and heater for a fermentation cupboard
2 laying chickens

etc...etc... lol you get the idea
 

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