Hi all, I'm new around here (and to homebrewing)
I've had an inclination to give homebrewing a go for a while but only recently got a load of equipment on ebay- which included a woodforde's wherry kit.
I'm pretty happy with my process on brew day although I'm going to have to invest in a proper 5 gallon FV with airlock- I'm reasonably confident that my improvised version didn't let any air in, but I'm not quite so sure about it's durability...
Anyway, the main reason I'm asking for advice is this- I live in a really warm house. I actually live in Sheffield in the UK, not a massively warm climate, but our area has "district heating"- there's basically a communal boiler which services all the houses. The downside of this, is that even if your heating isn't on, the pipes in the walls are still hot, and the house is always warm. My FV is sitting next to a very slightly open window- which no doubt sounds a really bad idea, but the reason for this was that after keeping a thermometer in the area for a few days, the temperature seemed to be consistently between 20-23 degrees C.
The Brew seems to have gone fine- yesterday the hydrometer read about 1016, and today the yeast seems to have calmed down a lot (this is day 5)
After the hydrometer readings confirm the fermentation has stopped, should I wait a few days before I bottle/keg anyway? I read on a thread that some people do this so the the yeast can "clear up it's mess"
Also, after this, I'm aware that the bottles/keg should be stored in a "warm" place for a few days and then a "cold" place after that - how "warm" is warm, how "cold" is cold, and how important are each for this type of brew? There are lots of consistently warm places in this house, but no cold ones. The only other option is the shed- will this do as the "cold" place or does the temperature need to be fairly constant at this stage?
Apologies for the long winded post!
I've had an inclination to give homebrewing a go for a while but only recently got a load of equipment on ebay- which included a woodforde's wherry kit.
I'm pretty happy with my process on brew day although I'm going to have to invest in a proper 5 gallon FV with airlock- I'm reasonably confident that my improvised version didn't let any air in, but I'm not quite so sure about it's durability...
Anyway, the main reason I'm asking for advice is this- I live in a really warm house. I actually live in Sheffield in the UK, not a massively warm climate, but our area has "district heating"- there's basically a communal boiler which services all the houses. The downside of this, is that even if your heating isn't on, the pipes in the walls are still hot, and the house is always warm. My FV is sitting next to a very slightly open window- which no doubt sounds a really bad idea, but the reason for this was that after keeping a thermometer in the area for a few days, the temperature seemed to be consistently between 20-23 degrees C.
The Brew seems to have gone fine- yesterday the hydrometer read about 1016, and today the yeast seems to have calmed down a lot (this is day 5)
After the hydrometer readings confirm the fermentation has stopped, should I wait a few days before I bottle/keg anyway? I read on a thread that some people do this so the the yeast can "clear up it's mess"
Also, after this, I'm aware that the bottles/keg should be stored in a "warm" place for a few days and then a "cold" place after that - how "warm" is warm, how "cold" is cold, and how important are each for this type of brew? There are lots of consistently warm places in this house, but no cold ones. The only other option is the shed- will this do as the "cold" place or does the temperature need to be fairly constant at this stage?
Apologies for the long winded post!
