Cheers mate, think i'll have another wee check at it today, and maybe bottle tonight, I have 40 brown plastic pet bottles, which came with the set, will bottle this up and put it back in the box they came in. Oh last things, If this finishes @ 1.010, what % of alcohol should i expext and how long after carbonation would these be ready to drink ?
Coopers, Canadian Blonde Review
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Cheers mate, think i'll have another wee check at it today, and maybe bottle tonight, I have 40 brown plastic pet bottles, which came with the set, will bottle this up and put it back in the box they came in. Oh last things, If this finishes @ 1.010, what % of alcohol should i expext and how long after carbonation would these be ready to drink ?
Hey new2brew. I'm not far from you :) I made my first home brew recently and it's the same kit you have. Mine was also cloudy (and I was really very anal about the whole process) but I made the mistake of leaving my beer to condition in the kitchen. I would try a sneaky bottle every few days during the conditioning process and it was always cloudy (not bad but enough so you couldn't see your hand on the other side of a pint glass when held upto the light).
I transferred my bottles, like you, to their original boxes but then stored them in the garage for a few weeks. I would then transfer a few bottles at the start of each week to the fridge to have them nice and cold for the weekend. It was miles better. You could prob go the whole nice years and store them in the fridge but I didn't have the space. I have read that cold conditioning will clear the beer more and it certainly helped mine.
Hope this helps
p.s Have a look at the finished product :
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52365
I transferred my bottles, like you, to their original boxes but then stored them in the garage for a few weeks. I would then transfer a few bottles at the start of each week to the fridge to have them nice and cold for the weekend. It was miles better. You could prob go the whole nice years and store them in the fridge but I didn't have the space. I have read that cold conditioning will clear the beer more and it certainly helped mine.
Hope this helps
p.s Have a look at the finished product :
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52365
What was your starting gravity?
Starting gravity was at 1.040 mate, I bottled it on Saturday night at 1.010. Should I have held off for another bit ? As mentioned, Saturday was 2 weeks , oh and still quite cloudy, For future reference how long can beer/ale / stout be left in the fv before it essentially has to be bottled. Cheers
1040 down to 1010 should give you about 4% plus say 0.2 for priming I normally add 0.2 for priming so I would say your blonde is approximately 4.2%.
2 Weeks is fine, it will clear in the bottle a lot over this first week I bet
Cheers for that mate, Can you tell me how long you can keep beer in the fv before it is essential you have to transfer to bottles, I have coopers Australian lager to do next and I was gonna start this weekend but giving im limited to space and nowhere to store additional bottles so don't want to start to early if there is a low maximum time in the fv.
Something which comes up for a debate that.. I usually do 2-3 weeks. I hear some do up to a month. Not many will say they do more than that although some transfer to another FV for a secondary for a few weeks (the idea is to get it off the trub and let it bulk condition for a bit).. I do not do a secondary and only would if for whatever reason I had to keep it in the FV for a long time.
Dronnybrewer
Active Member
I want to give this a try but with a bit of a twist. I fancied a bit of an orange twang to it to make it into a bit of a Blue Moon copy. What are the best way to give it an orangey flavour? Also would you use the brew enhancer 1 or 2 that they recommend or spraymalt light and brewing sugar?
TommySpongefinger
New Member
I believe orange peel in the fv is the way to go. Here's my Blonde ;-)
Hi, guys, I couldn't resist trying a bottle of my brew, I couldn't believe how well it cleared in the bottles after only a week but the beer was very flat and even shaking the bottle didn't produce much fizz, infact it produced very little when I poured it, I used 2 maxale carbonation drops to each 500ml bottle, is it possible to re-carbonate these again. Beer was quite strong tasting with a very slight bitterness. I was actually hoping it would be lighter in taste, almost like coors or mgd ( I know ), these were always my choice of drinks, I have tried harp, tenants, carling, Carlsberg ect but never liked the taste of them. So can anyone offer any advice on making a lighter tasting beer or maybe a kit that can be tinkered with ?. Cheers guys and thanks for all your previous advice.
What temp are you storing your bottled beers in?
1 week is still young. it can take up to two weeks to carbonate properly
As for tinkering with a kit, you can do it with any kit.. Looking at a few reviews on this thread there are many which have pimped this kit up.. I did this kit with 1KG Light DME and a bit of sugar.. I wish I pimped it up as I think it needs it from making it just okay to something a bit more punchy..
Not sure about making them a bit lighter, remember this uses Ale yeast, was you expecting a lager type?.. what I am suggesting would give it more hop punch
Cheers for reply mate, I'm storing @ 20-22 degrees, as mentioned it was quite strong tasting, i was after something lighter in taste, also should have mentioned that I read about squeezing the bottle necks when bottling and on checking the bottles had all when back to original shape, I done this to stop any potential bottle bombs and now I'm worried that all gas has escaped.
I use glass so I dont know... are you leaving adequate headspace? (about an inch headspace)
read my previous reply to you. A week is not enough time. 2 carbonation drops is plenty. I used 1 and it was fine
Cheers for this mate, this sat coming will be 2 weeks in bottles, i'll try another then, just to see how its going.
After two weeks in bottles, I spent at least another 3 cold conditioning the beer. Combination of garage / fridge. I seen the biggest improvements to my beer during this period. It became better carbonated, lighter in appearance, less cloudy and had a much better taste (less bitter). Sediment was virtually gone too.
You will definitely need to give it more time
I've been following this forum intently over the past couple of months as I have been completing some homebrews ready for the summer while my partner is deployed with the military.
I thought I would post my thoughts on this brew now I have tasted it :)
Fermentation time 3 weeks for 21L (I went slightly under after advice read on here) and 18degC again after advice I read on here. I used the brew enhancer and was left with a pretty clear brew out of the primary. Initial tasting was reasonable but nothing special - although I've paid good money for much worse!
Transferred into 500ml glass bottles with Maxale priming drops and left boxed next to the radiator for 7 days and then moved into the conservatory which is a fairly steady 10degC for 3 weeks. It cleared fully and retains it's head in the pint glass which I was really pleased with for my joint first attempt (had a Sundew on at the same time as this was all required for a party). Taste wise I am really impressed and would make another - although I might try a few more first. There is a hint of citrus which I really like and I am sure this will go down a treat at the party. Reading the reviews this is one that improves with age so I am looking forward to seeing how it develops.
One small question, is it normal for there to be a small amount of what appears to be residual sugar in the bottom of each bottle, I assume its sugar as there was literally no sediment when I transferred into bottles.
I thought I would post my thoughts on this brew now I have tasted it :)
Fermentation time 3 weeks for 21L (I went slightly under after advice read on here) and 18degC again after advice I read on here. I used the brew enhancer and was left with a pretty clear brew out of the primary. Initial tasting was reasonable but nothing special - although I've paid good money for much worse!
Transferred into 500ml glass bottles with Maxale priming drops and left boxed next to the radiator for 7 days and then moved into the conservatory which is a fairly steady 10degC for 3 weeks. It cleared fully and retains it's head in the pint glass which I was really pleased with for my joint first attempt (had a Sundew on at the same time as this was all required for a party). Taste wise I am really impressed and would make another - although I might try a few more first. There is a hint of citrus which I really like and I am sure this will go down a treat at the party. Reading the reviews this is one that improves with age so I am looking forward to seeing how it develops.
One small question, is it normal for there to be a small amount of what appears to be residual sugar in the bottom of each bottle, I assume its sugar as there was literally no sediment when I transferred into bottles.
Bud, as this is my first attempt I wanna try it at different stages to see and taste the conditioning for future reference and comparsion. thanks for your input here, really appreciate it
guyjohnson
New Member
The sediment is most likely yeast sediment that is a by product of the conditioning process. The yeast turns the priming sugar into alcohol and CO2 and then drops out of suspension and settles on the bottom of the bottle.
