First Brew Tom Caxton Best Bitter

[MightyDob]

Evening all,

Been researching the last few weeks and finally started my first brew tonight which seems to have taken ages

Started with a a Tom Caxton Best bitter which I picked up for a fiver at Wilkinson because the instructions were missing :grin: I have tried to be as careful as possible sanitising with Videne and half a campden tablet to remove the chlorine, and other than that I have used 1kg medium spraymalt instead of sugar, and all the hop enhancement sachet and kept it to 36pts.

Took a reading with my hydrometer before I pitched the yeast and it read 1044SG, sitting here hoping everything is going to go ok.

I have a coopers stout to try next if this goes to plan :drink:

 

[tubby_shaw]

Nice one :thumb:
I hope it turns out well for you, keep us informed of progress :

 

[Vossy1]

All sounds good MD :thumb:

 

[llannige]

Well done on your first brew.

Sounds as if it's going O.K. :thumb:

 

[A T]

Well done on your first brew, do keep us posted :thumb:

 

[MightyDob]

cheers all :

Will keep you posted on how things are going, got up this morning and the airlock is bubbling away nicely, so far so good. Already being moaned at by the wife for it being in the way but I have not got a suitable place out of the way to put in the house. Thought about putting it in the shed but a bit worried about it getting too hot when its sunny or too cold at night.

 

[Wez]

Well done for getting the first one underway :thumb:

A constant temperature is what you want for fermentation 18c to 22c :thumb:

 

[MightyDob]

A constant temperature is what you want for fermentation 18c to 22c

yep that's what I thought, just a shame because my shed is ideal

 

[Vossy1]

yep that's what I thought, just a shame because my shed is ideal

Get a secfond hand fridge in the shed MD, to ferment your beers in....sorted :thumb:
An ATC 800 or a TC-10 from e-bay will sort out the temp control for you

 

[MightyDob]

Excellent might have to look into that :thumb: Have not got power in the shed yet but their is plenty of room in there so definitely a possibility :) Could you rig a heating element into the fridge as well that could be controlled by the temperature gauge, to deal with low temperatures during the winter?

thanks for the info!

 

[MightyDob]

everything seems to have slowed down a great deal, airlock is bubbling but not very often. Took a reading and it is down to 1012 so I guess I need to check the measurement again tomorrow and see if it stays the same for the next few days. Also had a bit of a taste and whilst it is cloudy, must say it tasted rather good nice and smooth :)

guess I am doing the right thing but any tips about when to bottle would be appreciated :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

Could you rig a heating element into the fridge as well that could be controlled by the temperature gauge, to deal with low temperatures during the winter?

Yep. I use a 100 watt light bulb attached to the heating circuit of my ATC 800, but other heaters can be used too :thumb:

Took a reading and it is down to 1012 so I guess I need to check the measurement again tomorrow and see if it stays the same

Yep, that's the one, 2 readings over 24 hrs the same = finished.
With a SG of 1.044 and a FG of 1.012 you should get 4.2% ABV, which is not bad for a kit :thumb:
I've seen a lot of folk think there beers have finished fermenting early, but it must be remembered that depending on how long you mature the beer for, you will lose more gravity points during maturation....at least 2 IME.

 

[MightyDob]

great stuff will definitely look into getting an old fridge, will get me some husband points for moving it out of the dining room as well :)

well I am up to my knees in magners bottles now will bottle tonight I thinks :)

thanks for the advice :)

 

[MightyDob]

well thats my first brew done, 33 bottles sitting on the dining room tables :party:

bottling was easy enough with the little bottler, apart form 4 bottles which had rounded necks so the cap machine would not work any hew had extra bottles but a bit of a faff sorting it out. Also was not sure what to do with the beer below tap level, in the end did not bother as I did not think it was worth woring about for my first brew too stressful trying not to disturb the settlement with a siphon. If anyone can give any advice about what they do would appreciate it, might siphon the next brew into another fermeter for bottling as I can see that being easier.

off on holiday for a couple of weeks next Thursday so wont touch it till I return, and will report back on the taste test :pray:

Then time to start my coopers stout :drink:

 

[MightyDob]

Well back from my holidays and thought I would open my first bottle of homebrew last night, and I must say it was blooming lovely :thumb: nice and dark, really good hoppy flavour. Had to resist the temptation to have another bottle as want to condition it as long as possible, so going to distract myself by starting my coopers stout at the weekend :)

 

[Wez]

Sounds like a great result :thumb:

 

[llannige]

Good work MD.

Yer can't beat that 1st pint of yer own homebrew. :thumb: