My First Wherry Brew!

[Norkie]

Hi Norkie

Your priming sounds pretty good to me, and you have a real bargain there with the bottles.

Give your bottles a couple of rotations and keep warm for a few days before chilling, assuming your not batch priming that is.
Rob.

I'll be going straight to the barrel and bottles to minimise the risk of getting anything nasty in it.

If I dump the sugar in the barrel and syphon on to it, should that be sufficient?
My bottles literally just arrived so bottling will be tonight .

Just a note for people who get stuck with this kit:
Mine got stuck for a bit, i was going to pitch more yeast but I found lifting the FV and rotating clockwise and counterclockwise (so not tipping it up, imagine a spinning top) got it going again.

By rotating the FV, I guess the beer stays pretty much still while the yeast at the bottom of the FV, stuck to the bottom, rotates under the beer.
This didn't introduce any air and must have lifted some of the yeast. In theory anyway!

 

[Racinsnake]

Yup that's what I do, but drop half a pint of boiled water that's been cooled with ice cubes first. Swirl it round with the sugar, then rack from your FV try to keep splashing to a minimum. Bottling, I just drop the sugar through a funnel and rack with no added water.
Rob.

 

[Tyler]

Just taken first hydrometer reading from mine since Monday. So far it's dropped from 1042 to 1020. Still a way to go, but that's to be expected!

Had a cheeky slurp of the sample after testing - quite nice, just a tad sweet and a bit 'thin' tasting.

 

[Norkie]

Just taken first hydrometer reading from mine since Monday. So far it's dropped from 1042 to 1020. Still a way to go, but that's to be expected!

Had a cheeky slurp of the sample after testing - quite nice, just a tad sweet and a bit 'thin' tasting.

It will get there!

 

[Norkie]

My bottles arrived yesterday but i left them at work last night. Doh!
I'll be bottling tonight.
I'll upload some pictures once I am done!
Regards,
Jonathan.

 

[weenie]

I bottled my first Wherry mid-January and it's only now that they are fully carbonated and a great pint, with decent head. Although fermentation was really quick (7 days although I left it in the FV for a further 7 days), conditioning in bottles seems to have taken ages. Still, definitely one to do again.

 

[Norkie]

So,
I've bottled 12 bottles worth, teaspoon of sugar in each.
The barrel went okay, however the siphon sucked up some of be creamy yeast from the FV into the barrel. Is this likely to cause issues in the barrel?
I suppose it was about a dessert spoon or so in quantity!

 

[Racinsnake]

Hi Norkie
Sounds good! Are your bottles 500ml? Your priming sounds a little high for my taste if so, I usually use half a tea spoon for ale. The trub that your syphon sucked up is nothing to worry about, they'll be sediment in your barrel from priming anyway. It's a good excuse to buy a Festival kit, they come with a small muslin bag that fits over your racking cane to act as a filter and is reusable :whistle:
Rob.

 

[yeastinfection]

yeah Newbie thread....
Hi all, just joined so thought id tag along on this...
i bought a coopers lager kit a while back,all went well for my first brew but the lager was very flat. instructions said 1 carbination drop per bottle,,i think 2 would have been better (drank it anyway)

im now doing a wherry kit,, pitched it last thursday 19th,,,,the floaty bits are little different to the lager kit,but from reading this seems normal.
og was 1042 and i was hoping to bottle it this weekend,,instructions on the kits allways seem a little mis- leading (times are to short) read 7days as 14...
it was 1015 on the 26th and today (28th) its reading 1012 so ill leave it a few more days before i bottle it.
i have mine sat in a water tub and heat is regulated by an aquarium heater in the water-not in the fv....

i wasnt clever enough to work out that i should have a batch brewing while im drinking one ,,,,lesson learned :party:

 

[Norkie]

I would say definitely leave it for a second week.
I just got through bottling and barreling today.
Everything seems to have gone okay apart from sucking through i little of the rubbish from the bottom of the FV into the barrel.

I really hope it doesn't spoil the contents of the barrel.
I might start a new thread to see if I can get a solid answer on that one.

 

[yeastinfection]

I would say definitely leave it for a second week.
I just got through bottling and barreling today.
Everything seems to have gone okay apart from sucking through i little of the rubbish from the bottom of the FV into the barrel.

I really hope it doesn't spoil the contents of the barrel.
I might start a new thread to see if I can get a solid answer on that one.

From what ive read it will settle at the bottom of the barrel and keep its self to its self.
even in the bottles from my last brew i had sediment at the bottom.

 

[yeastinfection]

what im interested in is what to use and how to work out the priming quantity for bottleing.
this is one of those areas where to much information applies..
the net is awash with various opinions and theorys. some like it fizzy so add more some add less,,,some use sugar others use honey, either way how much ,i plan to batch plan prime mine in to a secondary fv then into the bottle,i think this seems to be the norm..

allso times seem to vary alot, 1 week or 2 weeks in the fv 3weeks to 3 months in the bottles ..... :drink:i guess its more of a science than i thought..

 

[Norkie]

From what ive read it will settle at the bottom of the barrel and keep its self to its self.
even in the bottles from my last brew i had sediment at the bottom.

I'm not so sure. I am of the belief that the secondary fermentation in bottle or barrel with sugar won't cause any harm and will settle but not so confident about having the beer sitting on the slurry that settles in the bottom of the primary FV for too long.

I am however hopeful that the relatively small amount won't do any harm. The beer will probably be consumed before any such off flavors start to affect it! :drunk:

 

[Norkie]

Here are pictures from today's Racking:

Above - Shows the FV ready for racking on the kitchen table.

Above - A close up on the wort/beer. Giving it a nose, it certainly smells like a nice beer.
You can see the CO2 bubbles on the surface (strongly present through the whole process) and much of the dead yeast cells and proteins have either gone to the bottom of the FV, or, to the sides of the FV.
During the last two weeks, as the foam on the top of the wort dissipate,d it seemed to split three ways.
Much of it went down into the wort and, obviously the by-products of which, assembled themselves as the slurry-like sediment at the bottom of the FV.
Then, after around 18 hours or so, much of it formed on the sides of the FV, above the wort, as the krausen ring (spent yeast cells or similar).
Lastly, some stayed on the surface, as collections of cream solids, that over the two weeks have mostly dissipated into what you see now.
I really thought I had stalled out on fermentation, after about day 6 into the fermentation, but this was simply because things had slowed down and, as I took the lid off the FV for a gravity reading, we lost pressure in the CO2 head-space in the FV. At this point, fermentation wasn't vigorous enough anymore to build the pressure back up sufficient enough to push out bubbles through the air-lock. Continues gravity readings, did show that things were happening (although I stalled out for a couple of days seemingly).

Above - Seemingly the most labour intensive part of brewing, sterilization and sanitisation. I think rinse-free sterilisation formula and a bottle rack are next on the list (that and a re-think on siphoning...)!

Above - All shiny and clean, ready to receive the sugar and flip top caps. Incidentally, I sterilised the flip top caps ahead of time and rinsed them off in a collander so they are there and ready to attach in a batch. Next time, I am going to make sure my funnel is totally dry after sterilisation and rinse. I knew sugar gets sticky when wet, why oh-why did I not listen to that voice inside...

Above - The product racked into the bottle (500ml). Totally guessing the amount of head space required for these bottles but I am sure I will find out if I got it right one way or another. Hahahahaha! :whistle:

Bottles and Pressure Barrel racked, sitting in the toilet by the radiator. Trying to get some warmth into them but to be honest, i've not seen much above 20 degrees in here. I have a space below my combi-boiler that will allow my bottles to go but not so sure about the barrel. Suggestions gratefully appreciated.​

 

[yeastinfection]

looking good.

 

[Norkie]

So,
I'm away in Leiden right now on business so it gives me pause for thought.
I never made it to the brew shop to start another batch at the weekend as I was to ill witha cold. Lol
Therefore, my fermentation bucket is empty right now. I'm thinking about buying a cheap fish tank heater, popping the pressure barrel in it and letting it sit at 24 degrees for a few days. After that, I'll bung it in the garage for a week or so and start tasting
The bottles can go under the combi-boiler, in the same cabinet, and then into a fridge.
I think it'll be interesting to see how the barrelled beer differs to the bottles since the racking techniques really did differ quite a bit really. In terms of sugar to beer quantities at least!
I've got one of those Stella Artios beer fridges at work that'll be coming home soon for the bottles!
Really getting itchy to make up another batch and also try an all grain brew.
I've really been enjoying some Brewdog IPA punk.
It's really hoppy and, damn, it's complex on the nose and the taste is lovely.

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Good fun, and addictive, isn't it?!

 

[LarryF]

Hey Norkie I brewed my first ever Wherry yesterday, I have to admit although advised to do it just as the kit I just couldn't resist it. I added 454g of Lyons Golden Syrup to bump up the ABV to about 5.5 - 6%. I also added a hop tea of 15g Cascade hops that I boiled for 15mins. I also used Wilko Gervin yeast with a teaspoon of yeast nutrient. Rinsing two tins with boiling water brought my temp a little bit high so I didn't pitch my yeast until about 11.30 last night when it hit 22c and I had an OG of 1054. The airlock's kicked off nicely this evening bubbling every 20-30 seconds and the temp's creeped up a tad, i'm presuming because of the fermentation going on so I've unplugged the heat band and I’ll put it back on before I go to bed. Due to the Wherry's reputation for sticking I'm thinking of adding another tsp of yeast nutrient and a gentle stir a week tonight and then bottling after fourteen days in the FV as long as I've had the same SG reading for a minimum of two days. I'll be bottling into 500ml PET bottles with 3/4 tsp of light brown caster sugar and then comes the tough part. I'm really, really going to try to leave it for as long as I can as from what I've read so many people come to the end of their bottles just as the Wherry really comes into it's own. I may put on a Coopers English Bitter and then a Coopers Stout in quick succession after this as they're very drinkable very quickly and hopefully with what I have coming through I can leave the Wherry alone for a minimum of two months in the bottles before I start worrying the Wherry (sorry, very bad joke). Cheers Norkie, good luck with it mate.

 

[Tyler]

Advice, please?

When I started this off last Monday, the SG was 1042. It was down to 1020 by Thursday, 1018 on Friday. Saturday, Sunday and today have all been 1014.

Would you interpret that as a completed fermentation? Or a stuck one? The kit instructions say the FG should usually be below 1014, so is 1014 ok?

Also, by my calculations, (1042-1014)*0.129=3.6% ABV - well below the 4.5% stated on the box.

What do you think?

a) It's done, get it racked
b) It's stuck, whack some more yeast in
c) Give it while the end of the week and see if it drops any further
d) Summat else..?

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Hey Norkie I brewed my first ever Wherry yesterday, I have to admit although advised to do it just as the kit I just couldn't resist it. I added 454g of Lyons Golden Syrup to bump up the ABV to about 5.5 - 6%. I also added a hop tea of 15g Cascade hops that I boiled for 15mins. I also used Wilko Gervin yeast with a teaspoon of yeast nutrient. Rinsing two tins with boiling water brought my temp a little bit high so I didn't pitch my yeast until about 11.30 last night when it hit 22c and I had an OG of 1054. The airlock's kicked off nicely this evening bubbling every 20-30 seconds and the temp's creeped up a tad, i'm presuming because of the fermentation going on so I've unplugged the heat band and I’ll put it back on before I go to bed. Due to the Wherry's reputation for sticking I'm thinking of adding another tsp of yeast nutrient and a gentle stir a week tonight and then bottling after fourteen days in the FV as long as I've had the same SG reading for a minimum of two days. I'll be bottling into 500ml PET bottles with 3/4 tsp of light brown caster sugar and then comes the tough part. I'm really, really going to try to leave it for as long as I can as from what I've read so many people come to the end of their bottles just as the Wherry really comes into it's own. I may put on a Coopers English Bitter and then a Coopers Stout in quick succession after this as they're very drinkable very quickly and hopefully with what I have coming through I can leave the Wherry alone for a minimum of two months in the bottles before I start worrying the Wherry (sorry, very bad joke). Cheers Norkie, good luck with it mate.

I wouldn't have thought yours will stick if you have used different yeast, I think the kit yeast is the issue? Could be wrong though! Additions sound good anyway.