Time to start posting and improving

[oldpathwhiteclouds]

Hi Everyone, I've been brewing since about 2012 I think. I started off with an equipment starter kit and a Festival Golden Stag Summer Ale kit and I haven't really looked back. I had one batch that was infected and turned sour so I bought a copper wort chiller. This year I've started all grain brewing and I've been grateful of the time in my shed tbh with 2 teenage daughters in the house with my Wife and other daughter. I have probably only done 15 brews since I moved away from kits and I only do 2 or 3 a year. I started with a pressure keg which came with the kit but now I bottle it all in swing top bottles.

I use a Burcol 30Ltr boiler of which I have bodged the thermostat so it rolls. I'd say I've had most success with porters and Black IPAs. Perhaps they are more forgiving with the big grain flavours. I haven't really got to the stage of getting my Hop Aromas to come out or stick around in my summer IPA attempts and feel that I need to improve my game there. Having said that I've enjoyed every bottle that Ive drunk and as they count down I lament the end of each batch like it was the best I have brewed. One thing is I insist on using all the Challenger hops I grow in my garden having no idea of their apha acids. I frequently overdo the bittering and have to leave the batch until they calm down. One day I'll learn my lesson.

So far I have just used the Graham Wheeler book, at first, and more latterly How to Brew by John Palmer. When I have issues I try to scan the forums but I don't tend to get straight answers and so I thought I would begin to commit some time to this one to see if I can improve my methods.

I have in my fermenter, just a white bin which I intend to upgrade next, a NEIPA. The recipe was from Brewsmith 3 but as I have used an iSpindle in it (so much time on my hands) I have shifted to Brewfather for its integration with the device. So far I'm pleased but am a bit dubious of the fact that it is reporting a FG of as low as 1.003 after 72 hours! Either my painstaking calibration was inaccurate or it's over attenuated and will be pretty dry. Anyway I expect I'll enjoy it and the friends I will force it upon will pretend to as well.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Covrich]

That is really low.. what yeast did you use? and what temp did you mash at?

 

[An Ankoù]

Welcome.
I also grow hops in the garden, but I don't use them for bittering, rather I chuck them in at the end for a lovely "green hop" beer and use hops of known alpha acid content for bittering.
I've had to recalibrate my decades old hydrometer. The accurate reading is now at the top of the meniscus instead of at the bottom. I think the paper scale must have slipped down inside the tube a bit.

 

[Gerryjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum..

 

[foxy]

FG at 1,003 doesn't sound good, is the yeast compacted at the bottom of the fermenter? Wild yeast/infections the yeast usually keep on searching and not settle. If it looks cloudy then you have a problem.

 

[Covrich]

FG at 1,003 doesn't sound good, is the yeast compacted at the bottom of the fermenter? Wild yeast/infections the yeast usually keep on searching and not settle. If it looks cloudy then you have a problem.

That is what I would think too but 72 hours is still very fast to get down there would you not say?? tbh I have never had one go that low before apart from a saison maybe so not sure if it would but that sounds almight fast.

 

[BlackRegent]

@oldpathwhiteclouds I think the issue here is the iSpindel, not the fermentation. Despite painstakingly calibrating both of my iSpindels they both under report gravity by about 10 points. There is a setting in Brewfather that allows it to adjust the reading to take account of this (so in my case it just adds 10 points back to whatever the iSpindel reports).

If that's right in your case, your actual FG might be around 1.013 which isn't half as serious sounding. I would draw a sample and take a gravity reading with a traditional hydrometer to double check.

 

[oldpathwhiteclouds]

I used white labs California yeast. Recipe required London ale yeast but ho hum. Mash at 65 deg c. Was aiming for 67 but it was a cold day.

Yes I hope that it’s the iSpindle being inaccurate that’s a good point. I’m happy to wait until I bottle to take a hydrometer reading. The iSpindle kept turning off as I was calibrating and every time I had to pull the board out of the tube to turn it on and put it back again it would change tilt in water...

I see that the sg has been constant for 32 hrs. I. Usually leave it in the fermenter for 2 weeks but presumably I could bottle earlier now I know it's flatlined?

I can't think why I haven't posted before. Thank you so much for your responses.