ilikemysocks
Active Member
I joined the forum a few days ago and, much to my wife's distaste, I have not stopped reading the invaluable information posted here.
One thing I have come to realise is that I have been quite lackadaisical with my brewing. Although I am very cautious with sanitising all of my kit on brew day and when bottling; I think I have only taken one hydrometer reading after about 8 brews.
I use a water bath with a fish tank heater and the temperature stays pretty consistent. I have mostly been going by the amount of days given in the instructions and only leaving to ferment a bit longer if I have thought it doesn't look quite ready yet.
So far all the beer I have made has been really enjoyable. It has conditioned nicely and not been cloudy. There aren't any off flavours and nothing has been under/overly carbonated. It's all I can do not to drink it all before its really peaked. Maybe my pallete is being masked by my enjoyment of the fruits of my labour.
My question really is, have I just been lucky with the beers I have made so far? I know I should be taking more readings with the hydrometer to make sure fermentation is complete but what I'm really interested in is the complete cycle of the yeast. Many people have spoken about leaving a brew for another week after fermentation is complete to let the yeast 'clean up' but I'm not sure what this means or if it is really nessecary.
As I've said, I've really enjoyed the beer I have made and I've had good things said by those I have shared with. I am going to have a go at a AG brew next week and I want to make sure it's the best it can be... well for a first go anyway.
Also as a side question how do you go about reusing yeast? Do you just pour your wort over the 'sludge' (not sure what you call it) left at the bottom of the FV after bottling the last batch?
One thing I have come to realise is that I have been quite lackadaisical with my brewing. Although I am very cautious with sanitising all of my kit on brew day and when bottling; I think I have only taken one hydrometer reading after about 8 brews.
I use a water bath with a fish tank heater and the temperature stays pretty consistent. I have mostly been going by the amount of days given in the instructions and only leaving to ferment a bit longer if I have thought it doesn't look quite ready yet.
So far all the beer I have made has been really enjoyable. It has conditioned nicely and not been cloudy. There aren't any off flavours and nothing has been under/overly carbonated. It's all I can do not to drink it all before its really peaked. Maybe my pallete is being masked by my enjoyment of the fruits of my labour.
My question really is, have I just been lucky with the beers I have made so far? I know I should be taking more readings with the hydrometer to make sure fermentation is complete but what I'm really interested in is the complete cycle of the yeast. Many people have spoken about leaving a brew for another week after fermentation is complete to let the yeast 'clean up' but I'm not sure what this means or if it is really nessecary.
As I've said, I've really enjoyed the beer I have made and I've had good things said by those I have shared with. I am going to have a go at a AG brew next week and I want to make sure it's the best it can be... well for a first go anyway.
Also as a side question how do you go about reusing yeast? Do you just pour your wort over the 'sludge' (not sure what you call it) left at the bottom of the FV after bottling the last batch?