Am I making mistakes?

[Buffers brewery]

Oh, and if you’re using a PB that doesn’t have a pressure gauge fitted I’d agree with @AXW123 and fill a PET bottle filled to within an inch or two from the top then squeezed to bring the beer up to the brim before capping. That way you will see the carbonation in progress as the bottle inflates back to its original shape and resists a squeeze!

 

[AXW123]

Hi, another newbie here.
If I intend to bottle rather than keg do I move from the fermentation bin and prime in bottles rather than in a keg before cooling for conditioning? Not sure how I would keep the bottles warm.Any advice would be appreciated

Hello and welcome Biffotrout. Bottle straight from the fermentation bin, then leave the bottles somewhere indoors for two weeks to carbonate where it is reasonably warm and then somewhere cooler to condition. I leave mine in a crate in the utility room to carbonate then shift outside to a store in the garden to condition. I also figure that if I put them outside there is more chance I won’t keep trying them before they are ready. Doesn’t always work!!

 

[yrhendystu]

Maybe test the beer with the hydrometer, a lot of sugar might give you the trots and if it is as flat as you say then it hasn't carbed up fully.

If so you can put it back to prime for a couple of weeks at room temp.

I had this issue with a mini keg, ironically it was a brown ale.

 

[FirebladeAdam]

Hi, another newbie here.
If I intend to bottle rather than keg do I move from the fermentation bin and prime in bottles rather than in a keg before cooling for conditioning? Not sure how I would keep the bottles warm.Any advice would be appreciated

Yes that's it. Two weeks in FV, or less if the FG is static for three days, then bottle with a little priming sugar. You can make a sugar solution then pour a bit into each bottle but you don't have to. I use a funnel and a teaspoon! Works great. Don't shake the bottles, leave them wherever the FV was if you can. A little more fermentation is required, two weeks there and then two weeks to condition somewhere a bit chillier. If you put a Protofloc in there that will help make the beer nice and clear. Depends what beer it is too... Good luck! Enjoy

 

[damienair]

I only started Home Brewing at the beginning of December. I have done 3 beers so far and a white wine, a Pinot Grigio 7 day kit. I agree with what everyone has said above. The instructions are over confident in the time taken to successfully make a kit brew. Double the time works. My first attempt at wine, the 7 day kit took me 14 days before it was bottled. And I will not be touching it until it has at least had 3-4 months in the bottle. And that experience worked out well I think, it looks like a perfectly fine Pinot Grigio with little or no sediment in the bottles, I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
I am drinking my first 2 beers. They turned out great, my second one was an improvement over the first, but only because of the amazing information and advice I received from this amazing forum and YouTube. My advice is to read loads from this forum and watch loads of YouTube video's. There are multiple video's on most kits, so as you can see the full process before you have a go yourself.
My 3rd beer is a Mangrove Jacks Pink Grapefruit IPA. My first time to dry hop a beer. After 10 days I added the dry hops and bottled on day 14. I transferred from the primary FV to secondary, added a priming sugar solution and bottled into 41 x 500 ml bottles. It is now almost finished its first week at secondary fermentation in the bottles. After another week I will leave it in my garage for a month to condition.
It is a steep learning curve, but the advice here is fantastic and I have learnt loads. And I have only started, there is a lot to learn yet.

 

[Fruitloopy]

Thanks again everyone. I think I'll be modifying my old fridge this weekend so I can keep the brew at a constant warm or cold temperature for my future brews

 

[Surfingobo]

Hi, another newbie here.
If I intend to bottle rather than keg do I move from the fermentation bin and prime in bottles rather than in a keg before cooling for conditioning? Not sure how I would keep the bottles warm.Any advice would be appreciated

Yes that’s it. Just keep the bottles vaguely at room temperature. The warmer they are the quicker they will carb but don’t sweat to much if you’re house is not that warm, just give them extra time

 

[Tommo 2]

Hi , for me the 2,2,2 has always been the best method for brewing a good beer at home, now as I’m sure a lot of the guys on here will contest to that a lot of the beers we brew will have fermented out at 7 to 10 days and ready for packaging but if you can have the patience to wait longer, yeast , being the amazing thing it is, will actually clean itself up after it’s finished doing its thing and result in a much better end product with a lot fewer chances of off flavours..
Now again for me after priming and bottling mostly, I can do my secondary in exactly the same place as I did my primary fermentation which luckily for me stay at a constant 19 to 20c constantly year round; I know right , then after two weeks of that outside in cool shed, never had a problem with anything. The only down side for me is having patience, but all good things come to those that wait ..

 

[yrhendystu]

Once I built up a load of beers in the shed I slowed everything right down. I'll leave it ferment for about a fortnight and then take it off the heat pad for it to chill.

I'll bottle the following week and leave them next to a heater in the shed for a few weeks to carb up then put them on the shelves in the same shed where it's cooler.

Basically every 3rd weekend I'm starting a new beer.

 

[MarconiBrew]

I do two weeks primary, then into the barrel. I leave the barrel at room temp. I leave the last inch or so in the fermenter so that the sediment doesn't get into the barrel as that's what makes it cloudy.

 

[user 40634]

Just a quick thanks for all the advice, it’s really appreciated

 

[labrewski]

Hi, another newbie here.
If I intend to bottle rather than keg do I move from the fermentation bin and prime in bottles rather than in a keg before cooling for conditioning? Not sure how I would keep the bottles warm.Any advice would be appreciated

Put bottles in a warm place
Hot press
Under the bed
Behind the sofa
Anything around 20 degrees will do for 2 weeks sometimes 3

 

[Lehmann]

Yes.

Ok, during the first 2 wks, which day I add the hops? In my kit say 7th day of 10days.

Tks

 

[Clint]

I generally leave it at least 10 days then add hops.