Bumbling amateur's first (ham-fisted) brewday

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zcacogp

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Chaps,

My first brewday. Well, brew evening more like. Mrs zcacogp was watching X-factor on TV, so we weren't allowed to go out, and I had been meaning to try this brewing lark for a while. And it seemed like a good excuse to get away from plastic-pop, and the kitchen was free ...

OK, that's a lie. This is my second attempt to brew beer. First attempt was a year ago, with the assistance of my father. He has brewed his own beer for some time, and bought me much of the kit, but it wasn't a success. I don't know what went wrong, but the end product wasn't really drinkable. So, in disappointment, I left the kit, unwashed, in the basement for almost a year. A couple of weekends ago I dug it out and cleaned it throughly, and had another pop this evening.

Last time, my father did pretty much all of the making and I watched, but now realise I don't remember much of the details. Hence, this is pretty much a beginners effort. I've read various guides on here and elsewhere, and waded on in.

I thought I knew what I was doing when I started, but realised fairly soon in that there were still a number of questions. I'll highlight them as I go through and try and explain what I did to answer them.

To start, I had these:

DSC_1390.jpg


This lot:

DSC_1391.jpg


And a tin of gloop, like this:

DSC_1393.jpg


(It's the gloop my dad uses, and seemed as good a place as any to start. I know that the other chaps on here seem to be into the detail of precisely what sort of beer they are trying to achieve, but I'll be happy with something that makes me want another sip ... )

I had some brewing sugar, but reasoned that the chances of failure were still high so I didn't want to waste the 'good stuff' an opted to use the domestic granulated sugar instead (as pictured.)

I also had an able assistant:

IMG_0092.jpg


... who was neither able nor an asset, but who offered encouragement from the other end of the kitchen, with her nose in her foodbowl ...

The kit was all physically clean, having been washed well with warm water a week or so ago, but my dad said that cleaning it with washing soda was a good idea as well.

DSC_1395.jpg


So I made up a weak solution of washing soda (20g in a pint of water) and swilled everything around with this, putting it first into the bucket with everything in it:

DSC_1397.jpg


... then pouring it from the bucket into the barrel, swilling it around the barrel and letting it sit for 5 minutes or so, then draining it from the barrel back into the bucket.

DSC_1398.jpg


I then (using a new dishcloth) 'washed up' the various bits and bobs (thermometer, hydrometer, paddle, syphon etc) in the bucket.

I clearly didn't want washing soda in the end beer (it would - at best - taste bad, and - worst - probably make it poisonous. Or non-alcoholic, or something.) So I washed things through again carefully with tap water. This raised a question of how clean things need to be? When I was washing things through with tap water, I was surprised at how un-clean the water was. It was sparkling clear, but there were small bits of debris clearly visible in it. I suspect these were limescale from the tap; will these cause problems?

I guessed that this gave me physically clean utensils, but that's about all. So the next step was to use the campden tablets to sterilise stuff. The instructions were 5 crushed tablets to a pint of water, so I make that up - with boiling water.

Tablets were crushed with a clean spoon in a measuring jug:

DSC_1400.jpg


(and - dammit - those buggers were hard to crush!)

... and then dissolved in a pint of boiling water. This was then put into the bucket, and swilled (with the lid on and the utensils inside it, making sure that every part of the inside was swilled over with the solution), before tipping it into the barrel, as before, and shaking it vigorously, and draining it out of the barrel tap into the bucket again.

And, another question arose - around sterility. How sterile do things need to be? I was careful not to put sterilised utensils down on the kitchen side when I wasn't using them - I always either put them in the measuring jug I mixed the campdens solution up in - like this:

DSC_1402.jpg


.... or, I put them on the upturned lid of the bucket, reasoning that this was pretty sterile as it had had the campdens swilled all over it. But, is this enough? Or was it too much in the way of clean-ness? I guess the answers will only be known when the end result is tasted, but I wasn't sure what was normal.

Next stage - the gloop. It being gloopy stuff, I boiled a pan of water and stood the tin in it to soften everything:

DSC_1403.jpg


(I know, the label fell off) ... before opening it:

DSC_1405.jpg


and pouring it, on top of the sugar, into the bottom of the bucket.

(Another cleanliness question - I used a kitchen tin opener to open the tin, although scrubbed it clean beforehand. However, the gloop would have run over the cut edge that was made with the tin opener. Odds of introducing bugs via this route?)

Les Instructions said that the approved procedure was to add four pints of boiling water to the mix, then top up with cold water, aiming for a temperature of between 18 and 24degC. So, this I did - swilling the gloop tin out with the boiling water beforehand.

A suggestion on here was to use a campden tablet in the water used to make up the wort, so I put this in at this stage as well (crushed, again. And it was just as tough to crush as the last 5! You can just about see it in the bottom of the measuring jug.)

DSC_1406.jpg


So, the bucket now had the gloop, sugar, hot water and a crushed campdens tablet in it, and I topped it up with cold water from the tap.

DSC_1407.jpg


(East London water and Yorkshire bitter. That'll make for geographically interesting beer!)

However, using the thermometer, it rapidly became clear that more boiling water would be necessary otherwise the temperature would be well below 18degC, so two more kettlefuls went in:

DSC_1408.jpg


Final temperature of the mix was 23degC. So I sprinkled the yeast over.

DSC_1410.jpg


And there were problems with that too; the yeast sat in the bubbles on top of the wort and wouldn't mix in. I stirred it with the paddle and it got fid of the froth, but the yeast still sat in clumps on top of the liquid - it certainly didn't dissolve. Here's a (bad) picture:

DSC_1413.jpg


The yeast is the white lumps visible floating on top of the water. Is this a problem?

Next step was to put the lid on the bucket and decide where to leave it. And there's another question; the house (victorian draft-box) will be nowhere near 18-24degC over the coming couple of weeks, so I expect the mix will cool down. How do I prevent this from happening?

DSC_1422.jpg


It is now wrapped up in an old blanket, by a radiator, but the radiator is only on for 5 or so hours a day. (The cat has now snugged up next to it, so maybe she is not entirely useless, but that won't make much difference to the temperature I don't suppose.) Is this likely to be a problem?

And so ... what's next? I understand that I need to test the alcohol in the mix over the coming week or so, and when it reaches a relevant level I put it into the barrel, but a few more questions arise:

1. I test the alcohol using the hydrometer, but how do I do this? Do I just float it in the top of the bucket? If so, do I leave it in there, or do I take it out when I have taken a measurement? If I take it out, do I need to sterilise it before I put but back in again - the following day? Or can I just wrap it in some cling film - or similar - and that will keep it clean enough?

2. I have swilled the barrel around with campdens solution this evening, but it will be at least a week (and probably two) before I put the beer into it. Will I need to sterilise the barrel again before I put the beer into it, or will be it OK with the lid on it and the tap closed?

3. When I syphon the beer from the bucket into the barrel, how do I make the syphon work? I am guessing I will need to soak the syphon in some campdens again before using it (although the same question about it remaining sterile - as per the barrel - applies.) Clearly, I dip the stiff end of the syphon into the bucket, lower the tap end down over the barrel, and suck on the end of the tap. However, surely this will make everything un-sterile - how do I get 'round this?

There. That's enough photos, questions and typing for one night. If anyone has any answers I'd be very grateful to hear them - thanks. And, if not, I'll update this thread with the barrelling stage, and the drinking stage as well.

Fingers crossed ...


ETA: For reference, that little lot took me the thick end of two hours. With about 90 minutes of that time spent cleaning, and only about 30 minutes actually making the wort. And most of that 30 minutes was spent waiting for the kettle to boil, repeatedly. I guess these things will get quicker as I get more experienced. Or buy a better kettle ...


Oli.
 
I'm not aswering all your questions, but welcome and well done for your brew :cheers:

There is a vast amount of wisdom on this forum for your perusal.

As for steralising things, get down to your local home brew centre and get some sanitiser, you then just add some powder to water to do everything with, it's important but don't get too anal about it, you have to ask yourself do you want to make a bit of effort to avoid vinegar or take a chance.

Kit yeasts arn't great, so when you are getting some snitiser, stock up on some yeast, Safale S-04 is a "can't go wrong" yeast, although you can move on from there.

If in doubt ask, there are wise brew heads on here.

:cheers: :drink: :drink:
 
Good Ed,

Thanks for your reply.

Sanitiser ... interesting. How does this compare to campdens tablets? Does it do their job, or a different job altogether?

I'm not aware of there being any brew shops near here, so I'll be buying on-line.

Thanks for the recommendation about the yeast as well. That's helpful (and dimly familiar; I seem to recall that an easy way to improve kits is to change the yeast, but I can't remember when or where I heard that.)

Thanks for your help. I guess the cleanliness questions are a bit like asking how long a piece of string is! The best advice has to be 'as clean as possible' I suppose. Vinegar isn't appealing. My dad's beer results have been hit-and-miss, and I know that he isn't meticulous about it (he isn't meticulous about anything - sign of getting older I guess.) I guess a bad brew occurs when he perchance picks up a bug from somewhere, and a good brew is when the bugs are kept out.

Thanks again for your help Ed.


Oli.
 
I would suggest that sanitation is where youre going wrong and the reason your first attempt spoiled. Whilst campden tabs will sanitise their primary purpose in brewing beer is to remove chlorine from the water (for this you only need 1/2 a tab per 5gal). Far better to use a dilute bleach solution or as suggested by Good Ed, some non rinse sanitising solution.

Using a cloth to clean your gear is always a bad idea! its not sterile or sanitised so regardless of how clean it looks, it wont be. certainly not to the level you need to brew anyway. If you want to use a cloth boil it in water on the hob for a few mins and allow it to cool. The boiling process will kill any nasties on the cloth.

Dont worry too much about the cleanliness of tap water. You're making beer with it so its going to end up in your fermenting bucket regardless of your cleaning regime.

Make sure that everything that's coming into contact with you beer or the ingredients is sanitsed properly. That included can opener, any spoons you need etc...

When pitching your yeast, dont worry if it clumps or sits on the foam, it will fall into the beer and do its thing when its ready.

To measure alcohol, you need to take a reading before you add the yeast and again when signs of fermentation stop. It's up to you, you can either sanitise it and drop it into the brew and leave it there or you can sanitise it each time. An alternative to this is to fit a tap to the FV and draw samples off from this. Fewer things you put in the beer, the lower the risk of infections getting in.

If it were me, I'd sanitise the barrel and everything else thats going to come into contact with the beer just before transferring from FV to barrel as sitting for a week is more than enough time for air born nasties to get in.

Siphoning is an art. Some people will tell yo they can do it by filling the tube with water others (like me) have our own ways of sucking whilst trying to minimize infection risks. I personally have a section of tubing with a wider diameter than my syphon tube, which I slip over the end and suck on. Once the beer gets past the point of no return I remove the tubing and let gravity do its thing.
 
Excellent opening post and welcome on board... :thumb:

bigdave's advice above is a brilliant starter for ten, there's loads of advice on here and even if some of it's contradictory, that's just down to individual experiences... go your own way with all the advice at the back of your mind.

I've been brewing about 2 years, just kits, but not yet had a bad one (generally I use Coopers or Brewferm kits) and not yet had a yeast that didn't work... but, I do keep a spare back in case there's anything that needs salvaging.

The big thing that's been drummed into me is "sterilise, sterilise, sterilise"... I use VWP, but whatever's cheapest at your HBS wil be fine, I do it just before I go into the brew or bottling, so there's minimal risk of infection but from reading on here I reckon that incorrect sterilisation is a big cause of brew failures so it doesn't hurt to make sure you get it done, and the stuff like VWP is a doddle to use!

There'll be loads of questions so keep posting and join in at the bar (red banner above) at weekends if you have time, good luck and let us know how things go! :cheers:
 
Congratz on your first independant brewday.

I see by your photos you have one heck of a clean house. I would suggest putting something under the fermenter incase it bubbles over and ruins your carpet. I also live in a now slightly sealed Victorian draftbox, i have the opposite problem of keeping things cool. If you have a cupboard that you can utilise, check the temp inside and between 18-28 Deg/C and store it in there for the first part of fermentation.
 
Chaps,

Many thanks for your replies. I am encouraged by them!

Bigdave, I think you are right - cleanliness is where I am failing, and I tried extra-hard to keep things clean this time 'round. (I was quite a lot more fastidious than my father was/is, but this may explain why his results are not reliable or consistent.) I didn't know that campden tablets weren't for sanitising - that IS useful, thanks. It does say on the bottle 'to make a sterilising solultion, mix ... ', but if there is a better way of doing things then I am very interested to hear more about it. What sort of dilution ratio should I use to make up a bleach solution? And can I use normal household (/toilet) bleach? And would such a bleach solution be suitable for sanitising the barrel before putting the wort (/beer? When does wort become beer?) into it?

Thanks for the advice about the cloth. I used it before the sanitisation stage, just to remove any physical dirt that may have been present, but it's useful advice.

I think the can opener was the only thing that wasn't sanitised (with the campdens solution). Everything else was. However, it did occur to me that my hands weren't, and I used them at all stages of the process to handle the utensils (although not to dip in the wort itself). I washed them (very carefully) beforehand, but is this likely to cause problems?

Yeast clumping and tap water - thanks.

Does 'FV' stand for 'Fermentation Vessel'? (I'm guessing it does. 'Bucket' is perhaps not the best word - sorry!)

Siphoning - thanks. I like the wider-diameter tube mouthpiece idea. I'll try that - I have some tubing which is suitable and will practice beforehand.

Grumpy Jack - thanks. Looks like the sterilisation is the key. Not had a bad batch? That sounds like impressive going. What is VWP?

Caerleon, the house is anything but clean! (Thanks for compliment tho'!) The kitchen is clean because I cleaned it before making the beer (worrying about infection). Thanks for the suggestion about putting something under the fermenter; as it is, the carpet in my office - the room it is in - is worn out and likely to be replaced sometime next year, so a bit of beer on it will only hasten the process! I am dubious about any part of the house being above 18degC, and fear that the temperature of the brew will have dropped below that by now. What are my other options for keeping it warm?


Oli.
 
zcacogp said:
Grumpy Jack - thanks. Looks like the sterilisation is the key. Not had a bad batch? That sounds like impressive going. What is VWP?

Oli.

Oli,

VWP is just a brand of steriliser, there's others, Youngs, Ritchies..., VWP just happens to be in my local HBS and cheapest. :) It comes in a 400g tub which will make up to 120 gallons of steriliser, which means you can use it very liberally and not worry too much. It supposedly cleans and sterilises in one... you just mix up a solution, make sure it covers everywhere you want with a good swilling / agitation, call it what you will, leave it for 10 mins and then rinse it out / off... When I'm doing bottles I usually half fill the bath with the stuff and shove everything in there, leave it half hour and then give them a quick scrub and rinse.

http://www.colchesterhomebrew.co.uk/col ... 00gms.html

As i said, not YET had a brew go wrong... :thumb:
 
zcacogp said:
I am dubious about any part of the house being above 18degC, and fear that the temperature of the brew will have dropped below that by now. What are my other options for keeping it warm? Oli.

You could buy a brewbelt or heated tray. If like me your in the North Eastern part of London - the closest place to get one is Laxtons of Broxbourne (Chemists) 45 HIGH RD Broxbourne 01992 462293 (I'm not on commission ;) )- i was there last week and they have the stuff in the shop.

or a more expensive option - insulate your house :mrgreen:
 
Grumpy Jack said:
VWP is just a brand of steriliser, there's others, Youngs, Ritchies..., VWP just happens to be in my local HBS and cheapest. :) It comes in a 400g tub which will make up to 120 gallons of steriliser, which means you can use it very liberally and not worry too much. It supposedly cleans and sterilises in one... you just mix up a solution, make sure it covers everywhere you want with a good swilling / agitation, call it what you will, leave it for 10 mins and then rinse it out / off... When I'm doing bottles I usually half fill the bath with the stuff and shove everything in there, leave it half hour and then give them a quick scrub and rinse.

quote]

With Chlorine based sanitisers such as VWP, the rinsing is as important as the sterilising. Rinse and rinse again. Even small amounts of chlorine will taint your beer and give it a TCP (Trichlorophenol, correct me if I'm wrong) taste. I learnt this the hard way. Pay particular attention to the grooves in the lid of fermenting buckets where steriliser will get trapped. I now use diluted 'thin bleach' from Tesco, 10ml/gallon roughly.
 
Coming back to this thread after some time away. I'm the original poster, and the photos in the first post are mine ...

... as is the beer, which is now in a barrel in my basement! Well, most of it is. Some of it has been drunk. And it was good enough not to entice me to throw the rest away (which is what happened with my first batch. Yes, really.) It's OK. It's not lovely, and if I was served a pint of the stuff in my local pub then I'd probably ask for my money back, but it's mine, and I made it, and thus I am very happy with it!

It changes. Quite often. I can have a small glass one day and enjoy it, but when I try it again a couple of days later then it tastes different. Generally the change is for the best (as in it tastes better now than it did when I first made it), but I am interested in how much it continues to change with time. I suspect that's the point of live beer - it's live, and this is to be expected (and I'm not ignorant of the fact that my perceptions probably change from day to day as well.)

I clearly can't brew another batch until this barrel is empty, so can see that the path to having beer constantly on tap lies in having more than one barrel. I have another one on order, and will post up the results from my next brew day!

Thanks, again, to everyone for your input. It is appreciated, and will help the next batch immeasurably.


Oli.
 
I'm glad you enjoyed it... I'm just having trouble gettiing my head around the concept that you still have something you brewed last december!
Don't wait until your barrel is empty before brewing another, have one fermented out ready to go in as soon as it's empty..... even better get another keg and have the next batch ready to drink. :cheers:
 
Keith,

Sorry - my mistake. I meant keg when I said barrel - I have another keg on order, not another barrel ...


Oli.
 
Great start Oli.
If you have a poundland nearby look out for thin bleach, Oxy clean (free from perfume one) or Milton type fluid.
Most supermarkets have their own 'value' bleach too for less than £1 :D Just make sure you rinse well with cold water.
These can all be used for sanitation.
If you have the room and want to improve your quality and consistency then look at options for improving temperature control.
This could be as simple as a Gorilla tub and an aquarium heater as a water bath to a temperature controller and an old fridge or freezer.

viewtopic.php?p=156990#p156990

Once you have your process tied down I'd recommend a two can kit such those from Woodfordes or Brupak.
They may be more expensive but still at 50p per pint are in my opinion as good if not better than many commercial brews.
 
Crushing Campden tablets:
I have a tiny pestle&mortar. Can't remember where it came from, it's too small for spices etc, really. But perfect for things like single Campden tablets.
But if you don't have one, spoon against flat surface isn't best - spoon into spoon is far better.

When I'm brewing, I generally have a couple of jugs with a VWP solution in, one's sued for pouring it into or from stuff I'm cleaning, other is so that I can drop bits and pieces into so I don't have to put them down anywhere unclean.

When I read "soda crystals" I boggled a bit - that stuff is something you don't really want near foodstuffs. It does get things clean though... As the beer came out OK, looks like you did enough rinsing. But something like VWP will sanitise and clean, and is a bit easier to rinse. Probably.

Last time I was in London ISTR the water tastes orrid. Some treatment might improve your ale no end.
 
oldbloke said:
When I read "soda crystals" I boggled a bit - that stuff is something you don't really want near foodstuffs.
Sorry have to disagree with you. Washing soda crystals are a very effective cleaning agent, and rinse very easily . . . Much more so that most chlorine based 'brewing cleaner/disinfectants' like VWP. . . . where you really don't want that any where near beer.
 
Aleman said:
oldbloke said:
When I read "soda crystals" I boggled a bit - that stuff is something you don't really want near foodstuffs.
Sorry have to disagree with you. Washing soda crystals are a very effective cleaning agent, and rinse very easily . . . Much more so that most chlorine based 'brewing cleaner/disinfectants' like VWP. . . . where you really don't want that any where near beer.

Oh, OK. It's just I think of it as caustic.
 
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