Do we call that a success?

[andylanc1975]

Morning kind folks!

Well I've been very good and only checked my wherry this morning, rest of the week apart from the odd conversation (it gets lonely in the kitchen when I'm cooking!), I've left her alone. After spotting the cunning idea about leaving the hydrometer in the FV rather than repeatedly sterilising it, I plunged one in just now. Good news (I hope!), the reading is now 1012 from a starting point of 1042. Do we think we're just about there? I'll check again tomorrow to make sure the reading is the same, but what do you all think? These a few yeasties floating on the surface, which I wasn't expecting but I assume they will eventually settle in the barrel? Oh and the aroma is most engaging already :thumb:

 

[31bb3]

id say it was just about finished leave it a couple of days and check again but my gut feeling is its done

 

[Cussword]

Eddie +1, it's finished at about 4%. Good session beer :thumb:

 

[prolix]

The joy of a bottom tap on the fermenter is quality assurance, hic... or is it getting to know the taste of the beer as it ferments and clears hic... or do I just like to drink it from the fermenter hic... :

 

[Darcey]

I like the idea of leaving the hydrometer in the fv as long as its uber clean!

 

[dps]

:thumb: my wherry was 1.040 i kegged it up at 1.006 and did it taste good
now been in keg a week i keep looking at it and saying should i or should i not try a drop

 

[Timbo77]

:thumb: my wherry was 1.040 i kegged it up at 1.006 and did it taste good
now been in keg a week i keep looking at it and saying should i or should i not try a drop

Nowt wrong with a lil sample eh...

 

[graysalchemy]

I find it best to leave it a few days at fermentation temp after it has stopped as the yeasties will clean up after themselves and metabolise some of the more unwanted by products of fermentation produced early on. This leads to a better tasting beer.

After that put it somewhere cool for a week so that it drops clear and then bottle/keg when your beer is bright. Then leave it alone for a few weeks. In the meantime get another one on then another. Before you know it you will be drinking beer which has matured in the bottle for a few months and tasting mighty fine. :thumb:

 

[dps]

:thumb: my wherry was 1.040 i kegged it up at 1.006 and did it taste good
now been in keg a week i keep looking at it and saying should i or should i not try a drop

Nowt wrong with a lil sample eh...

i had half pint tonight and well it tasted grate just after a week in the keg

 

[PoshBrummie]

:thumb: my wherry was 1.040 i kegged it up at 1.006 and did it taste good
now been in keg a week i keep looking at it and saying should i or should i not try a drop

Nowt wrong with a lil sample eh...

i had half pint tonight and well it tasted grate just after a week in the keg

I know of a 'pep up' recipe which involves adding 1kg of de-stoned plums and 25g of liquorice to the start of the ferment, meant to resemble Badgers Poacher. I'll be finding out when the plums are in season

 

[andylanc1975]

Thank you one and all for your responses :thumb:

Impatience got the better of me and rather than leave it for another few days to be certain, when I checked the gravity late last night it hadn't shifted from what it was on Saturday morning, so I've barrelled it. Just to make sure it tasted OK and I hadn't contaminated it with the steriliser solution, a sample went into a glass and I was impressed. Not crystal clear, but not as hazy as I was expecting, taste was also a surprise. OK it tasted fairly basic without complicated flavours but they will come with maturation. I can see why people say it needs leaving! Unfortunately I know my impatience will strike again and after the week of secondary fermentation, it's going to be a battle to get it to beyond two weeks of maturing before the small samples become more voluminous! :whistle: I promise that once I get myself some more kegs/ bottles, I will leave future batches time to mature.

The kids were amazed at how that little pack of yeast went on to produce all that slurry (probably not the correct word, sorry!) at the bottom of the FV. Little bit of a biology lesson for them :)

 

[Baz Chaz]

I promise that once I get myself some more kegs/ bottles, I will leave future batches time to mature.

Andy,
I've just got rid of a load of 330ml bottles and have a box of 500ml ones, I get down Morecambe way reasonably often are they any use to you If you want 'em send me a PM :thumb: