First Brew

[dx4100]

my second is usually when visible fermentation has finished plus a few days. it will push out co2 for a long time to come yet, so don't judge it on the airlock.

Is this when there is no foam head?

No airlock on at the moment due to disaster listed above

 

[dx4100]

I won't open it up to show the bucket balanced on bricks :)

 

[dx4100]

Had a peek inside a moment ago... Is this looking good ?

Its been in for about 36 hours now...

It bloody smells in there... I hope thats normal...

 

[Dr. B]

Looks okay to me.
The foamy "head" should die down within the first 4-7 days I think, but will continue to ferment up to 14 days.

 

[dx4100]

Looks okay to me.
The foamy "head" should die down within the first 4-7 days I think, but will continue to ferment up to 14 days.

Its Woodford's Wherry. The tin says 4 to 6 days. It then says you take your readings and if they are the same then bottle and leave for at least 14 days.

A couple of questions...

1, Are you saying it might take up to 14 days for primary fermentation to finish completely before I get the same reading and I can bottle ?

2, I am going to transfer to my barrel which will have a bottling aid attached so I can bottle and leave the sediment behind. Am I ok to just siphon to the barrel and then bottle straight away ?

thanks for any help

 

[Dr. B]

I made the Woodford's Wherry kit a few years ago, but can't remember exactly.
However,

1). The kit instructions are often optimistic in terms of time. It might take up to 14 days, yes. But only the readings will tell you.

2). Yes. You can bottle straight from the primary vessel, but you risk getting some sediment in the last bottle or two. Won't ruin it, but might not be perfect. A lot of this is personal preference but you are unlikely to ruin it by doing it slightly different to someone else. I transfer to an empty barrel with priming sugar in, mix then bottle. But I used to transfer straight from primary FV to bottles with sugar in. Friends of mine still do this and it does work. But I prefer my method.

 

[dx4100]

I made the Woodford's Wherry kit a few years ago, but can't remember exactly.
2). Yes. You can bottle straight from the primary vessel, but you risk getting some sediment in the last bottle or two. Won't ruin it, but might not be perfect. A lot of this is personal preference but you are unlikely to ruin it by doing it slightly different to someone else. I transfer to an empty barrel with priming sugar in, mix then bottle. But I used to transfer straight from primary FV to bottles with sugar in. Friends of mine still do this and it does work. But I prefer my method.

Cheers for your reply...

To clarify...

I am planning on siphoning from the primary vessel to a secondary vessel with a bottling aid attached. My question is after moving the beer in this way can I bottle straight away or do I need to let it settle in the secondary vessel ?

Cheers

 

[Dr. B]

You can do it straight away.

 

[dx4100]

You can do it straight away.

Thanks for your help :)

 

[vinniev]

If you are batch priming make sure you boil your sugar (I'd use spray malt personally) in about half a pint of water to sterilize it. If you then put it in your batch priming/bottling barrel before you add your brew it will mix in as it siphons.

Also take care when siphoning to put the end of the tube as low into th bottling barrel as possible as you want as little air as possible to get into your brew. If possible once it starts filling the end of your tube should be below the surface of your brew.

 

[dx4100]

If you are batch priming make sure you boil your sugar (I'd use spray malt personally) in about half a pint of water to sterilize it. If you then put it in your batch priming/bottling barrel before you add your brew it will mix in as it siphons.

Also take care when siphoning to put the end of the tube as low into th bottling barrel as possible as you want as little air as possible to get into your brew. If possible once it starts filling the end of your tube should be below the surface of your brew.

Cheer for the reply...

Going to be bottling and using coopers tablet thing's... :)

 

[dx4100]

Hi Guys

When I put my yeast in I just sprinkled it on top...

Just seen these instructions and it said I should of either of Re-Hydrated the yeast or sprinkled it on and waited 30 mins and gave it a good stir.

Is it worth giving it a stir now or just continue to leave it ?

Can't believe how much I seem to want to bugger this up....

http://www.fermentis.com/fo/pdf/HB/EN/S ... -04_HB.pdf

 

[vinniev]

Should be fine just don't fiddle with it too much.

 

[RobWalker]

that's aerating. you do it so theres more oxygen in your beer for the yeast - dont worry though, it's not massively essential and will probably be fine. a lot of people syphon from the boiler and splash it around the fermentation vessel, or you can stir the **** out of it, both work well!

 

[dx4100]

My first reading from hydrometer was only 1.033...

The kit says I should be looking for it get down to 1.014 and below...

That would give me a ABV of only 2.62%...

Dosen't sound right that ?

 

[RobWalker]

It's not stirred properly. It'll be what the packet says - its not really worth attempting to stir properly because if you're not too bothered about readings, it probably does more damage than good to the beer itself.

 

[dx4100]

So I didn't stir well enough at the start ?

 

[RobWalker]

Yeah, that'll be it. But it won't affect your final abv or consistency so don't worry :-)

 

[dx4100]

Was thinking I might of used too much water...

Think I might of put 40 pints in on top of the 6 boiling... Silly misread of the instructions...

Can't remember exactly what I did but thinking I might of done that...

 

[dx4100]

I am sooooooo stupid...

I have put too much water in...

There is 26 litres in there instead of 23 so I guess that didn't help the readings...

So am I going to end up with a watery waste of time here ? Or is my latest cock up going to allowing me to continue... Really am doing my best to cock this up... All experience though...