First Ever Brew Started!

[Ashley.h]

Evening All,

Just finished filling my FV with my first ever brew (MYO Stout) pretty nervous, but I’ve wrapped it in a blanket with some layers of cardboard underneath to help hold the heat. Decided to make use of my BBQ thermometer and tape that to the side with a duster taped over the top of that to insulate the probe. The temp on the stick on strip is reading 16-18 and the probe now says 17. Will this increase as it gets going?

 

[Alan_Reginato]

Yes, it will. If anything goes well, in about 24 h, it will rise 3-5 c. Keep one eye on. Especially if was a high OG and you don't wanna too much esters and fusel.

 

[Ashley.h]

It’s been just over 24h now... should I be seeing or hearing any bubbles in the water of the blow off tube system? I don’t know why but I was kind of expecting a steady bubbling by now the temp is still holding well at 18.

 

[Ashley.h]

It’s ok now... I have a good glug coming through every 30-60 seconds... very satisfying

 

[damienair]

It’s ok now... I have a good glug coming through every 30-60 seconds... very satisfying

It might speed up for 2-3 days. Then it will slow down again. Enjoy.

 

[An Ankoù]

Congratulations on your first, Ashley. Wishing you many more.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Looking at the hydrometer which is the same as mine, if it's gets down to 1010 it will be 4.2% abv

 

[Ashley.h]

Quick question guys and girls,

I will hopefully be bottling this batch of stout in the next couple of days and will likely siphon off into a bottling bucket then use a bottle wand on that tap. I will try and batch prime this with granulated sugar as that’s what I have. My question is according to the calculator for 23L 2 volumes of CO2 at 18 degrees I would need 100g of sugar. Now do I these calculations off the total amount in the FV or rack it off into the bottling bucket and then use the calculator dependant on the amount I siphon off at the end then add the sugar, and how much hot water to use to dissolve the sugar?

Ash

 

[damienair]

Quick question guys and girls,

I will hopefully be bottling this batch of stout in the next couple of days and will likely siphon off into a bottling bucket then use a bottle wand on that tap. I will try and batch prime this with granulated sugar as that’s what I have. My question is according to the calculator for 23L 2 volumes of CO2 at 18 degrees I would need 100g of sugar. Now do I these calculations off the total amount in the FV or rack it off into the bottling bucket and then use the calculator dependant on the amount I siphon off at the end then add the sugar, and how much hot water to use to dissolve the sugar?

Ash

Use about 200ml or 300ml of boiling hot water and dissolve the 100g of sugar in it. Leave to cool a little and add it to your bottling bucket. Then transfer your beer across using the siphon. Once the beer has been transferred over I usually give the beer a very very gentle stir without introducing air to make sure the sugar is evenly mixed in and then I bottle.
I put a tap on my other fermentation bucket so I have a tap on both now. Today I bottled a beer, instead of using a siphon today I attached the tube from the tap on my fermentation bucket direct into the bottling bucket. I just opened to tap and the beer transferred over. It was great not having to faff around with a siphon.

 

[Ashley.h]

Use about 200ml or 300ml of boiling hot water and dissolve the 100g of sugar in it. Leave to cool a little and add it to your bottling bucket. Then transfer your beer across using the siphon. Once the beer has been transferred over I usually give the beer a very very gentle stir without introducing air to make sure the sugar is evenly mixed in and then I bottle.
I put a tap on my other fermentation bucket so I have a tap on both now. Today I bottled a beer, instead of using a siphon today I attached the tube from the tap on my fermentation bucket direct into the bottling bucket. I just opened to tap and the beer transferred over. It was great not having to faff around with a siphon.

Thank you, will the 100g of sugar be too much as I may not get the full 23L out of the fermentation bucket, should I say add enough sugar to do 20-21L?
Also I may even give that method a go of going straight from the tap to the bottle bucket as I do have a tap on my fermentation bucket... will it draw through much sediment and junk?

 

[damienair]

The tap should be sitting above the sediment and trub. I did it today for the first time and the brew transferred over great without disturbing the sediment. I also have a sediment trap on the inside of the bucket. 90-100g should be fine. I have not done a stout yet, but for any of my brews so far I have added the sugar as recommended for 23 litres even though I might only have 21 or 22 litres to work with. It has been fine. Worked perfectly every time. Good luck bottling.

 

[Ashley.h]

Morning all,

This is the reading I have this morning and yesterday or was the same also. It’s been brewing 10-11 days now. Is it ready to bottle? I plan on bottling tomorrow.

Thanks
Ash

 

[damienair]

Looks like it has settled at 1.011 , 1.012 , check again tomorrow and if it is the same bottle away. Good luck.
I brew and bottle at the weekends as I have more time then. So if I put on a brew on a Saturday I will bottle it 2 weeks later on the Saturday or Sunday. If you want to hold off for a few more days until the weekend, it won't do any harm.

 

[Ashley.h]

Looks like it has settled at 1.011 , 1.012 , check again tomorrow and if it is the same bottle away. Good luck.
I brew and bottle at the weekends as I have more time then. So if I put on a brew on a Saturday I will bottle it 2 weeks later on the Saturday or Sunday. If you want to hold off for a few more days until the weekend, it won't do any harm.

Thanks I’ll take a look at it tomorrow... I would wait until Saturday but I’m back to work Thursday, joys of shift work, so that kind of why I timed it to “hopefully” be ready today or tomorrow.

 

[Ned Jough]

If it helps, I have made the MYO Stout kit twice now and both brews never got below 1012. Pretty much the same as yours really, I put one in cask and bottled the other with no problems. If you hope for it to go below 1010 you may be waiting a long time.

 

[Ashley.h]

If it helps, I have made the MYO Stout kit twice now and both brews never got below 1012. Pretty much the same as yours really, I put one in cask and bottled the other with no problems. If you hope for it to go below 1010 you may be waiting a long time.

Thank you... looks like I’m bottling tomorrow then , just out of interest how long did the bottles you done take to condition?

 

[Ned Jough]

They were very drinkable after two weeks but excellent between four and six weeks. They didn’t make it beyond that, never ceases to amaze me how quickly it’s gone.

 

[dwhite60]

Thank you... looks like I’m bottling tomorrow then , just out of interest how long did the bottles you done take to condition?

Every stout I've ever done continued to get better up to about six months. I'm down to the last few bottles of a stout I made last year. Wish I'd gone through it slower. It's gotten REALLY good.