First kit beer - a few questions

[Noodleman]

Afternoon all,

Although I have many gallons of wine on the go, I haven't actually played around with Beer yet, so I've decided to start with a kit and see how it goes.

I picked up the St. Peters, India Pale Ale kit earlier this week. the instructions are not that great, well at least step 4 (the final step) is not that clear in my opinion as I do love details.

Step 4
"Transfer the beer into bottles or a pressure barrel with a little sugar (half a teaspoon per pint) to help condition the beer. Stand bottles or barrel in warm place for two days then allow 14 days in a cool place until beer has cleared".

I wanted to get some clarity on the transfer to bottles or pressure barrel. Does this mean put directly into the finished bottles after fermentation has completed with extra sugar added, or put into something like a Demojohn with an airlock and leave to age, then bottle when cleared?

Just seeking some advice before I start as I don't want to screw it up :)

can anybody also suggest a place to pick up reasonably priced glass beer bottles for final storage?

Cheers in advance,

Noodle.

 

[MattN]

At this stage (I am assuming that you are bottling) transfer the IPA into bottles with the required sugar (to carbonate) and let it clear in the bottle.

Regards

Matt

 

[Noodleman]

At this stage (I am assuming that you are bottling) transfer the IPA into bottles with the required sugar (to carbonate) and let it clear in the bottle.

Regards

Matt

Thanks Matt,

I haven't started the kit yet, just planning the entire process so I have no hidden surprised.

When adding to bottles, I assume at this stage this is the "final" bottling? The next time it gets opened is when I have a hankering for a beer :)

Thanks,

 

[MattN]

No problem. I'm sure that you will enjoy it! It is one of the one's on my list to try soon.

Regards

Matt

 

[LeithR]

Hi there,
Once the beer has fermented and the SG checked and down to 1010 or there abouts, transfer the beer into another vessel with a tap at the bottom (bottling bucket). You can leave the fermented beer in a FV for a period of time before bottling, this does not harm the beer and it allows it to clear a bit. Before the transfer into the bottle bucket you will have added sugar in the order 5g/1L into hot water and dissolved then allowed to cool, this is the priming sugar. You want to transfer the beer with as little agitation as possible, a little swirling is ok.

Then you can use a bit of tube attached to the tap into the clean bottles or into the PB. Leaving the bottles or PB in a warm place for a week or so is good practice, it allows the suspended yeast to convert the sugar from the priming sugar into CO2. Transferring the bottles or PB into a much cooler atmosphere after that enables the CO2 to be absorbed back into the beer which will give you fizz. You need to leave it in the cold/cool for possibly up to 4 weeks.

Hope that makes it a little clearer.

 

[MattN]

Hi there,
Once the beer has fermented and the SG checked and down to 1010 or there abouts, transfer the beer into another vessel with a tap at the bottom (bottling bucket). You can leave the fermented beer in a FV for a period of time before bottling, this does not harm the beer and it allows it to clear a bit. Before the transfer into the bottle bucket you will have added sugar in the order 5g/1L into hot water and dissolved then allowed to cool, this is the priming sugar. You want to transfer the beer with as little agitation as possible, a little swirling is ok.

Then you can use a bit of tube attached to the tap into the clean bottles or into the PB. Leaving the bottles or PB in a warm place for a week or so is good practice, it allows the suspended yeast to convert the sugar from the priming sugar into CO2. Transferring the bottles or PB into a much cooler atmosphere after that enables the CO2 to be absorbed back into the beer which will give you fizz. You need to leave it in the cold/cool for possibly up to 4 weeks.

Hope that makes it a little clearer.

This is what I do. (However it hasn't got to the 4 weeks stage yet) before consumption.

Matt

 

[Noodleman]

Hi there,
Once the beer has fermented and the SG checked and down to 1010 or there abouts, transfer the beer into another vessel with a tap at the bottom (bottling bucket). You can leave the fermented beer in a FV for a period of time before bottling, this does not harm the beer and it allows it to clear a bit. Before the transfer into the bottle bucket you will have added sugar in the order 5g/1L into hot water and dissolved then allowed to cool, this is the priming sugar. You want to transfer the beer with as little agitation as possible, a little swirling is ok.

Then you can use a bit of tube attached to the tap into the clean bottles or into the PB. Leaving the bottles or PB in a warm place for a week or so is good practice, it allows the suspended yeast to convert the sugar from the priming sugar into CO2. Transferring the bottles or PB into a much cooler atmosphere after that enables the CO2 to be absorbed back into the beer which will give you fizz. You need to leave it in the cold/cool for possibly up to 4 weeks.

Hope that makes it a little clearer.

Thank you for your detailed answer. A couple follow up questions :)

When the beer is clearing, will it throw some sediment like wine does?

Wouldn't adding the extra (although small dose) of sugar cause fermentation again, and the build up of co2 would pop the caps on the bottles? or, because this is such a small dose of sugar the build up of pressure is minimal, and thus not a problem?

And finally, the "cold" place to keep it to mature, somewhere like a garage this time of year I assume would be suitable? Or, by cold are we talking about a fridge etc.

Thanks in advance,

 

[WeeDave]

It'll throw sediment. Careful whilst pouring the finished product (unless you like cloudy beer)

The carbonation is a result of the secondary fermentation. Over-prime and you run the risk of exploding bottles....

Garage is ideal for conditioning your beer. I leave mine in the spare room for two weeks then in a cupboard in the kitchen for another 2 weeks or so. Obviously the longer you leave it the better it gets...