New Brewer with a million questions

[Hamy]

This is my first post and brew!:-?
The wife gave me a Youngs American IPA microbrewery kit for Xmas. I set up on Sunday past (10th Jan) and pitched the yeast on the same day at 20oC.
Its been under the stairs sitting at about 18-20oC. First 12hrs there was no sign of fermentation then after about 24hrs the bubbles in the air lock came through. Up until today it was bubbling like crazy and now I am down to 1 bubble every 5 mins?!
I am very keen to take a gravity reading because the bubbles have stopped coming through the airlock but feel its way too soon as the instructions say leave for 15 days in FV. What does anyone reckon? Dont want to risk introducing oxygen in so soon.
I also wish to transfer the beer straight to bottle to condition rather than condition in the pressure barrel what are the pros and cons of this any tips on bottling would be appreciated as the instructions are based on priming and conditioning for the pressure barrel

 

[tim1699]

patience is a virtue leave it alone for now is my advice

 

[terrym]

In this case the kit instructions are about right, although mine took 20 days before it was ready for me to add the hops, which I left in for a further four days.
In the meantime you could be thinking about how you dry hop, i.e. use a bag or chuck 'em in as they are. Opinion is divided on the best way. I use a weighted muslin bag.

 

[dad_of_jon]

This is my first post and brew!:-?
The wife gave me a Youngs American IPA microbrewery kit for Xmas. I set up on Sunday past (10th Jan) and pitched the yeast on the same day at 20oC.
Its been under the stairs sitting at about 18-20oC. First 12hrs there was no sign of fermentation then after about 24hrs the bubbles in the air lock came through. Up until today it was bubbling like crazy and now I am down to 1 bubble every 5 mins?!
I am very keen to take a gravity reading because the bubbles have stopped coming through the airlock but feel its way too soon as the instructions say leave for 15 days in FV. What does anyone reckon? Dont want to risk introducing oxygen in so soon.
I also wish to transfer the beer straight to bottle to condition rather than condition in the pressure barrel what are the pros and cons of this any tips on bottling would be appreciated as the instructions are based on priming and conditioning for the pressure barrel

wow - 15 days - realistic instructions from a kit for once.....

yes leave it for at least 2 weeks! I normally leave my brews for 2 - 3 weeks without opening the lid depending on the strength of the brew.

if you want to go straight from FV to bottle (and not use a bottling bucket) I'd suggest a fg reading no higher than 1014 but the fg should be close to what the instructions advise. An alternative approach is to wait until you get 3 readings the same, but i've always added more days in the fv than required and if the fg is a little high I bottle with less priming sugar than usual and that's worked out fine for my 15 brews so far.

The only surprise I've had with this technique is my last beer got down to 1.004 I've not had anything that low - must be the MJ Belgian ale yeast :thumb:

 

[terrym]

PS.
The probable reason there are no bubbles coming through your airlock is that the lid is not sealing properly on the FV. That's not a problem. Many people don't bother with an airlock at all.
Have a look through this if you haven't done so already, some of your other questions may be answered
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=57526

 

[dad_of_jon]

PS.
The probable reason there are no bubbles coming through your airlock is that the lid is not sealing properly on the FV. That's not a problem. Many people don't bother with an airlock at all.
Have a look through this if you haven't done so already, some of your other questions may be answered
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=57526

I think he did have bubbles but they slowed down before stopping so it was forming a good seal. The ferment has slowed down or stopped again not a problem a few extra days in the fv almost always improves a brew rather than makes it worse.

my old wilko FV never bubbled the airlock.:-(

 

[Hamy]

I was tormenting myself so took a gravity reading. its 1.02 from sg 1.054 so leaving another week at least

 

[IainM]

I'd recommend getting a muslin bag for the hops. I did the YAIPA as my third brew, and just chucked them in. It made bottling a nightmare. Both my bottling wand and sediment trap got completely blocked, so I ended up sucking the siphon, stiring up the sediment and making a right mess. Beer still turned out really good, but I think I have to put that down to luck. Enjoy your first brew. You'll be addicted before you know it!

 

[terrym]

I think he did have bubbles but they slowed down before stopping so it was forming a good seal. The ferment has slowed down or stopped again not a problem a few extra days in the fv almost always improves a brew rather than makes it worse.
my old wilko FV never bubbled the airlock.:-(

I know both my FVs and their lids leak, and I'm sure lots of others out there do too, like your wilko one. In my case although the locks burp away happily for two or three days at the beginning of the primary the bubbles soon fade away as the fermentation dies down. Working on the premise that airlocks are only useful as an indication of the state of fermentation if all the CO2 goes through them (or if it doesn't I may as well not bother with an airlock) what I do then is to put cling film over the FV rim and put the lid back. So from next to nothing the bubble rate immediately goes back up to what I would expect.

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

I always put the hydrometer in the ferment bucket from the start,then you dont have to keep fiddling taking samples and adding to the risk of contamination,just leave it, unscrew the fermenter lid after 2 week,and if the hydrometers steady for 3 days after,at the gravity stated on the kit,its ready.As far as hops are concerned,just throw them in,bag or no bag,as long as you use a bag on the bottom of the transfer pump the results are the same in my view,i use a bag on the pump regardless.Happy brewing

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

This is my first post and brew!:-?
The wife gave me a Youngs American IPA microbrewery kit for Xmas. I set up on Sunday past (10th Jan) and pitched the yeast on the same day at 20oC.
Its been under the stairs sitting at about 18-20oC. First 12hrs there was no sign of fermentation then after about 24hrs the bubbles in the air lock came through. Up until today it was bubbling like crazy and now I am down to 1 bubble every 5 mins?!
I am very keen to take a gravity reading because the bubbles have stopped coming through the airlock but feel its way too soon as the instructions say leave for 15 days in FV. What does anyone reckon? Dont want to risk introducing oxygen in so soon.
I also wish to transfer the beer straight to bottle to condition rather than condition in the pressure barrel what are the pros and cons of this any tips on bottling would be appreciated as the instructions are based on priming and conditioning for the pressure barrel

Pressure barrel beer is nice to drink,nice head,and a better drink all round really,just what you get down the pub,but better!!! Bottling i find is easier if you take the beer off the FV into a seperate vessel with a tap on the bottom,dissolve your priming sugar first in boiling water,and cool,add to secondary vessel and transfer gently.Once transferred i use a brewferm bottle filler attached to the tap by a short piece of tubing,stick your bottle in and transfer,no fiddling with adding sugar to the bottles.Cap them, put somewhere warm for 1/2 week then out in the cold shed,crack a bottle on the way to see what it tastes like.

 

[terrym]

Pressure barrel beer is nice to drink,nice head,and a better drink all round really,just what you get down the pub,but better!!!

Stout from a PB much much better than bottles. :thumb:

 

[Hamy]

Thanks for the info folks much appreciated

 

[Hamy]

Going to put hops in a muslin bag for 2-3 days at the end of fermentation, is there any risk from contamination? Is there any way to sanitise the muslin bag or is this pointless?

 

[ManseMasher]

The hops themselves are supposedly antimicrobial. The bag however won't be. I submerge mine in star san for a couple of minutes before I fill with hops. I also do the same to the cable tie I close the neck of the bag with, and the marbles I use to make the bag sink. Before I open the lid of the fv, that gets a good spray of star san too.

 

[JapanBrew]

Also, when getting to bottling, small detail but I've seen a difference, small but there, fill the bottle, lightly place the cap on but don't crimp it. Finish all the bottles then get around to crimping them. What happens is co2 starts to form pushing out some of the oxygen. It's kind of like co2 purging bottles but on a tiny level.

 

[Bigcol49]

Excellent tip, JapanBrew. If using screw-top PET bottles, squeeze gently to bring the beer level up to the rim before putting on the screw-top lid. This excludes oxygen and the CO2 from the carbonation will fill the "air" gap.

 

[terrym]

Going to put hops in a muslin bag for 2-3 days at the end of fermentation, is there any risk from contamination? Is there any way to sanitise the muslin bag or is this pointless?

I boil my muslin bag for a few minutes to sanitise, and then allow to cool and drain, before I put the hops in together with some sanitised spoons which act as weights. I have two ribbon ties permanently sewn into the bag at the top to tie up the bag so these get the same treatment by default.
After use, I get rid of the spent hops, rinse thoroughly, and then boil again to kill any yeast cells, then air dry. That way the bag is fresh when I want to reuse it.

 

[Hoppyland]

I always put the hydrometer in the ferment bucket from the start,then you dont have to keep fiddling taking samples and adding to the risk of contamination

Yep, totally agree with this. OK, you lose accuracy (because you're viewing the hydrometer from an angle & its difficult to account for the meniscus) - but do you really care if your OG is 1046 as opposed to 1044? Can't say I do. Plus, if I did keep taking samples, I'd have to then chuck them away. For me, it also works for FG. Again, do I care what the precise reading is - well , not really. But if you take the same measurement from the same angle, then you know when your hydrometer reading is stable, which is the main thing.

 

[ManseMasher]

Yep, totally agree with this. OK, you lose accuracy (because you're viewing the hydrometer from an angle & its difficult to account for the meniscus) - but do you really care if your OG is 1046 as opposed to 1044? Can't say I do. Plus, if I did keep taking samples, I'd have to then chuck them away. For me, it also works for FG. Again, do I care what the precise reading is - well , not really. But if you take the same measurement from the same angle, then you know when your hydrometer reading is stable, which is the main thing.

Chuck samples away??!! Heresy!!!