So my first cider brew, made from apples from the garden, finally took off. Today I went a bough a couple of glass demijohns, took an FG reading (1.000) and racked off.
Obviously a small amount of overspill fell in to my mouth, and I have to say I'd have drunk it there and then! Still, the man in the homebrew shop in Exeter suggested leaving it for a little while somewhere cool (even in the fridge) before bottling (it's in the garage).
In the other demijohn I bought I whipped up a quick TC using Tesco apple juice and a bit of "tropical mixed fruit" (who knows what that will do?!).
Anyway, apart from the minor success with the first brew here's a couple of newbie observations!
When clean a glass demijohn it becomes increasingly difficult to tell if the crud marks are on the inside or outside.
Always rotate the demijohn cleaning brush in an anti-clockwise direction or the handle will unscrew and the brush end fall in to the bottom of the bottle!
The plastic demijohn I had didn't seem to have the same capacity as the glass ones despite apparently both being "gallon" jars.
Siphoning is a pain in the @rse! Trying to get the tube to suck out as much of the brew as possible but not pick up a load of the lees was nigh on impossible, so I opted to lose a bit of the liquid rather than risk transferring rubbish to the new bottle.
I'm going to get a piece of rigid tubing similar to a bottling stick so I can more accurately and easily pick-up what I want from the FV.
I'm also going to trim the siphon tube to a shorter length, just what is necessary to reach from work-surface to floor.
Also, try warming the tube before you start and then stretch it a bit as this seems to take the "curls" out and make it all a bit easier.
My other main problem is I just keep forgetting to take the temperature of the mix when measuring the OG / FG. It's not as if there will be massive differences but it would be better discipline.
However, so far so good, should have a few bottles ready for Crimbo, I'll let you know how they taste!
NICK
Obviously a small amount of overspill fell in to my mouth, and I have to say I'd have drunk it there and then! Still, the man in the homebrew shop in Exeter suggested leaving it for a little while somewhere cool (even in the fridge) before bottling (it's in the garage).
In the other demijohn I bought I whipped up a quick TC using Tesco apple juice and a bit of "tropical mixed fruit" (who knows what that will do?!).
Anyway, apart from the minor success with the first brew here's a couple of newbie observations!
When clean a glass demijohn it becomes increasingly difficult to tell if the crud marks are on the inside or outside.
Always rotate the demijohn cleaning brush in an anti-clockwise direction or the handle will unscrew and the brush end fall in to the bottom of the bottle!
The plastic demijohn I had didn't seem to have the same capacity as the glass ones despite apparently both being "gallon" jars.
Siphoning is a pain in the @rse! Trying to get the tube to suck out as much of the brew as possible but not pick up a load of the lees was nigh on impossible, so I opted to lose a bit of the liquid rather than risk transferring rubbish to the new bottle.
I'm going to get a piece of rigid tubing similar to a bottling stick so I can more accurately and easily pick-up what I want from the FV.
I'm also going to trim the siphon tube to a shorter length, just what is necessary to reach from work-surface to floor.
Also, try warming the tube before you start and then stretch it a bit as this seems to take the "curls" out and make it all a bit easier.
My other main problem is I just keep forgetting to take the temperature of the mix when measuring the OG / FG. It's not as if there will be massive differences but it would be better discipline.
However, so far so good, should have a few bottles ready for Crimbo, I'll let you know how they taste!
NICK
