My second AG attempt was another Craftybrew 1 Gallon kit from Brew UK.
I made quite a few mistakes during this brew, including accidentally putting the gas on during the mash and raising the temperature to about 80C!
Then after a couple of weeks in the FV, there was very little sign of fermentation. Some of the experienced members here suggested it was likely due to a lack of oxygen before pitching the Yeast, which was most likely the cause.
After 3 weeks, there was still very little going on. MyQul suggested dry hopping to somehow kickstart some fermentation. With nothing to lose I did this, as well as pitching the second half of the S-04 Yeast. I also did something which might be considered Beeracide! With nothing to lose, I whisked the hell out of the wort, creating a hell of a froth and risking the wrath of the oxygenation gods :twisted::nono:
Nothing really happened after that, in honesty, so I'm not sure if any other fermentation went on, so after 4 weeks in the fv I was in a dilemma! The impetuous child in me wanted to just chuck the stuff down the drain as a lost cause, however, I held myself back and decided to bottle anyway.
Keeping with the slack rule breaking method, I simply poured the 5 litres through a sieve into a sanitised FV. I forgot to put the dissolved priming solution in first, so I just tipped this on top and gave a swirl, introducing a few more bubbles (what the heck!!)
Bottled on 23rd September, I cracked a bottle open last night. Very nice too. Not quite as sparkling as my IPA, but no hint of off flavours. I'm guessing that a Stout would probably hide any potential off flavours quite well, but I can't detect any cardboard flavour connected with oxygenation. This might change over time, but I've only got another 6 bottles left, so I don't think that's going to be a problem!
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I made quite a few mistakes during this brew, including accidentally putting the gas on during the mash and raising the temperature to about 80C!
Then after a couple of weeks in the FV, there was very little sign of fermentation. Some of the experienced members here suggested it was likely due to a lack of oxygen before pitching the Yeast, which was most likely the cause.
After 3 weeks, there was still very little going on. MyQul suggested dry hopping to somehow kickstart some fermentation. With nothing to lose I did this, as well as pitching the second half of the S-04 Yeast. I also did something which might be considered Beeracide! With nothing to lose, I whisked the hell out of the wort, creating a hell of a froth and risking the wrath of the oxygenation gods :twisted::nono:
Nothing really happened after that, in honesty, so I'm not sure if any other fermentation went on, so after 4 weeks in the fv I was in a dilemma! The impetuous child in me wanted to just chuck the stuff down the drain as a lost cause, however, I held myself back and decided to bottle anyway.
Keeping with the slack rule breaking method, I simply poured the 5 litres through a sieve into a sanitised FV. I forgot to put the dissolved priming solution in first, so I just tipped this on top and gave a swirl, introducing a few more bubbles (what the heck!!)
Bottled on 23rd September, I cracked a bottle open last night. Very nice too. Not quite as sparkling as my IPA, but no hint of off flavours. I'm guessing that a Stout would probably hide any potential off flavours quite well, but I can't detect any cardboard flavour connected with oxygenation. This might change over time, but I've only got another 6 bottles left, so I don't think that's going to be a problem!