Razor back hop addition.

[Longhead23]

Morning all, having started a Razorback IPA on bank holiday Monday, read the instructions again yesterday which said to add the hop pellets after 5 day.
Compared to the Young's Amercan IPA, this seems quite early.
I still haven't added them yet, what would you suggest, get them in now, or should I wait a little longer?
Will it make much difference?
Thanks in advance.

 

[terrym]

My suggestion is to add the hops when the fermentation has more or less finished or ten days whichever is the longer. Then leave it alone for a further six days with the last two in the coldest place you have to help drop the hops and clear the beer of enough yeast for packaging.

 

[Longhead23]

Thanks Terrym, that's pretty much what I was thinking too. Appreciate your opinion.

 

[Longhead23]

Ok. 10 days in and first gravity reading. I still get confused is this 1.090? Target is 1.005 seems like a long way to go.
So not adding hops just yet. Giving it a few more days.

 

[simon12]

No that's 1.009 if it's still the same in a few days you can assume its finished.

 

[Longhead23]

Thanks for the help. It's in the bottle now, so let's hope all is ok. The sample tasted pretty good, so I have high hopes.

 

[bez]

Hi. How did it turn out in the end. I’ve just put a razorback on myself.

 

[Longhead23]

Hi Bez, I bottled it a week ago today, so too early to tell really. I had a little taster as I bottled it and it seemed decent. Looking forward to opening the first bottle in a few weeks.
Good luck with yours!

 

[bez]

Hi. I will probably have brewed bottled a drank mine by then. Lol. Not very good at waiting. The Wilco golden ale I made the other week was great after a few days. I have kept a few bottles to see if improves with time.

 

[Longhead23]

I like to wait the suggested time. It does test my patience, but it's worth it. Not sure what to do next. I want to try all-grain, but need to accumulate the equipment and find some space.

 

[bez]

I ultimately would like to go to grain. Hopefully will remove the homebrew taste. I think from malt. The Wilco golden ale I made was good. I dry hopped with 60g of first gold. It ended up like Sam smiths organic lager. Nice when cold.

 

[Longhead23]

Looks decent. Have you tried the Young's kits? The American IPA was lovely.

 

[terrym]

I like to wait the suggested time. It does test my patience, but it's worth it. Not sure what to do next. I want to try all-grain, but need to accumulate the equipment and find some space.

Depending on the temperature at which your beer carbed up and how much yeast got carried over will determine how long it takes for carbing to finish. Since I mostly use PET I know that I have had beer carb up in 3 days others take as long as two weeks. My rule of thumb is if its pretty clear after carbing its finished, so I can move to a cooler place to start conditioning. And then after 10 days or so I try one. I dont wait weeks and weeks since it might be ready. I have found that some AIPA type beers are better drunk young. But in your case you wont know that until you sample one every week or so and keep doing that until you are happy. And again my rule of thumb is the darker the beer the longer it needs.

 

[bez]

Looks decent. Have you tried the Young's kits? The American IPA was lovely.

Hi. I’ve tried the seven day wine kits which are great.

 

[bez]

Depending on the temperature at which your beer carbed up and how much yeast got carried over will determine how long it takes for carbing to finish. Since I mostly use PET I know that I have had beer carb up in 3 days others take as long as two weeks. My rule of thumb is if its pretty clear after carbing its finished, so I can move to a cooler place to start conditioning. And then after 10 days or so I try one. I dont wait weeks and weeks since it might be ready. I have found that some AIPA type beers are better drunk young. But in your case you wont know that until you sample one every week or so and keep doing that until you are happy. And again my rule of thumb is the darker the beer the longer it needs.

Yes. The Wilco kit had very little sediment and I added 100g dextrose priming. The beer was clear almost immediately and those pics are after two days conditinong and 1 day fridge. Both the glass and PET bottles were great. Plus it was 5.5%. The interesting thing is it never really looked like fermenting but the gravity dropped like a stone. I kept it at about 21-22. This new one I pitched at 24 ish and it’s gone loco. Now it’s down to room temp about 21 again.

 

[bez]

I like to wait the suggested time. It does test my patience, but it's worth it. Not sure what to do next. I want to try all-grain, but need to accumulate the equipment and find some space.

I seen grain in a bag method. Which seems like a good start but messy.

 

[RichK]

I seen grain in a bag method. Which seems like a good start but messy.

I've not long moved from kits to "brew in a bag" (BIAB) which is probably the simplest version of all grain. I think it has been worth it. Yes, there is a set up cost for equipment, though you can produce a beer cheaper (if that's what you want). Yes, it does take longer, but I work brewing in/around other activities. Against that I think the finished product is better & there's more satisfaction from the process.

 

[Longhead23]

I've not long moved from kits to "brew in a bag" (BIAB) which is probably the simplest version of all grain. I think it has been worth it. Yes, there is a set up cost for equipment, though you can produce a beer cheaper (if that's what you want). Yes, it does take longer, but I work brewing in/around other activities. Against that I think the finished product is better & there's more satisfaction from the process.

Yep, that's exactly what i am after. Better beer, and more satisfaction from the process. It is just a case of getting the equipment together, finding the space and the time.

 

[bez]

I've not long moved from kits to "brew in a bag" (BIAB) which is probably the simplest version of all grain. I think it has been worth it. Yes, there is a set up cost for equipment, though you can produce a beer cheaper (if that's what you want). Yes, it does take longer, but I work brewing in/around other activities. Against that I think the finished product is better & there's more satisfaction from the process.

Do you let the wort cool naturally or do you have a cooler

 

[RichK]

Do you let the wort cool naturally or do you have a cooler

I have a cooler but no running water, so have a 50L barrel that gets circulated through a cooler. It's not ideal but does get it down to about 40C relatively quickly, I'm happy to wait for that to get down below 30C before pitching. As my pot isn't quite big enough, I usually then top up with 2L of bottled which has been in the fridge.