Youngs American IPA

[terrym]

I bought 3 of these for dry hopping. Think they'll be ok?

Depends on how big the basket is. Hop pellets break up and expand on hydration and must have some allowance for free movement of the liquid inside the basket, if they are to properly give up their hoppy goodness.

 

[Bashley]

I would say they're tennis ball size.

 

[AdeDunn]

Sadly I have to give an update on this kit.

For about a month or so after brewing, it was indeed a delicious beer! Really hoppy and fruity! Within 2-3 months however it fell right off a cliff, onto some sharp rocks below, now it just tastes overly bitter, with a weird herbal/grassy flavour. Not a trace of tropical fruit, citrus etc.

Oh, and it triggers cluster migraine in me, just one bottle and I am ill for 3-4 days with head pain you wouldn't believe (unless you also suffer from cluster migraine).

My wife still enjoys it, but she will very nearly drink anything.

So drink it fast!

 

[terrym]

For about a month or so after brewing, it was indeed a delicious beer! Really hoppy and fruity! Within 2-3 months however it fell right off a cliff, onto some sharp rocks below, now it just tastes overly bitter, with a weird herbal/grassy flavour. Not a trace of tropical fruit, citrus etc etc

You will find that the effect of a dry hop does wear off with time. My experience is that after four months in storage it has almost disappeared.
And I agree this is one homebrewed beer that is best drunk young.

 

[terrym]

I would say they're tennis ball size.

I would split the hops and use two or even all three since you have them.
And dont forget to sanitise before you lower them into your beer. :thumb:

 

[Bashley]

I would split the hops and use two or even all three since you have them.
And dont forget to sanitise before you lower them into your beer. :thumb:

Yeah I plan to half fill all three. When washing the secondary FV with Starsan I imagine you don;t have to fill it up to the brim? Do you just use a sponge to make sure the solution as touched everything? It's just that I'll be putting the hops in soon and it makes sense for me to mix of the starsan in my secondary FV for the time being.

 

[AdeDunn]

I use a sprayer, and just spray all of the surfaces well with the Starsan, then give it a few minutes to do it's job. I mix it in 2 litre water bottles, with a line drawn at 1.7 litres. I fill to the 1.7 litre mark with reverse osmosis water (our tap water is very hard, and would seriously increase the pH of the Starsan) then add about 2mls of Starsan with a 2.5mls syringe (alert: If you don't rinse the rubber bit inside instantly they become useless. I have a box of 100, so often just bin them though.), then give it a few tips to mix. I keep 2 of these bottles ready to go, to refill my sprayer, fill my bottle washer etc.

 

[terrym]

Yeah I plan to half fill all three. When washing the secondary FV with Starsan I imagine you don;t have to fill it up to the brim? Do you just use a sponge to make sure the solution as touched everything? It's just that I'll be putting the hops in soon and it makes sense for me to mix of the starsan in my secondary FV for the time being.

Thoroughtly wipe down the FV with clean water and kitchen roll. Rinse. Boiling water all around the inside. Drain. Spray the inside with starsan solution (I use an old 500ml spray bottle), Leave Starsan in there for a couple of minutes. I then rinse with clean mains tap water although others probably don't bother (it is after all no-rinse!). Job done, takes about 5 minutes. And when you put away your FV make sure it's completely clean and air dried after use, and don't put the lid on tight, allow the inside to breath.

 

[Bashley]

I'm trying to take my first hydrometer reading. How the hell do you read these things! The sample was too frothy to begin with so I left it and popped out . Came back and the reading was somewhere around the zero of the 10 if that makes sebse. Here's a pic. It seems extremely difficult to get a precise reading. I imagine I'm somewhere around 10.008? my phone couldn't focus properly when it was in the tube so I've added a red line where I THINK the reading was.

 

[Wouter]

I'm trying to take my first hydrometer reading. How the hell do you read these things! The sample was too frothy to begin with so I left it and popped out . Came back and the reading was somewhere around the zero of the 10 if that makes sebse. Here's a pic. It seems extremely difficult to get a precise reading. I imagine I'm somewhere around 10.008? my phone couldn't focus properly when it was in the tube so I've added a red line where I THINK the reading was.

You need to read the gravity from the meniscus (the curved part of the liquid where it touches the fluid).
So in your case it is about ~1.057

The gravity is measured in a single fraction (so 1.XXX). It basically means that the density of your liquid is 1.057 times the density of distilled water.

A density of 1.057 makes sense for the orginal gravity. Roughly speaking it would yield a beer somewhere between 5.5% and 6.5% (this is extremely dependent on the yeast and malt). The original gravity (OG) usually doesn't go much beyond 1.100, this would be a very high alcohol beer such as an Russian Imperial Stout.
The lowest density you can achieve is around 1.000, but this is usually only possible by employing a Saison yeast. Estimation of the final density can be performed with brewing software with reasonable accuracy (I would say that I've not seen much more 0.004 deviation in the final gravity).

 

[Bashley]

You need to read the gravity from the meniscus (the curved part of the liquid where it touches the fluid).
So in your case it is about ~1.057

The gravity is measured in a single fraction (so 1.XXX). It basically means that the density of your liquid is 1.057 times the density of distilled water.

A density of 1.057 makes sense for the orginal gravity. Roughly speaking it would yield a beer somewhere between 5.5% and 6.5% (this is extremely dependent on the yeast and malt). The original gravity (OG) usually doesn't go much beyond 1.100, this would be a very high alcohol beer such as an Russian Imperial Stout.
The lowest density you can achieve is around 1.000, but this is usually only possible by employing a Saison yeast. Estimation of the final density can be performed with brewing software with reasonable accuracy (I would say that I've not seen much more 0.004 deviation in the final gravity).

Thanks Wouter. I'm a bit confused as to how you can read that as 1.057. The red line (photoshopped in, way above the level of liquid in photo) indicates the meniscus reading. Anyway, I guess it's ok. I've added the hops now - it's been 14 days exactly. Will give it until the weekend.

 

[Wouter]

Thanks Wouter. I'm a bit confused as to how you can read that as 1.057. The red line (photoshopped in, way above the level of liquid in photo) indicates the meniscus reading. Anyway, I guess it's ok. I've added the hops now - it's been 14 days exactly. Will give it until the weekend.

No problem! I am not entirely sure what you mean by that. Is tthe picture not the measurement it self?



As you can see the liquid level is about 3.5 bars under 50, so it is 57, which is 1.057.
Or do you mean that the level was at the red line you indicated and you're just holding it to show the hydrometer? Because at the red line it is about 1.008, which is a normal final gravity. But you should always check more than once before bottling!
Generally a good work flow to determine if you can bottle is to measure the gravity, wait 3 days and measure again. If the gravity remains constant (and it's not absurdly high) then the beer is ready to be bottled.

You might also wonder wether or not to read it under or above the meniscus. It doesn't matter much as long you do it one way.

 

[needmorstuf]

Hi All,

I have just ordered this kit, hoping for a nice hoppy beer. Quick question - has anyone tried using less dextrose for an abv around 5.5%? this may be sacrilegious but I am trying to control my weekly units.

 

[Wouter]

Hi All,

I have just ordered this kit, hoping for a nice hoppy beer. Quick question - has anyone tried using less dextrose for an abv around 5.5%? this may be sacrilegious but I am trying to control my weekly units.

I'm not really familiar with kits in general. But they actually add sugar to it? In an IPA?

I would never add sugar to a low percentage beer. Sugar makes the beer more easy to drink and is a must in Belgian beer styles above 7%. In an IPA it just makes the maltyness go away. But that being said, I always brew all grain.

 

[Bashley]

QUOTE="Bashley, post: 739577, member: 20772"]Thanks Wouter. I'm a bit confused as to how you can read that as 1.057. The red line (photoshopped in, way above the level of liquid in photo) indicates the meniscus reading. Anyway, I guess it's ok. I've added the hops now - it's been 14 days exactly. Will give it until the weekend.

No problem! I am not entirely sure what you mean by that. Is tthe picture not the measurement it self?

As you can see the liquid level is about 3.5 bars under 50, so it is 57, which is 1.057.
Or do you mean that the level was at the red line you indicated and you're just holding it to show the hydrometer? Because at the red line it is about 1.008, which is a normal final gravity. But you should always check more than once before bottling!
Generally a good work flow to determine if you can bottle is to measure the gravity, wait 3 days and measure again. If the gravity remains constant (and it's not absurdly high) then the beer is ready to be bottled.

You might also wonder wether or not to read it under or above the meniscus. It doesn't matter much as long you do it one way.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Wouter , sorry it was a late one. OK, so it was at 1.008 - I'll check again in 3 days. Seems pretty hard to get an accurate reading with these things - to be honest that reading could have read 1.008, 1.007 or 1.009! Maybe I'm placing to much importance on the reading. If it's below 1.010 , add hops, if it's somewhere around 1.008 for 3 days, it's ready.

 

[Wouter]

Thanks Wouter , sorry it was a late one. OK, so it was at 1.008 - I'll check again in 3 days. Seems pretty hard to get an accurate reading with these things - to be honest that reading could have read 1.008, 1.007 or 1.009! Maybe I'm placing to much importance on the reading. If it's below 1.010 , add hops, if it's somewhere around 1.008 for 3 days, it's ready.

Well the important thing is that you measure it the same always. It doesn't really matter whether or not you read it as 1.010 or as 1.008 as long as you read it the same every time!

The important thing for bottling is that the gravity remains constant.
If the gravity is still decreasing then extra CO2 is formed alongside the CO2 from the bottling sugar in the sealed bottle. If its just one (0.001) gravity extra its not a big deal, you just get more foam than expected. But when it is a lot more than this you get gushers or in the worst case exploding bottles. Especially take care for this when you are making beers with a lot of foam (such as a German Weizen) or when using a yeast that can go extremely low (such as a saison yeast, i've seen the FG go even under 1.000).
But have no fear! As long you check (i.e. measure, wait three days and measure again) the chances of exploding bottles are practically zero. Almost everyone I know who has had problems with gushers and beer bombs bottled without checking the gravity and just assumed it was finished.

 

[Bashley]

Well the important thing is that you measure it the same always. It doesn't really matter whether or not you read it as 1.010 or as 1.008 as long as you read it the same every time!

The important thing for bottling is that the gravity remains constant.
If the gravity is still decreasing then extra CO2 is formed alongside the CO2 from the bottling sugar in the sealed bottle. If its just one (0.001) gravity extra its not a big deal, you just get more foam than expected. But when it is a lot more than this you get gushers or in the worst case exploding bottles. Especially take care for this when you are making beers with a lot of foam (such as a German Weizen) or when using a yeast that can go extremely low (such as a saison yeast, i've seen the FG go even under 1.000).
But have no fear! As long you check (i.e. measure, wait three days and measure again) the chances of exploding bottles are practically zero. Almost everyone I know who has had problems with gushers and beer bombs bottled without checking the gravity and just assumed it was finished.

Also, I guess there's no harm in leaving the beer in the FV for an extra few days . Or maybe there is!

 

[Bashley]

Hi All,

I have just ordered this kit, hoping for a nice hoppy beer. Quick question - has anyone tried using less dextrose for an abv around 5.5%? this may be sacrilegious but I am trying to control my weekly units.

I was thinking the same thing when I started this kit. At 7% it's more like an imperial IPA! I'd like something in the 5%-5.5% range.

 

[Wouter]

Also, I guess there's no harm in leaving the beer in the FV for an extra few days . Or maybe there is!

Well for risky styles I agree. For an IPA, just bottle when the gravity remains the same :). No reason to be too cautious! If you measure twice with three days between and it remains constant, than you're golden!
IPA are a style that have never given me any trouble. They usually have yeasts which give predictable results and are medium in carbonation.

 

[Bashley]

I forgot to add that I tested the sample. Tasted alright, just like my Dad's homebrew 30 years ago! And when I opened that bag of hops! Gorgeous aroma! Finger crossed.