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Home Brew Questions

Why has farting been added to the tags? :D

I started a brew off yesterday, it's a porter, made with the chocolate and the black malt, in with the Maris otter. I Left it outside overnight for a cold break after the boil, so I woke up at 5am Monday morning shouting 'Beer!' ran outside and brought it in. It's in the bedroom right now wrapped in a duvet.


Agnes, that bit about dry hopping giving a grassy flavour, do you mean like with Deuchars IPA, where the aftertaste is very reminiscent of that very crumbly slate you used to get in the olden days? I quite like that.

I've not tried dry-hopping yet, must give it a go next time! I don't have a hop bag, I have a hop strainer in my boiler so I just chuck my hops straight in for maximum flavour. Surely they'd just fall to the bottom with the yeast if you just lobbed them straight in the fermenter?
 
agnesdavies said:
But - and this is quite important - when you're working with hot water and concentrate, don't splash it around too much. The one thing you can do to really screw up a kit brew is "hot side aeration" (HSA), which will give you all kinds of unwelcome oxidised flavours in your brew when you're done. So don't splash it around while it's hot.
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Stig said:
Why has farting been added to the tags? :D

Agnes, that bit about dry hopping giving a grassy flavour, do you mean like with Deuchars IPA, where the aftertaste is very reminiscent of that very crumbly slate you used to get in the olden days? I quite like that.

I've not tried dry-hopping yet, must give it a go next time! I don't have a hop bag, I have a hop strainer in my boiler so I just chuck my hops straight in for maximum flavour. Surely they'd just fall to the bottom with the yeast if you just lobbed them straight in the fermenter?
Click to expand...

Agnes, I had never heard that about HSA. Deffo something to be aware of though. I used to (up until now) rinse the can out with boiling water and then stir it a lot in the fermenter to dissolve and oxygenate before adding the rest of the stuff.

Stig, I think the farting tag comes from the old gag about liking your own home brew is like enjoying the smell of your own farts.

IPA is heavily hopped and hops are a close relative of cannabis (but no psychoactive properties) so the taste you are thinking of is hops. Dry hopping gives you the flavour, boiling gives you bitterness.
Be aware that there are a lot of different types of hops with different properties.
I like making American style pale ales so I use Cascade in the boil and add Chinook for aroma, these are both very citrusy and not to everyones taste.
For Pils I always use Saaz in the boil and to dry hop (and a few more in secondary) but I love hops.
 
you don't have to put sugar in with the wherry kit????

*facepalm*

that explains it.
 
Only a bit of priming sugar, tommers. The kit's not very clear about this, it's got to be said. It was agnes that pointed out the difference for me.

My brew's due for the secondary ferment now - it's been fermenting for 6 days - but I'm waiting for a secondary fermenter to arrive (today/tomorrow) so it'll stay there for a bit yet. This shouldn't be a problem given that some (most?) let the primary fermentation run for a couple of weeks, I'm hoping.

My family all think I've gone mad. I've started dropping phrases like 'racking off the trub' into my everyday conversation just to piss them off. :cool:
 
NVP said:
Only a bit of priming sugar, tommers. The kit's not very clear about this, it's got to be said. It was agnes that pointed out the difference for me.

My brew's due for the secondary ferment now - it's been fermenting for 6 days - but I'm waiting for a secondary fermenter to arrive (today/tomorrow) so it'll stay there for a bit yet. This shouldn't be a problem given that some (most?) let the primary fermentation run for a couple of weeks, I'm hoping.

My family all think I've gone mad. I've started dropping phrases like 'racking off the trub' into my everyday conversation just to piss them off. :cool:
Click to expand...

:D :D Great! We can have conversations about how for lack of a sparge arm, I'm having to hand sprinkle on the mash, etc. :cool:

Mine has started fermenting, despite there being no central heating AND the builders have removed the only gas heater. Phew! Go, porter! Go!
 
badseed said:
IPA is heavily hopped and hops are a close relative of cannabis (but no psychoactive properties) so the taste you are thinking of is hops. Dry hopping gives you the flavour, boiling gives you bitterness.
Be aware that there are a lot of different types of hops with different properties.
I like making American style pale ales so I use Cascade in the boil and add Chinook for aroma, these are both very citrusy and not to everyones taste.
For Pils I always use Saaz in the boil and to dry hop (and a few more in secondary) but I love hops.
Click to expand...


Right, I'm going to be dry-hopping my next brew for sure, to recreate that slatey goodness.
I do put mine in at various stages, 90 mins or 60 mins boil for bitteness and 15 mins, 5 mins for aroma, but I've never dry-hopped yet.

I know a vague bit about the different types of hops, (this book has a little bit of info - check top-right of page for rest of Hops chapter). Hop shopping is one of my favourite pastimes. :D Cascade is indeed great and is the only hop used in Darkstar Hophead. I also currently have Northdown, Aurora, Bobek, Susan, First Gold, WGV and Boadicea in the freezer, and I'm thinking I might just need to get a couple more types once my German Red malt has arrived.
 
Stig said:
Basically, your rehydrated wort should start at something like 1.030- 1.050 on the hydrometer, and it should take about 4-6 days to get it to 1.008 - 1.014, when it's done. you really should take it off the yeast then, even if you just move it to a different bin to settle for a few more days.
I wouldn't bottle it before 1.014 for a thick stout or 1.008 for a light golden ale, or you're risking exploding bottles.
Click to expand...

Just checked mine. 1.012. Secondary fermenter's just arrived and I'm sort of impatient to use it. :D Get it off the yeast now or leave it a bit longer? What do you think?
 
Mine's still 1015, but it's been stuck on that for about 4-5 days...

I might just syphon it into a barrel anyway and see what it's like...
 
NVP said:
Just checked mine. 1.012. Secondary fermenter's just arrived and I'm sort of impatient to use it. :D Get it off the yeast now or leave it a bit longer? What do you think?
Click to expand...

OOh, brilliant! Good job, that man. :D

It'll probably be ok for a few days yet, although schools differ on the subject. The chairman of the brewers club shouts Get it off! Get it off the yeast! while others have a more relaxed approach... :D

ETA: just checked, and yours has been going for 6 days. I'd say it's high time to rack it off the trub, old chap. What.
 
NVP said:
Also, it's still got fucking big lumps of stuff floating around in it! Is this normal? :D
Click to expand...

Absolutely normal. I wouldn't be at all happy if it didn't have fucking big lumps of stuff floating around in it.
*adjusts chunky jumper*
 
NVP said:
Also, is it possible to read this thread without getting a strong craving for a pint?
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No!! :D

Just starting to catch up with this thread for the first time.

Lots of technical stuff :eek:, and I've never brewed at home before, but I bet I could have a crack at it with all the advice posted so far. Will have a chat with Debbie soon ... her house has space!

Now that I erm 'have time on my hands' ... ;)

Still looking forward to tasting Stig Special at EIID in August mind :D
And agnes's soon, too ... in the area!

And we're going to Brum in April (bees!)
And do I feel a Cornwall trip coming on? :p
 
You'll end up in no time with a 10 barrel a week local brewery plant with a string of local pubs to supply to ... :p :cool:

You'll need to devise your own recipes with some suitably 'eccentric' ale names :D

We visited one of that size in Aberdare the other week. The man was fizzing with enthusiasm as he showed us round, and he'd started off as a home brewer as well ...

If you start getting really serious, Stig knows about some brewing course, it's up North somewhere though :confused:
 
How long do you think I should leave it in the second bin for? I was thinking a week / ten days or so then transfer it across to the keg with a bit of priming sugar.

I have been reading about finings too. Gives the beer more clarity apparently. Any thoughts?

Once again I thank you all, gentle piss-artist folk of Urban 75. :cool:
 
week - 10 days is ok as you are bulk priming anyway it will stand another couple of weeks before carbed. I force carb mine with a co2 bottle. Ready to drink after an hour in the keg, but much better if you can lay off it for a few weeks.
I have never used finings, probably not required if you have racked.
 
Me, I've never used finings either.

I think we have to remember that a lot of what we might perhaps see as "best practice" is driven by the commercial imperatives of industrial scale brewing, where consistency and appearance of the product takes precedence over all else, quite possibly including quality.

I would say it's perfectly feasible, if you're being careful, to brew without needing finings, which by and large are used to remove components from the drink which wouldn't be there if it weren't for some deficiency in the brewing process (usually occurring at the mashing stage, though sometimes the result of getting things wrong in the boil).

If you're brewing from kits, you've buggered things up quite comprehensively if you've got a cloudy brew - and it's debatable whether finings will help then! - so you're not likely to need them. If, on the other hand, you're doing extract or grain brews, then it may be worth keeping a small stock of finings to recover from an emergency...but remember that finings won't make a beer that's somehow damaged as well as being cloudy any less damaged...just clearer!

With wines, it's a bit more of an issue, as a lot of the things we use to make wine will come with long-chain sugars and/or starches which can lead to haziness, and wine is something which people have a very high expectation of in terms of appearance.

Oh, and hello again, everybody, and thanks for the nice messages over in community. I'm Back :)
 
I have some finings, but never really use them. They're bentonite which is veggie, basically clay.
You're supposed to mix it for a long while in very hot water to get the clay dissolved before pouring it in, but I didn't know that, did I? Oh no. I just threw it in and gave it a good mix. So I ended up with great clods of clay in the bottom of each bottle. :D

If you start getting into the vast and varied world of yeasts, some of them take bloody ages to clear, Safale 05 for example, so you'd want to use finings then, perhaps, to save waiting months.
 
Stig said:
If you start getting into the vast and varied world of yeasts, some of them take bloody ages to clear, Safale 05 for example, so you'd want to use finings then, perhaps, to save waiting months.
Click to expand...
Cor, I didn't know that! I thought there were some strange and obscure yeasts that didn't flocculate (fnar) well, but not "mainstream" ones.

And yeah, the bentonite thing looks like a faff - I've never done it, but aren't you supposed to make up a paste first with a little water, then build it up to half a litre or so before pouring it in?
 
It's just occurred to me that I could get my Headcracker kit underway now, too. On the box it says that 4-6 days is, again, a reasonable time for the primary ferment but I know agnes thinks that a couple of weeks is better for a stronger brew like this.

If I leave it a couple of weeks, I'll have transferred my Wherry into the keg by then so it'll be free for the secondary ferment, iyswim. But will it have developed problems from being on the yeast too long?

Now. I know this'll be a deeply controversial issue so please no flaming :D but what does the group think to me cracking on with the second batch?
 
Hold your horses! Don't forget that you'll end up with 40 pints of beer and then another 40 pints about a week later. Of course that may not necessarily pose too much of a problem... but I like to kind of schedule mine for a beer coming ready every two to three weeks roughly, even out the whole thing.

Saying that, I have turned the whole big airing/linen cupboard in the bedroom into a beer cupboard with a different type on each shelf, it's a beautiful sight to behold, I can tell you.
 
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