Home Brew Questions

[ViolentPanda]

Teaching a neighbour how to brew. She's from Hungary, where the beer selection is...lacking.
To ease her into it, we did a Mangrove Jack kit - the one for a raspberry Berliner Weisse. Came out lovely.
Next we're doing a honey & elderflower ale from basic ingredients - malt, honey, hops & elderflowers, plus some Nottingham Ale yeast.
Weirdly, homebrew hasn't really taken off in Hungary, although this may be because Czech beers are easy & cheap to come by.

 

[friedaweed]

Teaching a neighbour how to brew. She's from Hungary, where the beer selection is...lacking.
To ease her into it, we did a Mangrove Jack kit - the one for a raspberry Berliner Weisse. Came out lovely.
Next we're doing a honey & elderflower ale from basic ingredients - malt, honey, hops & elderflowers, plus some Nottingham Ale yeast.
Weirdly, homebrew hasn't really taken off in Hungary, although this may be because Czech beers are easy & cheap to come by.

If you both enjoyed the Raspberry Weisse mate, and you haven't already, give this a try

 

[TopCat]

Having another go with my King Kegs. I have bought pressure gauges that will be fitted into the lids. Got brews ready to go in them.

Bought two glass containers. 26 litres each. Good value and great for bulk ageing wine.

 

[TopCat]

Anyopne ever tried one of these cleaner gadgets? Bottle Washer Wine Rinser Brass Carboy Jet Beer Cleaning Homebrew Single Blast | eBay

 

[friedaweed]

Anyopne ever tried one of these cleaner gadgets? Bottle Washer Wine Rinser Brass Carboy Jet Beer Cleaning Homebrew Single Blast | eBay

Na always done the soak and rinse. Is to clean your carboys..fnar! fnar!

It's the only way to enjoy anal play without the mess I've heard. ViolentPanda loaned me his once butt it was a bit of a squeeze getting it in.

 

[TopCat]

My new 26 litre glass carboys. On the left is a “Merlot”, on the right a turbo cider.
Next pic is two ales racked off plus a racked off ale in one of my King kegs. The other keg I broke the tap trying to do it up tight.

 

[friedaweed]

Top work

 

[TopCat]

Well I had pressure leaks on one King Keg and snapped the tap off the other. Sigh. So got a replacement tap and after cleaning etc tested with water. Pressure holds, yay! So syphoning the beer out of the pressure losing barrel into the good one.
Then try and fix the leaking one. It's coming out of the lid seal and out of the pressure release valve on the S30 intake . I got a few full CO2 bottles off the fleabay so that's good. Hopefully get to drink this lot soon.

 

[Pickman's model]

 

[two sheds]

Am finally finally now that the temperature has dropped going to have another go at brewing beer. I think my previous major problem (getting stuff clean) is now addressed thank you friedaweed . Next is temperature control. I put stuff in a (good) sleeping bag but then go off and forget it so the temperature from the heating pad varies wildly . So, this look good?

 

[friedaweed]

Am finally finally now that the temperature has dropped going to have another go at brewing beer. I think my previous major problem (getting stuff clean) is now addressed thank you friedaweed . Next is temperature control. I put stuff in a (good) sleeping bag but then go off and forget it so the temperature from the heating pad varies wildly . So, this look good?

I've never worried about temperatures because my old gaff was fairly constant temp in the kitchen when I brewed which was mainly early and late summer. One year I did a winter brew of 'Ditch's Stout' using a cheap aquarium heater which cost about 12 quid. I still have it somewhere if you want it. I know nothing of heat mats and temp controllers.

It was the best keg of stout I've made and was drunk in 3 sittings by me and my mates. One of whome worked at Guinness in Runcorn and he declared it better than the Liffey tar itself.

Here's the masterclass from the man himself. I bet he's deed now, from electric shock, found in a puddle of his own piss holding a plasterers mixing paddle

" Ditch's Stout " Master Class ..... - Home Brew Forum

 

[SysOut]

stumbled on this

Brewtarget

Brewtarget is FREE brewing software, and an open source beer recipe creation tool available for Linux, Mac, and Windows. It automatically calculates color, bitterness, and other parameters for you while you drag and drop ingredients into the recipe. Brewtarget also has many other tools such as priming sugar calculators, OG correction help, and a unique mash designing tool. It also can export and import recipes in BeerXML, allowing you to easily share recipes with friends who use BeerSmith or other programs. All of this means that Brewtarget is your single, free, go-to tool when crafting your beer recipes.
Download it!

 

[TopCat]

stumbled on this

Brewtarget

Try it and please report back.

 

[TopCat]

I feel I over reached a bit this year with the brewing. I get big bursts of energy and optimistic visions of success followed by periods of achieving fuck all and getting a tad gloomy.

Anyway I started a lot of brews and saved up for two King Kegs. I have not been able to get the King Kegs to hold pressure. I am experimenting with water and have installed pressure gauges but no success. Today is another go as it's getting urgent. I am installing new pressure relief valve rubbers. I have flattened and smoothed the main opening. Then experiment with how tight to do the lid up. I don't want to deform the O ring..

I am hopeful but still. As a plan B I have saved up loads of bottles and these are are clean and about to be sterilised. I can get 30 litres bottled up for sure. Bottling up posed other issues though. These brews were intended for the keg and to be carbonated via CO2. Consequently when the primary fermentation was complete I racked them off into new containers and added a Camden tablet to stop any fermentation. I have therefore got to restart a little carbonating fermentation in the bottle.

I assume the yeast is dead so am looking at adding a little fresh yeast with sufficient sugar to water and starting it off before adding it to the big container, then bottling , after "a bit".

Any thoughts, top tips, welcome.

 

[friedaweed]

I feel I over reached a bit this year with the brewing. I get big bursts of energy and optimistic visions of success followed by periods of achieving fuck all and getting a tad gloomy.

Anyway I started a lot of brews and saved up for two King Kegs. I have not been able to get the King Kegs to hold pressure. I am experimenting with water and have installed pressure gauges but no success. Today is another go as it's getting urgent. I am installing new pressure relief valve rubbers. I have flattened and smoothed the main opening. Then experiment with how tight to do the lid up. I don't want to deform the O ring..

I am hopeful but still. As a plan B I have saved up loads of bottles and these are are clean and about to be sterilised. I can get 30 litres bottled up for sure. Bottling up posed other issues though. These brews were intended for the keg and to be carbonated via CO2. Consequently when the primary fermentation was complete I racked them off into new containers and added a Camden tablet to stop any fermentation. I have therefore got to restart a little carbonating fermentation in the bottle.

I assume the yeast is dead so am looking at adding a little fresh yeast with sufficient sugar to water and starting it off before adding it to the big container, then bottling , after "a bit".

Any thoughts, top tips, welcome.

You could try a test bottle to see if there's any activity left in the yeast in the ale still. I've done that successfully after a couple of weeks but the bottled result wasn't my finest.

A yeast starter could work but it depends on the abv you already have in the keg. Secondary ferment might be more successful like you would with a Belgian ale. Can you get hold of a Belgian ale yeast like a tripple or a bock?

 

[friedaweed]

What I mean is if your current ABV is already at the higher end of the peak performance of your ale yeast you might not get it to take. An yeast that can handle a higher abv will happily get started in the keg with something like a candy sugar or some glucose.

I've bulked stored ale for this sort of stuff quite successfully aiming for something around 8-9%. I assume your current kegs are chilled?

 

[TopCat]

I used a high alcohol yeast and some honey and mixed it in. All the bottling has been done now. Nice to see clean, capped bottles. One King keg is now holding gas. I got a bit pissed last night testing the kegged beer. It was very nice.

 

[friedaweed]

I used a high alcohol yeast and some honey and mixed it in. All the bottling has been done now. Nice to see clean, capped bottles. One King keg is now holding gas. I got a bit pissed last night testing the kegged beer. It was very nice.

How much honey?

 

[TopCat]

How much honey?

100 grams. Thirty litres of beer.

 

[friedaweed]

100 grams. Thirty litres of beer.

Should be lively then

It's good fun getting in and out of tangles with yer beer. I've missed my brewing this year.

 

[TopCat]

I'm worried about Christmas bottle bombs now.

 

[Funky_monks]

I'd forgotten all about this thread. Chistmas mead bubbling away net to the burner.
Not sure it'll clear by then, its been cold.
used Aldis orange blossom honey and a squeezed fresh orange, hopefully might add a bit of acid. The raisins seem to collect at the top....

 

[friedaweed]

I'm worried about Christmas bottle bombs now.

Should be fine.

 

[Funky_monks]

My new 26 litre glass carboys. On the left is a “Merlot”, on the right a turbo cider........

Where d'you get glass carboys that size?

I've got a couple of the old glass dairy tanks that are about that size, but the hole in the top is about 2" and threaded.......

 

[TopCat]

Where d'you get glass carboys that size?

I've got a couple of the old glass dairy tanks that are about that size, but the hole in the top is about 2" and threaded.......

Ebay. About twenty five quid each, 25 litre.

 

[kenny g]

I bought a king keg for my first brew months ago and could never get it to hold the pressure so gave up. Kegthat have some videos on them which I find far too complex and it's gathering dust. Now use glass bottles and 2 litre coke or fizzy water bottles. Would love to get the king keg to work but worried about screwing up a brew.

 

[existentialist]

I bought a king keg for my first brew months ago and could never get it to hold the pressure so gave up. Kegthat have some videos on them which I find far too complex and it's gathering dust. Now use glass bottles and 2 litre coke or fizzy water bottles. Would love to get the king keg to work but worried about screwing up a brew.

I got one, years ago, and really never quite got it to work satisfactorily either.

 

[seeformiles]

First 2022 cider being drunk. Checking in at about 14% abv, it’s a fine brew

 

[friedaweed]

First 2022 cider being drunk. Checking in at about 14% abv, it’s a fine brew

Be careful with that axe Eugene

 

[newme]

Be careful with that axe Eugene

I did a few batches with that turbo yeast stuff, 19% I think, was frankly dreadful but as an intoxicant it was effective.

Got to drag all the kit out, clean and sterilise it all over again and do the Blood Orange Cider kit I was got when you couldn't find the stuff anywhere. Plus to actually get the thing out of the shed, cleaned again and setup somewhere reasonable.

Yet another one of my previous interests that have somehow got completely forgotten then left in the shed, now to shift the 3d printer I built but never used...