Homebrew thread

[Ferris]

Is pepper spray legal in Canada?

Not only legal, but a recommended item if you go hiking in rural Ontario (thanks, bears).

If I can get a refillable aerosol thing I'd save myself the cost next time I go to the backwoods, with the added bonus that the bear would smell spectacular.

[Blue Jam]

Sat out in the park having a Glory Vole, it's tasting much better after a few weeks of bottle conditioning. All the residual sweetness has gone and left it nice and malty and refreshing. Nicely fizzy too.

Beer is nice and clear, sediment is a bit loose though. I used one leaf of gelatine, might use two next time.

[Ferris]

The concern I have with the gelatin is if you use too much you might knock all the yeast out of suspension and inhibit the second ferment in the bottle so it takes longer to get fizzy. No idea if that could actually happen, but figured I'd mention it.

Glad it's nice though!

[Blue Jam]

Yes, that was my concern too, but one sheet of leaf gelatin doesn't seem like a lot for 20 pints of beer. It's probably less than a teaspoon. What form of gelatin do you use, and how much? Leaf gelatin for cake decorating was all I could find in shops a few week ago.

[Ferris]

I use 1/2 tsp for 5 gallons (~21L) so I think about the same as you more or less? Google it, I bet someone in a shed has done a load of testing - it's a hobby full of obsessive nerds (myself included) so I'd be amazed if not!

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've just sterilised me bottles and moved the bucket into the bathroom to settle. I gave a final reading which I don't think budged (the vessel was overfilled so it was riding convex rather than concave.

The stuff floating in it seems to have calmed down, there was a bit at the very top, but I was struggling to get a photo as I had to wobble the case to get it to sink a bit and then my phone didn't want to focus and then it floated out of sight again. I think it'll be fine especially since the syphon pulls from the bottom.






Tastes alright (not going to let the vase go to waste).

[Calistan]

I'll likely bottle my Mangrove Jack's Rye IPA this weekend. I'm still a bit low on bottles but bought a case of bottles from Get 'Er Brewed. Before I bung them in the oven should I put a little VWP in them and rinse or would that be overkill? I'm guessing a quick rinse, let them dry and then autoclave?

[tao of wub]

let them dry and then autoclave?

You should be fine with the heat process.  As long as the bottles are nice and clean you only need to do one process.

You would be sterilizing them twice if you are using VWP and heat treatment.  Unless there are stains you are using the VWP on?

I would just give them a conventional washing, a really good rinse and drain before heating.  Get a bottle brush if you have crud in old bottles that you need to wash out.  Really nice clean glass is super slippy with detergent and water on it.  I like to drop it at this point and smash it into all the other glass in the sink.

Likewise, you shouldn't really need to dry them, just tip out the excess water, then place in oven, turn to required temperature and they will become dry during the heat sterilization process.

Also, you can use your bottles over and over, unless they develop cracks or chips from physical knocks they will be fine.  Don't put them in cold water etc if they are too hot to hold as the thermal stress could break them.  Unless you have pyrex bottles.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'm about to do a wiessbier this weekend. Just as my bottles are getting around to the 2 week mark. Yes I.

[Ferris]

I'm about to do a wiessbier this weekend. Just as my bottles are getting around to the 2 week mark. Yes I.

Lovely job - you get into a rhythm with it, and weiss/hefes are a good style to have a bash at because they always come out nice.

Just watch the rhythm doesn't become "right I need to bosh 9 bottles of this tonight so I can get the lager in the fridge tomorrow". Great few months, but I significantly cut down on brewing after my mid 20s.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Ha I'l need to get some bottles in the fridge and move the rest to another space as they're where the bucket needs to be.

This kit needs sugar adding to it, no biggie but I notice that the instructions differ slightly from other 'add sugar' kits in that they say just to lob it in with the wort and boiling water then mix, rather than dissolve the sugar in the ~gallon of water you chuck in with the wort.

I don't think it'll make much difference either way, but it strikes me as better and easier to dissolve first.

[Ferris]

Ha I'l need to get some bottles in the fridge and move the rest to another space as they're where the bucket needs to be.

This kit needs sugar adding to it, no biggie but I notice that the instructions differ slightly from other 'add sugar' kits in that they say just to lob it in with the wort and boiling water then mix, rather than dissolve the sugar in the ~gallon of water you chuck in with the wort.

I don't think it'll make much difference either way, but it strikes me as better and easier to dissolve first.

Yeah you're probably right, it likely won't make much difference, but a lot of these kits are stuck in the '70s (see my comments on the "toothless old man in a shed creating cheap hooch driving the industry/physical brew stores" from a few pages back).

Common sense often prevails on a lot of this type of thing. You want to get into "brew in a bag" kits when you have the space though, it opens up a lot more fun avenues and variables to tinker with. That was when it really clicked for me, but absolutely nowt wrong with the extract kits either.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I googled brew in a bag and it came up with this 'just add water to the bag' kit which seems like less effort and I doubt it's what you mean.

https://www.homebrewcentre.co.uk/acid-reducing-solution-57ml-p-1565.html

[Ferris]

I googled brew in a bag and it came up with this 'just add water to the bag' kit which seems like less effort and I doubt it's what you mean.

https://www.homebrewcentre.co.uk/acid-reducing-solution-57ml-p-1565.html

I don't even know what they're advocating here!

This is what I'm on about. You need a big kettle thing, a brew bag, and then you buy grains and hops by the lb/oz respectively. The actual "brewing" process is a lot more fun - get the water to the right temp, make (essentially) a big pot of "grain tea" using the crushed grains as "tea" and the brew bag as the tea bag, take the grains/bag out and boil that "grain tea" for an hour adding hops at specific times, cool it all down and ferment the same way you do for extract brews.

It's about the same amount of work all told, but it's more fun and only requires a few extra bits of kit. It's not a good way to start because it can feel a bit intimidating, but if you can follow a recipe you can do it no problem.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Aye, I've been looking in to that. Although I'm not sure why you need to get the whole volume in a pot, rather than making it stronger and diluting it like you do with a can.

I'm a bit put off by the sturdiness of my hobs and having a massive fucking pot with 20 kilos of boiling water on there, or whether it would even fit under the cooker hood. I do have an electric induction plate but I think the area of the pot might be a bit wide for it, and also the weight is probably far too much for it.

[Ferris]

Aye, I've been looking in to that. Although I'm not sure why you need to get the whole volume in a pot, rather than making it stronger and diluting it like you do with a can.

I'm a bit put off by the sturdiness of my hobs and having a massive fucking pot with 20 kilos of boiling water on there, or whether it would even fit under the cooker hood. I do have an electric induction plate but I think the area of the pot might be a bit wide for it, and also the weight is probably far too much for it.

I can't think of a good reason why you couldn't make a smaller amount and then dilute it down tbh. It's definitely more work in a small space, I struggle to do it in my apartment but figured I'd mention it in case anyone has a load of space and fancied giving it a go.

[sirhenry]

I finally got a hydrometer to test the meads I've been making.

Tested the Orange and Cinnamon - reading 1.000

Tested the Smoked Pasilla - reading 1.000

So am I using the hydrometer wrongly[nb]And how is that even possible? It looks to be idiot-proof.[/nb] or have I invented a drink that will make you legless after a couple of glasses but you can still pass a breathalyser test?

[Sebastian Cobb]

The content is worked out from the difference between the start and end readings.

AFAIK If you didn't take a reading at the start or have some nominal 'best guess' reading (like I did when I didn't bother) from the kit then I'm not sure there's much you can do with this batch.

The science is here:
https://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/guides/wine-making/how-to-use-a-hydrometer

But really all you need is a start reading, your current/end reading and an online calculator.

[sirhenry]

Thank you. There is no mention of Before and After in the instructions that came with the hydrometer or in the video I watch on How To Use Them.

But I do like the first relevant sentence in that link: "The ABV can we worked out really simply by taking the start gravity from the finish gravity and dividing this figure by 7.362."

So when I give folk a bottle of the stuff and they ask how strong it is, I can happily tell them that it's officially "Whoouf!" Though I'm still not sure if I should warn them that this second batch of smoked chiili mead is Madras - Vindaloo strength, so getting very pissed on it will be hard.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I got a little complacent there and didn't look at the temp until I'd chucked the yeast in. I think the way I followed the instructions meant I added a gallon of near-boiling water rather than filled the water and the wort to the 5l mark on the bucket, anyway it was enough to mean I threw the yeast in at just over 30c. So I'm giving it the cold bath treatment to bring it down before it gets going.

In better news I shifted the bottles of my last batch and was chuffed with how clear they were!

[Ferris]

Thank you. There is no mention of Before and After in the instructions that came with the hydrometer or in the video I watch on How To Use Them.

But I do like the first relevant sentence in that link: "The ABV can we worked out really simply by taking the start gravity from the finish gravity and dividing this figure by 7.362."

So when I give folk a bottle of the stuff and they ask how strong it is, I can happily tell them that it's officially "Whoouf!" Though I'm still not sure if I should warn them that this second batch of smoked chiili mead is Madras - Vindaloo strength, so getting very pissed on it will be hard.

Your mead reading looks more like .998 to me so it'll be very dry. That's how I prefer them tbh.

Seb's right, without an initial reading you can't work out how much sugar was in there (and how much is in there now, and find the amount that has been turned to alcohol). That said, I'd guess a mead that dry would be at least 10% and possibly more. You can use free apps like BeerSmith and put in your initial ingredients if you still remember the recipe and it'll give a predicted initial gravity you can use as a decent guesstimate for your ABV if you really need to find out.

[Calistan]

You should be fine with the heat process.  As long as the bottles are nice and clean you only need to do one process.

You would be sterilizing them twice if you are using VWP and heat treatment.  Unless there are stains you are using the VWP on?

I would just give them a conventional washing, a really good rinse and drain before heating.  Get a bottle brush if you have crud in old bottles that you need to wash out.  Really nice clean glass is super slippy with detergent and water on it.  I like to drop it at this point and smash it into all the other glass in the sink.

Likewise, you shouldn't really need to dry them, just tip out the excess water, then place in oven, turn to required temperature and they will become dry during the heat sterilization process.

Also, you can use your bottles over and over, unless they develop cracks or chips from physical knocks they will be fine.  Don't put them in cold water etc if they are too hot to hold as the thermal stress could break them.  Unless you have pyrex bottles.

Thanks. I gave the new bottles a couple of rinses before baking them at 145°c. I had completely forgotten that I'd bought some Star San so I sterilised the majority of bottles using that, a vinator and my bottle tree. Saved a wonderful amount of time. Previously I've been using VWP and it takes a silly amount of rinsing to get rid of its smell.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I tend to just double rinse vwp. both for bottles and the bucket.

I'll switch to chem/start san once I've run out though.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I started drinking my high gravity lager last night. Quite smooth, almost creamy. Not that fizzy. Will probably be better with a bit more time.

[Ferris]

I started drinking my high gravity lager last night. Quite smooth, almost creamy. Not that fizzy. Will probably be better with a bit more time.

Nice one.

We're moving apartments, just had to throw out 3lbs of hops. Distraught.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Oof gutted. there's a homebrew place about 10 minutes walk from me that's bound to reopen shortly. I think I'll look into getting a vessel with a tap on the bottom and a  bottling wand so I can do away with the sugar drops.

[Ferris]

oof gutted.

Got em cheap and had them stashed in the back of the freezer. The bin smells amazing, so that's something.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Deffo better after an extra week of finishing. Although the one I'm currently on is one I must've missed putting a drop in because it's flatter than a plate of piss. Still drinking it though.

[Ferris]

Deffo better after an extra week of finishing. Although the one I'm currently on is one I must've missed putting a drop in because it's flatter than a plate of piss. Still drinking it though.

Good man. Stuff has to be fucking awful before I get rid, probably only 2 or 3 batches in 15 years in the bin.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Good man. Stuff has to be fucking awful before I get rid, probably only 2 or 3 batches in 15 years in the bin.

Standard. The lukewarm, flat contents of the hydrometer vase usually gets necked even in the early stages.