Homebrew thread

[Sebastian Cobb]

Wort chillers are cool because with not much work you use them to make a still, useful when one of your brews comes out awful. I never made anything you'd want to drink with it, but it was fun to chuck on a bbq.

Interesting, there's a bloke on youtube called Big Clive who usually does electrical stuff but now has a sideline messing around with an air still. He quite often distills spirits to see what's left behind, then either tries to recombine them or mix cheap vodka back in to see if they return to their former state.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfJjicQkYsU&list=PLRZ2v9TdaT8MDNuicQXu-GQ5j67XYJ5NV

Looks like the stills are about £150

[Ferris]

Bottled another batch today, weirdly it's the best smelling thing I've ever made and it's not particularly close.

It's a bit mad because everything I did was half-arsed. I used an extract kit to make life simple, added 3lbs of sugar to get it up to ~6%, dry hopped 2oz on the first day of primary and left it 4 weeks because I couldn't find time to sort the bottles. That should mean "grassy" smelling hops, and probably a lack of body, and everything tasting a bit thin but it smells amazing.

I did adhere to some fermenting best practices but it seems like this is going to be the way I brew for a while. Takes fuck all time on brew day and may well be excellent (although obviously could be shit). Watch this space!

[Sebastian Cobb]

Nice! I had another go at the diy ginger beer after the last one took an age to brew, but chucked some nutrient in and it went like the clappers, I'll be bottling that this weekend. I also have a Saison on the go.

[Ferris]

And I'm sure no one massively cares, but my hops will probably be ready to harvest in a week or so. Very exciting.

Will spam this thread with photos of course.

[Ferris]

Nice! I had another go at the diy ginger beer after the last one took an age to brew, but chucked some nutrient in and it went like the clappers, I'll be bottling that this weekend. I also have a Saison on the go.

I bet you do you dirty old bollocks I bet you fucking do. I've never used nutrient, which shows my level of expertise - is the saison a kit or did you pick out some yeast? I've never been much cop at that tbh, every "specialty" yeast brew I've done has been a bit of a struggle.

I'd love to try some of this kveik all the kids are on about, but I reckon I should go a full grain job for that rather than a tin of extract and throw in some hops. Might be a good one to use the "home grown" in? Make it all 'special', like.

[Ferris]

Actually maybe I should crack out the stir plate and wild yeast propagation setup I bought on a whim to prop up the local homebrew store[nb]now bust[/nb] and have only used twice.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I bet you do you dirty old bollocks I bet you fucking do. I've never used nutrient, which shows my level of expertise - is the saison a kit or did you pick out some yeast? I've never been much cop at that tbh, every "specialty" yeast brew I've done has been a bit of a struggle.

I'd love to try some of this kveik all the kids are on about, but I reckon I should go a full grain job for that rather than a tin of extract and throw in some hops. Might be a good one to use the "home grown" in? Make it all 'special', like.

I only used it because the last one was so slow, I think with normal beer there's probably enough stuff in there, and some packs contain it anyway, just taking a belt and braces approach really.

The Saison is just a bulldog kit with some hops to chuck in towards the end.

[Ferris]

Love it.

I was dead down on the kits when this thread started but fuck me having a toddler takes it out of you and now I'm a massive proponent. I could still get the grain and crush it and all that palaver but frankly I'm not gonna bother any time soon unless someone really wants to see me do it (I'm thinking father in law and brother in law who have expressed interest).

Otherwise, gimme the mad syrup tin and some sugar and away we go.

[TommyTurnips]

It's really great that this thread is still going! I currently have my Belgian black ipa on tap which is very heavy going at 9.2%. I don't know what I was thinking making such a strong beer to drink all by myself, it's so decadent and christmassy tasting that I only drink it occasionally as a night cap. On my other kegerator tap I have a session pale that I made to use up left over hops, basically it's brewdog dead pony club malt bill with all my left over hops piled into it. It actually turned out ok despite fermenting at about 30 degrees in the middle of a heat wave. Currently in the fermenter I have a woodfordes Wherry Bitter kit, despite bashing on kits earlier I decided to give this one another go as I did this apparently excellent extract kit a disservice early on in my home brewing efforts which is a shame as it is apparently one of the best kits out there. I'm trying to create a schedule where I always have something in the fermenter ready to be kegged once a keg runs dry. Can't help but feel that I have made too much beer though.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I was just doing my final checks before moving my brew into the bathroom before bottling tomorrow.

I figured I'd check it with both my refractometer and my hydrometer as I do occasionally to check they agreed as the last reading on the ref was heading below 1, turns out they were both bang on 0.996. Anyhow, the refractometer was a bit blurry when I got it but it didn't seem to want to twist when I tried to focus it, but I found that I could slip the eye-cup back slightly and it was fine. It seemed to be getting harder to see though, and I just twisted it when putting the eye cup on and then found I could focus it, and got it completely pin sharp... what a wally eh.

[Ferris]

I've reverted to guessing when it looks about done (which isn't very good) but I completely forgot I have a refractometer which would have made the whole thing a piece of piss. Sake.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've reverted to guessing when it looks about done (which isn't very good) but I completely forgot I have a refractometer which would have made the whole thing a piece of piss. Sake.

Haha. I definitely go more by time than the readings, just do one at the end to double check really.

[Ferris]

I switched to plastic PET bottles so I'm less worried about explosions than I was before. Ideally I'd take a reading and all, but I'm a lazy man.

I'll open one after ~11 days and as long as it's alright, then that's another triumph for doing half arsed job.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Nice. This ginger ale has potential, the gingeryness and fieriness (added a load of cayenne and chili flakes) is pretty much bang on, it tasted slightly tart but with some fizz in it, that'll be fine.

The first one I did was too sweet as I didn't realise the yeast sachet I had included some sweetener, sod that.

[Ferris]

Sounds quality - love a spicy ginger beer but I've yet to find one that hits the spot, usually they wimp out on spice to appeal to blando punters.

[kenneth trousers]

FWB, what's your opinion on squeezing the bag when doing the biab method?
I'm doing my first grain beer on Wednesday with my brother (Russian Imperial Stout) and it's one of those questions where there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer?
Also, we're using Ashwell spring water (5l bottles) and adding salts etc to get the water profile correct but this feels like bollocks. Can the average late 40s functioning alcoholic really pick up on additives that are in the parts per million range?

[Ferris]

I squeeze the absolute fuck out of my BIAB, why not? You use the warm water to extract the sugars from the grain, next step is to get as much of that sugar away from the grain and into the wort. For a style like a stout, it's especially important because you want as much unfermentable stuff in there as possible to give the beer more body.

I had an elaborate apparatus constructed from stacking bowls and a very robust steel colander/sieve thing[nb]got it from an industrial kitchen supply store, now sadly lost in my last move[/nb] where I'd squeeze the bag as much as possible (though be really careful not to exert pressure on the seams because if that bag breaks you're in trouble), then leave it to rest above the pot so more liquid comes out, then have another go. I'd also pour a litre or three of water into the bag to give it a rinse over my boiling pot.

Some people go further (a mate of mine bought two fermenting buckets that stack exactly inside each other, drilled holes in one, then stacked them with the grain in between and gave them the absolute business) but it's whatever you can be arsed to do. If you're just holding and squeezing the bag (which is fine[nb]everything you out in the pot is about to be boiled for an hour so no worries about sanitation etc[/nb]), you'll find it's fucking hard work because if you're doing an imperial stout around 9%, you'll have about 18lbs of grain which will weigh 40lbs when wet. Holding that at arms length over a pot then squeezing it to get liquid where you want it to go is not easy.

All that said... ehh it's up to you. I'd say go for it, it'll make a better stout that will likely mature a little earlier but you can always top up the wort with a few lbs of table sugar to hit your starting gravity. Definitely not the end of the world if you don't bother but a few minutes taking it in turns to hold the bag up and squeeze? Yeah I'd do that much effort just for the look of the thing.

Re: water chemistry - I always thought it was absolute cobblers but while waiting for my lead pipes to be fully replaced I used some spring water and it made the best beer I've done in years, a light ale around 3%. I'd say if the cost is minimal, it's worth doing if you like that type of thing, but for heavy bodied beers (and especially an imperial stout!) I very much doubt I'd notice.

Good luck!

[kenneth trousers]

Ah, cheers for that. We don't have any equipment for hanging bag over the kettle which was why I was all for squeezing it as one of us holds it. 21.5lbs of grain by the way. It was that I'd just read that squeezing it can really increase the tannin and alkalinity. Anyway, I'm over ruling him.
Next question, I want to use the empty 5l water bottles as secondary fermenters, that way I can turn one into a rum and raisin milk stout. Have you added lactose in the past, is it OK to add to the secondary fermenter?

[Ferris]

If you are making a palest of pale layers and have put in too much cara or something then yeah maybe squeezing literally every drop out would add tannins in a way that matters, but I doubt it.

Totally fine to add lactose to the secondary. It doesn't ferment (or if it does; it's negligible) so whether you have an airlock in or not, I don't think it matters.

When you say secondary, are you fermenting it in one big bucket thing for a few weeks, then transferring into 5l jugs for another few weeks without adding any sugar? I'd say that's probably not necessary - assuming you're making 20l, you could put 4.5l into the 5l jug and add lactose/raisins then leave the rest in the big bucket thing, and bottle directly from there.

The ferment in primary then rack to secondary and ferment is a bit old hat, I'd forgotten people suggest it tbh. Again, if you're making the palest of pale ales then maybe it makes sense (though even that's debatable - more trub may filter out more particulates, and anyway there are better fining agents out there these days), but for what you're doing? Not worth the hassle. One fermentation and done; with another 4-6 weeks in bottles with priming sugar to carbonate.

[kenneth trousers]

Thanks again.
I'm just concerned about oxidisation if I leave too big a air pocket in a secondary fermenter and all the recipes I've seen suggest a secondary fermentation. To be honest, we're blindly following recipes up to a point as this is our first all grain.

[Ferris]

Thanks again.
I'm just concerned about oxidisation if I leave too big a air pocket in a secondary fermenter and all the recipes I've seen suggest a secondary fermentation. To be honest, we're blindly following recipes up to a point as this is our first all grain.

Fair enough - you will get tons more oxygen into beer transferring it to secondary fermenters than leaving it in one vessel for the whole time. There's no oxygen in the fermenting vessel after a few hours because it's been replaced with heavier CO₂, and eventually it bubbles out the top via the airlock. It's how open fermentation works - you get a protective CO₂ "blanket". In the second fermenter, most of the fermenting is done so it will have air sitting on the beer for longer until the CO₂ builds back up.

Personally, I oxidize the fuck out of my beer and have never had issues (current bottling method is a Pyrex jug because syphons are for nerds) but obviously I'm just some bloke on the internet (albeit one who so far hasn't gone blind or blown up his house). If you're more comfortable following the instructions then fair enough, but it sounds like it might be an older recipe to me and a bit behind the times. Not wrong of course, just creating more work for you for no reason I can see.

I doubt it will make a difference either way - as long as you get the strike temperature right, you really have to go some to fuck up all grain beer.

[Ferris]

Now I think about it, an imperial stout will age for longer so oxidization is probably more of a concern than my run of the mill pale ales which is why I'm getting away with it. That said, I'd avoid a second fermenter but yeah you'll be fine either way.

A beer like that is so robust you're laughing. You could accidentally throw a deckchair in the wort and you'd be alright.

[kenneth trousers]

What type of deckchair do you suggest?

Brew day on Wednesday.

[Ferris]

Write down instructions, cross them off as you go, make sure everyone knows what step you're on, and limit your brew day boozing until after the boiling is done. Other than that, getting the temperature right for the grains to steep/mash is important but you can wing everything else and it'll be fine.

(Ideally something comfortable and teak or pressure treated so you can use it after boiling, but it's a personal preference and I wouldn't want to impose.)

[TommyTurnips]

Yeah I squeeze the fuck out of the bag too, and then put it in an empty fermenting bucket to let the last drips pool in the bucket while the wort is heating up to boil temperature and then tip the drips into the brew kettle.

[Ferris]

Yeah I squeeze the fuck out of the bag too, and then put it in an empty fermenting bucket to let the last drips pool in the bucket while the wort is heating up to boil temperature and then tip the drips into the brew kettle.

That's a really good solution. It takes me 15 mins to get to the rolling boil and why couldn't I be using that time to get an extra half pint of dank unfermented sugar? Will incorporate this next time I go all grain.

[kenneth trousers]

Well, that was a long old day.
Didn't help that I didn't get in bed from nights until 8am.

Got the strike water up to temperature by about 2.30pm and finally got finished at 7.40pm after tidying up.

The water struggled to get to a decent rolling boil so it took 120 minutes instead of 90 to reduce down - probably due to the stove only just having enough heat.

The homemade immersion cooler worked well.

Anyway, ended up with an OG of 1.090 so now I'm hoping that the yeast starter worked OK.

Good call on squeezing the bag by the way, must have gotten 5l out of it.

[Ferris]

Nice one!

You refine your process as you go, I have it down to just over 3hrs but with a 75 minute mash and an hour boil I don't think you can really reduce it beyond that.

Versus the kits I can have done in 20 minutes if I have the kettle boiled.

[TommyTurnips]

Some people do something called fly sparging which takes more time and is what the big breweries do to rinse more sugar out of the malt to save themselves a lot of money as they use such large volumes of malt. However, as a home brewer you only really save yourself £1 on each brew and it takes more time and special equipment. So if you are getting poor efficiency you might as well make up for it by buying extra malt.

Personally I batch sparge on my brew in the bag system by putting the bag of malt in a plastic brew bucket, pull the bag over the sides of the bucket like you would when changing a bin bag and pour the heated sparge water over the grain and leave for about 20 mins, then remove the bag, squeeze, then add the water to the wort that's in the brew kettle. Then leave the bag in the bucket to catch the drips while the kettle is heating up.

[Blue Jam]

Personally I batch sparge on my brew in the bag system

I BET YOU DO YOU DIRTY OLD BOLLOCKS

;) Not brewed for a while, I should probably be thinking about getting a Christmas ale on now. Xmas pud ale was great but still got some of that left, hopefully it's aged nicely. Might try something other than Xmas pud as the adulterant- any ideas? Thinking of chocolate orange, maybe a bit of spice. Might also try a low attenuation yeast in place of whatever's in the kit, Xmas pud ale was nice and dry but I fancy a sweeter taste this time.