First timer - Quick question!

10 months ago | thurgie (Member)

Hello everyone. This is my first post on here, but i have been reading a few tips over the last week that have been very helpful. I started my first kit on Friday (Wherry bitter) and it's bubbling away nicely. (added extra malt extract and will add goldings tomorrow night. Thanks Saracen!).

Now i have also got a Cooper's Mexican Cerveza which i was going to start once i transfer the Wherry to the barrel and probably bottles in a couple of weeks, but i wanted to check how long the beers generally last in bottles, and for future reference, in the barrel? I don't want to go too mad and end up wasting any!

Thanks

Drinking: Wherry, Mexican Cerveza, Ginger Beer, Coopers English Bitter, Apple & Raspberry Cider, Turbo Cider, Goldings Brew (Golden Hen)
Conditioning:Red Wine, Sparkling Wine
Fermenting:Father & Son (Way to Amarillo made with me Pa), Spirits
Planning:To drink more before my next brew.

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Responses

saracen:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

Hi Thurgie. The answer to your question is pretty much for ever in bottles and, reputedly, up to a year in the barrel, although I've never made one last more than a couple of months!
Are you thinking of enhancing the Mexican kit? I see it's listed with a colour of 53 EBC. That's about the same as Mackeson! Can't be right. Rather than use sugar you would be better to use 1.0 kg of Extra Pale Dried Malt Extract. More body, more flavour. You could add a nice bit of citrus with Cascade or Amarillo dry hopped in the fermenter as you are doing with the Goldings.
Keep at it!

If you're not living on the edge..... you're taking up too much space!!

Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!

E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com

thurgie:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Thanks Saracen. Would that be the Spraymalt extra light?
This is all still a bit jibberish to me at the moment, but am interested in going in to this in much more depth. Are there any good books you could recommend that will tell me about the different ingredients and their effects on the brew?

Greg:

Posted 10 months ago by Admin

Hi Thurgie and welcome to the forum.

There was a post on books somewhere but I can't find it. Most of the books available focus on All Grain brewing but they will give you an understanding of the ingredients.

These are probably the best two.

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/books/beer/brew-your-own-british-ale.html

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/books/beer/how-to-brew.html

The second is probably slightly better for a Non All Grain brewer as it has more info on extract brewing and its more in depth.

thurgie:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Thanks Greg.

A couple more questions with regards to my Wherry brew. Firstly, i am planning on bottling the Wherry from the fermenter. Is it easier to siphon straight in to bottles and add 1/2 tsp sugar to each bottle or transfer to the barrel with the sugar and then pour in to bottles? This sounds easier, but i'm worried about the oxygen with the 'extra handling'.
Secondly, i have read that once the Wherry is bottled it should be left at about 20 degrees for a week(ish) and then moved to a cooler place (12 degrees) to clear. My question is can it be left at 20 degrees to clear? This is basically the temperature in our new 'brewery' (otherwise known as a utility room) and i'll always have my beers left out of the fridge to drink at room temperature anyway!

**A quick side note. My wife bought me a few bottles at the weekend (need bottles for the Wherry and figured i may as well get them with beer in instead of empty ones!!) and amongst the varieties was Ringwood Fortyniner. Fantastic beer. Anyway i've just seen that there's a recipe for it on here. It'll definately be my first extract brew once i get the hang of things. Can't wait

peter:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

I bottle from the keg and it seems ok As for the temp it will just take a bit longer to clear

5 gal geordie bitter
5 gal St Peters Golden Ale as per tin
Youngs Harvest Mild
all a bit moded

Nath:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

Hello Thirgie!

Bottking from the keg straight away if fine as long as you have added the sugar as a liquid. We call this batch priming:-

Boil 200mls water with the appropriate amount of sugar for 10mins, cool then put into keg and syphon beer on top.

That way when you bottle the sugar is already mixed in evenly.

Keeping beer at 20c is fine, and will still clear fine, infact you may find it clears quicker due to most of the protiens that cause things like chill haze will not chow at that kinda temp.

Drinkin' - nowt, it's all gone

Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!

nathbrew@gmail.com

thurgie:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Excellent thanks guys. Just need to wait another 11 days!!

I can't believe how much i have been staring at a bucket over the last three days, just watching bubbles burst in the airlock. I'm like a little kid looking at a sweet jar!!

Also, in my excitement of making my first brew, i didn't take a gravity reading at the start. Now i know the kit says the ABV will be about 4.5%, but as i added 250g dry malt extract at the start, i assume this will change the final ABV?? Any ideas what the gravity reading would have been at the start?

saracen:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

Would that be the Spraymalt extra light?

Yes, that,s the stuff. There are a lot of books around, but the 2 Greg recommended are very good. If you follow Graham Wheeler's methods you don't go far wrong. There is so much conflicting advice out there that if you refer to too many sources it all gets very confusing.

You could look at this.

http://byo.com/resources/hops

There's a drop down menu at the top where you can specify a beer style and you get a list of the hops recommended for that style. It's a start to understanding what different hops do.

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