The home brew thread

[Crabbers]

Might be a stupid question, but I have looked and may be suffering temporary blindness, but does the mixture need stirring in the fermenting bucket?

Are you using a kit? If so then yes. Stir it every time you add anything basically buddy

Yeah I did all of that when I mixed it to start with, it's been in since midday yesterday, do I stir it every day, or just leave it?

Just leave it. You don't want to risk contamination or unsettle the trub at the bottom of the bucket. I think, ideally, once you've done the initial mix, pop the lid on and don't touch it again for a couple of weeks. Just let the yeast do it's thing.

 

[Bilboblue]

Are you using a kit? If so then yes. Stir it every time you add anything basically buddy

Yeah I did all of that when I mixed it to start with, it's been in since midday yesterday, do I stir it every day, or just leave it?

Just leave it. You don't want to risk contamination or unsettle the trub at the bottom of the bucket. I think, ideally, once you've done the initial mix, pop the lid on and don't touch it again for a couple of weeks. Just let the yeast do it's thing.

Thanks Crabbers

 

[bumbleblue]

My beer has shrunk? When I barrelled the wherry I siphoned it up to the top indentation and left a gap. As I didn't want to syphon all the crap into the barrel...the space at the top has grown in 24 hours about an inch further down....what is that? I can only assume that what I think is a gap is head.??
Anyway...I have put dried elderflower sachet in country wine kit tonight and it looks like a bung all wedged in the top of the demi John is this right? I shook it gently as instructed but it all just floated back to the top..got to put stabilizer and finings in tomorrow and then shake out co2...fingers crossed
Finally since I am now as addicted to brewing as I am to blue moon...can anyone recommend a really good stout..I like a creamy head (Jesus)...that lasts ..I have looked at st peters, muntons imperial, coopers and wilkos own massive difference in price between first 2 & last 2 ...but want nice one for crimbo..sorry for the long post..cheers again all

 

[bumbleblue]

Always sounds like a right laugh round yours taxi... anyway.. crisis here... barrel appears to have a leak somewhere .. think its a slow one from the tap.. so am off work and bottling... hope I have enough bottles.. ah balls to it I will errrr "sample" the rest.. haha just waiting for sterilizer to work its magic on the 14 bottles I have to hand..
incidentally the elderflower wine smells amazing.. soo wait and see on that I guess

 

[Crabbers]

Just leave it. You don't want to risk contamination or unsettle the trub at the bottom of the bucket. I think, ideally, once you've done the initial mix, pop the lid on and don't touch it again for a couple of weeks. Just let the yeast do it's thing.

Thanks Crabbers

Yep good call crabbers

Haha... I learned from the best taxi!

 

[Two Gun Bob]

Always sounds like a right laugh round yours taxi... anyway.. crisis here... barrel appears to have a leak somewhere .. think its a slow one from the tap.. so am off work and bottling... hope I have enough bottles.. ah balls to it I will errrr "sample" the rest.. haha just waiting for sterilizer to work its magic on the 14 bottles I have to hand..
incidentally the elderflower wine smells amazing.. soo wait and see on that I guess

Sure I saw the Elderflower in Wilko today
We give everything a try .
Are the instructions pretty much similar as the Barolla I have done.
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Did you ferment it in the FV and then move it afterwards to your demi-johns ?

On the Barolla I am still in the secondary
After the finings are added it says to store it in a cool place for 3-7 days to clear off and then go ahead and bottle up which will hopefully be Monday or Tuesday barring no more cock-ups.
Wife is the main wine drinker in the house and as a personal preference errs towards reds but she does enjoy white wine occasionally so let us know how you went on pal.
Elderflower sound very good indeed !
Happy days
Taxi

 

[bumbleblue]

The instructions for my wilko elderflower are less complex but follow the same principles..ie sterilise add tin kit..and nutrafine let ti begin to ferment at about 20%s then three days later top up leave it until no bubbles through airlock , then add stabilizer and finings de gas and wait... and I am only doing 6 bottles..to start with so used just Demi john not fv.Am de gassing by looning about with it and then it says to put it somewhere cool and leave to clear for about 10 days depending on the temperature. Patience is a virtue I appear to be developing though if you had seen my uber flap when the wherry leaked...ah well we live and learn...

 

[Two Gun Bob]

The instructions for my wilko elderflower are less complex but follow the same principles..ie sterilise add tin kit..and nutrafine let ti begin to ferment at about 20%s then three days later top up leave it until no bubbles through airlock , then add stabilizer and finings de gas and wait... and I am only doing 6 bottles..to start with so used just Demi john not fv.Am de gassing by looning about with it and then it says to put it somewhere cool and leave to clear for about 10 days depending on the temperature. Patience is a virtue I appear to be developing though if you had seen my uber flap when the wherry leaked...ah well we live and learn...

Ha hah
Quality Bumble.
Have a gander at that degassing stick I just cut n pasted,its reduced down to £10
Piss take for what is
In essence just a plastic wand with propellers but looks like it could save the day !
Need a drill too but it has to make the job easier than manually and monotonously swirling a paddle round and round and round and round and .........round and round.

Just bottled up the Wilko pilsner with 175gram batch prime.
Only took 20 minutes start to finish.
I love my Tesco bottling system
Doesn't look posh but works like a dream.
Happy days and definitely my kind of brewing.
Low maintenance all the way from now on.

 

[Crabbers]

At least you managed to rescue it taxi! Sounds like a 4 bottle loss isn't too bad all things considered! I'm guessing this is a very different way of making the wine compared to the jubilee kit?

With the tesco bottling system, does the beer not go flat in the bottle once its been opened?

 

[Two Gun Bob]

At least you managed to rescue it taxi! Sounds like a 4 bottle loss isn't too bad all things considered! I'm guessing this is a very different way of making the wine compared to the jubilee kit?

With the tesco bottling system, does the beer not go flat in the bottle once its been opened?

Tesco bottling system (c) pending ; )

Not really because you drink the full two litre bottle in one professional sitting.
If you was to pour a pint then the remainder in the bottle would indeed probably go flat over a few hours period.
Best to decant into a pyrex jug let it settle and then pour into your weapon of choice.
I like the Stella glasses and the San Miguel goblet glasses because they look the doggies bollocks and are great to slurp from especially nice and chilled out of the refrigerator.
You would not believe how much messing this system has reduced for me.
But ultimately its each to their own
Whatever works best for you is a good system to follow
Did 10 gallon of lager and used approximately 130 300ml bottles.
Had to sterilize them all and then individually cap them all and it took an absolute eternity to achieve
I just did a 5 gallon batch in 20 minutes
And as a final Brucie bonus you get to add beautiful Tesco naturally sourced spring water to your batches.
After the bottles become empty you simply pop them in the dusty bin... Amen to that eh.
Have a look at this clever chappie serving out his Woodies Wherry.



A fairly similar process to be honest with the Jubilee.
The mistakes I made were just being very clumsy knocking things over and attempting to swirl a five gallon bucket by hand that ended in near disaster

Just had a little nibble of a few bottles tonight from a batch of Australian Coopers green top with the ale yeast.
Brewed 03/07/14
Gold caps
STARTING GRAVITY 1044
FINAL GRAVITY 1008

Strength @ 4.5% ABV
Brewed with 750g brew sugar and 500 gram light malt extract
33gram Hallertau mittelfrau hops added after primary for 10-12 days
Bottled on 24th July

Very pleased with the taste. Definitely taste the Hallertau aroma hops coming through. Again pleased with this and its such an easy one to brew. No messing with the incredibly long winded lagering processes and pretty much a bomb proof kit to make up.. Well done Coopers !