375ml Pet Screw Top Bottles And Other Questions

[shazzam]

Dear Maxy,

Welcome to the wonderful world of brewing !


I suppose out of all the advice I have really taken to heart it is

1. Keep it constant - once you get the temperature of the wort down to the level you want
- try and keep it as close to that temperature as you can - take a tiny look at the weather forecasts to see if there are any predicted REALLY HOT days so you can stock up on ice etc.

2. Clean everything but don't scrub it - get a good sanitiser that works for you, a microfibre
cloth (recommend coles smartbuy 2 micro cleaning cloths about $4 - like a face washer) and a babys or soft toothbrush (for tap threds) as well as a bottlebrush. I find microfibre will find any burrs on plastic but wont create them - it also persuades the ring of grunge off very nicely. And they are easily washed and sanitised themselves.

3. Light is the enemy of any beer in storage - you were talking pet bottles - not my go personally but some brands have green or brown tints that help. Honestly you would be better off buying a capper !

4. Searching for recipes is fun but keep an absolute record - I am still searching for the perfect JS Amber Ale
this isnt the hardest task I have had I must say - but you need to document all the ingredients so if you find your Corona recipe you will know what went in it.

5. Have fun - I am about to make an odds and ends beer - just a bit of this and that I have left over - maybe weird but will be different !

have fun on your quest !

 

[maxy007]

Hi Maxy, welcome to the hobby and to the forum!

(It looks like there are a couple of ladies joining us, is there some kind of master plan behind this? Be on your guard fellas, or there'll be quiche at your next club meeting)

Haha Wortgames,
We ladies were going to perform a home brewing Coup quietly one by one but you've found us out and now we have to come clean all together!! I was thinking cheesecake instead of quiche, would that be ok?

Thanks to you and everone else's for the wonderful information you share. I really appreciate it.
The more I read the more I can't wait to get stuck into brewing my own beer.
Once I get all the gear I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

Maxy :beer:

 

[maxy007]

Dear Maxy,

Welcome to the wonderful world of brewing !
I suppose out of all the advice I have really taken to heart it is

1. Keep it constant - once you get the temperature of the wort down to the level you want
- try and keep it as close to that temperature as you can - take a tiny look at the weather forecasts to see if there are any predicted REALLY HOT days so you can stock up on ice etc.

2. Clean everything but don't scrub it - get a good sanitiser that works for you, a microfibre
cloth (recommend coles smartbuy 2 micro cleaning cloths about $4 - like a face washer) and a babys or soft toothbrush (for tap threds) as well as a bottlebrush. I find microfibre will find any burrs on plastic but wont create them - it also persuades the ring of grunge off very nicely. And they are easily washed and sanitised themselves.

3. Light is the enemy of any beer in storage - you were talking pet bottles - not my go personally but some brands have green or brown tints that help. Honestly you would be better off buying a capper !

4. Searching for recipes is fun but keep an absolute record - I am still searching for the perfect JS Amber Ale
this isnt the hardest task I have had I must say - but you need to document all the ingredients so if you find your Corona recipe you will know what went in it.

5. Have fun - I am about to make an odds and ends beer - just a bit of this and that I have left over - maybe weird but will be different !

have fun on your quest !

Thanks mate,
I'll certianly keep these points in mind.
I'll be keeping a spreadsheet and notes on how I do things so if I get that perfect drop I will be able to recreate it!!
Good luck with your odds and ends brew it sounds like it'll be alot of fun and lets hope it tastes fantastic!!

Cheers,

Maxy

 

[maxy007]

Welcome to the world of home brew Maxie.

Col at "brew your own at home" in Kambah shops supplies an iodine base sanitiser that is cheap and effective. I have used it for 12 brews with no infections or bad tastes on a no rinse basis.

Thanks Brewtus,
What do you mean by a no rinse basis? Do you use the iodine base sanitiser instead of bleach?

Cheers,

Maxy

 

[Brewtus]

Thanks Brewtus,
What do you mean by a no rinse basis? Do you use the iodine base sanitiser instead of bleach?

Cheers,

Maxy

I only use bleach when desperate. I am yet to get an infection. You buy the Iodine concentrate and some brewers detergent. Wash everything in the detergent, which is pretty mild stuff. You mix the iodine in a spray pack and spray the inside of the fermenter, all the parts when disassembled and inside the bottles and leave them for 20 min. All you need to do is pour the excess out and maybe give the fermenter a quick slosh with a splash of water. The iodine in moderation (trace levels) is actually good for you and doesn't affect the taste of your beer.

 

[maxy007]

I only use bleach when desperate. I am yet to get an infection. You buy the Iodine concentrate and some brewers detergent. Wash everything in the detergent, which is pretty mild stuff. You mix the iodine in a spray pack and spray the inside of the fermenter, all the parts when disassembled and inside the bottles and leave them for 20 min. All you need to do is pour the excess out and maybe give the fermenter a quick slosh with a splash of water. The iodine in moderation (trace levels) is actually good for you and doesn't affect the taste of your beer.

Excellent!! I'll be sure to get some of that.
Thanks for the info.

 

[Drulupis]

Greets

Yet ANOTHER Canberra brewer ;-)


Brownie,
I love the idea of the insulated container to keep the fermenter cool. Adding salt to the bottles of frozen water will bring their temperature down below zero (up to -20 based on my readings depending on the amount of salt added). I'm going to try this. So far I've just used a wet towel draped around the fermenter which drops it by several degrees. Sitting it in an insulated tub of frozen salt water, with the towel draped around the fermenter and the bottom of the towel sitting in the melting water should keep the fermenter temp quite a bit lower.


Maxy,
the iodine based solution that Brewtus mentioned is called "Iodophor Sanitizing Solution". It costs $11.70 for 250ml, which goes a long way. I add 10ml to every 10L, and the solution can be reused until it loses its potency. As Brewtus says, it requires no rinsing, thereby reducing your water requirements, especially good during these Level 3 restrictions we're under here in the ACT. After draining the solution you just let the fermenter air dry.

I use two fermenters, and still use bottles at the moment.
Once the specific gravity in my primary fermenter stabilises, I transfer the beer (very carefully so as to minimise aeration of the wort as much as possible) to the second fermenter. This helps separate the beer from the yeast/hop/adjuct residue at the bottom.

I collect the yeast from the primary fermenter for my next batch (I use Nottingham Ale for most of my brews), then I sanitize the primary.

I fill it with water, and add the Iodophor. 30L water = 30ml Iodophor.
After letting it sit for several hours, I use the solution to sanitize my bottles.
I fill the fermenter with as many bottles as possible, let them sit for 30 minutes, then drain them out and sit them on the bottle tree.

Then once I've bottled the beer from my secondary fermenter, I transfer the iodophor solution from the primary into the secondary for sanitizing.


The iodine in the solution disperses when exposed to light, so when I'm done sanitizing I transfer the solution to a separate clear plastic storage bucket and let it sit outside for a day or two. I then use the water on my lawn.

I ALWAYS have a spray bottle of Iodophor solution ready at all times. It's great for spraying equipment before introducing it into your wort, and spraying the fermenter tap before connecting the racking/bottling tubes.

Thus it takes 30ml to sanitize each batch - both fermenters and all bottles. I get around 8 batches out of each bottle. I've been brewing for just over a year now and am only on my second bottle - and there's still 1/3 of THAT left.


It's a great idea to keep a log of your brewing - your Brew Diary. I sample a bottle of each brew after 3 weeks conditioning and make notes on aroma, flavours and carbonation on the relative page in my diary.
I add more notes as the brew gets older. This helps me keep track of what effects maturation has on each beer.

BYO have a spreadsheet you can use, but I'm sure a Google search will show up many others.
http://byo.com/spreadsheet/

And lastly, I've learned quite a lot of tidbits listening to the BasicBrewing radiocast.
I put the headphones on whilst I'm pottering around the garden.
http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/

The first 5 videocasts are good for info too. You get to watch James and Steve going through the paces of an extract-brew.
http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/index.php?page=video


Cheers all, and brew up some fun.

Drulupis

 

[Brownie]

Drulupis,

Last time I looked the Reject Shop at Gunghalin had 125 Litre Plastic storage containers with Lids for $22, bargain.

I also use plastic bottles full of hot water in winter if the temp gets too low.

Maxy,

I use Woolworths brand nappy wash powder with sodium percarbinate in it and unscented, this works fine as a sanitiser, I also use unscented bleach sometimes, never had a problem, well none that I know of.


Brownie

 

[Drulupis]

Onya Brownie

fortunately the Gungahlin Shops are a mere 3 minutes drive ;-)

cheers mate.

 

[Brownie]

Drulupis,

Was as the Gunghalin Shops today and the Reject Shop have 125 Litre Storage containers for $20 each. I think I saw about 6 or 8 left.

Brownie.