First Brew This Week Yey!

[NewBeerBoss]

Hey,
I got my two kits all ready to go one for racking just got to buy my plastic hose for siphoning. So i will begin sterilizing on saturday ints tuesday today by the way. Start the brew Sunday. Racking around the following Friday. Then lit it sit for ten days ish until at 1010 then Bulk prime and bottle. AM I CORRECT IN A GENERAL SENSE.
First question is i will be replacing the 1kg of dexrose sugar with either 1kg liquid malt or 500g liquid malt and 500g of honey. I have read this somewhere and it sounds tasty to me what u think?
And will the hydrometer reading be a lil different considering its not the ordinary sugar what SG do i Rack, What SG do i bottle/prime?
Cheers

 

[GMK]

Hope your first brew goes well.

Answers:
Your 50/50 mix should do well.
What is your base can- have done this yonks ago with a coopers lager and draught.
Dont worry about the gravity when you rack - i rack after 7 days for ales and 10 days for lagers.
FG will/could be higher than 1008/1010 due to the non fermentables in the honey- have bottled as high as 1016 and my huge KERIS at 1025 (started at 1120)

Also, where/what state do you live?

 

[NewBeerBoss]

I am using a Brewiser Brand Draught can which is probablly not as good as coopers but it came with the kit.
I am from Perth WA.
Cheers for help mate. I am now ready to go

 

[Batz]

Go for it new boss , If I where you I'll ditch the honey on my first brews and go for the malt.
Sure it will all go well , there's no turning back for here on !

 

[NewBeerBoss]

cheers batz i agree ill go with 1kg of the malt. Also what is the definition of food grade i mean like im going to buy the siphon tube now how will i know if food grade if its sterile and see through and not food grade it should be fine?

 

[Batz]

I just ues that clear tube you buy per meter at the hardware stores

 

[Wreck]

Food grade plastic is HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). Less chance for contaminants from the plastic leeching into your brew. On plastic containers, the symbol is a 2 in a triangle, I think.

 

[Batz]

That's true but the new boss just wants a tube , for racking I believe , clear tube will be OK , just sterile it , this you know already

 

[Trough Lolly]

I know that this is gonna sound like I'm a world champion at scrounging, but when our second boy was born on Tuesday last week, the nurse had some green plastic tubing that she was gonna use on the missus - she f*cked up the connection (blunt scissors) and was about to toss 2+ metres of perfectly good, sterile, tubing in the can.

I gave her a sly wink and it ended up in the wife's suitcase!

One more racking tube to add to the setup!

Cheers,

TL (Budget Brewer!!)

 

[Jazman]

and new boss i would add some hops with that 1kg of malt because if you dont it may be a bit sweet i would throw in about 25 - 30 grm halletua when you are boling th malt extract and leave the hops for 10 mins then strain

 

[GMK]

TL

Only you can be thinking of home brewing when you wife is giving birth...

TIC

Jazman

I dont strain my hops - it all goes into the primary. Once the hops are covered by dead yeast cells - no more hop flavour.

 

[NewBeerBoss]

So GMK what should i do just add the hops as directed on the instructions and ****.

 

[PostModern]

So GMK what should i do just add the hops as directed on the instructions and ****.

It's best to take care of your bodily functions before you start. That way you won't be distracted or uncomfortable while you're brewing. Definately **** first, wash your hands then hop as per the instructions.

 

[GMK]

I use a 20ltr SS stock pot currently for my boils.
I also utlise my wok burner on the side of my BBQ.

I would add the LME - 1kg- to at least 5 ltrs of water and throw in the hops.

Boil for 20 mins - let stand for 10 mins and then add to the primary.
Tip for adding can contents to the primary.

Sterlise primary first.
Use can opener - clean - to cut lid off leaving apprx 1cm. eg lid cant come off.
Now bend lid 90 degrees. Upturn can emptying contents into fermenter.
Can should now be able to rest on upturned lid and base of can on the rim of the fermenter allowing everything to drain down.
Leave the can thu ssupported while you make your yeat starter/rehydrate yeast and boil your LME and Hops.

The hot wort from the stock pot is enough to melt aid in the mixing of the can goo.

Hope this helps.

 

[Trough Lolly]

NBB,

Further to Ken's good advice, make sure that you don't pitch the yeast starter into the wort until the whole thing has cooled down to an acceptable temp. If you just chuck in the yeast starter (and ****) then you will kill the yeast and end up with a stuck ferment (and ****).

Use a sterile thermometer or stick a temp guage to the side of the fermenter and hold off on pitching your yeast until the brew is down to at least 24C for an ale - and lower if it's a lager.

I have a large SS pot too and once the brew has finished boiling etc, I pour the wort into the sterilised fermenter, on top of the "goo" and then I add chilled water to fill. The chilled water is pre-boiled and stored in the fridge the night before in some clean 3L ex-pepsi bottles. Pouring in the bottles is good to splash the wort around (you need to add oxygen here to help the yeast to go ape) and at least three bottles (9L) of chilled water really helps cool things down quickly within the fermenter, rather than spending too much time staring and sweating over a hot fermenter.

It's also a heap cheaper than spending big bucks on some fancy copper immersion cooler - that fun comes later if you want to get right into mashing and full grain brewing.

Cheers,

TL

 

[PostModern]

I chuck my SS pot into a sink full of ice packs and cold water for 30 mins or longer. Swirl it occassionally to speed up the chilling. Rapid chilling assists in acheiving cold break. Swirling helps to clump the hops together in the bottom of the middle of the pot, so you can pour off the beer and leave the hops in the pot (if you like). I then dump it into the fermenter and top up with cold tap water with the tap head set on aerate for lots of O2. I then stir and stir and splash the mix around to ensure good and even distribution of the concentrated boil with the water. So I get an instant temp ready to pitch and tons of air in the wort before the yeast starter hits it (but no ****). Too easy

EDIT: Ooops. Boss is talking about finished beer, not wort boiling. Ignore this post. Nothing to see here.