First time home brewer

[TheWiggman]

14 days isn't necessary but is a good idea as a matter of course. I've recently had some issues with bottled beer (diacetyl) which could have been fixed by just leaving it a little longer. No harm leaving it a little longer, possible harm bottling straight away when FG is hit.
I also recommend forgetting about a secondary, especially if you're a new brewer. You don't need it to make good beer for standard ales, and it rules out one area for error when you're learning.
Top stuff on the first brew btw.

 

[captain_cremen]

guys ive done a 150 lashes, dr smurtos golden ale (bottled yesterday) and not touching for at least a week to 10 days

currntly got a corona on, boring i know but the mrs wants something easy drinking

i really want to make a 'punch you in the face' strong robust IPA next

any really good recipes?? my brother did one but it didnt have much body, tastes good, but didnt have the lovely mouth feel.

appreciate suggestions


-Matt

 

[captain_cremen]

Won't get any clearer than it would have in original FV.

thanks mate. i'll keep that in mind. i appreciate the input


-Matt

 

[captain_cremen]

JS use an additive to make theirs cloudy... fair bet yours will be nicer.

i think it is nicer mate. thanks!


-Matt

 

[Major Arcana]

guys ive done a 150 lashes, dr smurtos golden ale (bottled yesterday) and not touching for at least a week to 10 days

currntly got a corona on, boring i know but the mrs wants something easy drinking

i really want to make a 'punch you in the face' strong robust IPA next

any really good recipes?? my brother did one but it didnt have much body, tastes good, but didnt have the lovely mouth feel.

appreciate suggestions


-Matt

Hey mate look for the Hop Hog extract recipe on the site, it is a lovely American IPA. Highly rate it!

 

[captain_cremen]

Hey mate look for the Hop Hog extract recipe on the site, it is a lovely American IPA. Highly rate it!

thanks mate! hop hog it is


-Matt

 

[captain_cremen]

guys im a bit pissed off. im not happy with my carbonation. 2 batches kinda
1/2 flat

1st batch i primed each bottle, with dextrose, measured Amounts
of .75 per 750ml bottle

2nd batch i bulk primed, 180g dextrose to 20L

both flat

wtf


-Matt

 

[UKDavo]

guys im a bit pissed off. im not happy with my carbonation. 2 batches kinda
1/2 flat

1st batch i primed each bottle, with dextrose, measured Amounts
of .75 per 750ml bottle

2nd batch i bulk primed, 180g dextrose to 20L

both flat

wtf


-Matt

Hey mate,

I'm fairly new also so take this with a pinch of salt but...

Did you cold crash the FV prior to bottling? Reason I ask is because I did that and have run into the same problem... Still not carbed after 9 days.

 

[Flash_DG]

how long and what temp they been sitting at?

 

[antiphile]

Patience, Grasshopper(s). The Flash's questions are very valid and point to the problem. They really need to be kept at or above 18 degrees for a fortnight before you should start getting worried. I'm guessing your ales are being stored where the overnight temp is getting well below that, so they just probably need more time.

 

[captain_cremen]

how long and what temp they been sitting at?

Hi flash, bottles i primed are sitting in my bar, never higher than 24 deg

bulk primed bottles are in my spare fridge, which is off, sitting at 21 degrees


1st batch bottled 3 weeks ago
2nd batch bottled 2 weeks ago

im bout to bottle on wednesday. wtf am i doing wrong here


-Matt

 

[Nizmoose]

Hi flash, bottles i primed are sitting in my bar, never higher than 24 deg

bulk primed bottles are in my spare fridge, which is off, sitting at 21 degrees


1st batch bottled 3 weeks ago
2nd batch bottled 2 weeks ago

im bout to bottle on wednesday. wtf am i doing wrong here


-Matt

I wouldn't freak out yet, firstly I have had a batch not carb up after three weeks and a bit longer sorted it, honestly I think a lot of your beer will only get better for 6 or so weeks so I'd chill out and leave it for 4-6 then crack a few and then if no carbonation you have a problem. Cold crashing depending on how long and how good a job you've done will make your beer take longer to carb. If your beer is really clear it's likely that there's not heaps of yeast there to carb, I'd recommend inverting the bottles and giving a little side to side shake to ressuspend the yeast that should help speed up carbonation a bit, I'd do that once a week for 4-6 weeks then see where you stand. Another potential issue is sugar, no matter how much you rouse the yeast if there's no sugar there won't be Co2 but you appear to have that covered, one last thing; your caps, definitely on good? Put a water balloon or small balloon or something over the bottle make sure it's airtight then shake the bottle, if it inflates then your caps are leaking. That's about all I can think of.

 

[Blind Dog]

Take a gravity reading next time you open one. If it's still at FG (or less) then you've got an issue with your lids/caps as it doesn't look like you underdosed. If it's above FG then it needs more time and maybe a rousing of the yeast will help as already suggested.

Pic you posted earlier doesn't look under carbonated BTW

 

[Flash_DG]

More time like others have said, even here in Brisbane i am having to wait 3+ weeks for my belgain blonde to carb up properly. It gets cold over night which tends to put the little buggers back to sleep then half the morning to warm back up again

 

[captain_cremen]

Hi guys, cheers for the replies. i know the bottles are fine, theyre flip top and brand new from the brew shop and take an arm and a leg to close because the rubber seals are so new.

ive got 1/2 my Dr Smurtos golden ale boxed up and im not going to open them for another 2 weeks, that'll be 6 weeks bottle aged.

my brother uses the same bottles and his smurtos was amazing

im half thinking that maybe i didnt rinse well enough after sanitising??? if there is sanitisig agent in the bottle that would explain it yeh?

im bottling tomorrow night, should i bulk prime or bottle prime ???


-Matt

 

[Nizmoose]

Hi guys, cheers for the replies. i know the bottles are fine, theyre flip top and brand new from the brew shop and take an arm and a leg to close because the rubber seals are so new.

ive got 1/2 my Dr Smurtos golden ale boxed up and im not going to open them for another 2 weeks, that'll be 6 weeks bottle aged.

my brother uses the same bottles and his smurtos was amazing

im half thinking that maybe i didnt rinse well enough after sanitising??? if there is sanitisig agent in the bottle that would explain it yeh?

im bottling tomorrow night, should i bulk prime or bottle prime ???


-Matt

What sanitiser are you using? If it's Star-san or a similar no rinse sanitiser then it shouldn't be a problem at all, I use Starsan and leave a heap of foam in each bottle which comes up and out of the bottle as it is filled. Never had any carb problems.

EDIT: If you are able to I'd bulk prime, it does save a bit of time, having said that I regularly use bottling specific sugar scoops to do each bottle individually for when I am doing large batches (i only have one big vessel), pretty much anyone on here will tell you to Bulk Prime.

 

[Kingy]

My mate didn't pull his bottle capper lever down hard enough on his first 2 batches and some gas escaped as they where carbing up so came out undercarbed. But like others have said wait at least 6-8 weeks to sample bottled beer. If your drinking earlier your only testing the carbonation levels and not the finished aged product. So every beer you drink before that time frame is wasted.
Saying that it is good to sample here and there to see and learn the aging process.
A few smaller bottles help to use as samplers so your not wasting a whole tallie.

 

[captain_cremen]

i'm having a crack at the HOP HOG this weekend lads

any suggestions? good or bad idea
to try this on my 4th brew?


-Matt

 

[burrster]

i'm having a crack at the HOP HOG this weekend lads

any suggestions? good or bad idea
to try this on my 4th brew?


-Matt

Well, you gotta do it at some point. So why not now? It's a good one to try. Just know your procedure. Have you steeped grains and done hops additions before? Hop hog has alot of hops.

 

[captain_cremen]

Well, you gotta do it at some point. So why not now? It's a good one to try. Just know your procedure. Have you steeped grains and done hops additions before? Hop hog has alot of hops.

hey mate. ive steeped grain (well crystal malt) for my smurtos golden ale

never done hop additions tho.. i figure if i get all my stuff organised, its just a recipe.. take my time and shld be fine (i hope)

you ever done a hop hog?


-Matt

 

[Nizmoose]

hey mate. ive steeped grain (well crystal malt) for my smurtos golden ale
never done hop additions tho.. i figure if i get all my stuff organised, its just a recipe.. take my time and shld be fine (i hope)
you ever done a hop hog?
-Matt

Hi mate my first ever batch after watching a mates dad do some k&k batches was a steeped grain and hop addition batch, theres nothing to it A lot of people suggest making a hop tea and adding that to the batch, IMO it overcmplicates things and doesn't help the learning for future boils. Simple as steeping your grain in say 5L of water as you probably id last batch then bumping the heat up to get the water or technically wort up to a boil after youve removed the grain bag. Once shes boiling add your hops at whenever your recipe says. 60minute addition is added at the start of a 60 minute boil, 20 minute addition 20 minutes from the end. My first batch was simply a 5 minute addition for some aroma thus I brought the wort up to boil, chucked the hops in, boiled for five minutes, turned the heat off, done!

 

[yum beer]

captain. regards your carbonation you'll find 180grams dex in a 23 litre batch too little.
You probably want 200-220grams depending on style, but as others have said give your bottles time.
You cant get calculators online for amount of sugar needed for different carb levels by style, try brewersfriend, they have good stuff on there.

 

[Yob]

captain. regards your carbonation you'll find 180grams dex in a 23 litre batch too little.
You probably want 200-220grams depending on style, but as others have said give your bottles time.
You cant get calculators online for amount of sugar needed for different carb levels by style, try brewersfriend, they have good stuff on there.

http://webspace.webring.com/people/ms/sirleslie/AlcoholChart/PrimingCalculator.html

or

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

I assume thats a typeo Yum?

ed: typo

 

[burrster]

hey mate. ive steeped grain (well crystal malt) for my smurtos golden ale

never done hop additions tho.. i figure if i get all my stuff organised, its just a recipe.. take my time and shld be fine (i hope)

you ever done a hop hog?


-Matt

Yeah, twice. My second version is probably my best beer so far. I'll be doing it regularly for sure, along with Dr smurtos golden ale. Have you got your recipe yet?

 

[Nizmoose]

captain. regards your carbonation you'll find 180grams dex in a 23 litre batch too little.
You probably want 200-220grams depending on style, but as others have said give your bottles time.
You cant get calculators online for amount of sugar needed for different carb levels by style, try brewersfriend, they have good stuff on there.

Are you sure? at 2.4 vols of Co2 any calculator I use comes up with a 150g ish estimation for dex? I'm assuming 2.4 is about average.

 

[captain_cremen]

Hi mate my first ever batch after watching a mates dad do some k&k batches was a steeped grain and hop addition batch, theres nothing to it A lot of people suggest making a hop tea and adding that to the batch, IMO it overcmplicates things and doesn't help the learning for future boils. Simple as steeping your grain in say 5L of water as you probably id last batch then bumping the heat up to get the water or technically wort up to a boil after youve removed the grain bag. Once shes boiling add your hops at whenever your recipe says. 60minute addition is added at the start of a 60 minute boil, 20 minute addition 20 minutes from the end. My first batch was simply a 5 minute addition for some aroma thus I brought the wort up to boil, chucked the hops in, boiled for five minutes, turned the heat off, done!

mate... love this! simplifies it so much. cheers!! im making it tomorrow

im actually on my 4th real hop hog right now.. $18 for 4 bottles!!!


-Matt

 

[captain_cremen]

captain. regards your carbonation you'll find 180grams dex in a 23 litre batch too little.
You probably want 200-220grams depending on style, but as others have said give your bottles time.
You cant get calculators online for amount of sugar needed for different carb levels by style, try brewersfriend, they have good stuff on there.

hey mate, im lucky to punch out 19.5L per batch. i try not to dilute it.. gives me less beer but more flavour IMO


i put 185g of dextrose in my corona that i bottled on Wednesday so i'll let you know how it goes


-Matt

 

[captain_cremen]

Are you sure? at 2.4 vols of Co2 any calculator I use comes up with a 150g ish estimation for dex? I'm assuming 2.4 is about average.

i think if i put 220g i'd have bottles exploding in my garage.

if my next brew
turns out flat im buying a keg. problem solved


-Matt

 

[Nizmoose]

Haha yeah just wait till you're making craft beer quality beers that cost you $12 a carton or even less!

 

[yum beer]

captain. regards your carbonation you'll find 180grams dex in a 23 litre batch too little.
You probably want 200-220grams depending on style, but as others have said give your bottles time.
You cant get calculators online for amount of sugar needed for different carb levels by style, try brewersfriend, they have good stuff on there.

Where the **** did I get those figures from...........
5.5 to 6 gm a litre.....126-138gm dextrose.....more like it.
Sorry if anybody took that piece of useless advice.

Pulling ones head in.......