First Timer

[Blaze_Bulldog]

Ok guys, first time brewer here. Been meaning to get into it for a while and finnaly gathered up the courage to dive in.

Thought I would take it easy and just do a kit from Brewcraft to start off with. When I bought my gear it came with my selection of one of brewcrafts premium kit beers. I chose the Little creatures pale ale, it contains:
-Black rock Pilsner blonde
-Spray wheat malt 250g
-Brew blend #15
-Saf ale S05
-Cascade finishing hops
-Williamette finishing hops

All in all I think my first go has been a success...... so far.
Temps at a steady 20/21 C, Airlocks bubbling away fine and as far as I know I cleaned and sanitised everything perfectly fine.

First question, when adding wheat malt and brewblend, whats the best way to get it to dissolve? It seemed to take forever and even close to the end it still had tiny bits not dissolved. I gave up and put her in anyway hoping it would dissolve slowly in the fermentor.
Next question, what do you guys use as a vessel to place the delicous beer into to test for SG?

Lastly, I took an sg and it came out as 1.066. Too high? The volume of the brew is 21L and was tested at 20 C.

Cheers

 

[Lodan]

Welcome BB!

I find the best way to dissolve dried malt is to add small a small to about a litre of water in a 2L jug. Then whip the hell out of it with a hand whisk!
I probably do about 170g at a time.

Mixing dried malt with hot water normally sees the malt clump alot quicker and it's then far harder to mix. Ultimately it will dissolve/ferment away in the fermenter.

I suggest a tall, thin glass or tube for SG.

With you ingredients i'd expect about 1.052. Chances are that the sample has more sugar in it as it wasn't completely dissolved

 

[Blaze_Bulldog]

Cheers, will do that with the malt in the future, guess my water was lil on the hot side thus the clumping I got.

Yeh, I'll try and sort the sample glass in the near future. Can't waist too much of that tasty liquid

If it hasn't completely disolved what are the possible out comes? *freak out* haha s'all good sure it will be fine.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

I've found if you dissolve it first without your tin etc in the water, you end with little to no lumpy bits, once dissolved add you tin and away you go.

Welcome to the forum mate, your kit should be pretty tasty!

 

[Blaze_Bulldog]

Thanks BDB, that sounds like an excellent idea!

 

[CosmicBertie]

Thanks BDB, that sounds like an excellent idea!

Just use a large balloon whisk and whisk the dry extract as you slowly pour it into the pot. I do this and have no clumps at all.

 

[mwd]

I made that kit some time ago and added a bit of chinook as dryhopping and it turned out very well. Not really taste much like LC but very similar in style.

 

[Yob]

I was listening to the Bewing Network last week and Palmer says that mixing DME in cold water makes it disolve without clumps.. never tried it yet, I just keep on stirring till it's gone..

:icon_cheers:

 

[Blaze_Bulldog]

Its been 5 days and its sitting at 1.22. Had a bit of a cheeky sip after I checked the gravity and its working out much better than I thought my first beer would. The book I got with the brewcraft starter pack says it should be 1.12 FG. Should hit that by the time it stops bubbling in a few more days.

In regards to bottling, who uses carb drops and who puts sugar in? Whats the way to go for a better end result?

 

[Yob]

if you want control over how carbed your brews are then bulk priming is the only way to go, you get little control with drops and though it took me a while to start bulk priming I would never go back.

There are some easy to use like this BULK PRIMING CALCULATOR which is the one I use.

A few points..

you can tailor your carb levels to suit how you like your beer, you can bottle into any sized bottle and well it's just easier I reckon..

 

[Blaze_Bulldog]

So basically you get a secondary fermenter (was intending to anyway), a food grade tube from bunnings and place it under the main fermenter. Boil some water and add the required dextrose for your carbonation needs. Dissolve and then drop the beer into the 2nd fermenter, stir it all up and then bottle like normal.

That basically it? Seems easy enough lol Any problems with contamination at all or not if you make sure everythings clean and you bottle straight away?

I shall go out and get some dextrose and fermenter from brewcraft and give this a go. Its my first time so may as well get all of this out the way haha

 

[Deebo]

So basically you get a secondary fermenter (was intending to anyway), a food grade tube from bunnings and place it under the main fermenter. Boil some water and add the required dextrose for your carbonation needs. Dissolve and then drop the beer into the 2nd fermenter, stir it all up and then bottle like normal.

That basically it? Seems easy enough lol Any problems with contamination at all or not if you make sure everythings clean and you bottle straight away?

I shall go out and get some dextrose and fermenter from brewcraft and give this a go. Its my first time so may as well get all of this out the way haha

Thats pretty much it, obviously make sure you sterilise anything that will touch the beer.
Try not to splash your beer around too much when tranferring to secondary or you will get oxidisation of your beer.

 

[Blaze_Bulldog]

Bottled as of yesterday, FG reading of 1.20. I guess its a waiting game for when it will be ready and how it will taste.

 

[TmC]

Bottled as of yesterday, FG reading of 1.20. I guess its a waiting game for when it will be ready and how it will taste.

Final Gravity seems a bit high for me so you might end up with a slightly sweeter taste to the finished product? Having said that i bottled a dark at 1.018 and it turned out fine, was a heavy beer though.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[bignath]

Blaze,

your final gravity is a bit too high for my liking. With the ingredients you've listed, i would have expected it to go a fair bit lower than that. Hope nothing goes bang.

Also, i know this seems pedantic, but when giving gravity readings on forums and things like that, don't forget to put the "0" after the "1".
There is a MASSIVE difference between 1.020 and 1.20 as 1.20 implies 1.200.

A gravity reading like that would be closer to motor oil than beer :icon_cheers:

Hope your beers a cracker! Don't forget to come back and let us know how she turns out mate.

Cheers,

Nath

EDIT: must.......learn......to........type.....................faster..........

 

[Tanga]

Sounds like it'll be pretty tasty, all things considered. Especially for a first brew. Well-done. FG a tad on the high side. Did you bottle in glass or PET?

EDIT: LOL. In my defense I'm typing on my phone.

 

[Pennywise]

If you've bottled in glass I be inclined to keep them out of harms way for a few weeks, 1.020 is too high an FG for those ingredients. I've used the BC #15 blend quite a few times (quite a while ago though so it's possible the ingredients may have changed), I'd have expected an FG closer to 1.014.
Did you discard the first lot that you drew off for the sample? As there is quite often a fair amount of yeast which will skew the reading, in which case, your FG may well be a bit lower than you think.

 

[Braumoasta]

As there is quite often a fair amount of yeast which will skew the reading

Yeast has no effect on the hydrometer reading as it is just suspended in the wort and not in solution (ie, dissolved). Just the same as if you placed a marble into the wort when taking a reading it would not have an effect, as it is not dissolved.

 

[Pennywise]

In my experiences the first lot that I draw off is of a higher gravity, if it's not yeast (and other crap) what is it? Serious question, not havin' a dig

 

[bigandhairy]

My new hydrometer is a brewcraft one. It is out by 4 points, it could be possible that your reading of 1020 is really 1016. Prob still too high but it is worth calibrating your hydro.

bah