Forgot The Brew Enhancer Yesterday, Ok To Add Today?

[FreeBaseBuzz]

Hi all,

Put down my first brew yesterday, first real beer anyway, after bottling a ginger beer on Friday.

1. I forgot to add the Beer Enhancer. I did this process around 1pm yesterday afternoon, is it ok to open the fermenter tonight after work and sprinkle the Beer Enhancer on top? Would you do it? or would you just leave it and forego the BE?

2. I forgot to take a SG reading, again.. forgot on the Ginger beer as well. (I think I need to make a ticklist for the next time I do this)

3. It's glooping away nicely ( no need to tell you all that, I just wanted to use the word "glooping" in a sentence, after reading it here )

4. The interesting question. I got given a 50L commercial keg from a mate after I told him I was starting homebrew. Imagine my surprise to find it's FULL! however, I don't know where he got it, how it's been stored, how old it is.. or anything. I also have no tapping equipment. What should I do with it? I like the idea of moving off kits, to BIAB eventually, so making a mash tun seems the obvious choice, but as I said above I'm still a complete novice, so it may be 1 or 2 more K&K's to go before making that step.

 

[zebba]

Add it. It will be easier to do a small boil with it first though otherwise you will have trouble getting it to dissolve. If you do boil it though, make sure it cools down before you add it.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Geeze dunno what I did right?

Mine turned out great.

Even gave some to a seasoned home brewer who was very impressed.
He wanted me to show him what I did next time I do it.

I just followed nicks instructions .
Only thing I did different was I used JW traditional ale grain ( my LHBS didn't have what he suggested )and I put the pot into an ice slurry in the laundry tub to cool it down quicker.
..and I poured all the sludge from the pot into the fermenter by mistake.
...and the dude in the LHBS cracked the grain for me.

I am going to keep making that exact recipe .

Add it. It will be easier to do a small boil with it first though otherwise you will have trouble getting it to dissolve. If you do boil it though, make sure it cools down before you add it.

+1 - and you have a lower risk of introducing an infection by boiling first.

Goomba

 

[Bubba]

Yeah, agreed. Boil it, cool it and then pour it in. If fermentation has already started you should have a protective layer in your fermenter but still use caution and be quick, leave the lid off for minimal amout of tiem and avoid any spashing if possible to avoid axidisation. Should be fine but keep checking with your hydrometer as it may take a little longer than normal.

 

[FreeBaseBuzz]

Add it. It will be easier to do a small boil with it first though otherwise you will have trouble getting it to dissolve. If you do boil it though, make sure it cools down before you add it.

Ok, thanks. Will do that. How long a boil? or is it enough to just add it to just boiled water and let it cool.

Final question.. not that it's needed just yet, unless it cools even further tonight, but are there any alternative ways of heating the fermenter other than a heating pad or coil? I'll acquire one soon, but in the mean time..

 

[marksfish]

boil it for a couple of minutes to sanitize, and wrap the fermenter in a towel or similar and it should hold temp.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Ok, thanks. Will do that. How long a boil? or is it enough to just add it to just boiled water and let it cool.

Final question.. not that it's needed just yet, unless it cools even further tonight, but are there any alternative ways of heating the fermenter other than a heating pad or coil? I'll acquire one soon, but in the mean time..

Stick in a room in the house that consistently gets heat.

I have one brew (ginger) that sat in the cupboard in the hallway, which has the oven behind it. It doesn't get "hot" but it is warmer than most spots. I wanted the ginger to ferment 100% out, before bottling.

Goomba

 

[FreeBaseBuzz]

Stick in a room in the house that consistently gets heat.

I have one brew (ginger) that sat in the cupboard in the hallway, which has the oven behind it. It doesn't get "hot" but it is warmer than most spots. I wanted the ginger to ferment 100% out, before bottling.

Goomba

I guess this is derailing the original questions but..

What effect will allowing the ginger to ferment all the way out achieve? isn't it meant to ferment all the way out normally?

The ginger beer I bottled on friday was from a ginger beer kit and 2 Kg dextrose, It was quite carbonated when I bottled, I'm not sure if it's normal but the SG was at 1.007, and it'd been fermenting for 2 weeks at around 22 degrees. Also I bottled in 500ml glass bottles with only a single carb drop in each one.

Actually, that's a question.. What effect would 2kg dextrose vs 1kg dextrose have on the final SG reading? Do the extra sugars give a higher or lower final reading?

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I guess this is derailing the original questions but..

What effect will allowing the ginger to ferment all the way out achieve? isn't it meant to ferment all the way out normally?

The ginger beer I bottled on friday was from a ginger beer kit and 2 Kg dextrose, It was quite carbonated when I bottled, I'm not sure if it's normal but the SG was at 1.007, and it'd been fermenting for 2 weeks at around 22 degrees. Also I bottled in 500ml glass bottles with only a single carb drop in each one.

Actually, that's a question.. What effect would 2kg dextrose vs 1kg dextrose have on the final SG reading? Do the extra sugars give a higher or lower final reading?

I'll answer the attempted question first, and then try to answer the second.

The reason I wanted the ginger to ferment out all the way is to avoid bottle bombs. Ginger tends to love fermentation and if you don't get it all done, then it'll do so in the bottle. Hence the old wives tales of "granny's GB going boom under the house".

2kg of dextrose on FG reading. This is more difficult. It'll depend on your yeast. If it has a fairly good alcohol tolerance, then you are going to end up with a very low FG reading. This is because you have a higher alcohol volume produced by the increase in sugar and alcohol has a lower gravity than water (hence the reason why any brew starts higher and finishes lower). So your final gravity could be even lower.

Conversely, if your yeast doesn't eat all the sugars, you could end up with a higher than normal FG reading as sugary water has a higher gravity than regular water (hence why we often start at 1.040 or higher).

So the answer is "depends on how much it ferments". Just take readings and when consistent over 3-4 days, it'll have finished.

I just tested an apple cider made with champagne yeast, and its gravity reading (I'll leave it another week and test again to make sure it is finished) is 0.998. So yup, nice and alcoholic.

I didn't brew my GB from a kit. Just obtained 3kg of ginger from the markets and peeled, chopped and then boiled the pieces for 1 1/2 hours. Put in 1kg of sugar and then once cooled, pitched yeast.

Goomba

 

[FreeBaseBuzz]

Thanks Goomba, I appreciate your help.

Am concerned I have 40 odd bottle bombs sitting in the cupboard now Guess we'll see soon enough.


Anyone have suggestions for the Keg?
Is it worth it to see if the contents are viable?
Does anyone have tapping equip in Brisbane who's willing to come over to help test the contents?

Or should I just cut the top off. It should be fun with the contents under pressure, will have to drill a small hole first to relieve the pressure..

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Thanks Goomba, I appreciate your help.

Am concerned I have 40 odd bottle bombs sitting in the cupboard now Guess we'll see soon enough.


Anyone have suggestions for the Keg?
Is it worth it to see if the contents are viable?
Does anyone have tapping equip in Brisbane who's willing to come over to help test the contents?

Or should I just cut the top off. It should be fun with the contents under pressure, will have to drill a small hole first to relieve the pressure..

I still bottle, so no luck here.

Depending on how close you live to CB, they'll have the equipment, so long as you have the budget.

As for your comment (I re-read your post) about going BIAB and weaning off K&K. Do it now. Don't bother doing more K&K. I did K&K, then extract for a sum total of 12 years, and if I'd realised how easy it is to do BIAB, I'd have done it way sooner.

There is the 9L BIAB method - good for practicing, but it is frustrating to lose all that time for 12 tallies, so use with care. I bought 2 x 19L pots from big W Chermside ($20 for 1st, $11 for 2nd on special). A bit of material from Lincraft (I live near the one at Toombul) or Spotlight, and you are pretty ready to go. I do it on an electric stove, so no fancy equipment. Just get a good simple recipe and you are all ready to go.

Goomba