My Journey so far thanks to AHB

[jaymzica]

Well i started a few months ago with a coopers kit knowing nothing about homebrew at all. Dry hopped the hell out of it and turned out ok.
Went on to extract brews, made some nice IPA and a nice american dark ale..then the bug had bitten.
Now i have a great bar fridge with 2 taps in the door and 2 kegs.
Did my first BIAB on the weekend to learn how, went well but only had 19lt pot, 4k of grain and only had 15lt of water in it, now ive ended up with 10lt of a nice sweet wort in my fermenter with my OG at 1.080!!!!!!!!!!!! oooops. ah well ill leave it for a week and see how she goes. I think ill bottle that one.

Now on thursday im going to buy a gas burner and a 38lt pot so i can do 23lt boils.

Im so amazed at how addictive this is and how good fellow home brewers are when you need help. I feel myself dreaming about homebrew when i get to sleep and then i find myself boring my mates about my homebrew adventures.

Ive even made a new friend with my local homebrew shop owner dave in greensborough. He has been such a good help and hes a great bloke to chat to!

Going to try a pacific ale clone for my first 23lt BIAB and then im going to learn how to use the Brewsmith, brewmate or what ever i get software as im a bit lost with that now but ill get there.

Anyhow thanks for the read and thanks for this forum.

Cheers Jimmy

 

[mmmyummybeer]

Hi I'm mmmyummybeer and I too am a homebrew addict

Anyway good post. Very familiar story, but always great to hear

 

[Logman]

now ive ended up with 10lt of a nice sweet wort in my fermenter with my OG at 1.080

semi :icon_offtopic:

Just out of interest, can you add cool boiled water once a brew has started fermenting - if so, up to what day of fermentation would this be safe?

 

[wbosher]

I feel myself dreaming about homebrew when i get to sleep and then i find myself boring my mates about my homebrew adventures.

Ah yes, the moment when the hobbie turns into an obsession. :lol:

 

[bradsbrew]

semi :icon_offtopic:

Just out of interest, can you add cool boiled water once a brew has started fermenting - if so, up to what day of fermentation would this be safe?

If you are kegging, you can add extra water to the keg once it's done.

 

[rosshorne]

As long as the water is free of chlorine and other nasties (boiled for 10 minutes and chilled to fermentation temperature) you can really add it any time.

 

[carniebrew]

As long as the water is free of chlorine and other nasties (boiled for 10 minutes and chilled to fermentation temperature) you can really add it any time.

Yep, just remember you're not just diluting the ABV, but also the IBU of the end beer. So a 19 litre 6%, 35 IBU beer could end up being a 5% 28 IBU beer with an extra ~4 litres of water added.

 

[Logman]

If you are kegging, you can add extra water to the keg once it's done.

Wow, never would have thought that. So I guess he could pre-boil and cool 5 litres before carbing - looks like he's kegging.

Putting it in at day 3-4 while fermentation is vigorous and dry hopping a bit to cover some flavors might be a plan too.

Always good to know these things :icon_cheers:

 

[jaymzica]

Yep, just remember you're not just diluting the ABV, but also the IBU of the end beer. So a 19 litre 6%, 35 IBU beer could end up being a 5% 28 IBU beer with an extra ~4 litres of water added.

ok so ive got 10 lt of beer in my fermenter, been there for 2 days, and OG was 1.080. should i add in about 5 or more litres as i dont want it that stong, hoping for a 5%ish beer

 

[WarmBeer]

According to this, adding 6 lt of water to your 10lt of 1.080 wort would give you a specific gravity of 1.050.

Assuming healthy yeast, this then ferments out to an "average" 1.012, you will end up with 4.99% abv beer.

 

[Logman]

I'd go with Brad's method of adding to the keg for first attempt at this imo - far less to go wrong.

 

[jaymzica]

this is why i love this forum, so while its bubbling away, i can boil 6lt of water, cool it to deg and throw it in my fermenter yeah?

 

[jaymzica]

hmmmm keg stage or fermenter stage....ARGHHH

 

[WarmBeer]

Doubt it really matters, but if anything, I'd recommend against opening the fermenter lid/airlock unless you really need to.

Once the beer is fermented out, the combination of alcohol and low pH will inherently lessen the risk of developing an infection.

Add your water just prior to bottling/kegging.

 

[jaymzica]

if my wort is now at 1.080 what will i expect it to get to so i know its fermented?

 

[Diesel80]

if my wort is now at 1.080 what will i expect it to get to so i know its fermented?

If it gets anywhere near 1.010 then it is probably done. would need to know receipe and yeast used etc to provide anything more accurate than that.

Also, what is the alcohol tolerance of the yeast used? They may get knackered out before finishing the job unless enough was pitched.

The beverage could be a serious winter warmer!

Cheers,
D80

 

[MastersBrewery]

my top tip for the day would be to think a bout the pot purchase .... you will only get a single out of a 38l pot and large grain bills will be a squeeze, if you can go 50l if looking to the future 70l
my 2c

 

[jaymzica]

If it gets anywhere near 1.010 then it is probably done. would need to know receipe and yeast used etc to provide anything more accurate than that.

Also, what is the alcohol tolerance of the yeast used? They may get knackered out before finishing the job unless enough was pitched.

The beverage could be a serious winter warmer!

Cheers,
D80

i used US 05 yeast, it was meant to be a mosaic american pale ale lol

my top tip for the day would be to think a bout the pot purchase .... you will only get a single out of a 38l pot and large grain bills will be a squeeze, if you can go 50l if looking to the future 70l
my 2c

yeah ill get the 38lt pot because it comes free with the burner but down the track ill look at 50lt pot or keggle!

 

[jaymzica]

just did a bit of reading, the US 05 yeast should be able to handle it.

HMmmm not sure if i should decide to keg it and add 6 lt to keg before gassing so i have at least 16lt in my 19lt keg
or
just bottle it and have a funky 9% mosaic ipa or what ever it is lol

 

[Logman]

If it were me, I'd plug in the amount in that calculator to get around 6% to be sure to avoid any watery taste.

Sanitize your keg and toss in the boiling water and pressurize it with a squirt of Co2 and let it cool a couple of days before kegging.

just did a bit of reading, the US 05 yeast should be able to handle it.

Have you got an airlock on this, is it bubbling away fine - can you see a krausen?