Nick's Brewhouse
- Thread starter NikZak
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Ah of course, that's what those buggers are called! Have been searching for 29mm bell cap and finding very little locally, a quick search for tirage and bang, found them. That's all I really needed for my capper (which I recently purchased)eMPTy said:
Will be using it for the first time this weekend hopefully to bottle the Julebryg up and get it down in the almost built BrewCave (building it this weekend)
I have a basement in my house that keeps a constant 17 degrees where I'll be moving my brewhouse to as soon as I get some shelving built in there. Will be starting tonight when I get home from work as long as the minister of activities doesn't have anything planned
That's right I forgot to post pictures of my loot...
One Darwin stubby which will get a dose of Julebryg this weekend for Christmas dinner and a case of longnecks, all free from an ex homebrewer for which I am very grateful
One Darwin stubby which will get a dose of Julebryg this weekend for Christmas dinner and a case of longnecks, all free from an ex homebrewer for which I am very grateful
I know it's not amazing but here's the first part of my new brew cave. Might need to use heat belts for Ale brews but the first brew going down here in the basement is using lager yeast so the constant underground temperature of 13-15 degrees (still haven't got a thermometer down there just guessing, either way it's certainly colder than 16 degrees) is perfect for this yeast
Built the bench from old pallets and an offcut from a kitchen bench from the cabinet makers next door to work and it's strong and sturdy which will be perfect to have 3, maybe even 4, fermenters sitting on it at once. It's high enough to store cases of longnecks beneath it easily but be low enough to work on the fermenters above. Now I need to build some shelving although I might just adapt the TV unit in the basement to hold all my gear
Built the bench from old pallets and an offcut from a kitchen bench from the cabinet makers next door to work and it's strong and sturdy which will be perfect to have 3, maybe even 4, fermenters sitting on it at once. It's high enough to store cases of longnecks beneath it easily but be low enough to work on the fermenters above. Now I need to build some shelving although I might just adapt the TV unit in the basement to hold all my gear
Nizmoose
Well-Known Member
Humble beginnings! It will be funny for you to look back on that photo in two years time when you see the slippery slope you've come down 
I completely expect that with the strength and sturdidity (sturdiness perhaps, but I like making up words) of that bench that it will still exist in many more than 2 years from now
These are humble beginnings, but yes this is already a slippery slope, I'm finding myself on my ass a number of times after having had a couple of my brews
These are humble beginnings, but yes this is already a slippery slope, I'm finding myself on my ass a number of times after having had a couple of my brews
Well folks, been a while since an update but here goes
The beer in the picture further up which is my first brew in the BrewCave is still fermenting away nicely after more than 2 weeks. Being a lager and being kept at 15 degrees I was expecting it to go a while but wasn't expecting it to go this long, but that's ok as it's a big beer and the more time it takes, the better as far as I'm concerned
Speaking of leaving beers a long time, a week ago I taste and SG tested the toucan of Draught I put down and it was still sweet so I've left it longer and will be testing it again tonight after work with the view of bottling it. All krausen has dropped away with just a couple of bubbles on the surface and it's looking very clear through the lid of the FV so I'm sure it's ready
Other than that, will probably get another brew down this weekend in the soon to be empty FV, not sure yet what to go with but thinking to keep it simple with a can of Thomas Coopers Pilsener and a kilo of BE2 because I've realised that to this day I've yet to make a single batch of beer the way the manufacturer recommends
The beer in the picture further up which is my first brew in the BrewCave is still fermenting away nicely after more than 2 weeks. Being a lager and being kept at 15 degrees I was expecting it to go a while but wasn't expecting it to go this long, but that's ok as it's a big beer and the more time it takes, the better as far as I'm concerned
Speaking of leaving beers a long time, a week ago I taste and SG tested the toucan of Draught I put down and it was still sweet so I've left it longer and will be testing it again tonight after work with the view of bottling it. All krausen has dropped away with just a couple of bubbles on the surface and it's looking very clear through the lid of the FV so I'm sure it's ready
Other than that, will probably get another brew down this weekend in the soon to be empty FV, not sure yet what to go with but thinking to keep it simple with a can of Thomas Coopers Pilsener and a kilo of BE2 because I've realised that to this day I've yet to make a single batch of beer the way the manufacturer recommends
Nizmoose
Well-Known Member
Without being too critical this set off alarm bells as I know when starting out its very tempting to look at many different signs to determine how fermentation is going but the truth is you only need one: Specific Gravity. Clarity, bubbles, airlocks should all be ignored when deciding if a beer is ready. Take an SG reading three days in a row and if it is stable your beer is finished. don't play the guessing game if bottlingNikZak said:
Oh, this is as finished as it'll ever be.
It was pitched onto a yeast cake and has been sitting for 3 weeks at 18-20 degrees... if it's not finished, it's going down the drain.
I expect the FG will be below 1.010 to be honest, it was at 1.012 a week ago
It was pitched onto a yeast cake and has been sitting for 3 weeks at 18-20 degrees... if it's not finished, it's going down the drain.
I expect the FG will be below 1.010 to be honest, it was at 1.012 a week ago
Well the toucan finished at 1.009 which is as finished as it's ever going to get being in primary for 3 weeks at 22 degrees so it's now bottled. Mostly into pet bottles but I put two longnecks away for a good 6 month condition. Tastes like Carlton Draught out of the fermenter so I'm hoping it won't end up too bad. A bit of Cascade hop residue in the trub probably contributed to that as it was pitched onto a previous cake.
Now have the Tsar's Tar hopefully getting close to finished. It's currently at 1.013 but still bubbling away about once every 6 seconds so it's going to be allowed to keep going. Considering it started at an OG of 1.077 it was always going to be a big beer but it's been in primary for about 2 weeks now. I'll let it go as long as it needs
Just got another brew into one of the spare FV's but nothing special this time. Thomas Cooper's Pilsener using the kit yeast (which is a Pilsener yeast) and have it down in the BrewCave which sits at a permanent 15 degrees so it'll ferment really cleanly down there. Pitched the rehydrated yeast at 22 degrees and I'll let it come down on its own to brew temperature of 15-16 degrees like the Tsar's Tar next to it.
We have in the photo below the Pilsener on the left which hasn't started fermenting yet (pitched 20 min ago) and the Tsar's Tar on the right
Now have the Tsar's Tar hopefully getting close to finished. It's currently at 1.013 but still bubbling away about once every 6 seconds so it's going to be allowed to keep going. Considering it started at an OG of 1.077 it was always going to be a big beer but it's been in primary for about 2 weeks now. I'll let it go as long as it needs
Just got another brew into one of the spare FV's but nothing special this time. Thomas Cooper's Pilsener using the kit yeast (which is a Pilsener yeast) and have it down in the BrewCave which sits at a permanent 15 degrees so it'll ferment really cleanly down there. Pitched the rehydrated yeast at 22 degrees and I'll let it come down on its own to brew temperature of 15-16 degrees like the Tsar's Tar next to it.
We have in the photo below the Pilsener on the left which hasn't started fermenting yet (pitched 20 min ago) and the Tsar's Tar on the right
Well, checked the Tsar's Tar yesterday and it had gone down to 1.010 so it'll be getting close, I'm expecting it'll probably finish around the 1.006-1.008 mark or so which should give a pre-bottling ABV of around 9.4-9.0%. I'm hoping it gets to about the 1.006 at least which would put it exactly in line with what Cooper's suggest this beer should finish at
Initial taste tests from gravity readings are showing this to be a very tasty beer which I'll be looking forward to giving a good number of weeks to condition and develop. Definitely looking forward to this one.
Also put down a small but big Imperial Amber Ale as well yesterday in a moment of boredom. I had the Cooper's Craft Beer FV sitting around idle as I forgot to get some more apple juice to put cider in it (Also I now have a large amount of cider waiting to be drunk anyway) made from the Bewitched Amber Ale, a pouch of Smooth unhopped liquid malt extract and a pouch of Golden unhopped liquid malt extract. Should give me an amber ale with an ABV of about 8.5% ABV according to initial calculations but we'll see what it finishes
Stay tuned folks, more to come soon
Initial taste tests from gravity readings are showing this to be a very tasty beer which I'll be looking forward to giving a good number of weeks to condition and develop. Definitely looking forward to this one.
Also put down a small but big Imperial Amber Ale as well yesterday in a moment of boredom. I had the Cooper's Craft Beer FV sitting around idle as I forgot to get some more apple juice to put cider in it (Also I now have a large amount of cider waiting to be drunk anyway) made from the Bewitched Amber Ale, a pouch of Smooth unhopped liquid malt extract and a pouch of Golden unhopped liquid malt extract. Should give me an amber ale with an ABV of about 8.5% ABV according to initial calculations but we'll see what it finishes
Stay tuned folks, more to come soon
Rocker1986
Well-Known Member
15 is a little on the high side for a Pilsner fermentation, which will probably be more like 17 by the time the yeast get going and start producing their own heat. Only time will tell how clean it ends up being, obviously how you perceive it is the only thing that really matters. B)
FWIW all my pilsners are fermented at 10oC for the first week then allowed to rise to 18ish for another week before being crashed to 0 for two weeks, then packaged.
FWIW all my pilsners are fermented at 10oC for the first week then allowed to rise to 18ish for another week before being crashed to 0 for two weeks, then packaged.
What yeast are you using to ferment so low?Rocker1986 said:
Also, my house (and current budget) limits me to using the coldest area I can to brew which happens to be the basement which also has the added benefit of having the more constant temperature, not deviating more than a degree from day to day
Mr B
Well-Known Member
Heh I cant believe you started in the linen cupboard when you had a basement :lol:
Looking good so far, sounds like its going well
Looking good so far, sounds like its going well
So far I've been leaving most of it still and bottle into wine bottles to let them settle as I personally prefer my cider that way but the most recent batch I carbed half of it and bottled the rest in wine bottlesajg said:
I drink it straight but the missus back sweetens with apple juice
Initially when I started brewing the basement was full of crap and spiders and we never really went down there except to throw more crap and squash some spiders. Since I started brewing a few months ago I always had the intention of moving down there and have been clearing the crap and bombing the bugs. Temperature down there is perfect all year round as it's actually underground not just a house on stilts or on the side of a hillMr B said:
Rocker1986
Well-Known Member
Any lager yeast (such as the yeast in the Coopers pilsner kit) will be able to ferment that low and generally produce better results by doing so. I'm using Wyeast 2001 Urquell Lager yeast at the moment for my pils batches, they're coming out brilliant.NikZak said:
It's good that the basement has a constant temperature like that though and it is pretty decent for ales. Lagers are best done with a brewing fridge (luckily got mine for free because it was already here not being used) however there are strains that reportedly produce good results at the temps you have there so that is an option too. Fermentis S-189 I think is one.
