One Of First Attempts.

[greg_549]

Hey all, First off i am severely not an expert with all this.

Got chatting to a bloke from Brewcraft in Adelaide and came out with a Mexican lager, The 'light flavoured' sugar ya chuck in at the start, and saaz.

Apparently Mexican Lager makes a pure blonde type beer and i like citrus beers (im straight though) so i got the saaz.

Brewed in the single coopers brew fermenter and put into 375 ml bottles. added the correct amount of sugar with a little measurer thing so yep.

They are ready in 4 days and i have gently shaken them a couple times (my old man told me too- hes an old brewer) to get the sugar into it. However they still seem to have a fair bit of sugar sitting at bottom.

My last brew was dodgy, half too fizzy- half flat and sour..

Any tips/ things i should do/ look out for? all appreciated-

Richo.

 

[Hutch]

Got chatting to a bloke from Brewcraft in Adelaide and came out with a Mexican lager, The 'light flavoured' sugar ya chuck in at the start, and saaz.

Any tips/ things i should do/ look out for? all appreciated-

Richo.

Hey Richo, and welcome aboard.

First tip I could give you is don't take any "advice" from Brewcraft employees - they are certified idiots h34r:
The best advice you will get is right here on AHB.
...and if I had more time, I'd post a better answer to your questions!!!
Hutch.

 

[greg_549]

Hey Richo, and welcome aboard.

First tip I could give you is don't take any "advice" from Brewcraft employees - they are certified idiots h34r:
The best advice you will get is right here on AHB.
...and if I had more time, I'd post a better answer to your questions!!!
Hutch.

No worries mate, thanks for that.. i should have known- he had a tattoo of a barcode. So obvious in hindsight.

 

[Fents]

word, listen to hutch's advice re brew craft.

With shaking your bottles personally i wouldnt do that. You can invert them upside down gently but dont shake, just my opion.

What you see on the bottom prob isnt suguar - its most likely yeast and sediment from secondary fermentation just like you see in coopers stubby's if you drink those. The suguar you put in will disolve regardless of shaking imo.

Are you using Carb drops or Suguar/Dex and a measurer to prime the bottles may i ask?

Best thing you could do to get the carbanation levels right is Bulk Prime - do a search there will be loads of stuff on here

Second best thing if your using suguar is to get a measurer from any good Home brew store - usually have ones with a measurer on one end for stubbies and the other for long necks.

Relax and dont stress it, if they turn out bad let us know on AHB and someone will help you out.

Easy.

 

[greg_549]

Brewed in the single coopers brew fermenter and put into 375 ml bottles. added the correct amount of sugar with a little measurer thing so yep.

Richo.

Yeh i've got a sugar measurer thing, three spoons, i had the right size and all..

I wasn't so much shaking as i was inverting and twisting till base was clear of stuff.

 

[Fents]

Yeh i've got a sugar measurer thing, three spoons, i had the right size and all..

I wasn't so much shaking as i was inverting and twisting till base was clear of stuff.

sorted then, they should be good.

 

[brettprevans]

listen to the wise AHB mmbers. except for Fents! kidding

you say they tasted sour? that sounds like a sanatizing/infection issue. make sure you sanatise your equipment and bottles.

and if your not going to bulk prime, dont waste your time with measuing sugar into bottles, use carbonation drops. I must admit the brewcraft brand carb drops are about the only decent thing they sell. you get a good consistent result with them. Coopers drops work as well also. Brewcraft guys are generally idiots.

 

[greg_549]

and if your not going to bulk prime, dont waste your time with measuing sugar into bottles, use carbonation drops. I must admit the brewcraft brand carb drops are about the only decent thing they sell. you get a good consistent result with them. Coopers drops work as well also. Brewcraft guys are generally idiots.

Bulk prime?

and i was using 375ml bottles so the drops wouldn't be friendly with the little bottles..

Thanks.

 

[MCT]

Bulk prime?

and i was using 375ml bottles so the drops wouldn't be friendly with the little bottles..

Thanks.

1 drop for 375ml bottles, 2 for 750's! So much easier than measuring sugar.

 

[greg_549]

1 drop for 375ml bottles, 2 for 750's! So much easier than measuring sugar.

I was under the impression one drop for 750's.. Maybe we are thinking different size drops.. That sure would have made bottling 75 of the buggers a touch easier.

 

[DKS]

I was under the impression one drop for 750's.. Maybe we are thinking different size drops.. That sure would have made bottling 75 of the buggers a touch easier.

Ive never seen a single drop for a 750. It would probably be to big to fit through the bottle neck anyway.
The other thing with using drops is they float then desolve after a few hours or by the next day. Theres no need to shake your bottles. They work really well. I would also listen to AHB before a retailer that youve only met once.
Good luck with it.
Daz

 

[boingk]

Hi Richo - you mentioned that they were ready in four days? Is that how long before you started drinking them?

If so, try leaving them a bit longer - I generally don't crack one open until 3 or 4 weeks after I've bottled them...or 2 weeks if I'm dying for a beer and don't have anything else! The reason for this is generally you won't have carbonation properly finished until 7 to 10 days anyway - may explain why half turned out not fizzy. Also, the bubbles get smaller with age leaving a nice fine head that'll hang around longer. Another point is that the brew will just plain taste better over time as tannins and proteins sediment out and the beer matures.

Anyway, welcome! Theres a stack of good info around here, hope you can make the best of it.

Cheers - boingk

 

[greg_549]

Hi Richo - you mentioned that they were ready in four days? Is that how long before you started drinking them?

Cheers - boingk

Nuh mate, it was just 4 days til the suggested fortnight, i have since learnt that whatever the can recipe says is a crock. It's been three weeks now and they taste better then last week, still a touch sour but drinkable.