Discussion
wormburner said:
I also fancy that one. I've another Wherry to do (with the saracen tweak, as posted earlier) and then I'm going to try that one. Just tucking into a Wherry now, straight from the keg. Brewed with spring water to 37 pints instead of 40 and it is lovely. Creamy smooth and 'glossy' if that makes any sense.
Interestingly, the Wherry is the first brew I have ever had that "stuck", thats to say, it stopped fermenting early, so I had to kick start it again with a super yeast and more sugar. I had a feeling it may ruin the overall brew, but its pretty drinkable right now.Turn7 said:
Really fancy doing a St Peters Ruby kit though.
We've got that kit ready to go, I'll let you know how it turns out. We bottled the lager with saaz hops at the weekend, the lager with honey is still fermenting (taking a looonnngg time) - smells awesome though. Turbo Cider is also bubbling nicely, actually smells like cider as well
Turn7 said:
wormburner said:
I also fancy that one. I've another Wherry to do (with the saracen tweak, as posted earlier) and then I'm going to try that one. Just tucking into a Wherry now, straight from the keg. Brewed with spring water to 37 pints instead of 40 and it is lovely. Creamy smooth and 'glossy' if that makes any sense.
Interestingly, the Wherry is the first brew I have ever had that "stuck", thats to say, it stopped fermenting early, so I had to kick start it again with a super yeast and more sugar. I had a feeling it may ruin the overall brew, but its pretty drinkable right now.Just a heads up, chaps. Tesco is currently doing a half price offer on homebrew stuff. Think it's only the big Tescos which have them (Corstorphine in Edinburgh does). There's a thread here with locations who are doing it: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=... (You might need to sign up)
Picked up a Wherry kit for £10 amongst some other bargains
Picked up a Wherry kit for £10 amongst some other bargains
bicycleshorts said:
Just a heads up, chaps. Tesco is currently doing a half price offer on homebrew stuff. Think it's only the big Tescos which have them (Corstorphine in Edinburgh does). There's a thread here with locations who are doing it: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=... (You might need to sign up)
Picked up a Wherry kit for £10 amongst some other bargains
Good man! I shall stop in on the way home tonight!Picked up a Wherry kit for £10 amongst some other bargains
With a bittersweet mixture of gritted teeth and miser's excitement I shot off to my local Tesco Extra.
No joy. Sadness in fact.
But on the bright side all Woodfordes kits are now £17.99 here until Sunday: http://www.brewuk.co.uk
No joy. Sadness in fact.
But on the bright side all Woodfordes kits are now £17.99 here until Sunday: http://www.brewuk.co.uk
It seems only certain Tescos are doing it, and if that wasn't bad enough, only certain Tescos seem to do the homebrew stuff...
Anyone brewing at the weekend? Hoping to start the Ruby Red Ale. Think we'll brew it to instructions, maybe a little short, unless anyone has any good adaptations?
Anyone brewing at the weekend? Hoping to start the Ruby Red Ale. Think we'll brew it to instructions, maybe a little short, unless anyone has any good adaptations?
I shall be putting some Muntons Premium Gold into secondary tonight and bottling that bad boy on Sunday/Monday.
Just got hold of a 50 litre pub keg too, so next weekend I'm going to attempt an all grain brew. Got a good recipe for Old Speckled Hen (apparently, it's the actual recipe?!) so I'll do a bit of that and see how I get on!
Just got hold of a 50 litre pub keg too, so next weekend I'm going to attempt an all grain brew. Got a good recipe for Old Speckled Hen (apparently, it's the actual recipe?!) so I'll do a bit of that and see how I get on!
Blown2CV said:
OK so I kegged my brew today... i have heard horror stories about explosions - how likely or unlikely is this and why does it happen?
The goal of putting beer into the keg is to capture the CO2 expelled through fermentation and pressurise the beer, giving it a natural fizz. I'd say an explosion is pretty unlikely, but certainly possible. One of the pressure kegs that I used had a faulty cap which didn't release the excess gas, but it started leaking noticeably around the seals before it got serious, so just keep an eye on it.Don't be tempted to keep opening the cap unnecessarily though, you've got to allow some pressure in there or you'll get flat beer.
This reminds me, I really need to start brewing again
I keg my brews after a good time of fermenting (exactly how long is a judgement based on ambient temperature but often exceeds ten days) and I do not use a priming dose of sugar. My kegs have safety valves and I always Vaseline the seals and threads of the caps to ensure a good fit. Most brews do not need the addition of CO2 from my Sodastream cylinder and can still have 'condition' when the last pint is drawn. I use a bottom tap on the kegs (no floats) and can draw a clear pint after a week. Never in more than thirty years have I had a split keg.
Splitting or exploding a keg is difficult! The plastic ones are made to withstand about 2 bar of pressure (I think, may be slightly lower though) - in context, the proper metal ones that you get in pubs only have a maximum bar rating of 3.5 - 4, so the plastic ones are pretty sturdy!
If you added priming sugar to the keg, this starts a 'secondary' fermentation which will give off CO2 and, as mentioned above, this is a good thing as it will carbonate beer and keep it from going stale. My advice would be to leave it somewhere relatively warm for a few days (20-25 degrees is ideal), then put it somewhere as close to fridge temperature as you can get (under 10 degrees where possible). This will give the yeast a couple of days to give off a good amount of gas, then when you put it in the fridge, the fermentation will go dorment and it will hold the gas in there and slowly begin to carbonate.
With priming sugar measurements, you do need to be quite careful - usually about one teaspoon of sugar per pint will be enough for a pretty heavy carbonation. I generally use about half a teaspoon per ale bottle and within 2 weeks (probably double that for carbonating in a keg), I get a nice, lightly bubbling brew!
If you added priming sugar to the keg, this starts a 'secondary' fermentation which will give off CO2 and, as mentioned above, this is a good thing as it will carbonate beer and keep it from going stale. My advice would be to leave it somewhere relatively warm for a few days (20-25 degrees is ideal), then put it somewhere as close to fridge temperature as you can get (under 10 degrees where possible). This will give the yeast a couple of days to give off a good amount of gas, then when you put it in the fridge, the fermentation will go dorment and it will hold the gas in there and slowly begin to carbonate.
With priming sugar measurements, you do need to be quite careful - usually about one teaspoon of sugar per pint will be enough for a pretty heavy carbonation. I generally use about half a teaspoon per ale bottle and within 2 weeks (probably double that for carbonating in a keg), I get a nice, lightly bubbling brew!
Thinking of getting some corny kegs and doing something similar to this:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=...
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=...
bicycleshorts said:
Thinking of getting some corny kegs and doing something similar to this:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=...
Freaky - I was looking at exactly the same thing over the weekend! There's a tall larder fridge on eBay that's only up the road from me so I'm trying to think of reasons to persuade SWMBO that it would be a useful addition to the garage....http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=...
Saw this one online - http://www.kegkits.com/kegerator2.htm
wormburner said:
I'm getting revved-up to start Worm's Red Wine Adventure - Chapter One
I've a California Connoisseur Merlot 30-bottle kit ready and waiting to play the role of my hero.
Right. Hold on. We're off...I've a California Connoisseur Merlot 30-bottle kit ready and waiting to play the role of my hero.
After a successful first attempt at a Sauvignon Blanc, we're now trying a Merlot.
Here's the kit. Apologies for the photography. If the Keeper of All Information had seen the pouch of grape juice on the spare bed there would have been, lets just say ructions. So time was of the essence.
And here's the soldiers, ready to give of their shelf-lives for a greater good.
Ok, after all the tiresome cleaning, here we are with the FV sitting in the plasterer's bucket. In the FV at this point is the grape juice, about 4 litres of water, the bentonite and the oak chips (which in this kit are indistinguishable from the sweepings from my garage.)
Stuck to the side of the plasterer's bucket (it's not a real plasterer's, it's mine) is the aquarium heater, ready to keep my brew at the right temperature. Is it still a brew if its wine? Not sure.
Next, having topped-up to 23 litres overall, and forgotten to take the original gravity reading (more on this later) I'm ready to add the precious little yeastie beasties. These guys are just the best. I love drinking their urine. What do you mean you've never thought of it like that before?
Having scattered the yeasties on the top (no stirring, it says)
I'm left with about half an inch of froth on the top, which I'm not supposed to disturb. It is at this point I remember the hydrometer I've carefully sterilised. b
ks. Getting a fair reading now is going to be a challenge.Anyway, I stir a tiny little circle in the middle and try to get a reading before the froth closes back over. This is amateur brewing at its most mediocre, folks.
1.060 is the best guess I can make, before reading that 1.080 to 1.095 is the target. With a bit of careful man-maths and use of the phrase "It'll be reet" I decide that 1.080 is actually what I read, so we're in the clear!
Lid on, airlock installed, and plasterers bucket filled with water, we're done...
Except, disaster of all disasters, whilst I was filling up with water I have splashed wine juice up the wall. I've never been to Berserk, but that is where the Keeper of All Information is going to go when she learns this innocent little nugget of domestic happenstance.
So, if there are no further posts to this thread from me, please raise a glass of whatever moonshine you're slowly killing yourself with this month and remember me, simply, as one of you.
Brilliant!! Looks good!
Should be a good 8-9% brew there if its 1.060 to start with (give or take!). You can still increase the reading by dissolving some sugar in warm (not boiling) water and pouring it in. To go to 1.08 ish, you're probably looking at about .75kg normal sugar dissolved in about a litre and pour it in.
A lower SG shouldn't affect the flavour that bad, it'll just mean a weaker product (8-9% instead of 12-13%).
Good luck with The Chief, hope she is a forgiving lady!
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff