Home Brew

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by isuzurover

A mate who brews excellent beer (he even grinds his own malt), uses a fridge to ferment his beer. He has a seperate temperature controller to turn the fridge on and off to maintain the right temp.

---

I've seen some of the brew shops do this in summer.

I'm lucky where I live, we have a 3 level house and the bottom level stays cool in summer, it is constantly around the 22c to 26c all summer.

Baz.

Hmm.. my fermenter has stopped (or slowed to barely at all) bubbling after about 4 days. I did start it at 32 degrees.. so I'm guessing it was churning along a lot faster than normal.

Over the last 3 days I've checked the SG and gotten 1018 and 1014 and then today 1012. as I understand it this brew's FG should sit between about 1010 and 1008 when done. Does it matter that i'm not seeing the bubbler doing anything? (probably coming in at the wrong times hehe) The brew smells good.. simply busting to bottle it.

I need to get the same SG on two consecutive days before it is ready to bottle.. is that right? - I can't bear the thought of wasting (via testing SG) beer unnecessarily! :o

I'm such a newb!

Cheers

Wil

forget get about wether you see bubbles in the airlock or not test the sg over 2 days and when its the same it is ok to bottle.

don't stress too much it's better to let it go a couple a days longer than bottle too early, especially if using glass bottles

Really depends on what your making but woody is right if the reading is the same over 2 days then bottle.

If your making a larger or bitter (something light) the a lower sg rate is better but if your making a stout or dark ale the slightly higher is better.

I have found that when making a wheat beer that if I use rain water it turns out better it does take a little longer

As for fridge ferminters I can take some pics of my set up if ya want

Adam

The FG (or final SG / FSG) of your brew depends on what you put in. e.g. a belgian heavy ale will have an FG above most lagers.

There are a bunch of calculators you can use to estimate what your FG should be. e.g. australia and new zealand - Brewcraft Ltd

The best I have found are from American websites - but you need to convert all ingredients to lb and oz.

I NEVER take SG readings.
I tend to leave the brews in the fermenter for 3 weeks then keg.
When kegging it isnt as critical,if the brew isnt finished,it will whilst resting in the kegs,I run 4 kegs.2 in the fridge,1 serving the other gassing and mellowing and 2 in an insulated "resting" cupboard.
Depending upon greed and visitors greed my brews are at least 5 weeks old before drinking,plus the extra "in fermenter" ageing.
Once you get your head around brewing,FORGET BOTTLES!!!! Much better quality beer via the keg system,plus it SO MUCH EASIER and QUICKER:cool::cool::cool::cool:
I went for YEARS on bottles,the change over blew me away.Keg homebrew is as good as pub tap beer if not better.
Andrew

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

I NEVER take SG readings.
I tend to leave the brews in the fermenter for 3 weeks then keg.
When kegging it isnt as critical,if the brew isnt finished,it will whilst resting in the kegs,I run 4 kegs.2 in the fridge,1 serving the other gassing and mellowing and 2 in an insulated "resting" cupboard.
Depending upon greed and visitors greed my brews are at least 5 weeks old before drinking,plus the extra "in fermenter" ageing.
Once you get your head around brewing,FORGET BOTTLES!!!! Much better quality beer via the keg system,plus it SO MUCH EASIER and QUICKER:cool::cool::cool::cool:
I went for YEARS on bottles,the change over blew me away.Keg homebrew is as good as pub tap beer if not better.
Andrew

---

Couldn't agree more - best thing I ever did was go over to a keg system. No messing with bottles, just clean and sterilise one keg and transfer straight from the fermenter, put on gas in an old fridge and drink it as little as 3 days later! :beer::cool:

Jon

Kegs sound like the way to go then!! :)

and now.. dumb question.. while I am still using bottles.. Is there a benefit to using the darker glass / PET bottles as opposed to clear? I have a lot of mexican style stubbies hanging around that I had been keeping in case they were usable.

Cheers

Wil

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by For The Horde

Kegs sound like the way to go then!! :)

and now.. dumb question.. while I am still using bottles.. Is there a benefit to using the darker glass / PET bottles as opposed to clear? I have a lot of mexican style stubbies hanging around that I had been keeping in case they were usable.

Cheers

Wil

---

I have been hoarding Schwelmer Pils and Grolsch swing top bottles for years. Far easier than crown seals.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

I NEVER take SG readings.
I tend to leave the brews in the fermenter for 3 weeks then keg.
When kegging it isnt as critical,if the brew isnt finished,it will whilst resting in the kegs,I run 4 kegs.2 in the fridge,1 serving the other gassing and mellowing and 2 in an insulated "resting" cupboard.
Depending upon greed and visitors greed my brews are at least 5 weeks old before drinking,plus the extra "in fermenter" ageing.
Once you get your head around brewing,FORGET BOTTLES!!!! Much better quality beer via the keg system,plus it SO MUCH EASIER and QUICKER:cool::cool::cool::cool:
I went for YEARS on bottles,the change over blew me away.Keg homebrew is as good as pub tap beer if not better.
Andrew

---

Pretty much what I do and I have the same amount of Kegs.

I have never taken a reading of any kind with my brews.

As I don't bottle either, I clear my brews by Lagering them (that's a fancy word for transfering the fermented brew into another fermenter, then add 3 teaspoons of sugar stir and let it rest for 2 to 3 days, then transfer into the keg.

Kegs are the go, the beer taste better, it's clear, there's no yeast smell or taste (ie homebrew flavour) and it's quicker from start to finish, I'd go as far as to say it taste better than beer on tap at the pub:D

Baz.