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Homebrew time again!


Scott

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Ah mines going in the utility room on the heated floor. then in the garage. I've got a thermostatically controlled heater element to go inside the brewing vessel but I don't think I'll need it.

 

Yeah the heater element is what I'm using :)

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Well this batch didn't half take off like a rocket. It stopped fermenting yesterday, I checked it today with the hydrometer and it was ready :blink:

 

So, all bottled and ready to go 37 pints :D

 

It smells and tastes absolutely fantastic, even at this stage, so I'm hopeful that this is going to be a good one. One MASSIVE drawback though, I bought coopers carbonation drops hoping that it would make the whole process a doddle. For the best part it did, I was humming 'hi-ho' while dropping in a drop before filling and then capping. It wasn't until through 27 bottles that I looked at the pack, for one reason or another, and found that 1 drop does for a 375ml "Stubby" bottle, wheras 2 drops are for a 750ml "long neck". It doesn't mention this crap in any of the guides or any of the information regarding these drops, so you are virtually buying blind to the fact that they are no use for normal 568ml pint bottles. I just carried on with 1 a bottle as there was no point in switching it up then.

 

I'm HOPING that as it's cider the slightly less sugar might not make as much of a difference as my last batch was REALLY fizzy. The fingers are crossed, but even if it goes wrong I'm definitely giving this kit another go as it tastes fantastic as it is.

 

Oh, 6.7% :D

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How long will this batch last you??? Will the next loft photo involve you laying in there nailed in a semi comatose state??

 

I got almost a month out of the last batch so that was pretty good.

 

Trouble is it takes a month before it's ready so there won't be any sampling for a little while. Now that it's bottled I need to let it sit for 5 days at approx 20 degrees, after that it gets launched back up the loft for a fortnight to clear. Once cleared it's ready to drink but if I leave it for another couple of weeks it will just get better as it matures.

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Scott, I would LOVE to try this mate.

 

Can you help me out with a list of necessary equipment and links bud? I would be brewing in loft too but no heating up there so would need a heater?

 

Thanks and good job!

 

Greg

 

 

I'll sort something out for you in a bit. I'll just list what I use and some brief instructions :)

 

 

Is it quite cost effective or is it just more something to do in general with some nice booze to sip at the end??

 

Not really, it's more a hobby than anything else. This is either my 5th or my 6th attempt. Up until my last go with the cider I have hardly had anything REALLY drinkable. The last lager I made was a Mexican cerveza but it was very watery with no body. Most of the lagers I have made have been the same regardless of sugar and method so I gave up there. The cider I made the last time cost me about £25 total and I got around 40 pints out of that, in that sense it works out decent value for money but when you add up the failed attempts and the equipment required it's not really worked out VFM for me.

 

If I keep at it it could very well be reasonable value though, obviously the more I make the more the equipment etc is subsidised by the end product :D

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Equipment I use....

 

Fermenting Bin x2 - This is just a bucket with a hole in the lid (I acutally use 2 barrels but if I was doing it again I would get buckets).

Stopper - This goes in the hole

Airlock (bubbler) - This goes in the stopper (they usually come together)

Immersion Heater - This goes inside the bin to keep your brew to temp. (usually comes with a stopper for the airlock etc)

Stick on Thermometer strip - This sticks to the fermenting bin so that you can keep an eye on the temp (Approx 10-40 degrees)

Hydrometer - This is for measuring the density of your brew, it is measured right at the beginning and right at the end. The difference in values tells you %age.

Syphoning Tube - Mine has a 1" bucket on the bottom so that when you use it it doesn't pick up all the sediment.

Bottling Wand - This attaches to the end of the syphoning tube for when you bottle your brew (starts when you put it in the bottle, automatically stops when you pull it out)

Glass Bottles - You need at least 40 pint glass bottles. Very few homebrew supply stores online will ship these due to breakage. Get amber bottles as they block out daylight.

Crown Caps - You need around 40 crown caps per brew.

Crown Capper - This is needed to put the caps on.

Bit Stirring Spoon - I got a spade type agitator one. This is just for stirring your brew and aerating it, big long handle etc.

A bath - Ideally you need a bath to clean all the equipment in.

Steriliser - Everything needs to be spotless.

Bottle Cleaner - This is for cleaning the bottles.

Bottle Tree - This is for drying the bottles on.

 

 

Ingredients..

 

Cider/Beer Kit

2kg of Sugar (I prefer the proper fermenting stuff, comes out cleaner IMO)

22 Litres of Smartprice Spring water (Again, you can use tapwater if you like but I've had far more success since switching to bottled, it costs £1.87 for the lot)

 

 

Instructions (I'm going to keep this brief lol)

 

Thoroughly clean 1 of the bins, the stirring spoon, the heater, the bung, the airlock and the hydrometer using steriliser at a dose of 2tsp per gallon. For this I just fill the bucket with a couple of gallons and add 4tsp of sanitiser. Then I throw in the spoon and the hydrometer, give it all a good swirl around and make sure everything is spotless. Make sure not to forget the lid. Let everything soak for around 10 mins then rinse everything off thorougly with cold water. Once done put everything in the bin and put the lid on it (so that it doesn't get dusty).

 

Boil 4L of bottled Asda water. While waiting put the can of beer/cider mix under the hot tap so that it softens the contents. Don't have it too hot as you're going to need to handle it.

 

Remove all the stuff from the fermenting bin (keep them somewhere clean with minimal contact, draining rack or something) and pour in the mix from the can. Pour in 1-1.3kg of sugar and pour in the 4L of boiling water. Mix it all THOROUGLY with your big spoon.

 

Add the rest of the water to make up to 5gallons (It should be marked on the side of the bucket). At this point I usually stop around the 4 gallon mark and check the temperature (I'll assume you've stuck your temp sticker to the bin). When you have hit the 5gallon mark you want to be around 20 degrees so you might need to boil some more water if it's too cold at the 4 gallon mark. If after hitting 5 gallons it's too hot it's not a problem, just leave it to cool (put the lid on).

 

Once the 5gallons is reached and the temperature is spot on give the whole thing a crazy stir. You want to go nuts here as this is the last breath of O2 the brew is going to see and you need as much of it in the liquid as possible.

 

Wait for the brew to settle a little then put the hydrometer in. Take a note of the reading as best you can. Double check it a few times to be sure. Take it out.

 

Pitch your yeast. This just means sprinkle the silver foil bag of stuff into your brew. Give it a very gentle stir to make sure the yeast is under the foam and actually into the liquid.

 

Fit the lid, fit the heater, fit the stopper and fit the airlock (the airlock needs to be filled till halfway up the 2nd ball on both sides).

 

Put it up the loft, plug the power into the heater.

 

After a day you should hear the brew bubbling. If it's not check the temperature. If you still get nothing try squeezing the bucket to make sure the airlock is working as it should (it'll bubble). Leave it for another 24 hours. If there is still nothing happening then give the bucket a little shake to mix things up. If nothing happens after ANOTHER 24 hours then something has probably gone wrong, it's never happened to me yet (fingers crossed) so I'm not really the best bet for helping here.

 

When the bubbling stops or has dropped down to 1 every 2 mins then it's time to take a reading. Thorougly clean, sterilise and rinse the hydrometer. Take the lid off put the hydrometer in, take the reading, double check then remove it and put the lid back on. You will now have a starting density and a final density, you will have a chart with the hydrometer that will let you work out the alcohol by comparing those 2 values. If you are at the desired level (if it's a 5% kit it should be approx 5%, if it's a 7% kit it should be approx 7% etc) then the job is done. Move onto the next step. If it's a little low then something has gone wrong again, depending how low will determin whether you want to continue or not. Adding some more yeast can sometimes get things started again but you need to buy that etc.

 

Sterilise all bottles, rinse all bottles with clean cold water, hang all bottles on bottle tree. Sterilise, clean and rinse 2nd bin, big spoon thing and syphoning kit.

 

Syphon the contents from the 1st bin to the 2nd bin. As I said I use a special syphon bucket end thing to make sure I avoid the sediment at the bottom (nasty bitter tasting gunk). You will be left with about 1" in the bottom of the 1st bucket, that's perfect. Put the lid on the 2nd bucket, just cover it it doesn't need to be sealed shut.

 

Add the appropriate amount of sugar to the 2nd bin/brew (instructions of kit will tell you). Give it all a good mix. Lid back on.

 

Sterilise, clean & rinse bottling attachment and crown caps.

 

Syphon the brew into the bottles. Again keep the lid on, just sit it on top of the bin. Do 1 bottle at a time and fit the cap to each one.

 

Again keep going until there is around an inch at the bottom of the bin, this is normal and it's the reason you will often get less than 40 pints. With the same end thing i have this will automatically happen.

 

Once finished sterilise, clean and rinse everything. Put everything inside the bucket and seal the buckets with the lids for next time.

 

Give each bottle a quick shake then put them somewhere that is around 20 degrees for a week. After a week move them to somewhere cool (around 15 degrees). My normal choice is the cupboard with the PC in it (runs hot) and then into the loft (runs cold).

 

After 2 weeks open up a taster. If it's good, go nuts. If you want it at its best, wait another month.

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http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/ This is a good place to get your stuff.

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3795 Drilled lid bin (for stopper)

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3785 Plain lid (for the 2nd stage)

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=595 Immersion heater with stopper

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=911 Airlock

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=71 Hydrometer

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=79 Steriliser

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=30_119&products_id=50 Paddle/spoon

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=582 Cool glass Bottles

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3555 Normal glass bottles

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YOUNGS-SIMPLE-SYPHON-BEER-AND-WINE-MAKERS-HOME-BREW-/120854299288?pt=Home_Brew&hash=item1c237a4298 Syphon Kit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bottle-Rinser-Steriliser-Red-Home-Brewing-Beer-NEW-/390323716461?pt=Home_Brew&hash=item5ae11b416d Bottle Rinser

http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/acatalog/AoB_OnLine_Catalogue_Bottling_Equip____accessories__30.html Bottle wand, crown capper, crown caps, bottle drainer, Auto syphon (if you want it),

http://www.art-of-brewing.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000006.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eart%2dof%2dbrewing%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fAoB_OnLine_Catalogue_Bottling_Equip____accessories__30%2ehtml&WD=strip&SHOP=trlshop48147&PN=AoB_OnLine_Catalogue_Test_Equipment___accessories___28%2ehtml%23a1504#a1504 Thermometer strip

 

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/search.php?query=on+the+rocks&Submit=Search Cider Kits

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=77 Brewing Sugar

 

HTH :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Cracked this open tonight and it's absolutely lovely. Very drinkable, although a little bit alcopopish. It's much stronger than it was meant to be though, so it's full of win :D

 

It's not as gassy as it should be, due to those bloody drop things, but other than that it's the best I've made. I'll definitely be getting it again.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The brew has fully matured now and is fully drinkable. I've been sampling a bottle each week since it was ready and it's now fully blown awesome. Very ligh sparkle to it, which could be improved slightly, but other than that it's liquid perfection :D

 

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