Zapp Posted October 6, 2012 Report Share Posted October 6, 2012 Excellent, sometimes it can take a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 (edited) This time of year is great. You can have the heating on and regulate the temp. My house has sat at a constant 22 degrees for the past 2 month now. All my kits recommended having the wort at a said temp before adding yeast. I have had a few kits go belly up due to leaving the wort too long before pitching in fhe yeast. I would recommend a Thermometer as well as your hydrometer. I also started to use a turkey baster to get a sample out to test the FG. Its better than mucking about with a syphon. The brewing is fun and can be very rewarding. Zapp is a fountain of Knowledge and well worth paying attention to in the persuit of a good brew! This month I have bottled 6 strawberry wines 6 black cherry wines and my Coopers Mexican cerveza (sp) and now have a blueberry gin on the go too. I have to wait till January to drink the beer though Edited October 15, 2012 by Lord Geordie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only1cliff Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Im inspired, im off out on the weekend to the Happy Brewer, fancy making the Wherry and a Cider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 This time of year is great. You can have the heating on and regulate the temp. My house has sat at a constant 22 degrees for the past 2 month now. All my kits recommended having the wort at a said temp before adding yeast. I have had a few kits go belly up due to leaving the wort too long before pitching in fhe yeast. I would recommend a Thermometer as well as your hydrometer. I also started to use a turkey baster to get a sample out to test the FG. Its better than mucking about with a syphon. The brewing is fun and can be very rewarding. Zapp is a fountain of Knowledge and well worth paying attention to in the persuit of a good brew! This month I have bottled 6 strawberry wines 6 black cherry wines and my Coopers Mexican cerveza (sp) and now have a blueberry gin on the go too. I have to wait till January to drink the beer though need a report when this is tasted, been thinking about this, i mainly brew stout, thinking of a corona style brew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Cookoff. When bottling it was more like Hoegarden :blink: It claims to settle in secondary fermentation which they recommend 16 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 16 weeks ? i`d be too dehydrated with that wait, i`ve been waiting 3 weeks for a brew to get good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Only1cliff Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 And a quick picture of my dining room setup Did it all come as a starter kit or did you get the brewing kit and then the fermentation bucket and airlock seperate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Did it all come as a starter kit or did you get the brewing kit and then the fermentation bucket and airlock seperate? if you go to most brewing websites there will be whole strter kits available, with most types of beer / ale kits. often they have a discounted beginers kit at a reduced price. you can source your own kit as you dont need all the things that come with the kit. essentially a bucket and a paddle for all brewing essentially £15, for both. the decision you need to make is what bottles to put it in. recently i bought 12x 2 litre tap water bottles to put 25 litres of stout in it for a work give away, the bottles and the water cost £1.70 from tesco. and they were clean. so you can get brewing for as little as £25 for the first brew, and subsequent brews major reduction in price. i normally put in glass bottles, but £1.70 to store that beer is exceptionally cheap. i may have to do it again. as for the brew kit ans the brew consumables, its whatever it costs, (kit format) i`ve been brewing cheap stout, with 1 tin 1kg spraymalt and 250g sugar, and its been ok. i think the brew was alittle malty, but what did i expect. the brew came in at £18, not i could use 2x 1.5kg tins of harvest stout, came in at £20 / 40 pints and was very appreciated at work. so you can brew on a budget. if you were to do it on the cheap you could increase the brew size so its 10 pints more, little sugar, then its increadably cheap. probly tastes cheap too. the cheap 1.5kg kits should do 30pints with a kg of sugar, so for the added inconvienience of brew size, 60 pints in a go ist unreasonable, but you`d have to like it first. so 33p a pint is easily achievable. whether you`d want to do that is another matter. i`ve just about to start a st peters kit, 40pints. costme £27 (!) so 70p a pint of nice beer. i read a book first about it. best thing i ever did, finished the book, then brewed 2 lots straight away. no messing. ist brew worked just about. 2nd brew was awsome. that batch was legendary, 4-5 batches were the same super stout. 6 was a 2 tin stout, and now i`m on to the 2 tin st peters ruby ale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ace_of_hearts Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Time for an update. The wherry has been in the pressure barrel for a week now, but after 3 days the pressure build up caused the rubber tap seal to leak. I lost a pint or two and had to put the barrel on its side and red I the seal with vaseline. All was fine until today when it started dripping again. I have turned the tap an 1/8 of a turn and it all looks OK, but the tap is now at a funny angle. I might need to repressurise the barrel after it has cleared because obviously I lost the first few days buildup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Time for an update. The wherry has been in the pressure barrel for a week now, but after 3 days the pressure build up caused the rubber tap seal to leak. I lost a pint or two and had to put the barrel on its side and red I the seal with vaseline. All was fine until today when it started dripping again. I have turned the tap an 1/8 of a turn and it all looks OK, but the tap is now at a funny angle. I might need to repressurise the barrel after it has cleared because obviously I lost the first few days buildup. When you finish the brew empty and clean the barrel. Remove the spigot and tap and clean well but don't refit untill your ready to use it again. Apply vasaline to both sides of the seal and tighten hand tight. That should seal the threads. As for the spigot! It will pop into two halves (mine do) check the mating surfaces for wear, if any replace the whole tap. They are cheap anyway. If the mating surfaces are smooth then apply a small thin coat of vaseline to the spigot only and click back in making sure its in the off position then make an 1/8 turn open then back to closed to make sure the surfaces are sealed. I lost a little from my first brew because I didn't know the tap was not sealed propperly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Is it a budget keg or a king keg you are using? If it is a budget keg the tap head can rotate independently of the body. Just hold the base of the tap tightly and rotate the head. Leaking taps are a massive pain in the bum. The best tip I can offer you is to put some plumbers tape on the tap thread once the keg is empty before the next batch goes in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerdeor Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 My wherry was a late starter took almost 10 days it only really started when i dropped the tempreture,which is odd,bright side is its goinf mad now Even better i got another wherry from wilko for 15 quid............bargain or what happy brewing Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 16 weeks ? i`d be too dehydrated with that wait, i`ve been waiting 3 weeks for a brew to get good. Just checked the bottles and they have cleared really well just a small amount of haze in the very lower part. The pressure is making a good job of clearing it up. It looks very nice. Can't wait to get a cheeky snifter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ace_of_hearts Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Success! It tastes as good as it looks, and although the tap is at a dodgy angle at least it is watertight now Thanks again everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 That has cleared a treat. You can rotate that tap head without unscrewing the main body by the way. Just hold the body in place near the barrel and twist the tap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remy 700 Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 That beer looks fab , got a raspberry gin and a strawberry vodka on the go from you guys , well worth it they will be superb by christmas , thanks for the effort of posting pics , cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam-1990 Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 Ive been brewing on and off for a couple of years and had limited success never been overly impressed with my brews until recently, I bought a coopers english bitter and enhancer but I left it in the fermenter for about 15-16 days and added a beer finings a couple of days before bottling it but its turned out great cleared a treat its been in the bottles just over 2 weeks now and Ive been drinking the odd one and its great still not aged enough yet but its crystal clear. have got a canadian blonde fermenting at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Having read this topic a few weeks ago I went & bought a Woodfords Wherry kit. I'm no stranger to home brew ciders but this is my first attempt at beer. It's in the pressure barrel now - how long should it really be left for? Box says 2 weeks but is this the bare minimum? Or to put it another way, will it improve further if left a bit longer, & if so, how much longer should I leave it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Kit beers normally benefit from a good maturation in the keg, but that is because most use a lot of cane sugar to get their alcohol content. This isnt a problem with the Woodefordes kits as they contain all the sugar as malt extract. In short, yes, your Wherry will benefit from slightly longer maturation. Given that it is around 4%, 4 weeks would be perfect. I generally allow 1 week per percent ABV for all malt (ie no sugar) beers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted November 3, 2012 Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 Thanks Zapp. Just what I needed to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 My pleasure. As it happens, I am doing my Christmas beer today - it is mashing as I type. I'm doing the Gales Festival Mild clone from Graham Wheelers book Brew Your Own British Real Ale. I normally do something strong and dark (fnarr fnarr) at Christmas. Last year I did the Wheeler Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby Mild and Old Peculier the year before. It will get a good long maturation in the keg ready for the first pint to be drawn as soon as I finish work for the hols. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
working dog Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Good choice Zapp. I did the festival mild and its a nice drink although not your typical mild we get today (think its about a 5 %er). It will benefit from plenty of conditioning. I have 10 gals of Sarah Hughes to keg today in readiness for the festive season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 just bottled my st peters ruby ale. i`ve 80 little friends with their hats on. the brew smelled lovely, and i have to say, the end yeast cake was huge. it was 3-4" on the bottom. the yeast was a premium 6g sachet, i primed in bottle with way less sugar. less than 1/4tsp per 1/2pint i`m not really going to drink until xmas eve. i`ve plans for another brew to get going, another st peters golden ale. i found the bottling process exausting again, sterylising and cleaning bottles. then to bottle and cap 80 times via a syphon. i need a bottling bucket. i havent a clue what to do next, was thinking nelsons revenge.?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
working dog Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Nelsons Revenge is a nice pint. One of my favourite kits was Muntons Smugglers. It s a bit more expensive but still a pint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Good choice Zapp. I did the festival mild and its a nice drink although not your typical mild we get today (think its about a 5 %er). It will benefit from plenty of conditioning. I have 10 gals of Sarah Hughes to keg today in readiness for the festive season. I did the Sarah Hughes recipe last year. What kind of water profile did you go for to cope with all that crystal? I think I took my alkalinity too low, because while it was nice, it wasnt spot on. I was thinking that an alkalinity of 150ish using Wheeler's Mild profile would have been better. I've done the Gales FM before, it is a cracker. It is supposed to come out at 1.054 but my efficiency was a little lower than normal so it came out at 1.052. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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