First AG - 10l OtterLord Brew in a bag (With pictures now)

[Bobba]

Must say I really enjoyed your live beer feed last night! That's gonna be a tasty batch

[craigmarshall]

just had one final thought, did you aireate the wort as you transfered it to the FV, the boil drives off most of the oxegen from the liquid, I normally alow it to drop about 1meter from the tap on my boiler down into the FV and stir it up as it goes to ensure there is air in the liquid again.

I had to stir it with a sanitised racking cane as it was cooling (while I wasn't typing on here!), so it was pretty well aerated anyway. It has a 1 inch krausen on it now, so I presume the yeast took hold rather than the bacteria.

The hot tap water when it was cooled tasted absolutely fine, not chemically or anything, so hopefully all will be well. We don't have a hot water tank as such, it's heated on demand with an oil-powered boiler, so there is nowhere significant for water to be sitting for days and weeks and getting manky.

Cheers,
Craig

[craigmarshall]

Must say I really enjoyed your live beer feed last night! That's gonna be a tasty batch

Hi Bobba,

Thanks for the nice comments, I wasn't planning the "live feed" at all, nor the brew really, not for last night anyway, in fact I didn't even start making the grain bag until after 6pm. I've been accumulating all the bits and pieces over the last week or so, I didn't even receive the grain until I got back in from work, at about 6pm, so I started with very short notice. It just seemed like the normal thing to do to post what was happening and when. Gives people a chance to correct my mistakes as and when they happen, or hopefully before!

Assuming this turns out well, and the results are as good as people say, I don't think I'll go back to kit beers (I've only done one of those, and I have one more to make up), I enjoyed the process quite a lot.

I was at the plumbers merchants this morning and bought copper pipe and fittings to make an immersion cooler. I've ordered a hose attachment for the tap too, so I shan't have the delay/stress about cooling next time. I know how these traditional crafts can be and a lot of it (not necessarily in beer-making, that's what I'm trying to determine) is done the way it is for tradition or commonly believed myths rather than logic or results. So I wanted to see what the process was like with as little equipment as possible, and add equipment as I go when I see fit.

I may well end up with a full setup like other people have, but I do think I'll stick to the smaller batches. I did 25l of Nog, and it was nice, but I was getting a bit bored of it after a few weeks. And the last quarter went off in this heat... So smaller batches seem sensible. I don't want to get into bottling 40 bottles at a time either!

Enough babbling,
Craig

[Invalid Stout]

This is pretty much exactly the way I do things, and I've made some pretty good beer if I say so myself. Recently I tried cooling in the bath instead of the sink, and yes it does cool down an awful lot faster (unsurprising if you think about how much more cold water it takes to fill the bath). It's a bit wasteful of water though, unless you have a use for large amounts of "grey water". The point is moot anyway if you're going to acquire a chiller (as I shall also do ... eventually).

[craigmarshall]

It's good to know there are other people using the simpler system and don't feel the ned to change. And get good result, of course. I read that the BIAB method had produced it's first competition winning beer, and I don't have the most advanced palate in the world, so, a pretty good combination.

The beer itself has been fermenting for three days now, and the foamy had has died down to nothing. it smells good, I will either leave it to start clearing then bottle, or rack it off into demijohns for secondary fermentation and less sediment for easier bottling..

Can't wait to taste it in a couple of weeks

Cheers,
Craig

[craigmarshall]

I've just racked the beer to secondary (into 2 demijohns), and the SG was 1.010, making an abv of 4.1% or so.

It smelt good, but yeasty. Tasted ok, but I know this will improve a lot between now and when it's been conditioned for a couple of weeks.

Question: When I make cider from juice, I rack off after a few days when the bulk of the fermentation is done, and only bottle when the cider just starts to clear at the top, which is another few days. Can I bottle this beer at the same point (when it starts to clear), and still have sufficient yeast in there for proper carbonation? I'm planning to prime with 1/2 tsp glucose per 500ml bottle.

Cheers,
Craig

[craigmarshall]

It's been ten days now, and no sign of the beer clearing. I racked it off the sediment after about 4 days, and the SG was nice and low - around 1.010 (maybe a smidge higher).

Shouldn't it be clearing by now? I'd like a clear beer, so should I start to think about using my sachet of youngs beer finings?

I'd really prefer to use the "wait for it to drop bright" method, but I'm concerned that there will be too little yeast left for carbonation.

any help appreciated

Cheers,
Craig

[WishboneBrewery]

I'd go ahead and bottle, it will clear once bottled for its conditioning/ maturing time.
I think I heard that regular sugar or Spray malt was better than Glucose for priming I'm starting to just use Spray malt for priming.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

I think I heard that regular sugar or Spray malt was better than Glucose for priming I'm starting to just use Spray malt for priming.

The only difference will slightly less CO2 produced due to slightly less fermentable sugars in the spraymalt and a slightly higher cost per pint.

[craigmarshall]

Well - it's been 13 days since I brewed this mini-batch, 4 in primary, 9 in secondary. I have checked the gravity, it's on 1.011, down from 1.042, giving a strength of 4.1% abv, ideal for me.

I have bottled it in 18 x 500ml bottles, and just capped and labelled them. I am using recycled black sheep ale bottles, and I have to say, a) they are a lot easier to clean than old hooky, and b) they are a lot easier to use the wing capper with.

It didn't taste out of this world, but there was nothing wrong with it, my wife said it was fairly yeasty, but it's definitely finished fermenting, hopefully it will clear (visually) in the next two weeks, and this may clean up the flavour too?

Here is a snap of my little beer army, freshly made, from scratch I've bottled one in a clear squeezy bottle as I've done with cider before, so I can see whether clearing and carbonation is happening - does anyone else's look as unclear as this at bottling time?

otterlord.JPG (192.1 KiB) Viewed 1535 times

Thanks for your help everyone, don't know what I'd have done without you.

Cheers,
Craig

[Invalid Stout]

I have a clay stein that I use for cloudy beers

[craigmarshall]

I have a clay stein that I use for cloudy beers

I don't really fancy drinking beer from an opaque vessel

Cheers
Craig

[WishboneBrewery]

I have a clay stein that I use for cloudy beers

I don't really fancy drinking beer from an opaque vessel

Cheers
Craig

I prefer not drink aboard any ship

[craigmarshall]

Hi,

Well - I didn't want to wait until next week or the week after before trying the "Otterlord", so I stuck bottle in the warmish fridge (8-10C), and pulled it out after 30 minutes. It was cloudy and nearly flat, and not quite cool enough for a pale ale, but I finished it just now and I really really want another. The aftertaste in particular is absolutely amazing. It's going to be a hard week.

Craig

[garwatts]

Hi Craig

Like the labels What software did you use for them?

Gaz