First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
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emperor_penguin
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First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by emperor_penguin » Thu Apr 16, 2020 7:50 pm

Hello everyone,

I've just plunged into the wonderful world of home brewing and will be starting with a kit, Courage's Directors. I've bought a brewing kit (fermenting bin and all the usuals) and although I'm starting with a kit I plan to begin more advanced brewing later when I've had a bit of practice.

I do have a quick question though. I'd planned to rack the beer into a second ferment bin before bottling, putting a priming solution in first and siphoning in the beer. Unfortunately my second ferment bin doesn't have an airlock in the lid. Is this a problem? Some people seem to make up the priming solution, put the beer in, and then bottle immediately; will this mean conditioning and carbonation will continue in the bottle, or should I keep the beer in the secondary fermenter for a while, and then bottle? Without an airlock, would that not mean that the second ferment bin might eventually blow up? Or, (as my primary fermenter lid does have an airlock) could I just swap lids at the point of racking, or would that ruin the beer due to too much exposure to air?

Apologies for all the questions! All the best,

Emp

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by killer » Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:35 pm

Well done on your first brew and welcome to Jims.

If you want to bottle then you don't really care about an airlock on your second vessel. The idea, as you've said, is that once your beer has finished its primary fermentation (all the sugars have been turned to alcohol) you prime it with a specific quantity of sugar and then get it into the bottles. This priming sugar will then undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle to create CO2 and a little bit more alcohol.

Others skip this step and add a half a spoon of sugar directly to each bottle directly but your method should give a more consistent product and would be my preferred method when bottling. You might first add the priming solution (sugar boiled in water to avoid any possibility of infection) to your bottling bucket then rack the beer on top so it's well mixed. Then you can siphon into bottles.

Beer is sometimes served from a pressure barrel which is what you might mean by secondary fermenter - but in that case the barrel is sealed after priming.

Rookie
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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by Rookie » Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:39 am

Don't bother with the second vessel. Give it enough time to finish and go directly to bottling.
I'm just here for the beer.

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by Rookie » Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:40 am

Ooops double post. :cry: :oops:
I'm just here for the beer.

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by IPA » Fri Apr 17, 2020 7:37 am

Follow Killers advice and you wont go wrong. If you dont use the second bucket you will have to prime each bottle and your beer will not be as bright(clear). Once you have a few brews under your belt you might want to go a step further.
After you have racked the beer into the second bucket use a lid with an airlock. Add gelatine finings and leave for a further three days and then transfer the beer back into first bucket add the disolved sugar primings (2.5 gr per litre)then bottle immediately. This extra step with give you a really bright beer with hardly any visible yeast sediment.
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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by IHN » Fri Apr 17, 2020 2:55 pm

What Killer said, plus see of you can get hold of a tap to put on your bottling bucket and a bottling wand to go on it. Much, much easier and less messy than bottling via a syphon tube

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-repla ... /p/0441128

In fact, get two taps, and have one on each of your buckets, easier than syphoning all round. I've got one on my bottling bucket as close to the bottom as I can get it, so I can get as much beer out as easily as possible and one on my fermentation bucket about an inch from the bottom. This gives space for all the crud to collect under the level of the tap, so you get less of it in the bottling bucket.

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by emperor_penguin » Sat Apr 18, 2020 1:55 pm

Hi folks,

Thanks for the welcome and for all the comments, I really appreciate it. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to getting this brew going (still waiting for a few bits of kit to be delivered).

Currently reading a few books on brewing as well as eventually I'd like to work up to all grain brewing though I think my next few brews will be malt extract brews. The more you read about it the more you realise that in a way it's a bit like alchemy. I'm a huge fan of my single malt whiskies as well (another alchemy-like process!). I'll make sure to post a brew report when I've made the kit.

Thanks again folks and all the best.

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by mikenotts » Fri May 01, 2020 1:49 am

Rookie wrote:
Fri Apr 17, 2020 4:39 am
Don't bother with the second vessel. Give it enough time to finish and go directly to bottling.
this is spot on; I'm not an expert and my home brewing has been off and on for years i.e. back onto off licences and then back into home brew - but I did used to follow the books, for kits and AG - endless racking, maturing and other endless bollocks. All unnecessary and can be actively harmful. Ferment, mature and rack from one FV.

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by Normski » Fri May 01, 2020 11:21 am

Just to add to the great advise above.
Try to avoid getting any air into the beer when transferring to either a secondary or bottles, try not to splash or stir it too vigorously, you may oxygenate it.
Its ok to thrash it at the very start of fermentation to give the yeast plenty of oxygen but not at the end. No splashing and if using a siphon, keep the end below the surface of the beer in the receiving vessel.
Good luck with you new hobby.
Norm
The Doghouse Brewery (UK)

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by emperor_penguin » Tue May 05, 2020 11:56 am

Unfortunately this hasn't worked. I pitched the yeast on Sunday, and I've had no activity after 36 hours. This is because, despite a heat belt on the fermenter, my house doesn't seem to be warm enough to brew. I live at about 1,000 feet up in an old Welsh cottage with no central heating.

Temperatures at the brew station dropped below 14 degrees last night, and the yeast ideally needs an 18-20 degree range.

EDIT:

Right, I wrapped the fermenter in a four season sleeping bag about lunchtime, put a hot water bottle in to genrrate some warmth, and put a heater in the room near to the fermenter. Temperature has risen to 18.7 degrees and is holding steady, but crucially a head has developed on the brew.

This suggests that the yeast is very much alive and kicking, still not seen an Co2 yet though.

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by mikenotts » Fri May 08, 2020 5:52 am

(1) Unless you go near to absolute zero, you won't kill a fermentation with low temps - warm up and it will restart; (2) belt heaters are pants - use a decent under fv heater with a timer and you can easily maintain a 18-22 temp which is all you need for great beer (starting from low temps - high temps are a diffo problem); (3) if you are starting with kits, in challenging conditions temp wise, start with coopers: the kits (and most importantly the yeasts) were developed for aussi conditions - extreme heat an cold; i remember at least one of their kits (or their website) said that after setting up a coopers kit, if the temp remained stubbornly high, pitch at 28c or below; they are bullet-proof, and great kits; ideal corona lock-down mad max brews;

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Re: First brew (Courage Directors) and question

Post by mikenotts » Fri May 08, 2020 6:00 am

i.e. if you have followed basic sanitation procedures so the beer is not infected, you haven't pitched bleach as an additive or boiled the post-yeast wort (and assuming you followed the most basic procedures, kit, BIAB or AG) its difficult not to end up with a basic acceptable beer, the procedure is really that forgiving (but my bar for acceptable may be low - 6 years in Saudi in the 1980's living on basically jailhouse brew)

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