Brewers choice old ale

[pas8280]

Finally after unforseen delays i am ready to start my Old Ale kit i have also purchased a kilo of dark spray malt having taken advice from this forum i have two burning questions firstly the kit allraedy has spray malt in it do i put this in with the afore mentioned dark spray malt or replace it, the instructions are a little un clear. Secondly i will be fermenting in the garage which isnt heated but is intgral to the house so will it be warm enough or will the fv nead a heat source i have both a Boots immersion type and a heat tray for larger FV which if one is required would be the best.I am anxious to do the best with this kit and not ruin it as i did with my last foray which i king keged ( bottles this time ) All advice will be graetfully accepted and any other ideas to assist would be appreciated

[sargie]

It depends on the temperature in your garage the wort needs to be between 18-21.c idealy i ferment mine in the house as i know any out buildings will be way to cold especialy at night and with winter round the corner. You need to add extra fermentables if the kit asks you too for example a 1.7kg coopers kit may ask you to add 1kg of brewing sugar but you can add spray malt in place of sugar gram for gram. Your kit recomends 1kg of brewing sugar too so just add the spray malt in there.

[Jerry Cornelius]

I done one of these back in April. a very nice pint.

Add the extra 1kg spray malt to the kit. 1/2 a campden tablet to the water will help as well. Keep the FV between 18 - 20 deg C if you can, as Sargie says.

When I bottled I used 90 g tate & lyle to a bottling bin, and it was nicely carbonated.

[pas8280]

Thanks for the replies no way will the wife have it in the house so it will be the garage im leaning more to the heater pad to get it up to temp. Do i add the half campden tab crushed or whole and at what point ?

[sargie]

Thanks for the replies no way will the wife have it in the house so it will be the garage im leaning more to the heater pad to get it up to temp. Do i add the half campden tab crushed or whole and at what point ?

I have to stress m8 if your garage gets cold at night i personaly dont think any type of heater will be enough. My dad had a semi years ago witgh an attached garage at the side and i know in the winter it was freezing in there at night. You may need some sort of insulated fermenting box. You can use polystyrene sheets to make one i havnt used one but im sure someone else here can better advise you. Either that or tell the missus tough lol it's only for a week think of all the make up hair straightbners hair dryers etc she has all over the place

[pas8280]

Now getting a tad worried stuck a thermometer in the garage and its been a constant 15 degrees which is obviously too low i have an outside chance of sticking it under the stairs but cant garauntee it wont be disturbed and might have issues getting it to the right height and obviously this is not an ideal area to work in bit confined etc so do you not think that the heater tray will raise the temp enough ???????? The garage is the only place that i can be certain kids cant get to it and it will be safe from knocking etc

[Jerry Cornelius]

Crush the tab and use half of it to treat ALL the water you are going to use.

I use a spare FV and fill it with 23L water, treat it, and then use that for boiling, topping up etc...

[pas8280]

I have put a FV full of cold tap water on the heater pad in the garage the initial temp was 13 degres after 3 hrs this has risen to 18 degrees do you think this will be enough (hoping it rises to promised 22+ it says on the box) ???????????

[KevP]

To be honest mate I really doubt it, you may have better luck with an aquarium heater and/or a hastily knocked up cube of polystyrene.

If the temp gets really low at night your yeast wont know what,s hit it and you're in for trouble. If 18C was the lowest it would reach you may have a chance but in an unheated garage in October no chance. (especially up north down here we are still slapping on factor 30 )

[pas8280]

Currently its about 21 deg i wrapped it all up in blankets and it seems to be bubbling away quite merrilly on day two so my fingersn are crossed, it is quite warm in the garage.

[pas8280]

A big thank you to everybody on the forum who has helped me so far, i have finally bottled this kit without mishap (except snapping a bottle neck whilst capping) I had a good swig and it tasted fine and i am exited about it getting better as it ages, so its on to the next one (any suggestions) i have also managed to obtain a gas fired boiler so i will be posting about that later when iv checked it out, thanks again all.