Glorious Five Year Plan

[maxashton]

Oh, btw, i made about 2/3rds of a bottle of lucozade starter out of boiled malt extract and the packet of yeast. Second packet was in the fridge incase it had trouble starting.

I was kinda winging it becuase i'd never made a starter before. The airlock started bubbling pretty fast after not too many minutes.

[maxashton]

Tempting.

Is it possible to store it somehow?

[maxashton]

Oh, i forgot to ask. The Hygrometer reading was about halfway between 30 and 40, with the "potential alcohol" reading at 6%.

Does this sound about right?

[maxashton]

Ah.
I thought i was to take one at the start and one at the end and compare.
Stupid boy.

[tubby_shaw]

Ah.
I thought i was to take one at the start and one at the end and compare.
Stupid boy.

No you are correct take a gravity check at the start and at the end.
This way you will be able to calculate the ABV reasonably well. Ignore potential alcohol readings on the hydrometer they are for wine makers
I think DaaB thought that you were taking readings during fermentation
Too quick for me DaaB

[maxashton]

The bubbling from the airlock has stopped. I figured i had a stuck fermentation, so i drew a sample out from the tap to test in the hydrometer.

the starting gravity was around 1035, and right now it's at around 1010, i suspect a little lower. I can't really be sure becuase i'm not too hot on the hydrometer.

Is this entirely normal? I'm not planning on kegging it yet or anything, so there's no cause for alarm..

So... i had a quick slurp. It tastes bloody good, aside from the yeast.

[maxashton]

ok so an accurate sg reading would be 1008 i think, at present.

Thanks for the link, that was helpful.
I should memorise your site

So it's nearly attenuated already. I mean i thought it was going nuts, but i didn't think it was going to be THAT nuts. It did taste pretty good though.

thanks again for the input DaaB!

[maxashton]

Incidentally, perhaps i didn't use enough spraymalt?
I was expecting a bit closer to 5% for the batch, and presumed 1kg would be sufficient.

I'm never averse to a session beer tho.

[maxashton]

what does that mean?

this is where my technical knowledge hits a brick wall and looks like a schmuck.

[maxashton]

oh, right. so i wanted 1.5 - 2 kilos.
That would make it more efficient to use one of the 3kg kits. I begin to see why they are reccommended.

[maxashton]

Should the beer have cleared at all by the time i'm ready to transfer to keg on Tuesday? Or will it do the clearing in keg/bottle? I'm a bit confused about this.

[maxashton]

It was S-23. Do you reckon it'd be worth using the isinglass i got send, then?

[PieOPah]

I have used finings twice. In each instance I am sure that I tasted something that was off. No idea what type of finings I used (liquid) but I have never and likely will never use again.

It may take slightly longer for my beer to clear but at the end of the day I don't care whether it has a haze or not. If it tastes great then who cares what it looks like?

If I really don't like the look of the beer then I can always serve it in my tankard - can't see it then

[maxashton]

Fair cop.

[maxashton]

Oh, i'm already doing that. The fermenter isn't free until tuesday, so i might make and bottle some bitter for me. I only have the one keg, though. Pressure barrels are only 14 quid at wilko, but the lid with the s30 fitting is another 15!