" Ditch's Stout " Master Class .....

[Ditch]

F**k me, mate! What took ye so long?!

[avtovaz]

turbo cider etc got in the way LOL!

will start it tomorrow mate, cant wait !

[Hanglow]

I'm bottling my coopers stout today, I used 900g LME from holland & barett and 450g of homemade brewers invert no2 and brewed it to 21l . Hopefully it will be flavoursome. I did switch to all grain earlier in the year but time has been short over the last month so I thought I'd try the stout kit thanks to this thread

[avtovaz]

Ditch, do you normally get a lot of foam when its brewing? I seem to have, i dont know if its the fermenter though, it seems a little small really, hold the volume but not a lot of head space if you know what i mean.


But its brewing!

[Ditch]

Yes, mate. There are two, extremely well documented and recognised points of 'foaming' with this stuff. Initially we see the " Brain " form. This looks like a delicious, cream and coffee meringue. It forms with the onset of yeast activity and simply sits on top of the wort.

Then, if conditions are optimum, comes the legendary " Spew ". This is the marriage breaker! The Spew will easily throw back a FV lid and then proceed to ..... well; Spew out and all over the floor.

It has a caramel colour to it and consists of a mass of frothy bubbles. Disconcerting thing is, on a good one, ye can actually stand there and watch it move!

[avtovaz]

well then mate, it all seems to be over, its just sat now.

Do you use finings in it if your putting it into a korny?

thanks mate, cant wait to try it!

[Ditch]

No Way should it be ready yet, mate! Ye put it in on the 4th, yeah? It's now the (5, 6) 7th? What temperature did ye have it at?

I use fish tank heaters, set to 21C. Mine still take a good 24 hours to warm up. Then I probably sling the yeast in. Then I want to leave it a minimum of a good three days and nights.

I was long, long ago shown how a temperature of 22C can force ferment a kit out in three days flat. But, f**k me; We should at least let it reach that temperature, before counting.

If that beer was made 'cold'? I'd suggest sitting on ye hands till the weekend, mate.

And " Cornies "? " Finings " ?!? Get te f**k!!!

[avtovaz]

i posted on sat night/sunday morning, and put it on sunday afternoon. I just dumped everything in, put my brew belt on it, and then put the yeast in 1 hour later.

i just checked its gravity and its 1.010

I have given it a good stair too.


So how do you serve your pint then Ditch? Just in a barrel?

I havea cornie to put it in you see, easiest way for me to store it, and also, easiest to get out ))


Is it meant to be flat or like guinness?

thanks mate!

[Ditch]

Ye've 'given it a good stir'? Give you a good f**king stir in a minute! What ever possesses you? All these pages of information and ye don't seem to have read a word of it. Or have ye; And now ye trying to torment me by doing the opposite to the very core of what I explain here?

When I can be arsed, I'll syphon it into an unprimed, ungassed, BK. That's all covered, above. However, these days? I'm just as likely to do as I've been doing with the last, several, loads:

I simply put the FV on the window sill and stick the syphon stick / tube in it. Suck a pint into my glass, on the floor. Close the syphon tap and shove it back under the raised lid of the FV. Crawl back in here, on my hands and knees, and get back to " Jims ".

And yes, I guess I do drink mine 'flat'. As opposed to 'Like Guinness'. For me, see, the quality of this stuff reveals itself to the upper palate and the back of the throat. Eye balls and outer lips don't come into it.

[avtovaz]

no Ditch not trying to torment you! I was thinking the fermentation may have stuck a bit or something? I dont know, but i know that is what you do at the end of wine brewing and i do that more.

its starting to do something now 20 mins after the stir. Maybe its some co2 comming out? I dont know.

Ill put it into the cornie then, and leave it with no pressure hardly in it, just enough to get it out.

Dont forget Ditch, you know loads more about brewing than me, so ill get a but wrong. I havnt read the other parts of the thread, just the start post, and the recently added parts by me.

thankyou mate for your help

[Ditch]

I've just been asked, in PM, what I think of Brew Belts. I feel it may do to put my answer, 'once and for all' here too .....

Frankly, mate, I wouldn't have a brew belt or mat if it was given to me. They're ~ like air locks ~ things for wine makers. Wines like to ferment more genteelly. Gradually.

They take a month and wine makers are happy if they just keep chugging gently along and don't get too cold.

To me, that's like me saying " Ferment in a warm room. " WTF's a 'warm room'? It's 68.9 F in here right now. I'm warm. Many people don't consider it warm till it's 75+ F.

I say 'Ferment at 21 C'. I mean 21 C. And a brew belt simply can't do that.

Chuck a thermostatically controlled heater in there, set to 21 C. Ye Get 21 C. That creates " Ditch's Stout ".

Deviate from my original premise and how far adrift do ye want to go, and still try to compare it to " Ditch's Stout "?

[avtovaz]

Brew belt is getting fecked off then! Ill get a heater !!!

[avtovaz]

cheers Ditch

[WalesAles]

Hello Everyone,
Made my first Ditch`s Stout on Friday 6.30pm, It`s going like a train, the Foamy head looks like Jabba the Hutt crawling out of the FV! One question though, Do I leave the fish tank heater on at 22Deg for the full 8 - 10 days?
WA

[Ditch]

One question though, Do I leave the fish tank heater on at 22Deg for the full 8 - 10 days?

Yes, mate. It's doing no harm and leaving it on keeps things smooth.