newbie:york brew stone wall tips please

[THE EMBALMER]

had this kit a while xmas prezie from last year ,i have a big plastic barrel which i made some wine in i think this will do the job? i have noticed big buckets with lids on, do you make it in those then decant into a barrel or can i use the barrel straight away? bit dim sorry!
the instructions look a bit complicated for my fragile mind but will get there i think.
any hints and tips would be great especially when i get to the bottle or barrel stage.
like co2 into barrel but i guess the bottle will trap its co2?
cheers all will keep trawling through forum for tips

[sparky Paul]

Hi there, and welcome to Jim's forum!

I use bucket fermenters, but it sounds like you have one of the fermenters with a screw on lid. Is it like this?

Content deleted in accordance with forum rules.

Assuming it's a 5 gallon one, that will be perfect to ferment the beer in. Once it has fermented out, you then bottle it, adding a little sugar (about ½tsp. per pint) to give it a bit of CO2 carbonation, or you could also use a pressure barrel as an alternative to bottling - this is a robust barrel designed for keeping the beer under pressure, different to the fermenter you have.

The best tip I can give is to read Jim's instructions at the top of the page...

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/kits.htm

...and then following this up by asking lots of questions on here. Don't be afraid to ask, there's almost always someone about who can help you along.

[THE EMBALMER]

cheers paul,have you been in my loft taking pisc? thats the fermenter i have but needs a good clean still got a bit of wine in it and sludge smells like sherry ...not going to taste it though.
i have dug out all i need i have a few wine bottles with plastic stoppers would these do or is there any pressure to worry about ? bottling wise i see people use plastic ones is this ok regards taste ect? my line of thought is get old bottles from the pub i am guessing not all bottles are the same regards the tops need to find somewhere that sells grolsh i reckon!
cheers this is a great forum i will get this bad boy under way this weekend so maybe have some for new year if not sooner ? thanks glyn

[sparky Paul]

cheers paul,have you been in my loft taking pisc? thats the fermenter i have but needs a good clean still got a bit of wine in it and sludge smells like sherry ...not going to taste it though.

Those are great fermenters, and I'm sure there's nothing that a bit of thin bleach solution and elbow grease won't shift. For anything really stubborn, get yourself a bag of Soda Crystals from the supermarket or Wilkinsons - 50-odd pence for a 1KG bag and will shift anything.

i have dug out all i need i have a few wine bottles with plastic stoppers would these do or is there any pressure to worry about ? bottling wise i see people use plastic ones is this ok regards taste ect? my line of thought is get old bottles from the pub i am guessing not all bottles are the same regards the tops need to find somewhere that sells grolsh i reckon!

Put the wine bottles away for when you want to make more wine.

The bottles you need have to stand a bit of pressure, from the CO2 formed by the secondary fermentation. This is carried out in the bottle by adding further fermentable sugars, and gives you a bit of fizz, a bit of bite, and helps form a nice head... it also helps promote the beer to clear. I use PET plastic bottles, 2L fizzy pop bottles to be precise, and find them convenient... there's a few threads on here regarding the use of PETs and how to get the best out of them. As they are mostly clear, you need to keep the beer out of direct light as much as possible.

Bottles from the pub are usually excellent, in particular Magner's cider bottles are very popular, but you will need a capper... and the novelty soon wears off washing and sanitising 40 pint bottles. Virtually all bottles use the same caps, you just have to watch out for ones which are too thin, and there are a few bottles which don't work well with the popular two-handled capper due to the shape of the neck.

cheers this is a great forum i will get this bad boy under way this weekend so maybe have some for new year if not sooner ?

Get cracking now, and you could just be supping at Christmas with a bit of luck!

Good luck!

[THE EMBALMER]

ITS IN LIKE ERROL FLYNN I I WASHED THOROUGHLY WITH HOT WATER AND SOME MILTON BABY STERILIZER AND WENT TO LIDLE AND GOT BOTTLED SPRING WATER 20P FOR 2 LITRES AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO REFILL THE BOTTLES WITH ALE ! DONT KNOW IF WATER FROM TAP OR SPRING WILL MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE BUT MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT WOULD BE LESS UNWANTED ADDITIVES HAVING SAID THAT THE LABEL ON THE BOTTLE SAYS ITS GOT CHLORINE IN NOT SURE IF THIS IS NATURAL OR AN ADDITIVE WHEN BOTTLING . THINK I WILL MAYBE GET SOME BOTTLES FROM THE PUB AND A CAPPER (DEPENDING ON CASH FLOW)AND PUT MOST IN THE 2LTR BOTTLES JUST TO COMPARE AND SO I DONT HAVE TO DRINK 2LTRS IN ONE HIT.I HAVE THE FERMENTER UNDER THE STAIRS WITH A SMALL OIL FILLED RAD TO TRY AND KEEP THE TEMP STABLE DID THE SAME WITH THE WINE BUT TOOK A FEW DAYS TO GET TEMP RIGHT BEFORE PUTTING IN BUT WINGING IT THIS TIME.THE INSTRUCTIONS SAY KEEP STIRRING OVER THE FERMENTING PERIOD BUT I DONT HAVE ANY THING LONG ENOUGH (OOH ER MISSUS)TO REACH THE BOTTOM ,WAS THINKING JUST GIVE THE BARREL A GOOD SHAKE?? THANKS FOR YOUR ADVISE PAUL CANT WAIT TO SAMPLE IT AND POISON EVERY ONE I KNOW THEN GET ANOTHER ON THE GO YEEHA NO STOPPING ME KNOW...BYE BYE LIVER HA

[KevP]

First of all I'd try and get a thermometer and sit in on top of the fermenter to check its not too hot, 18-24C should be good, secondly once you've pitched your yeast dont mess with the brew! Just replace the lid and leave it be to get going, stirring it up, or shaking , will mess with your beer and cause oxidisation and bad tastes.

ps, is your avatar the druggie geeza from Withnail and I ?

[THE EMBALMER]

hi kev yes thats the guy out of withnail and i, danny he was called in the film kept his drugs in a dolls head!!he had some mad strong drug which he called the embalmer,great film.
regards the stirring thing it says to aerate the wort daily during fermenting is this not good? not going to touch it for 24 hours and the thermometer is on top of the barrel ,with me checking regular tonight .
think i got the temp about right at the mo will keep checking its only a really small oil rad set low as long as i can keep it constant on 20 i will be happy.
a quick question when bottling it says add light spray malt to each bottle ,none with kit not a problem i hear you all shout just add sugar to bottle i guess, but looking at the bottling thread at the top of here i may get a second bin to drain into(funds permitted) so what would be recommended to add when bottling cheers all glyn

[KevP]

Well, aerating the wort is done usually once, before pitching the yeast, not after. You'd do well to leave as it is now mate.
Glad you have the thermo in place, now with regards to the spraymalt, that would have been good going in instead of the sugar initially, if you are priming a barrell or bottles (forgive me not remembering) then you 'prime' with sugar, and you can use your spraymalt for this, but for bottles or a barrel, its such small quantities that I use dextrose.

[THE EMBALMER]

cool cheers, was wondering if you could get dextrose tablets that way you get the same amount into each bottle . or am i being daft?i have been known to cheers glyn

[sparky Paul]

I just use a small funnel (or make a cone out of paper) and a teaspoon measure to dose each bottle after filling, dextrose or normal granulated sugar is fine for this.

Great to hear you're on your way!

[THE EMBALMER]

CHEERS GUYS I HAVE TURNED THE OIL RAD OFF AS IT WAS EATING THE ELECTRIC PUT BARREL OFF CONCRETE FLOOR ONTO STACK OF NEWS PAPERS AND WRAPPED A THIN FLEECE BLANKET AROUND IT...AAHH. SHOULD STAY FAIRLY CONSTANT WILL KEEP AN EYE ON IT. AM I TO BELIEVE IF THE TEMP IS A TOUCH LOW IT WOULD NOT MAKE MUCH DIFFERENCE APART FROM TAKING A BIT LONGER TO FERMENT IT IS SITTING NICELY BETWEEN 18 AND 20 DEGREES

[KevP]

I'd say that'll be just fine mate, be wary that night time temps may drop lower though, maybe another fleece around it?

[THE EMBALMER]

hi kev, just checked at 23.27 hours and with the thermometer resting in the fv its spot on 19 degrees so reckon that should be the kiddie. its bubbling nice out of the airlock .just could not keep the oil rad on, the fv is right next to our pay meter and it was going down like chuff, seeing as i have not got any work on until january things bit tight ,hence recycling of bottles ect.
bit of a oops is it too late sort of question there is marking on the fv for 5 gallons so after putting hops in with boiling water and pouring 2 ltr bottles in to just above the 5 gallon mark then i thought job jobbed. but then putting empties away for reusing for the beer i had only used ten bottles so i have only put 20 ltrs in instead of 22.5 ...is this a problem?
also did not stir for long to aerate but did pour bottles in from hight so that would help i reckon.and forgot to take a reading with the hydrometer....learning curves every where ah well as long as its drinkable i will be happy i cocked the wine up when i did it but it came out ok but a bit like a strong rose.
i think i may regret not fitting a tap to the fv before brewing...ah well .
this brew is going to be called glyns shoestring ale . at least having no money i cant be tempted to waste money on things for the sake of it ,so this will be a lesson on how to do it as cheap as possible lol.
going to check out freecycle i reckon but plenty of hippies around here probably have it sown up lol

[daveyk]

I just use a small funnel (or make a cone out of paper) and a teaspoon measure to dose each bottle after filling, dextrose or normal granulated sugar is fine for this.

Great to hear you're on your way!

The other method i have used is to dissolve all of the sugar into as small amount of water as possible... (80g I think but would need to check).
Add this solution to the FV and give a VERY GENTLE STIR.
leave for half an hour, (this is no problem by the time the bottles are clean)
Then add the already primed beer into the bottles.

This is a great method if you are using bottles of varying sizes.

Dave.

P.S i know this is not to everyone taste but last time I did this brew, I added a jar of honey instead of sugars.... it was great and I've not heard a bad word said by any of the tasters. I have some instructions at home but will post them here as soon as i get chance.

[THE EMBALMER]

cheers Davey, was sort of thinking along those lines honey sounds a good idea would you warm it up in a bit of water to thin it ? how much honey?
can you taste the honey?
what do you reckon to the stone wall?
i see your drinking some and some waiting, so must be ok?
i take it you dont stir right at the bottom to disturb the sediment?
it says on the instruction to aerate daily during ferment i have not done this did you?
its been in the fv since saturday night i am thinking of checking the gravity it is still bubbling out of the air trap but has slowed right down it has never fallen lower than 18 or gone above 20 degrees but i can leave it for a while longer when did you bottle yours davey?
i am going to put it in 2ltr spring water bottles that i used to fill the fv they should not need cleaning i wouldnt have thought, as only has spring water in emptied out and lids straight back on. or am i just being lazy ha !i am watching on eblag a load of kit fairly local for 20 quid there is a 5 gallon barrel and a 2.5 gallon plus loads of other bits and bobs, so if i get these i will have too many options.
ideally i would like to put sugar into big barrel as a secondary bottle filling barrel then fill little barrel and put the rest into bottles to give to friends to sample . but that depends on if i get the gear. off to get a gravity reading bought a turkey baster for the job thanks laters glyn