Greetings from a NY country noob with a ton of?

[Kirkwooder]

First let me say Wow! What a great forum!

I have been bitten by the brew bug and the fever has set in deep and doesn't look like it will break any time soon.

I have a ton of questions but will start with priming a porter that I have in the primary. It is a kit, Muntons gold Docklands porter. I have had it in the primary for 5 days now and the fermentation is still strong, but I look forward to bottling it, or racking it,( depending on what I find out here )in the next few days. The instructions say that it should be finished fermenting in 7-8 days. However, on the advise of a not over-knowagable brewstore employee, I added a pound of extra light malt extract to the kit to try and up the abv a little, so I expect that the fermentation may take a bit longer. The instructions also advise to bottle streight from the primary. Should I instead rack it first? If so, how exactly, should I go about this?

 

[abrew2u]

I would leave it in primary for at least 3 weeks make sure you are taking hydrometer reading that's the only real way to know if fermentation is done. The lack of activity in your airlock doesn't mean it's not still fermenting. I only use secondary if I'm going to dry hop so I wouldn't rack it at all. Hope that helps

 

[Kirkwooder]

I will leave it alone. Antisipation is making me wait!

When I bottle, the recipe says to ad 1/2 teaspoon light spray malt per pint, is this the same thing as light malt or is spray malt something different?

Can I substitute in some of the bottles with honey, maple suryp, mollassas or something else to get some varity from the same batch or should I just keep it simple?

 

[abrew2u]

In my 5 gallon recipes I use 4 oz of dextrose I've never used anything else, I'd try to keep it as simple as you can for your first recipe,

 

[Kirkwooder]

Do you ad the dextrose to the botteling bucket, and mix it there, or to the carboy,or what?

Thanks for the time and advise, btw!

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Boil a couple cups of water and disolve 4.5 - 5 oz of corn sugar in it. Cool it and pour it in the bottling bucket before racking over the beer. Put the hose down in the bottom and let it swirl but not spalsh at all. This will mix the sugar in enough to bottle. I agree on the 3 weeks in the primary. Then rack to bottling bucket and bottle. Allow the beer another 2-3 weeks to bottle condition then cool and enjoy. The longer you let them condition the better they will be but I know they never last!

 

[DPBISME]

In my 5 gallon recipes I use 4 oz of dextrose I've never used anything else, I'd try to keep it as simple as you can for your first recipe,

As others have said... it will not be ready for bottling for 3 weeks, prime and give it two more weeks.

Others I have read Palmer I think... say it any fermentable sugar is fine...

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11-4.html

I use Corn Suger... (which is Dextrose) but do not confuse this with Dextrine which is a non-fermentable sugar (at least for Ale and Lager yeast)...

 

[sweetcell]

use a calculator to figure out how much sugar to use: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/
the "temperature" you should enter is the hottest you fermented at. the "Volume of beer" is the amount you will be bottling, which is less than what you currently have in the carboy - some of that stuff is left behind. if in doubt, say 4.5 gallons (i.e. you will be leaving 0/5 gallons of trub in the fermenter).

boil for a few minutes whatever sugar you choose, in enough water to dilute it. add the cooled sugar-water to your bottling bucket and then transfer your beer on top of it. that should get the beer and sugar-water to mix, especially if you have your transfer hose set up in such a way as to make the arriving beer spin in a circular vortex.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Thanks guy's!

What about the malt? Have any of you ever used it for conditioning? and is the light spray malt the same as light malt? The recipe claims it gives the beer a better body than sugars.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

I have never used malt for priming myself. Corn sugar is the most common. I suppose as long as the amount of fermentables is the same it would be fine. I know some do it but not sure how much to use. I have also heard of people priming with honey or molasses.

 

[sweetcell]

What about the malt? Have any of you ever used it for conditioning? and is the light spray malt the same as light malt? The recipe claims it gives the beer a better body than sugars.

spray malt is the same thing as dried malt extract (DME). the calculator i linked to above tells you how much to use - see the "DME – All varieties" line. using DME will work just fine for priming beer. supposedly it takes a little longer for the bottles to prime up, so i'd wait at least 3 weeks before cracking open the first bottle. condition/store the primed, filled and capped bottles in your warmest room (72*F is ideal).

 

[Mparsons327]

Welcome! Where in ny?

 

[brewslut]

Welcome to the madness!

 

[Kirkwooder]

Welcome! Where in ny?

Finger Lakes region, just south of Rochester by about an hour!

 

[Mparsons327]

I'm in elmira. Are you anywhere close?

 

[Kirkwooder]

Cohocton, do you know it! small town to the west!

 

[Mparsons327]

Oh yeah I used to work out there once in awhile. It's out near bath and prattsburg right?

 

[Mparsons327]

If your ever in the elmira area drop me s line. There are a few small breweries. We could go do some tasting and swap some homebrews!

 

[Kirkwooder]

Will do! A little further west, 20 min or so! I don't know about the brew swap, I haven't even tried any of mine yet. I hope that they are worth the effort!!!

 

[Mparsons327]

I'm sure they will be great! If you don't want to swap that's fine. You can have a few of mine!

 

[Fordzilla]

Welcome to the site Kirkwooder! You should join UNYHA, the brew club in Rochester. They meet the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00. It's a great place to learn a lot about brewing and sample a bunch of different brews.

 

[Kirkwooder]

I'm sure they will be great! If you don't want to swap that's fine. You can have a few of mine!

I'm all for swaping, as long as mine isn't overly embarrasing!

 

[Kirkwooder]

Welcome to the site Kirkwooder! You should join UNYHA, the brew club in Rochester. They meet the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00. It's a great place to learn a lot about brewing and sample a bunch of different brews.

What does UNYHA stand for and where do they meet? I'm an hour or more south of Beers of The World, so any further into the city would be a strech for a Weds. night travel in the winter, but might be worth the trip!

 

[Fordzilla]

Upstate New York Homebrew Association. Meetings are at the Merchant's Grill in the city.
www.unyha.com

You get a 10% discount at Sunset Homebrew shops plus you dont pay sales tax there. They also have bulk grains available for purchase at cheap rates ($0.70-$1/lb) between group buys.
I actually just joined in January but I can already tell its a great club. Lots of knowledgable, friendly homebrewers.

I agree that Wednesday night isnt exactly ideal. I live in the city but start work at 7:30-8:00. It's worth dragging your ass a bit the next day though.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Do they always meet in the same place or do the meetings move from place to place?

 

[Fordzilla]

It's always at the Merchant's Grill. I was told they've had to change locations over the years as they grew. From the looks of it that spot might be outgrown soon, but no plans to move that I am aware of.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Where is that located?

 

[Unearthly]

I just joined the site and took the plunge into the art of homebrewing earlier this week. I have an Imperial Ipa in the primary right now! My first ever batch and the airlock is bubbling away! So far so good! I am not far from you guys either. I am located in the Binghamton Ny area.

 

[ACbrewer]

Kirkwooder - back to your questions on the malt v sugar (dextrose) for carbonation.

One article I read on that of a head to head that a homebrewer did basically came down to this. Sugar carbonated faster but the bubbles were larger. Malt took longer and the slightly smaller bubbles were thought by the brewer to have better better mouth feel. However this took time, like 6 weeks+. So if you expect to drink most or all of the beer before 6 weeks, then no gain can be gotten from malt. If you expect to drink it after 6 weeks (it might have been 2 months) then a better mouth feel coudl be obtained.

Now he did this with 2 different styles and had similar results with both - sugar carbed and ready to drink faster. Malt was not better and sometimes worse than sugar until atleast 6 weeks, maybe 2 months. Lastly malt carbonation will give you a bit of ring at the beer/air interface in the bottle. You actually get another keursan (sp?) like when you ferment a whole batch.

Personally I'd use sugar. Heck, id even use table sugar (sucross) over corn sugar (dextrose) because I almost always have table sugar in the house. The amount used is slightly different, but results are about the same.

There are a lot of things to get right in a beer which will account for quality more. Using malt for carbonation might give it another 1 or 2% of improved quality and probably isn't worth it unless you are already making really good beer.


Oh I'd guess spray being another name for dry malt extra is because to get dry malt extract, the take liquid malt extract and push it through sprayers.

 

[Kirkwooder]

AC, Great input! Thanks. I realy think that I might split this brew in half and do some of each. I love to experiment, and love a really good porter with a roast pork dinner. I'm very new to the whole brew thing and would love to see/taste the diffrence for myself. I'll try and rember to post my own thoughts when it's time to taste!

 

[Fordzilla]

Where is that located?

There's a map on their website. It's in the city off Culver Rd.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Ok, last night I bottled my Porter. It tasted great, by the way. I boiled 2 cups of water and added 5oz of light malt, and then cooled to room temp.. I added this to the bottling bucket and then siphoned in the beer, being sure to create a vortex to mix the two well. I then bottled and capped the bottles.


Is there any signs to look for to be sure that they are carbinating properly? There has been no visable activity in the last 24 hours, is that normal? I was expecting to see some signs of fermentation in the bottle.

 

[Fordzilla]

You won't see anything going on in the bottle. The only way to tell if its carbed fully is to drink one. No one will blame you if you drink one without waiting the full 2-3 weeks. You will start to have some carbonation after about a week. I was very impatient once i got my first couple batches in bottles.

 

[Kirkwooder]

I ended up with 49, 12oz bottles. I packed the two full cases away, deep in a closet! but that odd bottle is sitting there wispering to me already!!! Is this normall? do all home brewers hear their beers talking?

 

[OskarLizch]

I have never used malt for priming myself. Corn sugar is the most common. I suppose as long as the amount of fermentables is the same it would be fine. I know some do it but not sure how much to use. I have also heard of people priming with honey or molasses.

Priming it with honey? Have you done this? And Where in Wyoming are you located I'm from gillette?

 

[OskarLizch]

I have never used malt for priming myself. Corn sugar is the most common. I suppose as long as the amount of fermentables is the same it would be fine. I know some do it but not sure how much to use. I have also heard of people priming with honey or molasses.

Where in Wyoming?

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Where in Wyoming?

Im over the mountain in Worland. Come on over and see me at my shop...Big Horn Basin Brew Supply 728 Big Horn Ave. You are closer to Billings.....

I have not tried to prime with honey before but I have heard of it....somewhere...

 

[Kirkwooder]

I spent the summer of 1990 working in Yellowstone. Drove tow truck and did repair work in Canyon, for YPSS. I miss those mountain views!!!

 

[WyomingBrewer]

2 hrs from Yellowstone where I am. We make it a day trip every now and then. Cant do the whole loop in a day though and we always start too late and get home very late.

 

[Kirkwooder]

Take a tent and make a weekend out of it! It's well worth it!