New member checking in...

[user 297393]

Hi...I`ve been lurking a while but after reading the whole of Revvy`s thread on bottling, guess it was time to register.
Back into brewing after a 35 year break.
I`m in the UK...well Wales to be precise... and will for now be concentrating on Premium Kits. I have a St Peters India Pale Ale coming up for bottling , and will be getting a Festival Razorback IPA on the go at the weekend, probably joined shortly after by an old English Ale.
I have a lot to learn about brewing, but do have a background in related subjects ( Food technology, Microbiology) and am hoping to pick a few brains as I run into the inevitable problems.
Have to go now....need to check on my baby....think the airlock just bubbled.... :0

 

[D.B.Moody]

Welcome to HBT. I thought I'd been brewing a while, but you apparently quit eight years before I began. Quite a break. I brew because I fell in love with the bitters I drank in the UK on a couple visits. I don't do kits, but I am an extract brewer. I enjoy the simplicity.

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome back to the hobby, and the group, from Colorado

things have changed just a bit!

 

[ncbrewer]

Welcome. I also had a break from brewing, but only 16 years. Definitely a lot changed during that time. For me, the biggest change was Star San instead of bleach - a real game changer.

 

[user 297393]

Welcome. I also had a break from brewing, but only 16 years. Definitely a lot changed during that time. For me, the biggest change was Star San instead of bleach - a real game changer.

...Agreed. Especially combined with the Bottle Rinser and a Bottle Tree! I also like the bottling wand that attaches to the tap on the Vessel. Not to mention unlimited online information and knowledge bases, and online ordering. No internet last time!

I`ve started on the simplest kits and am working my way up as I get back into it and acquire more equipment.

Yesterday was first bottling day...a St Peters`s India Pale Ale.
Following on behind that, I`m 5 days into a Will`s Olde English Ale fermentation, and will probably add the hops this afternoon.
Then it`s a Festival Razorback Ale, once the FV is free.

After these first 3 are under my belt and I have some stock ready for summer, then i`ll look at BIAB.

Currently trying to figure which is the best way to prime the Will Shakespeare Ale at bottling...In the SV, or not in the SV?...That is the question!

( SV =Secondary Vessel ).

 

[NeoBrew]

Welcome back to the hobby!

Of course the fundamental of beer is the same, water, malt, hops, yeast. However, a lot has changed in homebrewing even in the last 5 years. A lot of the process that was popular when I started about 8 years ago was still based on scaling down commercial processes. A lot of innovation was done as the hobby exploded since then.

On of those things we learned is using a secondary. It turns out commercial breweries do that to free up their fermentation equipment and to get the beer off of the yeast cake. As I understand it, in a commercial brewery the size of the fermentation vessels can cause osmotic pressure on the yeast cake that might cause it to break down over time. The reality of a homebrew scale batch is that the yeast is not under that pressure and generally we don't need to free up the fermenter so quickly. Most everyone has eliminated secondary vessels from their process. On the homebrew scale the chance of introducing an infection and oxygen into the finished beer is far more damaging that anything that might happen from leaving it on the yeast cake.

So the answer to your question is NOT in the secondary vessel! I don't bottle anymore, but when I did I used a bucket to mix priming sugar. I think if I was going to bottle condition now I'd figure out how to very precisely measure priming sugar into each bottle and then bottle right from the fermenter. They also sell priming pills here that are made to put one per bottle.

Welcome back to the hobby. Let us know how your first batches taste!

 

[user 297393]

Welcome back to the hobby!

Of course the fundamental of beer is the same, water, malt, hops, yeast. However, a lot has changed in homebrewing even in the last 5 years. A lot of the process that was popular when I started about 8 years ago was still based on scaling down commercial processes. A lot of innovation was done as the hobby exploded since then.

On of those things we learned is using a secondary. It turns out commercial breweries do that to free up their fermentation equipment and to get the beer off of the yeast cake. As I understand it, in a commercial brewery the size of the fermentation vessels can cause osmotic pressure on the yeast cake that might cause it to break down over time. The reality of a homebrew scale batch is that the yeast is not under that pressure and generally we don't need to free up the fermenter so quickly. Most everyone has eliminated secondary vessels from their process. On the homebrew scale the chance of introducing an infection and oxygen into the finished beer is far more damaging that anything that might happen from leaving it on the yeast cake.

So the answer to your question is NOT in the secondary vessel! I don't bottle anymore, but when I did I used a bucket to mix priming sugar. I think if I was going to bottle condition now I'd figure out how to very precisely measure priming sugar into each bottle and then bottle right from the fermenter. They also sell priming pills here that are made to put one per bottle.

Welcome back to the hobby. Let us know how your first batches taste!

I understand completely...my background is as a food technician/microbiologist and I`ve spent the last 30 years working in a variety of factories, mainly dairy, overseeing processes involving fermentation and requiring high hygiene standards.

In this case, I had 2 brews going at once, as I start out again, and the Pale Ale I`ve just bottled was in a tub with a tap, set up for bottling. This second brew is in a plain tub with no tap and contains hop pellets...my aim is to siphon it through a filter bag just before bottling. I perhaps should have said `Second Vessel` rather than `Secondary Vessel.`

I`ve used the Priming tablets with the Pale Ale....and did think about spending money on another bag, for the sake of ease, but I happen to have a measured sachet of priming sugar with this kit anyway, so may as well use it.

I`ll be sure to take great care with hygiene!