First Batch Questions

[Jacob MacCochlain]

Hello fellow homebrewers,

I'm a complete beginner when it comes to this stuff and my very first batch is nearly done fermenting. I have a few (probably stupid) questions. Firstly, I ordered an equipment kit from Homebrew Supply.com that came with all kinds of extra toys (immersion wort chiller, auto-siphon, etc.).

Well I thought everything was ok but after looking at my bottle filler/wand up close I noticed the bottom looks different than the pictures and I suspect that the valve is broken. I did a quick test with water and sure enough it leaks very bad. I've emailed the company to inquire about replacing the wand so we'll see how that goes, but anyway I also noticed that it didn't come with any tubing or anything to connect the bottling wand to the spigot on the bottling bucket. Am I missing something here? Should there be some sort of adapter or extra tubing or am I just missing the obvious? Lol

Finally as I'm getting ever closer to bottling day, I punched in the correct carbonation level, volume, and temperature of my beer into a priming sugar calculator and it's showing that I need 7.3 oz of dextrose. The extract kit I ordered along with my equipment (a hefe-weizen) only came with a 5 oz pack of dextrose. Do I need to buy more to ensure my final brew is carbonated enough for the style of beer or will I be okay using just the 5 oz I already have?

Thanks a lot, Jacob.

 

[grampamark]

It's been a few years, but as I recall, I used the tubing from the auto siphon to connect the bottling wand.

As far as priming, the rule of thumb is 1 oz sugar per gallon of beer, so your 5 oz should be enough. I haven't bottled for 4 years, or so, but I don't think I ever used more than 5 oz when I did.

 

[Tpost704]

Regarding your bottling wand, yes there should be a clear hose that connects the spigot of the bottling bucket to the end of your bottling wand. If you have a home brew store near you they will have hose/tubing you will need. In a pinch, you could go to the hardware store and pick up some clear vinyl tubing.

If you are bottling, i would keep my Co2 volume between 2.5 and 3.0. I know the hefe style is typically carbonated higher than that, but regular 12oz glass bottles have the potential to burst if carbonated much higher than 3.0. I just bottled a hefe and ended up with a couple bottle bombs. If you have a 5 gallon batch, 5oz of priming sugar will give you more than enough carbonation if mixed properly. You could even go a little less than 5oz and still be okay.

 

[Jacob MacCochlain]

It's been a few years, but as I recall, I used the tubing from the auto siphon to connect the bottling wand.

As far as priming, the rule of thumb is 1 oz sugar per gallon of beer, so your 5 oz should be enough. I haven't bottled for 4 years, or so, but I don't think I ever used more than 5 oz when I did.

Thanks! Yeah using the tubing from the auto siphon was my first thought but the diameter was too big for the bottling wand to fit into.

 

[Jacob MacCochlain]

Regarding your bottling wand, yes there should be a clear hose that connects the spigot of the bottling bucket to the end of your bottling wand. If you have a home brew store near you they will have hose/tubing you will need. In a pinch, you could go to the hardware store and pick up some clear vinyl tubing.

If you are bottling, i would keep my Co2 volume between 2.5 and 3.0. I know the hefe style is typically carbonated higher than that, but regular 12oz glass bottles have the potential to burst if carbonated much higher than 3.0. I just bottled a hefe and ended up with a couple bottle bombs. If you have a 5 gallon batch, 5oz of priming sugar will give you more than enough carbonation if mixed properly. You could even go a little less than 5oz and still be okay.

Thanks for all the helpful info. There's a Homebrew store about a half hour from where I live which is where I purchased my bottles. I'll probably head there in the next few days and get some extra tubing. Even though I'll be conditioning my bottles in a place that it wouldn't matter much if they exploded, I'd still like to avoid dealing with that if possible so I'm just going to take your advice and go with the 5 oz or a little less. If it's too flat when it's all said and done I supposes there's always next time!

 

[Tpost704]

Thanks for all the helpful info. There's a Homebrew store about a half hour from where I live which is where I purchased my bottles. I'll probably head there in the next few days and get some extra tubing. Even though I'll be conditioning my bottles in a place that it wouldn't matter much if they exploded, I'd still like to avoid dealing with that if possible so I'm just going to take your advice and go with the 5 oz or a little less. If it's too flat when it's all said and done I supposes there's always next time!

The home brew store is definitely your best bet. I don't think you will be disappointed with the carbonation. Take notes during every step of your brewing process to refer back on later. It's all a learning experience. Happy brewing!