Help my first batch !!!

[CrazyC]

I have just started to brew my own beer so this is my first time I am trying to brew Munton's (Mexican Cerveza) I am ready to bottle it My question is if the hydrometer reading was 1.006 on 10/21/05 and then 1.004 on 10/23/05 how long should I wait to take my next reading or is it safe to bottle now?

 

[voodoochild7]

Was there any variation in temperature whend you did the reading this could effect the reading.

 

[CrazyC]

No the temp was the same for both readings

 

[Walker]

what's the recipe? When did you brew it? What was the starting gravity?

I know.... you want answers and I have questions, but let's see what you're brewing.

-walkedr

 

[CrazyC]

It was a Munton's kit (Mexican Cerveza) The starting gravity was 1.028

 

[Walker]

You're probably about to the point where bottling is in order. I don't know what 'style' a mexican cerveza falls under, but I am assuming it's like an American Light Lager, which should have a finishing gravity of about 1.005 (give or take a few points).

How long ago did you brew it?

-walker

 

[CrazyC]

Its been 9 days now. And yes it is a light lager.

 

[Walker]

go ahead and give it a full two weeks before bottling. Nothing bad can really happen with the extra 5 days in the fermenter, and you'll be sure to have let the yeast do their jobs.

-walker

 

[CrazyC]

I'll do that and thanks for the help.It sure is hard to wait though
I want brew my own eventually and not use a kit But I think this is the easiest way for now Im sure I'll need more help in the future One more question though I also read online that gelatin will help clear your brew up is this true ? And when could I add it ?

 

[Walker]

Gelatin can help improve the clarity, but your first step is to use a 2-stage fermentation. (I am assuming that you are fermeting in a bucket and then going straight to bottles from there.)

Using the secondary fermenter (glass carboy) will help greatly with clarifying the beer. If that step alone doesn't get you clear enough, you can add some gelatin to the beer in the secondary a few days before bottling it.

However, I have done the gelatin thing once (just to try it) and was not terribly impressed with the results, but maybe that's just me. It was not really any more clear than my average brew.

I think you are following a good plan, by the way; brew with the kits for a while until you get the hang of things, then start putting together your own recipes and experimenting. I used kits for many years before moving on to buying hand selected extracts, grains, hops, and yeasts.

It's a fun fun fun hobby.

-walker

 

[voodoochild7]

I use Irish moss to clear mine I heard that you can use gelatin too. Not sure when that goes in but with Irish moss it goes in when you boil the work.

 

[Orfy]

I tried my first few kits without any type of clearing agents to see how they turn out, I've just doen one with irish moss in the boil and another with beer clear the day before bottling. I'll compare notes.

 

[CrazyC]

Gelatin can help improve the clarity, but your first step is to use a 2-stage fermentation. (I am assuming that you are fermeting in a bucket and then going straight to bottles from there.)

Using the secondary fermenter (glass carboy) will help greatly with clarifying the beer. If that step alone doesn't get you clear enough, you can add some gelatin to the beer in the secondary a few days before bottling it.

However, I have done the gelatin thing once (just to try it) and was not terribly impressed with the results, but maybe that's just me. It was not really any more clear than my average brew.

I think you are following a good plan, by the way; brew with the kits for a while until you get the hang of things, then start putting together your own recipes and experimenting. I used kits for many years before moving on to buying hand selected extracts, grains, hops, and yeasts.

It's a fun fun fun hobby.

-walker

I use 2 buckets one for fermentation and one to bottle with. I am also pleased with its clarity now So I probably wont try the gelatin with this batch
I dont think I will like this type of brew anyway It is real bitter now And the guy at the homebrew shop said it would taste like Corona but to me it doesn't taste anything like Corona If you have any suggestions on what would be a good kit to try next would help a great deal

 

[CrazyC]

Any thank you all for your help on all this Walker,Voodoochild7,orfy

 

[Walker]

you are most welcome!

-walker

 

[CrazyC]

Anyone have any suggestions on what type of kit I should try next ? Anything that is not to bitter and just a little sweet

 

[david_42]

How does this sound?

Mild Ale

OG: 1032 / Ready: 4 weeks

An English ale from before the era of industrial brewing, traditional milds are very light-bodied but dark in color and full of malty flavor. Back in the day, it was brewed by the same pubs that served it or by women for household consumption. This kit stays true to the style's light, refreshing body and quaffability without sacrificing character. Chocolate, Amber, and Brown malts impart a nutty dryness with roasty undertones and a rich deep-ruby color, while the Thames Valley yeast strain gives subtle fruitiness. Like our British Bitter, this is a great session beer (which means you can have a few pints instead of one) that tastes best at cellar temperature.

northern brewer

I've had people that "hate homebrew" change their minds over a Mild.

 

[CrazyC]

Sounds like it might be worth a try.And also what kind homebrew would be close to Budlight,or Budwieser ?

 

[david_42]

American Lite
A lite beer similiar to the major American brands. Not much flavor, not much bitterness, not much of anything to tell you the truth. However, sometimes that is exactly what we are looking for. A good beer for general mass-consumption. Uses dry rice extract as part of the base.

This kit does not contain any grain, only Liquid Malt Extract and Dried Rice extract. No grain bag is needed

Buy the Safale yeast.

 

[CrazyC]

I'll try your suggestions.And thanks for the tips

 

[Orfy]

Mild,

I grew up on mild, it was my Granddad’s and my Dad's drink. Originally it used to be a young beer that needed aged beer added to it to take the edge of it. This used to be done by brewers. In the pubs they used to collect the slops (spills) from the bitters and add this to the Mild. Some of the less scrupulous pubs used to sell more of the slops than the Mild.

It has been a battle to keep Mild in the pubs. Dark Mild is generally specific to the North of England and Pale Mild started taking over, with the up surge of "real ale drinkers" and pressure from Camra it is just about hanging on. It is not seen as a trendy drink due to its low ABV, traditionally 2.8 to 3.2% but now seems to be increasing. It’s good to have a choice

 

[stldrum]

Hey Crazy C,

Did you have to brew this beer at a cooler temperature? I wanted to try it but I have no way to brew a lager right now. How clear is it? Like a Corona or more like a light ale?

Thx

Stldrum

 

[CrazyC]

Hey Crazy C,

Did you have to brew this beer at a cooler temperature? I wanted to try it but I have no way to brew a lager right now. How clear is it? Like a Corona or more like a light ale?

Thx

Stldrum

I did this beer at Ale temperature It is very clear It is more bitter than Corona but it got less bitter in the end of fermentation I think the more it ages the better it will be

 

[CrazyC]

OK everyone the beer is still a little more bitter than I would like. But you can still drink it Could this be because I added 2bls of corn sugar as it said to on the label ? The more I read ,The more I see that most AG recipes dont call for added sugar

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

OK everyone the beer is still a little more bitter than I would like. But you can still drink it Could this be because I added 2bls of corn sugar as it said to on the label ? The more I read ,The more I see that most AG recipes dont call for added sugar

The bitterness should abate/mellow somewhat with age. How much is anybody's guess and somewhat subjective, I suppose. What do you mean by 'added 2bls of corn sugar'? To the wort before fermentation, or after fermentation for priming?

It's not just AG recipes that don't call for added sugar, you can apply that to extract recipes, as well. Instead of adding corn sugar (for a higher abv) you could just add more extract and get a higher abv with more body. It will also lessen your chances of cidery off-flavors. I'm not sure it has anything to do you with your bitterness, however, which more likely comes from your hopped extract by design.

 

[CrazyC]

I added 2lbs of corn sugar to the wort before fermentation. This is what the instructions on the can said to do. So could this be the reason for it being so bitter?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Most all of those canned instructions say to do that. As david_42 mentioned in another thread it a) ups the abv which seems to have some appeal, and b) saves the supplier from having to include it. Lots of times the LHBS will advise the beginner to simply add another pouch of LME instead which results in better body.

Again, I don't think that resulted in your bitter flavors. I believe they came from your pre-hopped extract. "Recipes in a can" generally come with the hops already added and you don't do extra hop additions. This means you boil the hops for as long as you boil the wort which results in maximum extraction of hop bitterness. Compounding this is the lack of flavoring and aroma hop additions later in the boil which can round out hoppy bitterness. I believe your bitterness is "design intent" for your recipe and will mellow somewhat with age.

 

[CrazyC]

My homebrew store told me to add the sugar. But if adding more sugar only ups the ABV Then I dont have to use any sugar right? Im glad to know it wasn't something that I did wrong. So your saying it was just the kit that I used right?

 

[Caplan]

Mild - In the pubs they used to collect the slops (spills) from the bitters and add this to the Mild. Some of the less scrupulous pubs used to sell more of the slops than the Mild.

The Landlord i worked for used to put lager and bitter back into the mild that came from Glasses!. We had 2 ss buckets in the pub at chucking out time. One had the 'rubbish' in (soft drinks/wine/lager and lime) and the other had the beer in that went back into the mild.

Many people asked about it and we pointed to the 'rubbish' bucket and said "It goes down the big drain outside rather than blocking the small bar sink etc"

I NEVER drank it after that experience. I always worried about little things like hepatitis strains and how they can be transferred!!!!

 

[Orfy]

Sugar won't add bitterness, it will add to the ABV and maybe a bit of a cidery taste .

 

[CrazyC]

Sugar won't add bitterness, it will add to the ABV and maybe a bit of a cidery taste .

Thanks for the straight foward answer. All I wanted to know in just one simple line.

 

[Orfy]

Your welcome.

I hope it's right. (I'm sure it is)

I'm a noob but have asked one hell of a lot of questions. You can learn a lot from the experienced guys on here.

There's a few books worth looking at and some good sites. You'll pick the links up from various posts. I've just spottedthe new FAQ link, that should be good.

 

[Orfy]

BTW, if a recipe says add sugar then there's several things you can do ranging from good to bad.

Add more extract instead (Unhopped)
Add beer enhancer (Muntons)
Add brewers sugar.
Add the sugar.

 

[david_42]

Another alternative when you want a light bodied ale is to use dried rice extract or rice syrup. It has zero impact on the flavor, unlike cane sugar. And adds a little to the mouth feel.

 

[CrazyC]

Thank you all for the tips and the help on all this