Newbie already made a mistake?

[Lastbrewstanding]

Dude, yes - especially in the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum.

Makers of dry/liquid malt extract (professionally) make a wort, then vacuum evaporate it - taking just the water out.

So a "best practice" when brewing with dry/liquid malt extract is to add just the water (no minerals or a known limited amount of minerals /2/) back.

Palmer, in How to Brew, 4e, chapter 1 appears to have put a lot of thought into "poka-yoking" /1/ a brew day process. Water that is known to have "no" or "low" mineral content is part of that process.

If the water does not have a known mineral content ("spring water" is not water with a known mineral content), @Clint Yeastwood offers sound advice.

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/1/ Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention".

/2/ there may be an interesting discussion regarding minerals and ppm: for Na, S04, and Cl, what is the threshold that matters? Can one detect a 10 ppm difference? 50? 500?

Dude, yes - especially in the Beginners Beer Brewing Forum.

Makers of dry/liquid malt extract (professionally) make a wort, then vacuum evaporate it - taking just the water out.

So a "best practice" when brewing with dry/liquid malt extract is to add just the water (no minerals or a known limited amount of minerals /2/) back.

Palmer, in How to Brew, 4e, chapter 1 appears to have put a lot of thought into "poka-yoking" /1/ a brew day process. Water that is known to have "no" or "low" mineral content is part of that process.

If the water does not have a known mineral content ("spring water" is not water with a known mineral content), @Clint Yeastwood offers sound advice.

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/1/ Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention".

/2/ there may be an interesting discussion regarding minerals and ppm: for Na, S04, and Cl, what is the threshold that matters? Can one detect a 10 ppm difference? 50? 500?

Dude, yes exactly. I always tell begginer brewers before they brew to get a complete water analysis so they can adjust the water chemisty to the style Ca/Cl ratio etc. water is the foundation so it is basic so every beginner should also have a PH meter and a good carbon filter. (I wont tell them about camdem tabs or distilled water till they are a bit more advanced) but i do recommend every new brewer pick up a GrainFather G20 for their first brew.
-Cheers

 

[Bagarge]

Good points guys thankyou.

I will go for dissolving the sugar with the clear beer in a seperate bucket. Not ideal but it is what it is. Individual measurements in each bottle sounds lame and long!

 

[Rish]

^^This is kinda what I do and have never had a problem.

I would dissolve the sugar in a cup of water, boil for 5 minutes, cool and add to the bottom of your bottling bucket. Transfer your beer with the hose on the bottom of bucket so you get a swirling motion that helps mix the sugar solution while filling. Don't allow any splashing. Once beer is transferred, swirl with a large spoon or other stirrer to better incorporate priming solution, again with no splashing, then bottle.

I always store my bottled beers in a bin with a lid than will contain any bottle bombs while they are conditioning but it's never happened. Better safe than sorry. Good luck!.

 

[Bagarge]

^^This is kinda what I do and have never had a problem.

I would dissolve the sugar in a cup of water, boil for 5 minutes, cool and add to the bottom of your bottling bucket. Transfer your beer with the hose on the bottom of bucket so you get a swirling motion that helps mix the sugar solution while filling. Don't allow any splashing. Once beer is transferred, swirl with a large spoon or other stirrer to better incorporate priming solution, again with no splashing, then bottle.

I always store my bottled beers in a bin with a lid than will contain any bottle bombs while they are conditioning but it's never happened. Better safe than sorry. Good luck!.

Roger that! Today is the day, have all my equipment soaking in a sterilising solution. Will check one last gravity reading but there has been no bubbling for a day or two now. Should be good to go.

Just bought a 30l vessel in the form of a gerry can to minimise oxygen exposure. Good idea on containing the bottles in case of explosions

Wish me luck (ah you did! Thanks)
P.s will adding water to the sugar solution not dilute my beer?

 

[Bagarge]

So the gravity has dropped to 1.010… ever so slightly above. Am i ok to bottle? Fermentation is complete no?

Do i need to sterilise the bottle caps also?

 

[mac_1103]

P.s will adding water to the sugar solution not dilute my beer?

Well, yeah, but it's a cup in five gallons so it's not enough to matter and you're going to get a bit more alcohol from fermenting the added sugar anyway.

Do i need to sterilise the bottle caps also?

Yes. A quick dip in starsan just before they go on the bottles will do it.

 

[Action Jackson]

I have seen this but this doesnt give any measurements for adding individually to half litre bottles.
The priming sugar comes with the pack so the amount is right.

I would rather mix it in to the beer rather than each bottle with a spoon. My question is will this expose to too much oxygen transfering the beer to another vessel and mixing the sugar before racking off into bottles

I always transfer my brew from the secondary fermenter into a bottling bucket and add the priming sugar solution to the brew. Then lightly stir the wort to make sure the priming liquid is dissipated throughout. You will not have an oxygen issue if you bottle immediately thereafter, and especially if you use oxygen absorbing caps.

 

[hotbeer]

How much oxygen those caps actually absorb came into question somewhere here on HBT awhile back. Don't know that anything definitive was shown. But information that I found on the web at that time that seemed more trustworthy seemed to indicate they don't absorb very much.

And all the crown caps I've seen sold by homebrew suppliers seem to claim oxygen scavenging. So it's not like you have to look hard for them.

So probably it's better to not leave much headspace at all. The only two downsides to that for a 12 ounce bottle, you'll be putting over 13 ounces of beer and won't get as many bottles of beer to pass around. And it takes about a 1½ inches of headspace to get that lovely pfft sound when you open a bottle. less than that and you'll imagine that your beer is flat when you open them. At least till you get use to not having any sound at all.

 

[Bagarge]

It is done. 20 litres into 40 bottles. Looks great, smells even better and tastes like a damn good apa!
Couldnt help but try a bottle

Cant wait to see how she clears in a few weeks!

Thanks for all the support and great advice guys! Truely a great forum here!

I will report back in a couple of weeks and post some shots
Big up yourselves guys thanks alot

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

It is done. 20 litres into 40 bottles. Looks great, smells even better and tastes like a damn good apa!
Couldnt help but try a bottle

Cant wait to see how she clears in a few weeks!

Thanks for all the support and great advice guys! Truely a great forum here!

I will report back in a couple of weeks and post some shots
Big up yourselves guys thanks alot

Congratulations!

I know you felt confused and overwhelmed at times but like I mentioned, we have all been in that same spot. Your next batch should go a little easier and when you clock in fifty batches you can look back and say why did I worry so much. It'll all fall into place on your brewing journey!

Again, congratulations and good luck on your second batch!

 

[hotbeer]

One thing that leads to confusion is that there are so many ways to go about brewing beer. So when you read something here on BF or elsewhere, you have to consider if those thoughts are a consideration for beer making or a consideration for the particular method that person is using to brew their beer.

Of course we all brew our beer by the perfect method [for ourself]. And since many of us are doing a different perfect method than the other person, that's why we sometimes get in heated argument.

 

[Bagarge]

Thanks guys! Loved the whole journey but its nice to get er bottled!

Ordered my beer equipment today so waiting on that to arrive so i will jump into all grain brewing

Got a harvest bitter kit here but the malt extract is a couple years out of date….. will probly open it up and give it a go while i wait on my new setup hahaha

 

[mac_1103]

the malt extract is a couple years out of date

Liquid or dry?

 

[Bagarge]

Liquid or dry?

Liquid. Its sealed in a can

 

[mac_1103]

Liquid. Its sealed in a can

Good chance it's stale, depending on how it's been stored (including before you got it). Apparently the color of the wort it makes can be a pretty good indicator of LME staling (darker than expected = bad).

 

[IslandLizard]

Got a harvest bitter kit here but the malt extract is a couple years out of date….. will probly open it up and give it a go while i wait on my new setup hahaha

Liquid. Its sealed in a can

That's one beer style to which you can easily add some spices, covering many flaws, such as stale-ish liquid extract.
Go for it!

 

[Bagarge]

Yeah i will go for it, im waiting on my new equipment so might as well.
i was thinking of adding some sort of spice to it do you have any ideas?

Also im now wondering if the headspace i left in the bottles is sufficient. Most have about 3cm. Bottle bombs or no? I guess whats done is done anyway now so i will wait and see

 

[mac_1103]

Bottle bombs result from over-carbonating the beer, not from too little headspace. But 3 cm is plenty of headspace in any case. Keep the bottles in a sturdy container until they're done conditioning just in case.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Apparently the color of the wort it makes can be a pretty good indicator of LME staling (darker than expected = bad).

The test for extra light / light extracts is here. For "Amber" extracts, amber is good, brown is bad.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/advanced-extract-brewing.426031/page-11#post-10251369

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Anticipated off flavors from stale extract can be categorized into

• homebrew taste
• extract taste, or
• extract twang.

 

[Bagarge]

Bottle bombs result from over-carbonating the beer, not from too little headspace. But 3 cm is plenty of headspace in any case. Keep the bottles in a sturdy container until they're done conditioning just in case.

Perfect. Yeah they are well away from anything and everyone.
I mixed the priming sugar in boiling water, allowed it to cool and mixed with the wort so should be fine. Its been well over the kit specified time to ferment and the sg was at 1.011 so it should be fine

 

[IslandLizard]

i was thinking of adding some sort of spice to it do you have any ideas?

Earthy spices work well in darker beers, even in Amber ales.

Cinnamon and ginger are probably the most popular in spiced beer. For inspiration, Great Lakes brewery (Cleveland, Ohio) brews a Christmas Ale that's very nice and drinkable, and not just for colder nights by the fireplace or fire pit:
https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/christmas-ale

(A little) allspice, nutmeg, orange peel, etc. can be used as well.

 

[Bagarge]

Earthy spices work well in darker beers, even in Amber ales.

Cinnamon and ginger are probably the most popular in spiced beer. For inspiration, Great Lakes brewery (Cleveland, Ohio) brews a Christmas Ale that's very nice and drinkable, and not just for colder nights by the fireplace or fire pit:
https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/christmas-ale

(A little) allspice, nutmeg, orange peel, etc. can be used as well.

Nice i was thinking of orange and cinnamon. Got about 80 orange trees here so i can dry the peel myself

 

[IslandLizard]

Got about 80 orange trees here so i can dry the peel myself

No need to dry them, you can use fresh peel too. Best is to use the zest (the top, colored part of the skin), leaving the pith (the white part) out of the beer, because it's bitter.

 

[Bagarge]

No need to dry them, you can use fresh peel too. Best is to use the zest (the top, colored part of the skin), leaving the pith (the white part) out of the beer, because it's bitter.

Even better! Ill grate some tangerine skins into the brew, a couple of cinnamon sticks and see what happens

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Even better! Ill grate some tangerine skins into the brew, a couple of cinnamon sticks and see what happens

And consider "reporting back".

If the liquid extract doesn't throw "metallic" / "ball point pen" flavors, stronger spices (are you considering using tinctures with a "season to taste" approach at bottling time? rather or adding them to to the boil?) may work.

 

[Rish]

When I use spices, peels, etc., I make a tincture by soaking them seperately in vodka for a week or so, shaking daily, then add the liquid to the bottling bucket. That way I can add a little, taste, add more if needed until I get the taste I want with less risk of getting too much. This also keeps the solids out of the fv.

 

[Bagarge]

And consider "reporting back".

If the liquid extract doesn't throw "metallic" / "ball point pen" flavors, stronger spices (are you considering using tinctures with a "season to taste" approach at bottling time? rather or adding them to to the boil?) may work.

I can use tinctures!? After brewing? Now that sounds fancy if so.
My other half makes tinctures of all things on the farm… im very much looking forward to these experiments

 

[Bagarge]

When I use spices, peels, etc., I make a tincture by soaking them seperately in vodka for a week or so, shaking daily, then add the liquid to the bottling bucket. That way I can add a little, taste, add more if needed until I get the taste I want with less risk of getting too much. This also keeps the solids out of the fv.

That is really good to know. This has opened many doors. I make some special flower tinctures that i think would go great with these beers
I am loving the possibilities available brewing beer, i never knew

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I can use tinctures!? After brewing?

Consider starting a fresh topic on tinctures.

And apparently "malt cocktails" are becoming a thing. Over the weekend, I was at a tap room of a regional brewery where they had four of them, and one APA, one (very clear) WC IPA, and one hazy (18 taps total).

 

[Bagarge]

Consider starting a fresh topic on tinctures.

And apparently "malt cocktails" are becoming a thing. Over the weekend, I was at a tap room of a regional brewery where they had four of them, and one APA, one (very clear) WC IPA, and one hazy (18 taps total).

I might do so when i have tried it. I will use this old tin of bitter i have as an experiment and report the results. I will try a sort of winter orange and cinnamon bitter i think.

That sounds really cool. I suspect the market is huge if you could plug in to that sort of thing.

I mean if i can make a beer that tastes of a blueberry lager then i know some people who would be converted instantly hahaha!