Striking while the iron was hot.
I had 2 FV's just sitting there since I bottled my Belgian Blonde last week.
The process went much smoother than my first effort. I have a brew belt on it and hope to keep it at a constant 22c.
OG was 1.048. I think I'll be more patient with this one ;D
(https://memecrunch.com/meme/8J4CW/patience-you-must-have/image.png?w=500&c=1)
TBH I'd be aiming to ferment slightly cooler - about 20C.
Quote from: Drzava on March 16, 2016, 01:32:16 PM
TBH I'd be aiming to ferment slightly cooler - about 20C.
Im just going by the instructions. I fermented the last brew at 18c and it took ages and didnt reach the abv target. :(
So this is Day 8.
Its now 1.004.
I reckon its time to batch prime and bottle.
Is it ok to use old screwtop wine bottles for this?
no, they're not made to hold pressure and may pop all over the place sending shards of glass and cider flying through the air
Quote from: LordEoin on March 22, 2016, 04:46:31 PM
no, they're not made to hold pressure and may pop all over the place sending shards of glass and cider flying through the air
Lucky I asked. :o
I have around 30 Orchard Thieves bottles and some Bulmers pint bottles so I should have enough.
Quote from: thechevron on March 22, 2016, 04:01:10 PM
So this is Day 8.
Its now 1.004.
I reckon its time to batch prime and bottle.
Is it ok to use old screwtop wine bottles for this?
To be honest 8 days isn't enough for cider....it can go below1.000 so bottling now could lead to problems.. Leave it 3/4 weeks or longer, it will clean itself up and be a lot nicer cider for it...
Quote from: Oh Crap on March 22, 2016, 06:46:48 PM
Quote from: thechevron on March 22, 2016, 04:01:10 PM
So this is Day 8.
Its now 1.004.
I reckon its time to batch prime and bottle.
Is it ok to use old screwtop wine bottles for this?
To be honest 8 days isn't enough for cider....it can go below1.000 so bottling now could lead to problems.. Leave it 3/4 weeks or longer, it will clean itself up and be a lot nicer cider for it...
I'm just doing what the instructions said.
With kit, take the instructions and ceremonially burn them upon receipt. A lot of them are pitched as fast turnaround as they want people to feel like they can brew in a short period of time.
Give any beer at least 2 weeks in the fermenter and then start messing with it. You can go as far as 4 weeks like little chance of autolysis.
What problems could thus cause. It's been at 1.004 for over 48 hours. I even left it in the Fv for an extra day than the instructions said. I had it a constant 22 all week with a brew belt.
Quote from: thechevron on March 22, 2016, 07:11:08 PM
Quote from: Oh Crap on March 22, 2016, 06:46:48 PM
Quote from: thechevron on March 22, 2016, 04:01:10 PM
So this is Day 8.
Its now 1.004.
I reckon its time to batch prime and bottle.
Is it ok to use old screwtop wine bottles for this?
To be honest 8 days isn't enough for cider....it can go below1.000 so bottling now could lead to problems.. Leave it 3/4 weeks or longer, it will clean itself up and be a lot nicer cider for it...
I'm just doing what the instructions said.
You are doing what the instructions BUT you keep asking is everything all right, listen to what people are telling you...people with a lot more experience then me & you have been trying to help but you are " following the instructions" , BURN THEM...look back up this post...patience is key
They're in the fire.
Quote from: thechevron on March 22, 2016, 09:55:27 PM
They're in the fire.
Good man...now walk away from the fermenter and wait a couple of weeks....your cider will like better for ir
remember that instructions are made by people in labs with the optimal setup.
They have their temperature controls dialled in for the particular yeast.
They can grab the freshest yeast directly from source.
it's also good to remember that a fast ferment is good for marketing, but in reality you want to take your time and let nature/patience sort it all out for you.
First rule of homebrew - bin the instructions! I have a friend brewing a few months now who still insists on following instructions despite my protestations - has resulted in beers not as good as they could have been as he ends up adding dry hops before fermentation ends because the instructions say to do it on Day X.
There's no need for instructions really for the majority of kits. Most of them can be distilled to the following:
Most beers: Start at 18 - 20C; aim to keep at ~20 if you have temp control. Leave a week before taking readings, and leave 48hrs between them. Bottle when 2/3 readings the same - generally about 2 weeks. If adding dry hops or hop teabag, wait for two readings to be the same before adding. Leave them 2 - 3 days.
Weissbier: Start at 23/24C and aim to keep ~23 if possible. Bottle as above (probably a bit quicker than most beers to finish). Carbonate the shit out of it.
Cider: Essentially as 'most beers' above. Bottle when it has substantially dropped clear - probably min 2 weeks.
Quote from: Drzava on March 23, 2016, 01:24:39 PM
he ends up adding dry hops before fermentation ends because the instructions say to do it on Day X.
There's actually a school of thought that says it's best to dry hop just as fermentation ends, as the movement of the yeast encourages the hops to stay in suspension and more readily release their oils. As with all things in homebrew, it depends I guess :)
Quote from: Drzava on March 23, 2016, 01:24:39 PM
First rule of homebrew - bin the instructions! I have a friend brewing a few months now who still insists on following instructions despite my protestations - has resulted in beers not as good as they could have been as he ends up adding dry hops before fermentation ends because the instructions say to do it on Day X.
There's no need for instructions really for the majority of kits. Most of them can be distilled to the following:
Most beers: Start at 18 - 20C; aim to keep at ~20 if you have temp control. Leave a week before taking readings, and leave 48hrs between them. Bottle when 2/3 readings the same - generally about 2 weeks. If adding dry hops or hop teabag, wait for two readings to be the same before adding. Leave them 2 - 3 days.
Weissbier: Start at 23/24C and aim to keep ~23 if possible. Bottle as above (probably a bit quicker than most beers to finish). Carbonate the shit out of it.
Cider: Essentially as 'most beers' above. Bottle when it has substantially dropped clear - probably min 2 weeks.
I think a lot of the "bin the instructions" advise is the result of terrible instructions during the 80s, and also a single ale yeast strain used by nearly all the beer kits. With the more modern kits (including the Craft Range, things are quite different. The manufacturers do very long trials to get the optimum results with homebrewing setups.
However, the generic fermentation advise above is on the mark and very similar to the Craft Range instructions. I can post them here if anybody wants to read them. They are very different to the 5 lines of text or so that come with the old technology kits. And they all have modern varietal yeast strains.
BTW OP I just had my first bottle of this cider and it's flipping ace! (half sweetener packet IIRC).
Unfortunately when I was tipping the sweetener in I tipped to hard and most of it went in, more than 3/4. Anyway I'm glad it's nice. Some of my favourite ciders, Thatchers and Gaymers are pretty sweet.3