First kit brew - Ditch's stout. Probable disaster!

[LordEoin]

if it's 5 days with no budge then you should be safe enough to bottle her up.
THe extra time will only have done it good anyway, cleaning up after itself. Like the disappearance of the unwanted banana.
If you have the bottles to spare then i deffo wouldn't dump it.
If you need the bottles later you can always empty them if it's still not right.

[Drzava]

I wonder is there a danger of bottle bombs at 1.020? Maybe I should get a pack of yeast and lob it in!

[Drzava]

Sun March 29th: SG 1.020. Hmmm......last few were 1.018 so surely it can't have gone up - so I just pretended it was 1.018 still! Decided to call a halt to proceedings anyway and said I wouldn't chuck it, but would bottle it instead - in fairness, it tastes OK!

FG 1.018, so looking at 5% ABV before priming.

In case it ends up being chucked, decided not to 'waste' a load of bottles on it. Proceeded as follows instead.

Added 5L to a minikeg with 5g dermerara sugar (well, a teaspoon anyway!) to give a priming rate of 1.2 volumes CO2. Closed it with one of those bungs with a knock in section for a dispenser - which I don't have so will have to careful when pouring off using the tap!

Racked remaining 14L or so to a second bucket on top of 60g dermerara sugar (2.0 volumes CO2) dissolved in a small amount of water. Got 6 x 1.5L sparkling water bottles filled, and 2 500ml Franziskaner bottles.

Little bottler was SLOW! Have another on the way from HBW - hopefully it's got a bit more go!

Overall, my first brew was very much a learning experience - as it probably should be. Hopefully I'll have something reasonably drinkable at the end of it.

I then moved on last night and went straight to my second 'full' brew - Finlandia apple / pear cider; will cover this over on the cider forum.

[DEMPSEY]

After you bottled it and put it away for a while in a warm place you can test the bottles for over carbing by opening one and if it is a bottle bomb then with the rest you do not fully open them but instead lightly crack them open to let some co2 out and then use your capper to re close them, jobs oxo

[Drzava]

After you bottled it and put it away for a while in a warm place you can test the bottles for over carbing by opening one and if it is a bottle bomb then with the rest you do not fully open them but instead lightly crack them open to let some co2 out and then use your capper to re close them, jobs oxo

It's easy really as the bulk of the beer is in screw cap bottles - no need for a capper. The 5L in the minikeg is more of a worry if pressure gets too high, but I carbed it quite a bit less (5g).

[Drzava]

Tried my first one of these at the weekend - only 5 days in the bottle. Light carbonation, about right for a stout. Small head that mostly disappeared quickly, but the little that remained stayed to the bottom. Aroma of banana and coffee. Decent mouthfeel, with a sweet taste at the back of the palate, but drowned out by a strong coffee taste.

Will aim to give it another month before trying another (and probably end up trying one this week!).

[LordEoin]

Good stuff. If it's ok now then it'll be a nice drop with some age

[Drzava]

Good stuff. If it's ok now then it'll be a nice drop with some age

It's only OK now TBH - too sweet (hey, FG was 1.018) and too much banana on the nose. However, it's probably about as good as I could have hoped for given I pitched at 31C! Hopefully time will calm down the banana - not much I can do about the sweetness I guess.

Already planning my next stout - considering d'oul Ditch stout again (without fucking it up), or a similar version of the Coopers Irish Stout. However, current plan is to get the St Peter's stout kit - seems to get very good reviews. Only need to do the other 4 kits I have lined up (after current cider) first!

[Drzava]

Two months in the bottle, and this is definitely tasting better. Bitter aftertaste is lessening and overall it's quite mild tasting after the initial coffee kick. Pours with a big head, which mostly dissipates. Have one 1.5L bottle, and one 5L minikeg left. I suspect the last pint will be the best!