Bottling the cider and transfering the wine.

After a week of fermenting the cider has finally slowed down and stopped bubbling completely so it was time to rack it off into bottles. I only had wine bottles spare at the time so off i went through the usual procedure of sterilising everything prior to bottling. While everything was sterilising i checked the finishing gravity and was amazed to see it had finished to 1.000. After a quick bit of calculation i worked out that the cider 8.26% abv. This stuff should come with a bio hazard label attached

Then i set about the task of syphoning the cider from the demijon to the bottles ,at this point i found out that my auto syphon would not fit into the demijon so i had to resort to the crude sucking method. Once bottled i primed the cider before corking the wine bottles and putting them i a warm place for secondary fermentation. It turns out that the yeasts in the cider absoloutly loved the priming sugars and the Co2 built up at a fantastic rate untill one of the corks blew out. I quickly got the bottle re corked before binding all the corks down with gaffer tape. That should hold the buggers in place. Just need to wait a week before putting them somewhere cool to condition.

I also set about transfering the wine into another fermentation bin as per the instructions. After 8 days the gravity should be less than 1.010. I dropped the sterilised hydrometer in the wine to find it down at 994 so it was deffinately time to move the wine.

I set about sterilising the new bin, airlock & bung and auto syphon as usual and got everything ready for the move. I wanted to do this without stiring up too much sediment. Although the auto syphon does not fit into a demijon it’s perfect for the big 5 gallon bins. Just give the syphon a couple of pumps then let gravity do the rest of the work

I need to wait 12 days now before i can start de-gassing the wine before adding the clearing agents.

2 More Brews

Finally i have got round to starting the 30 bottle wine kit. Last night was a busy one as i’ve wanted to get this running for a while now. The kit is a California Connoisseur Merlot and comes highly recomended. As usual i set to cleaning and sterilising all the kit. I also set about sterilising my beer equiptment for another brew but more about that later Once everything was rinsed properly i set to mixing the wine kit following the destructions carefully. These 30 bottle kits are a tad messier to prepare than the beer kits. Just before i pitched the yeast i checked the OG which came in at 1.084 which is about right for this wine kit. I left the yeast to re-hydrate for a while while i topped up the turbo cider with 1 1/2 litres of apple concentrate.

Once i had mixed the yeast in i sealed the bin and fitted the airlock before rinsing off all my beer kit. Once that was done i set to mixing up the Bavarian Beer kit ‘ve been promising to put on. I quickly got the kit ready and took the gravity which came in at 1.042 before pitching the yeast . While this was re-hydrating i had a quick shower then stired the yeast into the wort before sealing the fermentor. Al in it was a good night of brewing. Appologies about the lack of pictures. I was just too busy

The next experiment. Turbo Cider

Well, I havent had the chance to start the wine yet but i have recently aquired a demijon from mi mate Chris for the specific reason of making Turbo Cider. Normal ciders can take months to ferment but not turbo cider. This stuf can be ready to drink in 1 month only. Instead of using pressed apples you use pure apple juice and add sugar for some extra fermentable sugar. I also decided to add half a jar of honey which will provide more sugars and also add more taste. As usual i set about cleaning and throughly sterilising all the gear prior to mixing the cider.

Once everything was cleaned and rinced i added half a jar of honey to the demijon, followed by 3 litres of pure apple juice complete with the bits, and shook vigerously for 5 minutes to make sure everything was mixed up nicely. At this point i poured some of the mix out of the demijon into the trial jar to take the OG. I was pretty supprised to find it at 1.062. This stuff is going to be like rocket fuel.

I poured the content of the trial jar back into the demijon and placed it into the sink filled with hot water to raise the temperature so i could pitch the yeast. At this point i realised i didnt have any yeast so i added a sachet of bread yeast. I know people who have brewed beer with bread yeast and it’s come out brilliant so what the hell, in it went. once the yeast had re-hydrated for half an hour i shook up the demijon again to mix everything up and sealed it with the airlock. All that remains is to add another 1.5 litres of apple juice in the next 24 – 48 hours. I cant wait for this one to finish

Bradford Beer Festival & IPA Bottling

This weekend was the anual Bradford Beer Festival which is held every year at the Victoria Hall in Saltaire. As usual i took the friday off work to go the the free session on friday afternoon (Free as in not requiring tickets otherwise i’d be in hospital) there’s a merry little bunch of about 10 of us that do this every year, mainly so we can send picture messages to our coleagues at work to annoy the hell out of them

With well over 100 Ales, not to mention Ciders, Perry’s and continential beers to choose from i was spoilt for choice but my Fave beers of the festival were

Leeds Pale 3.8%
Leeds New Moon 4.3%
Naylors Crystal Wheat 4.5%
Naylors Old Ale 6.2%
Northumberland Pit Pony 3.8%
Old Spot Ginger Beer 4%
Ossett Big Red 4.2%
Osset Snowdrop 4.2%
Salamander Fire Cracker 4%
Glencoe Wild Oat Stout 4.5%
Wentworth WPA 4%
Wylam Northern Kite 4.5%
Yorkshire Dales Buckden Pike 3.9%

I tried loads of other but these were my fave’s. Needless to say i got completely destroyed on Friday as me and the missis had tickets for the evening session also, so after a brief interlude at the Shipley Pride for a game of Killer Darts and a couple of stunning pints of Tim Taylors Landlord Me and Nicky headed up to meet some friends and then back to the beer festival for round 2. Things got kind of hazy from here. I can not remember getting home at all, and as expected Saturday was a writeoff… Roll on Next years festival

Sunday was spent cleaning, de-labelling and sterilising bottles and racking the IPA. I took a gravity reading of the brew just before bottling and it finished at an amazingly low 1.002 I dont know how this will affect the brew but the ABV came in at 4.93% which will do for me. I had a quick taste of the ale and everything seems ok so into the bottles it went

The next brew will be the Coopers Bavarian beer i put on a few weeks back. Me and Nicky both loved that one so i’m doing it again. Also next week I’m finally going to delve into winemaking. Should be a fun one

IPA Rocket Fuel. Day 3

Well everything seems to have calmed down now. The brew is fermenting away happily at 23 degrees. The gravity has dropped an amazing 33 points from 1.039 to 1.006 after only 3 days. The brew is currently at 4.4% ABV and there’s still sugar left to ferment Thank god it’s not spoiled.

Yeast Head Geyser

Well after last night’s fun and games with the yeast head pouring through the air lock things seem to have calmed down a bit. I popped the lid off to check on everything and clean the air lock out before sealing everything again. The fermentor is now bubbling away hapily. I also tapped off some of the brew to check the gravity which came in at 1.016. The beer started 2 days ago at 1.039. I am amazed to see the gravity drop so quickly. I’m starting to think i’m brewring up a batch of rocket fuel here.  I also tasted the ale from the trial jar and it’s sill quite sweet with a nice bitter after taste,which means there is still plenty of sugar to ferment. This could be in interesting brew

In hindsight, 1Kg of dextrose may have been a bad idea…

Ahem…. I may not be using so much of that stuff for brewing again. I have checked the taste and temperature’s and no thing seems amiss apart from the yeast head pouring out of the airlock. As long as bubbles are coming out there’s nothing getting in. I’ll keep a close eye on it. Well funny though. It floored me laughing we i saw it Hopefully the beer gods are looking down on me.

On a lighter note the Bavarian lager/bier has turned out stunning… It tastes like a cross between Warsteiner and Ayergerbrau Pills. Me and the missis love the results. This will be deffinately brewed again. It came from a Coopers Bavarian beer kit if you fance having a pop at it

Wheat Beer racked, Coopers IPA next

Yesterday i set to the task of bottling up the wheat beer i’ve had fermenting for the past week. The beer was ready to bottle on Saturday but i was busy decorating a mates house all day. The original gravity of the beer was 1.038 and finishing gravity of 1.008 resulting in a nice 4% abv beer. As usual i set up all my sterilising kit in the bathroom and set to the task of cleaning and sterilising everything prior to bottling. I dont particularly enjoy this task but it is a necessary evil.

Once everything was squeeky clean and dry i set to the task of bottling the beer. This is now becoming a well rehersed procedure, made a damned site easier with the use of the bottling stick i bought a few weeks ago. I primed the beer with 3/4 teaspoon of light spray malt and quickly capped the bottles as the beer fobbed up on contact with the malt. In no time at all i had 40 pints of Wheat beer ready to go into the airing cupboard for secondary fermentation.

Once these were transfered into the airing cupboard i set about cleaning and sterilising the fermenting bin and all the equipment ready for the Coopers IPA a picked up from the local brew shop on Saturday.

Once everything was cleaned up (I need to buy shares in VWP judging by the ammount i go through) I mixed up the ingredients, I didnt have any beer enhancer left so i picked up 1kg of dextrose powder from the supermarket when i bought the 24 litres of water for the brew. Once everything was mixed in i took the Original gravity reading which came out at 1.039 and pitched the yeast and left for half an hour while the yeast re-hydrated and i had a sneeky beer Once the yeast was ready i mixed the wort throughly, Sealed the fermentor, attached the airlock and fitted the brew belt. All set now just sit back and wait for nature to take its course. I’m looking forward to trying the IPA, if it comes out anywhere near as good as the Yorkshire Bitter i did a few brews back i will be really happy.

Secondary fermentation is complete

Yeyy. The Bavarian beer has got through secondary frementation without any exploding bottles. I was a little concerned about this as i accidently over primed one of the bottled and half expected it to go pop in the airing cupboard, but there has been no problems what so ever I just need to leave it a week on the cool windowsill to condition before it’s ready to drink.

This was my second brew and i decided to use bottled water instead of tap water as this apparently makes it taste better, I ilso used muntons beer enhancer instead of regular cane sugar and i primed the bottles with light spray malt so it will be interesting how it turns out. Only a week to go

The Wheat beer is bubblig away nicely in the fermentation bin. As it’s so cold in the spare room (radiator turned off as beers are conditioning on the windowsill) i have attached my brew belt to the fermentation bin to keep the brew at a stable temperature. I tapped off some of the brew last night into the sample jar to check the temperature and it’s sitting pretty at 23 degrees. I also took a sneeky sip to check the brew hadnt been spoiled by any impuritys when i cleaned the kit out. I am pleased to say it was nice. A tad sweet with a malty after taste from the brew enhancer i used. Hopefully this will mellow a touch with time but if not it still tastes nice. I need to get some dextrose to prime this with as i dont want the malty taste from spray malt to get any stronger.

A weekend of home brew

Well i’ve finally got round to creating one of the new fangled bloggy things to document my home brewing antics and also share any usefull bits of information i stumble accross.

On Friday night I cracked open the Yorkshire Bitter i brewed 3 weeks ago to see if it was ready and was plesently supprised by the results. This was the first brew i have ever made so i wasnt holding out for anything spectacular. It turned out at a respectable 4.8% ABV (og: 1.044 fg: 1.008) with a taste similar to Hob Goblin which is one of my all time favourite beers. Needless to say i dont have many of these left now

I also tried out one of the Bavarian beers i have in the airing cupboard going through secondary fermentation. I wanted to see how they were going on so i popped one in the fridge on Saturday night to sample on Sunday, post DIY Shenanigans. The Lager Beer was still a bit cloudy so i’m going to leave the others untill mid week before moving them somewhere cool to condition. It was a superb tasting lager with a slight malty / bitter bite after taste due to the light spray malt i used to prime the bottles with. I also used bottled water for this brew so there is no unwanted tastes imparted on the beer from tap water. As far as carbonation is concerned, this will not be a problem as it is lively as hell and stayed fizzy all the way to the bottom of the pint. This beer will come out a about 4% ABV (og: 1.040 fg: 1.010)

To finish things off for the weekend i sterilised all my kit and kicked off another brew. This time i’m trying a Wheat Beer. I’m a massive fan of Hoegaarden so i thought i’d try it my self. I used a coopers Wheat beer kit. I checked the fermenting bin this morning and the fermentation process has begun, The air lock i fitted a few weeks ago was bubbling away merily. Hope this one turns out well