Homebrew

[Dum-Dum]

See, where you based, maybe you can meet someone whos making it and find out for real.

[Just Sean]

See, where you based, maybe you can meet someone whos making it and find out for real.

Odiham, a date with home brew cider sounds epic lol! Love a good drink!

[THE_Liam]

I'm only about 30 mile from Oldham, I pass it going to Wigan, Salford, St Helen's, Warrington or Widnes for the rugby...

By the way lads, I took my first hydrometer sample of my lager, smelt like lager, looked like lager and it was 1.1% after 3 days which isn't bad, should turn out a decent 4-4.5% I reckon. As for the cider, the foam has does down but now it's bubbling every 10 seconds, decided to chuck a spoon of cinnamon in for a bit of extra flavour

[Connor]

Ill be the judge at FCS

[Just Sean]

I'm only about 30 mile from Oldham, I pass it going to Wigan, Salford, St Helen's, Warrington or Widnes for the rugby...

By the way lads, I took my first hydrometer sample of my lager, smelt like lager, looked like lager and it was 1.1% after 3 days which isn't bad, should turn out a decent 4-4.5% I reckon. As for the cider, the foam has does down but now it's bubbling every 10 seconds, decided to chuck a spoon of cinnamon in for a bit of extra flavour

Liam, it says odiham! Not Oldham, I'm near Basingstoke!

[THE_Liam]

Oh right, should've read that more carefully

[burnmw]

This is going to sound a bit daft but I'm not 100% sure how to use the hydrometer to test the % of the product.

Am I right in thinking I need to take one measurement at the start, and then one at the end?

If so, I presume both are taken in the same manner?

So I prepare my drink, then add the yeast last, stir it? Or leave it to fall naturally? Do I take a measurement now? Or before I add the yeast? To take a measurement just pour a small amount out in to a different container or just bung the hydrometer in to the demi-john?

[cully]

i dont know how to do the volume with a hydrometer i guess its take the reading before and then after then some maths

i would also take the readings in a seperate pot as you dont want to add bugs to the big pot



he he ive been and syphoned off the apple juice as it looks like its stopped bubbling
tastes just like scrumpy !
ive syphoned it into a second demi which ive airlocked and am letting it settle for a while before bottling,
and as for volume % it measured 6%

oh and ive picked up 4 Free demijohns now so i may start somthing different soon

   

   

[burnmw]

So... what are you measuring yours with?

[cully]

im using a vinometer
it looks like a thermometer with a funal but it works on capilary action on the liquide in the open tube

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid...r&_sacat=0

---

copyed from here
http://www.hambletonbard.com/how-to-make...shine.html



You can check the alcohol content of your beer, wine or turbo yeast wash if you have a start reading and a current (or final) reading.

Example:

Start reading = 1075

Current reading = 998

The alcohol (by volume) is simply the number of fermented units (start-current) divided by 7.4.

Alcohol =

(1075-998) / 7.4 = 77 / 7.4 = 10.4 %

This is of course the final alcohol content if your brew has stopped fermenting. To find out if it has, simply check specific gravity with 1-2 days in between. If you have 998 (or whatever the value is) during several days your fermentation is over.

IMPORTANT: This fomula will only work if you do not add water, sugar or anything else during fermentation.

[burnmw]

Fair enough, I'll give it a go with the hydrometer and see, I'll do it after I've added the yeast I think. Was going to start 3 Demi-johns going tonight but realised I don't have a bottle brush to clean my Demi-johns out after I used them last time so can't do anything until I can find one

EDIT: Scrap that, just read that some people do it before, some after. Only real reason to do it after is so that you can keep some separate to "satellite test" it.

[THE_Liam]

This is going to sound a bit daft but I'm not 100% sure how to use the hydrometer to test the % of the product.

Am I right in thinking I need to take one measurement at the start, and then one at the end?

If so, I presume both are taken in the same manner?

So I prepare my drink, then add the yeast last, stir it? Or leave it to fall naturally? Do I take a measurement now? Or before I add the yeast? To take a measurement just pour a small amount out in to a different container or just bung the hydrometer in to the demi-john?

You can't really go wrong with this mate. You can stir the yeast if you want, but it's fine to rest it on top. Take your OG (original gravity) read before you add the yeast, and do it in a seperate pot so you don't infect the beer, or alternatively sterilise the hydrometer. Really you need to sterilise everything that will touch the brew, either with a sterilising agent or just boiling water, so it doesn't go manky.

The foam and scum has gone down on mine after 2 days but now it's popping like mad, bubbling every 10 seconds and it looks just like scrumpy! Almost identical to yours cully. Gonna wait for it to stop, then bottle it for a couple of weeks with some sugar to carbonate and settle

The beer is up to 1.9% and still fermenting

[Diggers]

just started a batch of wine, got to leave it for a month then check it and maybe leave it longer so its tucked away in the spare room,
so now got 4 gallons of booze brewing and 1 gallon done lol

[Diggers]

a quick vid of the wine after 2 hours
bubbling like mad !!
http://youtu.be/4g0ht9Bkzro

[Jonny81191]

Brewing kit arrived yesterday, I'll get it started next month...

[Dum-Dum]

I quite fancy making something with some pineapple juice.

[Jonny81191]

do some pineapple rum or vodka?

Same as you'd do with damsons or whatever...

[THE_Liam]

I'm thinking about making some Poitin, I've got my grandads recipe for it somewhere...

70% proof potato spirit

[samass]

I'm thinking about making some Poitin, I've got my grandads recipe for it somewhere...

70% proof potato spirit

O.O

DO IT!

[THE_Liam]

Just checked my lager for gravity, the OG was 1.038 and the gravity now is 1.013, by my maths that's about 3.4%. To be honest, I think it's done fermenting, so I'll check it again tomorrow and if the gravity hasn't changed I'll take that as the FG and bottle it

[cully]

back to my batch of apple juice cider
ive filtered for the last time now so its settling time before bottling
hydrometer says to bottle so im guessing fermentation has well stopped now
couldnt restist a taste

its very good nice! its dry and strong have remeaserd the %vol and its coming back as 12% today

im very impressed with it
and so is our window cleaner he had a taster

will be making more batch's of this as it is to my taste

   

   
oh! and the double brewed orange is wrank! vial horrible it has finished brewing but maybe it needs time its one for the back of the shed

[THE_Liam]

Looks good that Cully

If anyone's looking for a source of cheap PET bottles, I've just bough 20 bottles of Asda smart price lemonade for £3.60 and emptied it all down the sink because it tastes like shite, 18p for a 2 litre bottle

[Dum-Dum]

Christmas meet we just need to meet in a field with all this homebrew and well have a whale of a time.


Cully dont pour the orange away, either donate it to a local tramp or give it to your daughter for her next houseparty/sleepover/getting mash up in a play park session. Teenagers will drink anything alcoholic.

[cully]

put some finnings in the orange and its dropped its cloudy look and is as clear as water!

oh and i started 2 more batchs of the cider as i think im going to likr that
using the cheapest apple juice this time, looking at the lable the only differance is the cheaper has more sugar
took a hydrometer reading this time at the start
1.075 hydromiter predicts 12%

using the same recipy as the first batch

[burnmw]

Well I've just kicked off 4 Demi-johns worth, one orange, one lemon, one raspberry syrup and one cherry syrup.



Ingredients used:
5 oranges
6 lemons
1 raspberry syrup
1 cherry syrup
2Kg sugar



Equipment used:
4 Demi-johns
4 air-locks
1 set of scales
1 bowl for weighing sugar
1 measuring jug
1 teaspoon
Hydrometer
Sterilizer/cleaner



Syrups going in



After topping up with water (4l in each), but before yeast was added.

Then I took my hydrometer readings:
Raspberry: 1.026
Cherry: 1.022
Orange: 1.020
Lemon: 1.018



Finally, added the yeast and popped the air-locks in to place

[cully]

will be interested in your orange and lemon see how it compares

   

[burnmw]

will be interested in your orange and lemon see how it compares

Me too, all of mine seem to have quite low SG's though And to be honest, 2 hours later they really aren't doing too much, might have to see if I can find somewhere warmer to put them.

[cully]

i wouldnt worry about it after two hours look again in the morning after the yeast has had a good chance to soak

oh i might be cheating a bit as i start mine on a heat pad to get the temp up to start with as the water is cold and yeast dont like cold
you can see the aluminium heater under my two

   

[burnmw]

Yup, noticed you were cheating, I mean, using a heat pad. Just that I don't have access to a heat pad!

[THE_Liam]

Just bottled my cider, had a taste before I did and it does taste just like scrumpy! I used wine yeast so it smells a bit skunky but it tastes good. Asda are doing 1.5 litre cartons of apple juice for 50p just now