I love the fact that this is legit home brewing. I have a ridiculous amount of equipment. Top of the line pilot brewery setup… 90% of it I never needed, and it steals the joy from brewing. Turning it from art to science. Keep the simple setup and the great work. I love this channel.
I just keep the old yeast and brew with it again. Just swish it about after you've got the beer out of the fermenter and put it in a sanitised jar and piff it in the fridge. Make a starter with it next time you brew and it will go mental. Then you don't have to buy yeast for ages. Just keep cycling it, about 6 - 10 times.
refractometer is ok for starting gravity, but not good for final one. Instead, the humble hydrometer is cheap and just as easy to use. But you have to mind the temperature, though.
The fact this looks really close to my bare bones homebrew setup gives me hope for my future brews, this was a really fun video! If that didnt earn the subscription the sleep token hoodie did 😁
Hi there ! I ll go and guive you my feedback where you asked some ! Over pitching is not a problem but under pitching and fermentation temperature is critical ! The second thing that bothers me is that you should find a spray bottle with a bit of 70% alcohol to spray everything you manipulate after the boil even if the beer is good it can go south in bottles if not perfectly clean, the risk is souring or over carbonation Be careful not to splash beer when transferring and bottling And yes the refractometer needs a conversion (tcheck it on internet) if used after fermentation due to alcohol, I recommend using a hydrometer when alcohol is present and always take the sample at 20 C or adjust it with a calculator on internet. Tcheers😊 Leo
Thank you for the advice, I do sterilise everything I just don't always show it, I use a no rinse steriliser before hand but I probably should get a spray bottle for future use. And I will get a hydrometer eventually, at the moment I'm not fussed knowing the exact amount of alcohol.
It looks so good, so this is a traditional English Ale? About the CO², yes you can poison yourself and pass out, permanently. You have to remember that CO² is heavier than Oxigen and will sit in the corner or in the bottem of your pantry or room if there is insufficient airflow. To prevent this youhave to ventilate, make sure you dont sit in CO² by yourself. Problem with CO² is that its an invisible odorless gas and your brain wont pick it up as a problem untill its too late. You might want to buy a CO² meter and put it in your fermentation room so you can have some warning against dangerous levels. Stay safe.
While this is strictly true, it's probably of no real concern on a homebrew scale. Beer can push out a lot of co2 but a quick google suggests you probably exhale more co2 per day than that 10l batch produced all up and while it is heavier, it does't take much encouragement to mix with the surrounding air. Unless you're having difficulty breathing, I don't think you need to worry.
When I was bottling I used to just stick a teaspoon of raw sugar into each bottle then rack the beer, people say they make up a sugar slurry in a second bucket with the beer then into bottles but I have no idea why people would go through the extra steps just to increase the risk of adding oxygen to the beer. over pitching is really not much of an issue and the smell while fermenting blows off through the air lock (thats why you can smell it) As far as used yeast goes, you should look into washing, storing and reusing it (have a search around for harvesting yeast it's a game changer) Love the video's man, Honestly it's like watching a mate get into brewing, there's stuff you'll learn I don't know and mistakes you'll make that we all do at some point but being able to make beer is an awesome hobby!!
This comment has made my day! I know you shouldn't add oxygen to the beer, but my understanding is of you're bottle fermenting it shouldn't matter because yeast eats oxygen. So if there's more oxygen you just end up with more sediment at the bottom. Will definitely add straight raw sugar for the next brew
For me, and as an dual use Hop, right now is one from Germany called “Polaris” it smells a little weird (Garlicky ) while High Kräusen but after conditioning it has this amazing Dank, Herbal and fresh character that goes amazing with Pale Ales or Hoppy Pseudo Lagers or Saisons. And as a bittering Hop right now I should say Styrian Aurora from 🇸🇮 Slovenia, which is also very floral and delicate in aroma.
Great video. Yup, your yeast trub is great for the compost heap. As others have mentioned, the refractometer is not accurate to measure the SG after fermentation commences. Hydrometers are a cheap and accurate way to measure after brew day and up till bottling. Keep it up, new subscriber here :-)
What I used to do when I was still bottling was to actually make a syrup from the sugar. I used 2 parts water to 1 part sugar. Then rack (transfer) the beer into a clean bucket, add the sugar and GENTLY stir in the sugar. You want to add as little oxygen as possible to the beer post fermentation. Try to splash your beer as little as possible post fermentation. It could help to get a tube to go to the bottom of the second vessel when transferring to reduce the oxygen pickup. Also sidenote, sick shirt Sleep Token slaps.
Thank you, I'll try this for my Dark lager I'm going to make. I was thinking about the oxygen when I transferred it to second container but I was too far in to back track. I'll see if I can find a tube for the next try and see how I go, I'm going to try with raw sugar the next brew, I think brown sugar was too sweet. Sleep Token is the best
Buddy, I started homebrewing around 12 years ago in the States. You have the charisma and enthusiasm I want to watch in homebrewing RU-vidrs. Keep it going homie!
If you're making drinkable beer then you are already a winner Cory. The majority of homebrewers often start off quite primitive and learn as we go. Fortunately, there is a ton of advice out there these days. Refractometers are more for pre-fermentation measurements of the wort, they become much less accurate once alcohol is produced in the liquid. Also, check the refrac instructions on how to regularly calibrate, it only takes a few seconds. Use a hydrometer to measure post-fermentation. Hydrometers can be cheap, under $20. Over-pitching yeast is better than under-pitching, it's really no biggie. Learning to correctly harvest yeast helps to understand the process and can save you some coin. Brown or raw sugar in the fermented beer will defo effect the flavour. You can simply use table sugar for priming at about 2-3g per (375ml) bottle. A lot of guys just calculate the lot, mix with approx. 200ml of warm water and chuck it in the batch just prior to bottling. Also; I've never heard of anyone becoming effected by Co2 coming from beer, I wouldn't worry. Cheers.......
I could definitely taste the brown sugar, which I actually didn't mind. I'm happy using the refrac for now even though it's an estimated guess, the main down side is I won't know if fermenting is completely finished when I take it out of the fermentor Will definitely get into saving yeast one day but for now I'm enjoying trying different ones out until I find a breed I like Thank you for all the advice! Best thing about the brewing community is everyone wants to help because they're passionate about brewing and want me to be passionate too (which I am 😂)