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Thursday, 25 September 2008

Brew 2 - Houston, we have a problem

Because this second brew kit says to brew it in the pressure keg supplied (odd I know but I decided to do what it says) I can't take sample everyday for a SG reading as it would lose pressure. I decide to take a sample every few days. Here's my brewing notes:

Specific Gravity (SG) Readings
30/08/2008: 1018
04/09/2008: 1016 - stuck? Still plenty of pressure though.

09/09/2008: 1016 - shook it!
11/09/2008: 1015 - Took off brew belt - still good pressure
12/09/2008: 15 degrees - I put the keg on the floor

I took off 2 litres into a 2 litre PET bottle and added 1 tablespoon of brewing sugar (dextrose).

19/09/08: Pulled a pint from the keg. Very cloudy and yeasty - very bitter aftertaste!

I'm pretty disappointed by now. I decide to add some more malt and re-pitch some more yeast just in case it's stuck. Remember, I'm flying blind here and am clutching at straws. (These are all metaphors, I cannot fly. I do have straws though albeit not at hand.)
21/09/08: Cleaned but did not sanitize my Coopers fermenter although I did a couple of days ago - alcohol already in it so may not matter? (I know, I know, hindsight and all that but sod it.)

Added 1kg of Munton's Beerkit Enhancer to 2 litres hot water.

Poored the beer from keg to fermenter using tap then out of the top. This made it up to the 20 litre mark. Temp of 25 degrees . added brew belt. The SG is now 1.028

Added Young's Ale Yeast.

22/09/08: 1015 and bubbling well!
23/09/08: 1014 and hardly bubbling! Sample really cloudy.
25/09/08: 101227/09/08: 1010 - Time to bottle.

Didn't put into king keg because as there's only 20 litres I though that there would be too much headspace and therefore too much oxygen so I decided to bottle into 11 1.5 litre bottles. Added 2 teaspoons of dextrose. It was still very cloudy.

Strength Calculations
First ferment
1034 - 1015 = 19

Second ferment
1028 - 1010 = 18


Does that mean it's effectively 37 altogther?
If so, ABV = 37 / 7.46 = 4.959 + .5 = 5.459

So, by my (probably very wrong) calculations 5.5% ABV is what I can expect. But will it clear and taste any better? I'll have to wait.

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