Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

It got down to 1015 and stayed there for 3 days so, I bottled the Kilkenny Clone yesterday, smells nice but it went into the bottles looking cloudy - is this normal ?

Yeah that's normal it will settle out in the bottle over time.

Just pour gently into a glass when drinking if you want it clear.

sam_and_liv wrote:Yeah that's normal it will settle out in the bottle over time.

Just pour gently into a glass when drinking if you want it clear.

Thats some good news, thanks.
And now ive got a Corona Clone working away :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The only thing I have made that hasn't cleared in time is ginger beer and cider

1015 is still pretty high depending on what flavour you are going for and what OG you had. I'm guessing there will be some residual sweetness in your beer but should taste reasonable. I've had beers that take 3 weeks to go that last 5-6 points on the hydrometer, especially if you used a dry yeast.

These days as a matter of course I don't even check the gravity for 4 weeks after starting fermentation unless its summer and the yeast I am using is known to be a fast fermenter.

One tip for getting consistent ferment temps is to do it in a wardrobe inside your house where you can close doors etc - should keep it between 10-15 degrees (except on really hot days) most of the time but the dragon will hate you until she tastes your masterpiece ;)

Another is to get the lowest starting temp you can by using some ice in the fermenter to bring it down to 10-12 degrees before you put the yeast in - I've just used bagged ice from servo as its drinking quality and purified here and I'm lazy - if you do this, make sure you don't put all your cold water in fermenter at once otherwise you will end up with a thin beer that tastes like crap.

1.015 is around what I would expect with 500g maltodextren :handgestures-thumbupleft: the yeast will drop out in the bottle so when you put it in the fridge dont go rough handling it. Also its best to pour it off in one go into a jug or a big glass as stopping will disturb the yeast, But personally I dont mind a bit of yeast it helps in the morning to with hangovers and cleans you out well :))

The Stig wrote:It got down to 1015 and stayed there for 3 days so, I bottled the Kilkenny Clone yesterday, smells nice but it went into the bottles looking cloudy - is this normal ?

It is if you were getting your sediment in when bottling.

You can use a clearing adjent if you want it more clear and if you want your sediment to be more compact. I recommend getting another fermenter and racking of into it and let that settle for a day or two . Try to keep it as cool as posible. ( cold tshirt and ice bath trick).
But in the end it's not a big deal. You end up with more sed. In your bottles. Some like cloudy beer. I do with certain yeast. Give the beer a creamy body. But they really need to age or she will come out the way it went in.

PJ

Hey Stig, how's the beer working out for ya?

Dunno, havent had time to do anything lately been slammed with work.
Its comming upto 2 weeks in bottle so will leave it for another week before testing it

A little update, its been a while :D
Well, I got fed up with cleaning bottles and splashed out on a kegerator with 2 taps, its the commercial kind that holds 3 cornies.
Couldnt be happier with the beer being produced and having it on tap is a big bonus.
During the beeralogical journey I tried a few different "can" kits and have settled on a couple that I enjoy best but I also tried a fresh wort kit, wheat stout I think it was, best Ive done but my god it was expensive (will only make that again at Xmas)
So the journey continues, the equipment list grows and the house is filling with fermenters and kegs and yes, Im getting a little rounder :laughing-rolling:
Happy brewing :greetings-waveyellow: :greetings-waveyellow:
Edit to add: I didnt name the fresh wort seller on purpose, basically I went in there asking for advice since I just got the kegerator and they treated me like I was scum, the guy even told me I would never make a drinkable beer and to give up now before I make a mess and waste my money. I still bought the wort kit but I will never step foot back in his store (and no it wasnt Tru-Brew)

Hello Stig,

any chance of listing the kits used lined up with your beer prefs, tasting notes would be a bonus.

cheers
bt1

Hey stig
Great move to the keg system. I couldnt be without mine.

Since you alredy make spirits and im guessing you have a bit of gear in your shed so why not all grain. It's so much fun and thre results can not be described. Better than anything you buy. Kind of like spirits hey :think:

Check out the aussiebrewer forum and go to youtube for the how too's on how to build some of the equipment. You will be surprised at how much stuff to already have tomake quality allgrain beer!!!

Don't you find that kegging straight after a ferment robs you of some of that bottled aging & conditioning?

Perhaps it's a South Aussie thing where we are raised on yeastie Coopers Ale but the best home brew beers (AG or kits'N'bits or straight K&K) are bottle conditioned. You don't find it a bit young out of the keg?

I assume you are straight up kegging after a ferment and not storing or aging in cubes first?

Like others who moved to spirits from beer I can't say a 6hour AG brew day (and months of waiting to drink) was "fun" as you say towards the end;-)

When we had out South Aussie catch up earlier this year, blond.chap, crow, Sam and I have been or are brewers and we talked about the difference between the two hobbies and crow summed it up nicely: "too much fucking effort, I'll buy my beer and stick to making spirits".

:-)

I like making & tinkering with good kits and good yeast and some specialty grains but personally won't rush back to AG any time soon.

BackyardBrewer wrote:Don't you find that kegging straight after a ferment robs you of some of that bottled aging & conditioning?
.

I reckon it conditions quicker in the keg. IMHO.

tipsy wrote:

BackyardBrewer wrote:Don't you find that kegging straight after a ferment robs you of some of that bottled aging & conditioning?
.

I reckon it conditions quicker in the keg. IMHO.

Yep I reckon it does too

sam_and_liv wrote:

tipsy wrote:

BackyardBrewer wrote:Don't you find that kegging straight after a ferment robs you of some of that bottled aging & conditioning?
.

I reckon it conditions quicker in the keg. IMHO.

Yep I reckon it does too

You can all shut up now before I go buy a kegging system.

:-)

What timeframe are you talking re improvement in conditioning ?

My kegs will usually sit warm for 4 - 6 weeks before changeover these days, but if it is straight up it will be a bit green up to a week usually for me :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Go buy some kegs, you wont look back :D

Kegs are the single best thing i bought for my beer system. I was so over bottling and all the cleaning that is involved. I normally have 3x19l kegs in the fridge with the one on tap being at least 3weeks old in the keg.

A week for me as well.
I leave them to carb at pouring pressure.

tipsy wrote:A week for me as well.
I leave them to carb at pouring pressure.

Same. Seems the easiest way to me.