Questions On Stuff I don't Understand???

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey guys just going over a recipe for my First IPA!! and if I am to do a 23L batch of Beer then my calculations are for a 6Gallon batch? and if so is it ok just to add the 5Gallon + 1Gallon ingredients together to work out a 6Gallon batch?

Second question...If dry hopping is optional and says "you can add a handful" what measurement is that? and always with about 4-5 days left in fermentation left you do it?

Third question.....How do you work out the IBU (bitterness?) level if not stated in recipe?

Last question......How many packets of dry yeast US.05 would you use? basing it on adding the 5G + 1G together, it would be 1 and a half??

Cheers Guys appreciate it. 

[Nathan]

This is interesting, Since crashing I noticed what I did bottle was over carbed and backed off my priming sugars to suit not really knowing whats going on but it worked and now I know why...I was thinking along the same lines as Cain Guess I was wrong too.....Cheers

[Harry]

I used to cold crash 20 odd litres with 10l of headspace give or take (in primary) so theoretically there is enough co2 for a .5 volume increase to enter the beer (provided the headspace is pure CO2) and according to the calculator I used a drop from 20° to 5° will allow the beer to absorb 0.6 volumes. 

How much is actually absorbed will depend on headspace size (and amount of co2 in the headspace), temperature, length of cold crash etc so it can be hit and miss. I think moving the beer to a bottling bucket also helps agitate some CO2 out of suspension as well just to add another factor into the mix.

I found that a flat teaspoon of dextrose per 500ml bottle worked for me, but around this stage I was learning a lot so was also started batch priming and moving bottles to a cooler room when they were correctly carbed both of which help with carbonation accuracy.

Long story short I had about 3 months drama with carbonation and cold crashing, turned some good beers into gushers and the hit and miss nature was one of the big reasons behind me moving to kegging, which ironically is when I really started to figure out what was happening with bottle carbonation. 

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey Sam do you think if I bring iy back to temp of around the 12C night before I bottle that using the recommended measure (I have one of those sugar measure devices) of dextrose for the 500ml bottles, which they are, I should not get over carbonation??

I  have been and will be taking specific details and notes of times and temps towards bottle day. Should help for next time.

[Sam DT]

Yeah, I'd pull it out of the fridge 24 hours before hand and let it rise - if you've got heating hooked up in your fermentation fridge you could just crank up the temperature on the STC, i'd say 12 is a minimum if you want to be really safe go for 18-20.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Just bought that hop-sock mate you gave me the link to. Cheers.

[Grant R Baker]

I stopped using the fermenter tap (with a bottling wand) and went to an autosyphone with a bottling wand attached at the other end.

I keep the autosyphone of the bottom using a clamp around the syphone housing (outer tube).. normally start about halfway down the fermenter and slowly lower it as I go.

Thus only the last few bottles might pick up any trub or hop matter from the bottom.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Cheers, will get me one was looking at them I think that will work good

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

I have a racking cane on its way, which is great cause I will be bottling Saturday and I think the trub was higher than my tap on fermenter. I don't have one of those line pitcher on the tube that attaches to the auto syphon when I bottle so could get messy? Bought my grain hops and yeast from ALL GRAIN. I'm going off a recipe in my book but changing (thinking about it) swapping the Ahtanum for Amarillo? Flame out hop? The rest was Simcoe buttering and flavour. Generally when swapping out a hop for another and the Alpha Acid % is different to make an adjust is the amount? I assumed you would? Other question is when do I bring my cold crash beer back to room temp(if it is to go to room tem?) as I would like to put correct amount of sugar in these 500ml bottles. Cheers

[Craig Howard]

Hey Daza

Once you have bottled...would you post up a bit of a diary of what has been involved in this "brew" since it started (from your notes.) Be cool to read.  It seems such a long time since it started and I got lost many times.

I would suggest a new Thread for it.  eg 'What I l did for my first brew" or whatever.

Its good forum practice to break out different subjects/topics/questions to their own threads.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Just been looking back on the time I made my first thread asking what direction to go, starting from scratch, and it was dated May 25th 2015, So it has been 4 months in the making!!!!

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Yep sounds like a cool idea, some of my notes are observations as well as readings be a good laugh for some . When it's bottled I'll do it then.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey Sam I will set temp to 18C on fridge probably  start it tomorrow morning around 7am so ready for bottling say around 9am Saturday, should be sweet to use the recommended dose of dextrose then eh? I messaged you about raising the temp won't undo the hard work the cold crashing has done will it? and re-activate the sleepy yeast that sank to the bottom of fermenter and start floating around again??

Cheers

Daza.