Mickep

Hey JM, are those paint bags from Bunnings good for steeping grain and hops etc?

Thanks Otto, Can you elaborate with regards to pitching temp? That's interesting. You get a slightly better beer, in what way? This is great stuff by the way thanks.

I only bulk prime as fiddling with lollies or a sugar scoop is annoying. I use between 170 and 180g dextrose for a 21l batch to get it to approx. 2.7vols. The sugar solution is carefully poured into the FV and gently stirred as to not disturb the trub. In most cases, the bottles are carbonated within 5 days at room temp, in winter it takes a little longer. I do sample from usually a week in the bottle onwards and besides the occasional dud, I don't seem to have any problems. When there is a dud, it's usually the lid not being tight enough, although I think I have the odd top not working. I'm going to replace them bit by bit with new tops. Thanks AussieKraut, I've been priming the lagers at 9g/l. On the spread sheet this estimates that I'm getting approx. 3.0 vols. When Bulk priming I've premixed the correct amount of sugar with a small amount of water to dissolve the sugar and then added that to the primary FV and stirred gently so as not to disturb the trub or aerate the beer. Maybe I placed some of the bottles in the fridge before they'd fully carbonated. They condition in the garage where it's possible the temp has been cooler than it should've been. I've ditched the caps which were on the suspect bottles. I'm pretty certain all the caps were on really tight. Thanks for your feedback mate. Just as an update to this and again many thanks for all who have chipped in with some advice. I went back over the process for this brew and I think I may have caused the problem with the Carbonation. I bottled the brew at 1 degree c and then because I'd run out of cardboard boxes I stored the bottles in an Esky. 4 days in I was able to shift them to the cardboard boxes. I think I may made them stall as they sat in the Esky most likely in a very cool state. Even when they were placed in the cardboard boxes the ambient temp was coolish (around 14-16 degrees) Week 4 and they are fully carbed now as the weather in Melbourne has warmed up. Cracked a few now and not a dud. Phew! Cheers Guys and Gals.

http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/

At hte risk of answering for Otto, think you will find it is something like this ferment schedule. Ferment at 10-12c until the SG is around 1020, or dropped 2/3rds of the points needed, then up the temp to 20-22 for a d-rest and let it ferment out to FG. Then cold crash it to ~1c and leave it in the FV for about a week. This way it goes from kit to bottle in about 14 days. If that is not the method it will be close too it. Or alternately you can use a Kveik yeast, I use Voss, and ferment that at the lower end of the temp range so around 24c. It will give a pseudo lager with the crisp lager profile. It will take about 8 days till it is ready to bottle and needs no D-rest. If you cold crash it will take a bit longer but just cold crash it for a couple of days I use that method for my Asian style rice lagers. Works a treat as there is no need for a traditional lagering period. Cheers Marty, I've been using that method so I'm on track. Thanks for the feedback mate. Interesting about the Kveik yeast method. I've been D-resting for about 3 days (when I'm a few points away from FG) and then cold crashing for about 5 days after that. Bottle and wait 14 days before putting one in the fridge for a taste test.

Hey Otto, are you able to supply a link to your quick lager method post? TIA

Hey Bribie, looking at your pics, I notice you are using an outside tap and a garden hose connected to it to dispense your water into the vessel. Is that okay to do? I'd be rapt if it is it'd solve carting water out from my kitchen to the garage. Thanks for sharing mate.

Steeping does not impart much bitterness from the hops. You cannot calculate it using the recipe spreadsheet on this thread. Even the Extract Beer Designer (IanH) spreadsheet does not calculate it. If you put in a hop and give it a very short boil, the spreadsheet will show a very small amount of bitterness. The steep is less than a short boil. Thanks Shamus. I think I understand the connection between OG and IBU's and how they influence BU:GU's for now I'm trying to aim for BU:GU of around .5 for my lagers just to try and get a handle on bitterness and balance. Before I'd really understood this my last brew had a BU:GU of .76 would that be exceptionally bitter? It certainly tasted that way at FG. My last two brews I've introduced cracked light crystal malt and POR hops. Both steeped. 2nd Last brew the LCM was steeped in 2 ltrs of water O/N in the fridge and brought to the boil the next day and then had 25 grams of POR hops added at flame out for 15 minutes. (BU:GU .76) Last brew I've done I steeped 250 grams LCM after O/N in the fridge with 2 Ltrs of water. Brought to the boil and boiled for 10 minutes. at flame out added 16grams of POR hops to the pot and steeped for 10 minutes. Is what I'm doing okay? There's seems to be a lot of bitterness, could the LCM and the way I'm introducing it to the brew be a problem? TIA

Cheers Mitch.

Sorry in advance if this is a silly question. When I'm steeping hops without a boil is there anyway of calculating the impact on the IBU using the spreadsheet? Or does steeping not impart the bitterness of the hops?

I haven't done a lager but from reading around, they also should be carbed at around 18° or so for a couple of weeks before lagering at the lower temps. Yeah I thought so. Cheers. Maybe it's just been too cold for the bottles to do their thing. Maybe I compounded that problem with putting a few in the fridge before they'd finished carbing up. Looking at my notes I put these suspect beers in the fridge at 10-11 days...Thanks again for your feedback.

Something to try is remove the plastic collar left behind the first time the cap is used. It apparently can prevent a proper seal sometimes. Side cutters work well for doing it. Look for any nicks or imperfections around the rim of the bottle - anything there can prevent a proper seal. Also take care not to get sugar on the rim when priming, for the same reason. Over winter while I was still doing bottle I put an old electric blanket in the cupboard with an STC-1000 temperature controller to keep the temps up - the bottles need to be at ferment temp or above to allow the carb process to happen. I kept the cupboard at 20° and it worked well. Before I did that I found I still had soft bottles at 4 weeks - once I kicked up the temp they all hardened up in a week or so. Before I moved to kegs I was bulk priming - MUCH less time consuming than measuring into each bottle. But I did it to a 2nd FV. A hose long enough to curl a bit in the bottom of the receiving FV, to swirl the beers as it gows in, then bottle from the 2nd FV. Has added benefit of leaving the trub behind in the first one and doesn't risk stirring it up to make sure all the sugar solution gets mixed in by priming in the original FV. Thanks JM, I seem to have a decent gap between the lid collars and the bottle top, so not sure if that's in play but thanks for the heads up. I bulk prime so no issue with sugars around the rim of the bottle. I'm doing lagers so do they need to be stored (conditioned) at 18 degrees c? Or are they okay at cooler temps being a lager? Last brew I did was bulk primed in the primary FV and had no issues. It's noteworthy that the first bottled I tried was fully carbed. I've tried a third and it was not carbed at the same level as Bottle 1. Thanks for your feedback mate much appreciated

I only bulk prime as fiddling with lollies or a sugar scoop is annoying. I use between 170 and 180g dextrose for a 21l batch to get it to approx. 2.7vols. The sugar solution is carefully poured into the FV and gently stirred as to not disturb the trub. In most cases, the bottles are carbonated within 5 days at room temp, in winter it takes a little longer. I do sample from usually a week in the bottle onwards and besides the occasional dud, I don't seem to have any problems. When there is a dud, it's usually the lid not being tight enough, although I think I have the odd top not working. I'm going to replace them bit by bit with new tops. Thanks AussieKraut, I've been priming the lagers at 9g/l. On the spread sheet this estimates that I'm getting approx. 3.0 vols. When Bulk priming I've premixed the correct amount of sugar with a small amount of water to dissolve the sugar and then added that to the primary FV and stirred gently so as not to disturb the trub or aerate the beer. Maybe I placed some of the bottles in the fridge before they'd fully carbonated. They condition in the garage where it's possible the temp has been cooler than it should've been. I've ditched the caps which were on the suspect bottles. I'm pretty certain all the caps were on really tight. Thanks for your feedback mate.

Bulk primed my latest brew in the primary FV. Had a taste of the beer after a 2 week secondary ferment in the bottles at about 16 degrees C and the first one was well carbonated. Opened a second and it was almost flat, small amount of CO2 but almost completely flat. That had me concerned so I opened another and this one was somewhere in between. Is it possible that I've placed the bottles in the fridge before they had a chance to fully carbonate? I suspect the lids are not in play as there was a slight hiss release sound from all three bottles. Anyone got any clues? Could it be that I've not stirred the sugar enough in the FV when I bulk primed? Any help muchly appreciated

12 degrees C