Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: n.b83 on April 29, 2010, 18:54
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Hi all,
Dose it make any differance if I use Brewing sugar or Ordinary sugar?
Thanks Neil
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Are you making a beer kit?
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Ordinary sugar will suffice, your beer will work and be quite drinkable. Brewing sugar is better though, and for the best results use Spraymalt.
Inevitably brewing sugar is more expensive than ordinary sugar, and spray malt is more expensive than brewing sugar.
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I have got the Bitter making kit.
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Yeah, I'd say dont bother with brewing sugar. Ordinary sugar will be almost as good but a whole lot cheaper.
Spray malt or muntons beer kit enhancers are better though. Adding too high a proportion of sugar isnt good.
Happy brewing!
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Well I have just made my first home brew and can't to taste it when its ready.
Thanks for your help
Neil
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Its a killer waiting for your first brew to be ready!
Have patience though, the longer you leave it the better it will be :D
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Yeah, I'd say dont bother with brewing sugar. Ordinary sugar will be almost as good but a whole lot cheaper.
Spray malt or muntons beer kit enhancers are better though. Adding too high a proportion of sugar isnt good.
Happy brewing!
Yup too much sugar will make your beers taste thin and watery, without body to support the alcohol any ferment will be like gnats! but knock your socks off! without any pleasant supping experience, a well balanced brew/ferment will be a delight and you will experience a pleasant euphoria as opposed to sudden drunkeness and a vile hangover!.
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According to the instructions it should go in to bottles anytime between tomorrow and thursday.
then I need to wait another another 14 days before i can drink it.
Cant wait I am really looking forward to it.
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Dont rely on the instructions too much. Check that it has fully fermented before bottling.
Leave for at least 4 weeks.
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How will I know when its ready?
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the best way is by taking a gravity reading every three days. Once two readings are the same you are safe to assume that fermentation has ended.
If you don't have a hydrometer then a reasonable way to tell is checking for bubbles in your airlock. Once you reach a poin where no bubbles appear for the period of an hour or so it is safe to presume fermentation has stopped, though you cannot be sure using this method that it has completed properly.
I too would urge you not to rush things. I leave my brews in the primary fermenter for a full two weeks, then i draw them off into a second vessel for a further two weeks before barrelling, and try and leave themin the barrel for a full two months before drinking.
I don't always make two months though .....
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I generally leave my stout kits for 6 weeks after bottling before tasting.don`t forget to put a few aside and try to forget about them.
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What does my hydrometer measure?
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The hydrometer is the tool that gives you the og
original gravity
and also your fg
finished gravity an invaluable piece of kit too measure sugar levels and especially with wine to help you stop it too a desired sweetness
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There's alot more to this home brewing than I thought.
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There's alot more to this home brewing than I thought.
There can be, though there doesn't have to be.
I started out with kits, preferring the slightly more expensive "two can" kits which don't require extra sugar being added. All you have to do is ferment them then barrel or bottle them and Bob's your father's brother. As long as you make sure that all of your equipment is sanitised properly, that you don't pitch the yeast when the wort is too hot, and that you keep the fermenting vessel at roughly the right temperature very little can go wrong, and the results will be very satisfying - better than what you drink in most pubs.
One can kits, where extra sugar is required vary in quality quite a lot. The cheapest can be very poor, and a half decent one, by the time you have added a kilo of brewing sugar can cost almost as much as two can kits anyway. I would NEVER use ordinary granulated sugar for brewing, it is not suited and will detract from the finish bith in termsof taste and body of the beer which you have invested so much time in making.
Of course the opposite end of the scale is brewing from grain and creating your own recipes. The capacity for disaster becomes much greater, usually caused by a mistake made during the brewing process, though trust me - the first time you open the barrel tap and watch a 40, or as I tend to brew, an 80 pint batch flow down the plug hole becuase you did something wrong, or forgot to do something it does tend to concentrate the mind for your next effort.
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What does my hydrometer measure?
your hydrometer measures "specific gravity", the density of a liquid, in our case the amount of sugar present in an unfermented liqour/must, the "OG" original gravity will tell you what you might get, the final gravity will tell you what you have, ie:- OG=1040, 1lb 1oz sugar per gal(5.1% alc), 1090 OG= 2lb 6oz per gal(12%alc), best bet buy CJJ Berry's book, " First Steps in Winemaking" about £6, worth every penny :D