First Brew

LgAsh

Hi all.
I'm making my first ever brew and it will be ready for bottling in the next few days. As part of the kit it came with, I have a bag of Maxale carbonation drops which I intend using up on this brew. Am I right in thinking that they are smaller than the Coopers drops? How many Maxale drops do you think I should use per 500ml bottle? I'm brewing Coopers Dark Ale and would prefer it not to be overly fizzy.

Thanks

HBO_Staff

Excellent to hear the brew is coming along nicely and is nearly ready for bottling, you are right the Maxale drops are designed for use in UK sized bottles, which do tend to be 500ml. As a general guide 2 drops per 500ml is about right for most brews, and will give it reasonable carbonation. You can adjust it to your liking though and make it as carbonated as you like (as long as you don't add loads and over-pressurise the bottles), we would suggest you add 2 drops to some and only 1 drop to a few others, label which is which or an identifying mark on them, and see which you prefer

LgAsh

Thanks, I've just taken a gravity reading and it's the same as the reading I took last night so I think fermentation maybe complete. I'll take another reading tomorrow to be sure.
If fermentation has stopped would it be ok to wait until Monday for bottling or is it best to bottle as soon as possible?

HBO_Staff

If the readings are constant then it will be ready to bottle, Coopers don't say what gravity reading to aim for but it is probably around 1.010 as a guide. Once fermentation is complete it is best to bottle soon afterwards, a couple of days wont usually harm but it is best not to leave for too long on the dead yeast.

LgAsh

The gravity readings have been constant at 1.008 for the last 48 hours so I've now just finished bottling. Now comes the hard part I guess and play the waiting the game! I'm very excited to see how my first brew turns out!

HBO_Staff

Great, that hydro reading is good and it was ready for bottling, as you say, the hardest part now as you have to wait, if you leave it somewhere warm for a few days to help the priming sugar/drops dissolve, then if you like you can move it somewhere a few degrees cooler to help it clear. usually a minimum of a couple of weeks until it can tasted, but the longer you leave it the better as the flavours will continue to improve, let us know what you think to the Dark Ale

LgAsh

Quick update and some advice please...

I've just about finished drinking the Coopers Dark Ale. It turned out well and I've enjoyed drinking it, really impressed considering it was my first ever brew!

My second brew is a Munton's Old Conkerwood. I bottled this three weeks ago and I've just done a taste test. It's very similar to the Coopers Dark Ale. Out of the two I think I prefer the Muntons as the body and mouthfeel seem better, it also has a 'creamier' head.

My third brew is a Festival Old Suffolk Strong Ale which is currently on the go in the FV. The instructions say to add the hop pellets after five days and then leave to ferment for a further five days. I added the hop pellets yesterday (fifth day). The OG was 1.058 and today's hydro reading is 1.014 which is what the instructions say should be the FG.

So, my question is if tomorrow's reading is constant at 1.014 can I bottle it or do I follow the instructions and leave the hop pellets in for five days? The pellets have been in for 36 hours so far.

HBO_Staff

Excellent news on the Coopers and Old Conkerwood, the Muntons does have more malt extract so will usually have more flavour, head and body - you can make the Coopers with a kg of Brew Enhancer instead of sugar to help improve it if wanted.

The Old Suffolk instructions say to leave the hops in for 5 days to allow a certain amount of hop flavour to infuse, if the hops have less time in the brew then the hop flavour will be reduced - you can vary the amount of time the hops are in the vessel to adjust the hoppiness to your liking. If you brew at a warm temperature this can mean reduced fermentation times, you now have two choices, bottle it now and the hop flavour will be reduced, or leave it for the full duration and then bottle, often depends on how hoppy people like it

ajb

I'd be 'hoppy' with that answer ....