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
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If fermentation has stopped would it be ok to wait until Monday for bottling or is it best to bottle as soon as possible?
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.
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