Kit O' Beer #3 - Draught/Draft

[Glass]

Day 9. Gave things a bit of a gentle rock on morning Day 8. Let it go a day and a half before taking another reading

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).

Ambient today was 26C Fermenter ran at 21C. Outside it was 29C.

Been cool the past 2 days. Fermenter dropped a bit lower. Temps are picking up as the week progresses. Should have mid 30's+ buy Tuesday.

Again the taste is good. Clear. Taste seems more bitter finish. I hope that rocking the fermenter did no cause some krausen to wash off the sides. There is some signs of carbonation in there now. Very light but there. Steady as she goes then.

[Glass]

Day 11. Was warm yesterday and near enough again today. Did not take a reading yesterday. We seem to be going slow as bro.

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).
5th reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 11).
Ambient today was 28C Fermenter ran at 23C. Outside it was 36C.

Mid 30's C for the week. The fermenter is hovering 23-24. 22 overnight so there is still a bit of swing. But we are in the supposed sweet zone temp wise for this yeast. I was hoping to bottle Friday. 2 days for 1 point SG. I may have stumbled on a technique for aging beer while fermenting it. raise eyebrow.

Slightly hotter tomorrow. Then down a few Friday. Don't think we will make it. I'm going to do a bit of motivational cheering later on. Have a few beers, maybe do a football chant. Give this beer a gee up.

[Glass]

Day 12. Same same weather wise. I thought it was warmer today. Govt says on the money.

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).
5th reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 11).
6th reading was 1.0155 (@22C Day 12).
Ambient today was 28C Fermenter ran at 22C. Outside it was 37C.

I'm going to call it as 1.015 and a half. I think there is slight change. Beer has more floaties today. Not as clear as before. Still tastes good although is becoming less sweet. And the beer goes on.

[Glass]

Day 13. Not sure if my day count is off by 1? Could be.

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).
5th reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 11).
6th reading was 1.0155 (@22C Day 12).
7th reading was 1.0145 (@23C Day 13).
Ambient today was 32C Fermenter ran at 23-24C. Outside it was 35C.

Some seditment visible. I think it is just stuff sitting on the small ledge above the spigot. Gets sucked down when I open the tap. The beer is lighter in colour now. Still an amber edge to it. I'm ready to bottle. The beer is not. quite. ready.

[Glass]

Day 14. Weather was a repeat of Saturday but a cooler over night temp by nearly 5 C. Did not seem like that to me.

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).
5th reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 11).
6th reading was 1.0155 (@22C Day 12).
7th reading was 1.0145 (@23C Day 13).
8th reading was 1.014 (@23C Day 14).
Ambient today was 32C Fermenter ran at 23C. Outside it was 35C.

Still some sediment visible. Beer is as it was 24 hours before. I think the beer may grab a bit higher temp today although we had forecast of 37C which has become 34C for today. I'm ok with that. Above 35C and I would normally drop a frozen bottle into the trough to drop 1-2C. Today I didn't do that. Had an ok chill on it already and I wanted to ride the higher temps that I was expecting, to see if we can make a run for the fermenting finish line. Oh well steady as she goes.

I paid a visit to another brew shop on Saturday. I used to go to this store when I was doing the other brewing. I could not find them listed anywhere and could not remember exactly where they were located. so I figured they had closed down. Well luckily they haven't closed. Their prices on somethings are cheaper than other LHBS and apart from one other located maybe 40kms from where I live, they have the largest range of yeasts and hops that I have found yet.

Also they have the best prices on kegs by a fair margin. While I was there I saw maybe 6 pallets of 2nd hand kegs. These were in very good shape compared to others I have seen. I got the impression that these were lightly used and maybe they were having trouble finding older used kegs these days. No complaints from me because this means a keg could be within reach sooner that I have hoped.

[BrewTech]

So that's where all the kegs are... what size are they? My (formerly) LHBS started having trouble sourcing the 5 gal. ball lock corny kegs, and the price went from about $40 to over $80. Now he has a few for $60ish. I still have at least two (though I think they are up at his shop), and I use a couple at work for both finings and yeast.

Glad the brewing is going well.

[Glass]

So that's where all the kegs are... what size are they? My (formerly) LHBS started having trouble sourcing the 5 gal. ball lock corny kegs, and the price went from about $40 to over $80. Now he has a few for $60ish. I still have at least two (though I think they are up at his shop), and I use a couple at work for both finings and yeast.

Glad the brewing is going well.

I think they are 19L corny kegs. that is about 4 Gals? They were inaccessible to get up close and the place was pandemonium so I didn't ask about them. yes the price has gone up and up. They could be had ex Germany ebay for a good price but you need to grab a few to make the freight less of a hit. Not sure they can be had for the $40 mark ex germany any longer.

yes brewing is going A-ok. thanks. I'd like to have 2 ferments going at a time. In time I will. My plan is to do KoB #4 for the yeast experiment and then I want to move to bulk priming so will be acquiring a bottling bucket/fermenter around the time of brew #5. Thats the plan at least. I picked up an auto siphon at the LHBS on saturday for racking. Shall see how the rest of the plan goes.

[Glass]

Day 15. Weather was a couple degrees short today. It felt like it was actually going to be hotter but was not.

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).
5th reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 11).
6th reading was 1.0155 (@22C Day 12).
7th reading was 1.0145 (@23C Day 13).
8th reading was 1.014 (@23C Day 14).
9th reading was 1.013 (@22C Day 15).
Ambient today was 31C Fermenter ran at 22C. Outside it was 32C.

[Glass]

Day 16. Today continued the cooling trend. We lost another couple of degrees on the maximum.

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).
5th reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 11).
6th reading was 1.0155 (@22C Day 12).
7th reading was 1.0145 (@23C Day 13).
8th reading was 1.014 (@23C Day 14).
9th reading was 1.013 (@22C Day 15).
10th reading was 1.013 (@22C Day 16).
Ambient today was 29C Fermenter ran at 22C. Outside it was 30C.

did not have time to post yesterdays measurement then, so two in quick succession. No change today in the beers SG. I think the beer thinks it is done. I don't know if I can manage to bottle tomorrow. Friday would be better. Will see.

Beer is nice and clear. small amount micro carbonation visible. About same as KoB#2 but less than KoB#1. Very little sweetness.

[Glass]

Day 17 and a half. Temps lifted 5 degrees today/yesterday. Back to 35C

Original Gravity was 1.037.
1st reading was 1.020 (@22C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 6).
3rd reading was 1.018 (@23C Day 7).
4th reading was 1.017 (@23C Day 9).
5th reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 11).
6th reading was 1.0155 (@22C Day 12).
7th reading was 1.0145 (@23C Day 13).
8th reading was 1.014 (@23C Day 14).
9th reading was 1.013 (@22C Day 15).
10th reading was 1.013 (@22C Day 16).
11th reading was 1.013 (@22C Day 17.5).
Ambient today was 30C Fermenter ran at ~22C. Outside it was 35C.

Checked the beer this morning instead of last night. No change really. I think I will bottle this one tonight.

tip: testing beer in the morning is ok but the taste test is a bit of a struggle this early.