Kit O' Beer #2 - Canadian Blonde

[BrewTech]

Generally, it's a good idea to allow the temp to rise a degree or so at the end to get a beer to finish fermenting and to allow for a diacetyl rest (lagers should always be raised to ale temps for at least two days for this). After that, crash it as low as you can for at least three days (0C is optimal, but probably not realistic in your case). I used to just stick the fermenter is the garage fridge, about 4C... thankfully had enough space to move all the shelves up to make room - made a HUGE difference in the quality and clarity.

[Glass]

Day 8 and as big Kev used to say "I'm excited".

Original Gravity was 1.036.
1st reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.014 (@22C Day 5).
3rd reading was 1.014 (@23C Day 6).
4th reading was 1.0125 (@24C Day 7).
5th reading was 1.012 (@24C Day 8).

We know Govt is unreliable at best. Fortunately Neuro is on the case and yes Pillage is more right than rampage. Especially if you are a Viking.

Neuro says we had best part of 42.7C today. My ambient was 32.5C. Fermenter was at 24C and a smidge.

I put in 2 frozen bottles late last night but added no more chilling today. Added some cool water as evaporation was higher than normal. Fermenter temps nice and steady for today.

Comments for today. Hot damn hot. Been out and sprayed water on the brick walls of the house, paving and so on. Was still 41C at 7PM. Need to find some temp buffer tonight for tomorrows 41. Seems to make a diff. Just messing about.

The beer is looking awesome. No bitterness taste detected today. Nice and sweet. When I first pulled the sample and took a long sniff, well I've been there before. Nice. Anyway bitterness is gone if it even was there to begin with. Maybe it was my taste buds yesterday. Super micro carbonation. Shining a light through it and there are many tiny carbonation bubbles visible. I thought there was no sediment left but looking close there is a very small amount. very small.

Am preparing to bottle. Cleaning the bottles. Need to grab another box of 15 tomorrow. I'll plan to bottle Monday or Tuesday night my time. I think I will have at least 2 steady readings by then. I am going to use different bottle caps on this brew. 50/50 coopers bottle caps and these other ones I used before. See if there is any different.

Ok thats it. A trough of water still proves to be pretty stable temp wise. Pretty amazing really.

[Libertytree]

Are you using the exact caps you used before or others just like them?

Just an aside....any of those plastic soda/pop/beverage containers will work with those caps, as long as they're new caps. Been there...drank that

[Glass]

Are you using the exact caps you used before or others just like them?

Just an aside....any of those plastic soda/pop/beverage containers will work with those caps, as long as they're new caps. Been there...drank that

I didn't use the ones Coopers supplied in the kit on KoB #1. I bought some ones called Safety Caps. I think safety means they have that ring that separates from the cap when you undo them. Pretty standard. It stated on the packet that they would safely release excess pressure. They were white and I could write on them. Thinking that was a win win I grabbed some but I'm not actually sure what the safety part is. Anyway I've used the Coopers ones on ginger beer and they are solid. I had that GB I was trying to degas and the cap had deformed but held tight. No safe release of excess pressure going on there.

The white ones are one use only where the Coopers ones are multi use. I figured for 10 cent a cap I'd try them but they need benchmarking.

I will use half and half and see if I can detect any difference over time. I agree they are just the right size to go on all the soda bottles so if you want to bottle a 2L beer you can use a new cap if you need to.

[Glass]

Day 9. Weird weather

Original Gravity was 1.036.
1st reading was 1.016 (@23C Day 4).
2nd reading was 1.014 (@22C Day 5).
3rd reading was 1.014 (@23C Day 6).
4th reading was 1.0125 (@24C Day 7).
5th reading was 1.012 (@24C Day 8).
6th reading was 1.012 (@22C Day 9).

Temps hit the expected max temp of 41 at an unexpected 9:30 in the morning. Ambient was 33C. I setup for a hot day, expecting it to peak early to mid afternoon. Added some chill but temps came down sooner than I thought they would so the fermenter ended up a bit low.

Comments: nothing much. Aroma is still good. Taste I think is ok. We have 2 days with the same reading so I think we can go ahead and bottle now. I'll try and get that done tomorrow night.

[BrewTech]

Comments: nothing much. Aroma is still good. Taste I think is ok. We have 2 days with the same reading so I think we can go ahead and bottle now. I'll try and get that done tomorrow night.

No conditioning?

[Glass]

No conditioning?

Do you think I should try and push the fermenter temps lower for a few days first before bottling? I could probably get it down to maybe 18C/65F over the next few days while the outside temp dips. I don't think I could get it much lower than that.

Would I need to rack it to another fermenter for this?

[BrewTech]

Do you think I should try and push the fermenter temps lower for a few days first before bottling? I could probably get it down to maybe 18C/65F over the next few days while the outside temp dips. I don't think I could get it much lower than that.

Would I need to rack it to another fermenter for this?

Ice the fermenter as intensely as possible. If you have a way to make ice, you can do this. Get the fermenter as close to 0C as you can. It may take a ton of ice, but so what? Commercial brewers do this as an elemental step towards making acceptable beer. Therefore you should do it as a matter of course, being a homebrewer in pursuit of excellence.

Make it so!

(No you do not have to move the beer to do this, just chill the primary. That's what I do...)

[Glass]

how long would I need to do that? I don't think I can go 0C but I could give it a go and get fairly low. I could probably do it for 4 days perhaps but come Friday the temps are going back to 40C here. I don't think I would be able to get it much below 60F.

What happens when I bottle the beer? Can I let it come back up to ambient more or less or am I locked into keeping it that cold in the bottles from the time they are bottled? I've been keeping the bottles about 22-24 C for 2 weeks then moving them to the fridge.

[BrewTech]

how long would I need to do that? I don't think I can go 0C but I could give it a go and get fairly low. I could probably do it for 4 days perhaps but come Friday the temps are going back to 40C here. I don't think I would be able to get it much below 60F.

What happens when I bottle the beer? Can I let it come back up to ambient more or less or am I locked into keeping it that cold in the bottles from the time they are bottled? I've been keeping the bottles about 22-24 C for 2 weeks then moving them to the fridge.

The idea is to get yeast and other solid materials to settle out of the beer, so only the cleanest beer possible goes into the bottles. If you can only get the beer down to 60, I would just go ahead and bottle, carbonate and then condition them in the fridge.

Basically, I'm just trying to pass along what I've learned while brewing to you guys so that you will have ways to improve your process and overall beer quality. None of these steps are absolutely required for a homebrewer making some beer to drink (I did things exactly how you are for quite a while), but I had the advantage of pro brewers and advanced homebrewers in the club showing me ways I could improve my beer with a minimum amount of hassle and expense, so I'm just passing that info on to you guys.