Homebrewists of STW, brewing 'owt at the moment?

I can report that the raw NEIPA is cloudy, pine-y and fruity as hell. Needs more carbonation, but it's a cracking beer.

Heather and honey beer just kegged yesterday. Will let it sit to mature for a bit then probably bottle with a sugar top up to bottle condition it.

Once fermenter cleaned out I have made a NEIPA. Realized I was low on pale Maris otter malt and have improvised with extra Munich but I don't think it will do too much harm!

The weekend's brew went ok, I should've checked what malt I had left so there were a couple of 'adjustments' and with the amount of grain I did an extended (2hr) mash so it was a long one.
But, I hit my SG of 1110 so am happy. It's bubbling away nicely in the brew-fridge now.

Also just got one of those iSpindel thingies off eBay because I'm a geek and I like the idea of seeing how my fermentation's going.

Will give the Impy Stout two or three weeks and then I'm gonna give a fake Pilsner / Kolsch a go. Oh and I need to do some Malt shopping.

I'e got an iSpindel. Brilliant things, feel blind fermenting without one now. Even if you ignore the gravity readings and just use it to track the progress of the brew they're extremely useful...and prevent the needless waste of beer continually taking samples.

I love my iSpindel - just watch the gravity go down until it levels out then it's done. Which is still 2 weeks after starting to ferment, but at least I know for sure now!

I'm forever just leaving it a couple of weeks and then kegging without remembering to take an FG reading, so hopefully this'll not only tell me when it's done but also give me a record of my numbers.

Do you guys use ubidots or something else to connect it to?

I use Brewfather, it links in and provides a readout with a data point every 15 minutes.

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Brewfather looks good, is the connected devices thing a premium feature though? Seems to suggest it is on the app store and that's £20/yr.
Yes, I know that's not loads of money but I've already got an app for all my brewing, so I'd be paying that just to see my iSpindel data.

Not sure. I have paid so maybe it is. Its very useful though.

I did originally set up with Ubidots, but the integration with Brewfather is seamless so if you're using that already and a paid up member then its a no-brainer.

Brewer's Friend has recently stopped working so well on my iPad, so I'm waiting for their new version to come out to see if that will be any good. At some point I will probably go and buy a subscription to the website too, just to make things easier. I still use a notebook to record recipes and the brew day because it does not have an annoying screen timeout like my iPad does...

I use Ubidots because I'm cheap

Have a bucket of cider on now. 11 litres(-ish) of Ikea Kallmust, half a capfull of yeast nutrient and a packet of Mangrove Jacks French Saison yeast. It started off at 1.047, so I _should_ get about a 5% cider out of it.

The yeast will make it quite dry, but not as dry as taking it all the way down to 1.000 and I am hoping that a 25C ferment gives it a bit more of a farmhouse feel than a straight fermentation with a cleaner yeast.

Saison yeast used because the shop was out of cider yeast and I have used this in the past and it works really well. I do need to get another beer on the go though, probably a normal hoppy west coast IPA.

That cider sounds like it'll turn out nicely, I like the idea of using a Saison yeast to give it a bit more depth.

Just checked on my impy stout. Three weeks in and it's still bubbling albeit slowly, but as the yeast's still working on it I'll leave it be other than upping the temp to 20 to help it finish up.

I don’t have the time or space to brew from grain unfortunately. I did a stint as at brew pub which produced some fine ales BITD. None of it was very scientific, some simple monitoring tools and being on top of the cleaning.

My wife bought me a home brew starter kit 12 years ago. If been “brewing” from kits ever since. I’ve settled on the Festival range of kits for the last few years. Always gives good drinkable results.

I found another online store during lockdown, Get Er Brewed in Northern Ireland, and their range of Experimental Brews. I’ve done the Citra last year, I’ve now got the Vic Secret Pale Ale in a pressure barrel conditioning. Early tasting is so far superb.

Was cruising the local second hand marketplace the other day and this popped up:

https://www.blocket.se/annons/flera%20platser/walholl_brygghus_ol_bryggeri_till_salu/97094181

Got me thinking about whether I should leave behind my misspent youth and embark upon a career as a brewer.

Also, my girlfriend is away this weekend. I could get a pale in on the go if I am organised on Sunday...

On the back of this thread I bought one of those Ispindels linked to Ubidots. It was pretty interesting seeing the fermentation in real time. For £35 I'm very impressed.

Just bottled the first batch of a Stout kit with it last night - Used the "Simply" kit and Made with a half tin of treacle and bottled with a wee dod of maple syrup for secondary.

Ended up using too much water at the start so ended up at just over 3% abv but still as dark as I wanted.

Hopefully the postie will be bringing the next Kit in the next couple of days - a Christmas beer; Woodfordes Twinke Toes.

Weekend brewing happened, but the pale ale ended up being a porter. Not too unhappy with that as I did get to hang out with a friend.

BUT... First fermentation bucket was leaking (maybe the seal around the tap) and I only noticed when I had it in the fridge. I had to quickly sanitise another bucket and transfer to then new bucket and now there is no fermentation going on, even after 24 hours. Temp is in the specs for the yeast, it was oxygenated, the only thing that I can think of is that the yeast was going BBE in december. Still overpitched, so that should not matter.

If there is nothing going on by the evening, it's getting another packet of yeast.

back brewing with a vengeance now after about 5 years off! We moved last year so have a lot more space, but the main driver was we now have a garden for the first time so planted some hops which did very well - so I [I]had[/I] to make a green hop beer! 😃

I'd always planned a kegerator build as despised bottling although never gotten around to it ... but with the green hop sitting in the FV ready to go I pulled the trigger on a Mangrove Jacks 3-tap unit. A fair investment but not IMO crazy money versus commercial-grade equipment which seems to be the only other non-DIY option (was vaguely considering something like a Lindr before but obviously they are £££ and for a home bar probably not actually as good!)
Anyway, really pleased with it, great build quality, takes all the faff of bottling away plus you can force carbonate so the beer is ready to drink that day which is a massive bonus! Not to mention the novelty factor of being able to pour your own beer from a proper tap.

So currently pouring the green hop beer, got a Verdant DIPA clone fermenting, and just ordered the ingredients for a mid-6% Chrimbo brew which I'll do next!

On the back of this thread I bought one of those Ispindels linked to Ubidots. It was pretty interesting seeing the fermentation in real time. For £35 I’m very impressed.

I do like a gadget so picked one of these up from eBay. When it came there was a card for the guy's website where he was selling pre-calibrated ones for only a few quid more which I'd definitely have gone for if I'd seen it as the calibration is a bit of a faff! Great bit of kit though - basically an open source version of the Tilt hydrometer which costs many times more! I like that it can send data direct to the Brewfather app which I'm using now (and from there you can send the data on to anything else e.g. Home Assistant).

I already have a fermentation fridge (actually a small chest-freezer which is the exact size of one of my FVs inside!) controlled by an STC-1000 which I built years ago. Will be looking at replacing that controller with something a bit more sophisticated now - probably BrewPiLess as the iSpindel integrates well with it, and I can use the iSpindels built-in thermometer rather than a separate probe taped to the side of the FV which I have at the moment.

Just had a check on the porter. After the original yeast did not take off, I added half a packet of Kviek and that, well, did it. I then forgot about it in the fridge for two days and only checked on it today.

It would appear that the temp probe fell off at some point and the beer just free rose up to about 25C-ish, causing a bit of a blow off and leaving the airlock open. Luckily no porter in the fridge, so the airlock is just topped up for now and I'll replace it with a clean one this weekend.

This really does appear to be a cursed beer.

It would appear that the temp probe fell off at some point and the beer just free rose up to about 25C-ish, causing a bit of a blow off and leaving the airlock open.

iSpindel would help prevent that kind of technical malfunction! 😃 I've never bothered with an airlock tbh, seems an unnecessary faff - I just crack the lid of the FV, and seal it up again if I'm leaving the beer in the FV after fermentation has finished.

A better solution than pre-used tape would be a plan as well!

Well, the cider looks to be about done and the 'cursed porter' is about the same... Got to love kviek for that. This weekend may end up being a bottling weekend, with a Sunday spent getting the mead started.

I may need another ale before the end of the month though, just an ale, something hoppy and light. People seem to like those.

So probably a silly question, but I am looking at an iSpindel. Does it directly link up to your phone via WiFi? If so, what is the range? I have an outhouse about 10-15 metres from the house where my ferm fridge sits.

I need to get a Christmas brew on. I am thinking a Black Forest gateaux stout. So Kirsch cherries, some vanilla and nibs. Only in the planning stages.

@mrwhyte you connect directly to an AP on the iSpindel to configure it, afterwards no you can't connect directly to your phone - it connects to your WiFi (although it spends most of it's time asleep so you might not actually see it listed on your network!) and sends the data to wherever you've specified. They suggest a cloud service called Ubidots (which is then viewable on your phone) however I've recently started using an app called Brewfather (seems really good, there's a subscription for certain "pro" features but it's very reasonable) and the iSpindel can send data to their server which allows you to track the progress of the fermentation via their app on your phone/tablet/PC etc.

There's actually loads of options now (I upgraded to the very latest firmware) for sending data out including MQTT and generic HTTP so you can configure whatever custom service you want for receiving the data! If you have something like a Raspberry Pi or other always-on computer you can use that for local data logging.

The range is probably not great as it only has a tiny aerial however it works from inside my fermentation fridge (I do have a separate wireless AP in the garage where the fridge is though!) As the iSpindel is basically a DIY project though, I have seen a version with a beefier aerial - there's also a separate project called Nautilis iSpindel relay which is a second device that acts as a booster and gives you a little readout screen etc.

I've been getting a lot of inconsistent readings from mine at the moment - but I think that's because it's an 8.5% beer, there's a lot of Krausen which is probably sticking to the iSpindel so it can't balance correctly. I guess it's more accurate right at the start and at the end of fermentation, and possibly not might not be such an issue with a weaker beer!

Cider is done. Finished off at 1.006 and has a really quite nice taste to it already (thanks to the saison yeast). Also has a really pleasant apple taste and is not too dry. The cursed porter needs another week, so that will go into bottles next weekend.

Hopefully the yeast i saved from the cider will work in the mead I have planned.

Hi MrWhyte
If you've never tried Vocation Brewery Imperial Kirsch Stout then I'd suggest trying it as inspiration for your planned black forest gateaux stout.

My other half made an Eglish Ale with Bavaria Mandarina hops and we tried it last night, really impressed with it but as usual he's super critical of his brews.

Happy brewing all 🙂

Just put a mead together. 2kg of set local honey in about 4-ish litres of water infused with ginger. I had to change fermenter because the volume got too big for the demijohn and it is still around 1.130 OG.

Yeast was tricky. I am putting a starter of a harvested saison yeast from a cider that should be good, but needs a day to really get started. Otherwise it will be a trip to the shop for a normal mead yeast on Monday.

Then, we wait. The yeast will tolerate 14% alcohol apparently. I expect it to get to that.

It appears I have brewed a lot recently... Just bottled 11L of "Cursed" porter in my lunch break. It's the one that failed to kick off with the first yeast and then got chewed into by the Voss kviek.

Anyway, it finished early in the week and has been waiting for bottling. Today, that is done. Finished at 1.013 and gave me a 5% porter. FG was higher than I had planned, but the kviek still attenuated it down 72%. And at least it is a beer.

The small sample I had gives it a mild roastiness and soft mouthfeel. Some carbonation will be good for it.

And now, back to waiting to see if the mead actually starts fermenting. I thought the starter was good to go, so added it to the main fermenter yesterday. Thought I saw activity, but I now think it might just have been expansion activity. Still, it's in the fridge at 21C, so if there is a lag phase, that should be kind to the yeast.

It appears I have brewed a lot recently

yup me too, 3 brews in the last month & will probably do another at the weekend. Kegged the Chrimbo beer - fairly bog standard 6% dark ale with a few spices chucked in! - after only 7 days in the FV. With kegs you can force carbonate & drink only a few hours later so that's the quickest I've ever got a beer from ingredients to a glass! Too quick really, but I was impatient, and it'll condition in the keg. The DIPA that I rushed previously is already tasting much more rounded after a week or so in the keg (still been drinking it obviously!)

Did a batch recently for the office team which I dished at at a recent away day. Was meant to be a 6% ish IPA but didn’t quite hit my numbers (mash efficiency seems to have taken a hit recently for some reason, not doing anything different and last 4 brews have been consistently 6 to 10 points down - bit of a mystery), was considering not sharing but ‘rebranded’ as a Pale Ale and made my excuses but everyone has come back with good feedback.

Need to catch up on brewing schedule though. Got about 6 batches of ingredients in so need to get cracking.

It looks like the mead has not kicked off like I had hoped. It's had a week now and there's no krausen and the airlock activity seems to be temperature related. I took a sample this lunchtime and the OG is still 1.110 or something so if any fermentation has happened, there's been no huge change.

So... Will be off to the shop this afternoon to pick up some proper yeast for the job and to hope that there is still enough dissolved oxygen in the wort(?) for it to work properly. And that there's no infection.

New yeast has been added. Prepped a min-starter of nutrient, diluted must and the yeast and let it rehydrate for a couple of hours. It started ripping, so it is now in the main fermenter and I am hoping tomorrow will start seeing some airlock activity.

Slightly worrying is the small amount of white foam on the top of the must. It may just be the tiny traces of fermentation from the weak old yeast, or its the start of an infection. Time will tell.

Just checked. Finally going off. Thank you Mangrove Jack's mead yeast!

I haven't brewed for ages, so back in the saddle today with a SMASH golden ale. Plenty of late addition goldings.

Mead is still going. I ended up moving it back into the house because it is now cold enough in the workshop that the temperature was dropping below the heat pad's abilities. Now it is sitting at a relatively steady 20/21C in tthe bathroom and slowly finishing off. Another week and I think it might be done.

Next up is a hoppy pale ale. I need something to backstop the cheaters cider and the porter I have in the cellar.

Ah, now, this is a timely thread bump. My last couple of brews, the first in our new house, have been a bit off - not dreadful, but not great. They've been really quite bitter.

I brew from extract, so method is pretty much steep some malt in about 5l of water, dissolve extract into it, bring to boil, add hops, boil for 60 mins, add hops towards end of boil, cool, into fermenter, add water to 21l, ferment.

A typical recipe is:

250g Crystal
2.5kg light DME
50g each of Fuggles and EKG at start of boil
25g Cascade with 10mins to go

Now, cos of the house move, the hops had been frozen for quite a while (probs 6 months+) and, to further possibly complicate matters, the water in our new place goes through a softener.

From what I've read, softened water doesn't really work for all-grain brewing, but should be fine with extract brewing, so is it more likely that I've just got hops that are past their best?

I'm back in the saddle again.
Haven't brewed for about 6 months or more due to moving house and filling my brewery up with so many boxes, bikes and tools you couldn't use it.

Got a new bag of pale malt, found some hops in the freezer and packets of yeast in the cupboard so chucked together a simple English pale ale with Centennial bittering hops and Endeavour aroma hops with a wee 80c hop stand. Nottingham Ale yeast went off like the clappers and attenuated further than I expected.

Also moved over to Brewfather software over Beersmith. It's a lot better, far easier to use.
Need to finish off the iSpindels to link to it and may even look at changing the controllers on my grainfather fermenters to tie in with the system and get fully reactive/automated control over fermenting. Have connected the brewery to the house wifi now*.

Also bought a wee smart plug, so can fill the grainfather with strike water the night before then have it up to temp for when I get up and can mash in before breakfast. Fancy!

*mostly to run a plex media server, but am also thinking of setting up a heater/ethereum mining rig out there

I'm at the end of a keg of kveik amber which turned out nicely. And I've a session kveik IPA in the pressure fermenter dry hopping. Both somewhat experimental with Nelson sauvin and ekuanot hops.

At least the cellar is now at a perfect ale temperature!

I'll be brewing a pseudo-lager with Lutra this weekend for my sons when they come back from university.

Cutting it a bit fine for Xmas tho'...

I haven’t brewed for ages, so back in the saddle today with a SMASH golden ale. Plenty of late addition goldings.

This turned out very well indeed. My previous couple of brews were so-so, hence back to basics with 4 kg Golden Promise malt and 80g of EKG. Yeast was Gervin ale, which lacks character but clears nicely and finished at 1.008.

Bittering added as FWH, aroma hops split equally between flameout and directly into the cube: I no-chill and had had problems with excess bitterness - moving the second aroma addition into the cube meant it went in at about 85 degrees, and the beer does seem to be smoother.

From what I’ve read, softened water doesn’t really work for all-grain brewing, but should be fine with extract brewing, so is it more likely that I’ve just got hops that are past their best?

never done extract, but IME water is [I]the[/I] critical factor for making great beer, and some residential water is just awful. Water softener sounds like a terrible idea either way, doesn't that just add huge quantities of salts to the liquor?

Both beers I made at our new place with just regular tapwater were ok, but had that unmistakable "home-brew" off-flavour twang. Best thing you can do is get a water analysis, not expensive and will massively improve beer quality as they'll tell you what to add to the water for specific beer styles. Alternatively you can just use mineral water, I used to get the ASDA cheapy stuff in 5L bottles as they used to publish the mineral composition so again you knew what needed to be added.

Also moved over to Brewfather software over Beersmith

I used Beersmith for many years - it's a great program, but they're [I]still[/I] rocking the circa-1995 interface & the cloud function is [I]still[/I] awful. So switched to Brewfather a few months ago and not looked back! 100% recommend. Also got an iSpindel but not been impressed with its accuracy... I think because the beers I make tend to leave a lot of crud on the surface which massively affects the tilt reading. It's still useful though for telling me when fermentation has stopped, and the integration with Brewfather is great & works flawlessly. Might pick up a Plaato airlock at some point to give that a go instead.

Also bought a wee smart plug, so can fill the grainfather with strike water the night before then have it up to temp for when I get up and can mash in before breakfast. Fancy!

was a bit naughty over Black Friday and my full Grainfather brewery setup just arrived yesterday 🤣 Itching to get a brew on over the weekend now! I (usually) always make decent beer with my current setup, but I want to start experimenting with very precise recipes & techniques wrt to temperatures etc which just isn't possible at the moment even if I watch it like a hawk. Also my current kettle is not really big enough any more as due to laziness I do no-sparge now, but also like strong beers so normally have quite a hefty grain bill! 😃 (was tempted to use BrewPiLess to add PID & recirc to my current kettle, but a) the time and b) still wouldn't be quite big enough!)

I'm deliberately avoiding looking at special deals on brewing stuff. I know a Grainfather would make a lot more sense, but I have kit that does the same thing and makes good beer, so I MUST NOT SHOP A GRAINFATHER.

Best thing you can do is get a water analysis, not expensive and will massively improve beer quality as they’ll tell you what to add to the water for specific beer styles.

Any recommendations?

@IHN Murphy & Son. They don't deal directly with home-brewers any more though so you have to book it through https://www.brewuk.co.uk/water-analysis.html
Fiver off at the moment by the looks of it! (genuine discount as I did pay the higher price earlier this year!!)