Bottling up

The Woodfords Wherry had been fermenting for 7 days and had stopped bubbling for over 24 hours so it was time to bottle.I prefer bottling as i can share my beer with friends easily. I have a pressure barrel which i do intend to use use i have a house of my own and have friends round for BBQ's and parties.

The day started with sorting my bottles out, washing any old bottles and de-labelling any that i had not used before.

Once i had done this it is on to sterilising all the kit that it to be used. While things were sat in the solution, i took the time to take a second reading with my hydrometer.

The original gravity reading was 1042 and it ended up 1012 which works out to 4.08 %ABV i believe. The target was 4.2%ABV so a little

off but in the 4% so i am happy with that. As this

si the first time i have used the tap in this fermenting vessel(FV), i took a little out first, sampling a little on the

way, and although it was very cloudy, the basic

taste was very nice.

With all my bottles washed and all kit sterilized ( the bottle wash was a massive help) i added half a teaspoon to each bottle, fitted my bottle filler to the tap and off i went.

I have seen a lot of videos on the web where they use a flexi house so that they can quickly go from one bottle to the next. I held each bottle and pushed up which worked well, but next time i will attached the house and ensure the FV is higher.

The whole process went very smoothly and i ended up with 35pint bottles, which i am very pleased with. One word of warning. I found that the crown corks that i am using (Youngs) will not fit a Hob Goblin bottle. The lip on the top is a little wider.

Once all crowned i stuck some simple labels to the bottles using water and flour

My Woodfords Wherry is up and running

I finally got to get my Woodford's Wherry up and running. This was the first time brewing up in the in-laws house and i must say it went very well. If the hardest part of it was opening up the cans then i am happy. The cans have a thick lip on the lid so the usual "fancy" can opener did not work. I resulted in using the trusted leatherman.

Off i go and start with sterilising and while that is sitting there I put the two cans which come in the wherry kit, into

hot water.

Many a boiled kettle later and after 30 mins i swilled out the fermenter and start to mix the contents of the cans with the required hot water. I

then topped up with cold water and checked the temperature. To my shock it was at about 26c. I was aiming for 18c due to the hot weather. I can only think that the cold water was not as cold as usual due to the hot weather.

I decided to leave the fermenter for the day while it naturally cooled down.

After an BBQ afternoon at my mom and dads i

came back and the temperature was about 21c. perfect!! I added the yeast mixed it up and placed my airlock in the top.

No after 12 hours i a

m getting no bubbles and i am ondering if the seal for my heater in the fermenter is not sealled correctly and air is escaping. I know that there are people that brew in the open so i am not too

worried but ideally once i have bottled this brew, i want to seal it completely off.

I need to find my nearest home brew shop so that i can pick more bits up quickly.

I took a measurement with my hydrometer and i am pritty happy with a 4.7% reading but i do need to find out how to use it properly.

Finally, i had a little "play" last night, sealed the hearter cable further and heh presto, we are in business.

The beginning of a new challenge

So i have been reading and exploring Home Brew now for about 4 months and 3 months ago i started a http://preview.tinyurl.com/23wmm65. Somehow i have managed to keep most of the bottles unopened

But now these beers are maturing and i am looking for my next brew. Woodfords Wherry has been chosen http://tinyurl.com/27u4nec but before i jump in and get this brewing i have

decided to make some modifications to my fermenter.

First off i wanted to ensure that i maintain an 18-24c temperature and second i

wanted to make syphoning and bottling much easier. I have a pressure barrel that i could use for the whole brew but i end up drinking that far too quickly

:-).

Therefore i decided to take the plunge and i have installed an aquarium heater and sealed this so that air doe not get

into the brew as it ferments

and also added a tap which i can attached a bottling tube and valve, to make bottling easier.

I now have the fermenter setup. I

now need to sterilize and let the brewing

commence.

Once i am in my new house the shed is to be turned into my first all grain setup so watch this space as the Summersworth partnership

is soon to take off.

UI am also looking at the best way to share all of the fantastic URL's i am collecting. Maybe i put them under a

CAMRA section or something?

and the St Peters looks like this