Learning to Home Brew, Part 2

After a week in the ole fermenter, my home-brew is now ready to be bottled.  This step is crucial in the home-brew process. During this step, the beer gets primed (sugar is added to allow carbonation).  After this step, I’ll begin the waiting game.

I kept my fermenter in my basement under a blanket to prevent unnecessary light from affecting the fermentation process.  The beer kit recommended a fermentation temperature of 21-27 degrees Celsius (70-80 degrees Fahrenheit) in order to avoid a overly gassy brew.  Fermentation can be sped up by keeping the temperature towards the ceiling of that range.  My temperature was somewhere in the middle, so I waited out my full week before bottling.

One of the fancier bells and whistles of my Coopers kit was the hydrometer.  I had not used one of these in my previous batches of beer and was excited to try it out.  I had a Final Gravity of 1.010.  For the home-brewing math geek, the formula to find the Alcohol By Volume of your beer is Original Gravity (hydrometer measurement of the wort before the yeast is added) minus Final Gravity (hydrometer reading after a week of fermentation) divided by 7.46 plus .5.  So my beer is somewhere around 4.7% ABV.

Cheers to your good health!
Steve

7 Responses to “Learning to Home Brew, Part 2”

1. SusanRiceTruffe says:

   February 25, 2011 at 8:42 am

   Learning to Home Brew, Part 2: After a week in the ole fermenter, my home-brew is now ready to be bottled.  Th… http://bit.ly/h9Rf1T

   This comment was originally posted onTwitter
2. WineBlogFeed says:

   February 25, 2011 at 8:42 am

   Learning to Home Brew, Part 2 http://bit.ly/h9Rf1T #Wine

   This comment was originally posted onTwitter
3. SusanRiceTruffe says:

   February 25, 2011 at 8:42 am

   Learning to Home Brew, Part 2: After a week in the ole fermenter, my home-brew is now ready to be bottled.  Th… http://bit.ly/h9Rf1T

   This comment was originally posted onTwitter
4. DailyWineNews says:

   February 25, 2011 at 8:42 am

   Learning to Home Brew, Part 2: After a week in the ole fermenter, my home-brew is now ready to be bottled.  Th… http://bit.ly/fA5mpL

   This comment was originally posted onTwitter
5. michellelentz says:

   February 25, 2011 at 8:46 am

   New on Wine-Girl: Learning to Home Brew, Part 2 http://dlvr.it/HZh4t

   This comment was originally posted onTwitter
6. Karl Summerville says:

   February 25, 2011 at 11:05 am

   Interesting post, considering starting my own home brew after this. Thanks Wine-Girl!

   Have you heard of LoveThis? I’ve started using it to get wine recommendations. They are looking for wine experts, you’d be great for that. Maybe worth checking them out.. lovethis.com.

   Keep up the great blog, how do I subscribe?
7. MyWineryGuides says:

   February 25, 2011 at 6:03 pm

   Learning to Home Brew, Part 2 http://bit.ly/i6BBdf

   This comment was originally posted onTwitter

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