Adventures in Homebrewland (image heavy - you have been warned!)

nopot2pin

You can use Milton, baby sterlising solution... it does the same job.
But that too, can work out expensive.
I use the supermarkets own equivalent to Milton.
Asda and Tesco both do a version, that do the exact same as Milton.

As with the stuff you buy from the home brew shop, you do have to rinse.

Akom

Cheers nopot.

That was the kind of thing i was thinking of but always good to get a 2nd opinion.

Akom

In answer to my own question, i popped into Wilkinsons last night and found a pack of 64 baby sterilising tablets for 87p. It even states at the bottom of the packet how to sterilise for Beer and Wine making. 1 tablet sterilises 4 pints.

Can that be beaten?

missychrissy

I know that there is now a non rinse steriliser available from the homebrew shops but as yet I have not tried it.

fiftyeighter_2

My hydrometer starts .980
.990 shouldn't it be somewhere here
1.000
10
20 My reading is here
down in 10's to 90
then 1.100
110
120
130
140
1.150

What does this meen?. i thought water was lighter than alcohol, if this is true shouldn't my wine be somewhere above the 1.000. Please tell me whats happening.

nopot2pin

Akom wrote: »

In answer to my own question, i popped into Wilkinsons last night and found a pack of 64 baby sterilising tablets for 87p. It even states at the bottom of the packet how to sterilise for Beer and Wine making. 1 tablet sterilises 4 pints.

Can that be beaten?

Not sure.... the liquid stuff I use, states one capful for 4 litres.
There is 1.250litres in the bottle... but I am not sure how much ml is in a capful
And I have been brain taxed today, so I can't get my head round it at the moment

nopot2pin

fiftyeighter wrote: »

My hydrometer starts .980
.990 shouldn't it be somewhere here
1.000
10
20 My reading is here
down in 10's to 90
then 1.100
110
120
130
140
1.150

What does this meen?. i thought water was lighter than alcohol, if this is true shouldn't my wine be somewhere above the 1.000. Please tell me whats happening.

The gravity of water is higher than alcohol.
Your starting gravity will be higher than water, but should end up round about 1.000 or less.
The wee floatation thingy at the bottom of the hydrometer, will hold the gauge out of the liquid the higher the gravity...
When the sugar is converted to alcohol... the wee floatation thingy can't float as well, in the thinner, alcoholic liquid, therefore sinks, giving you less of a reading.

I hope that make sense, as previously post, very brain taxed tonight.

fiftyeighter_2

Thanks nopot2pin. Think i've finally got it. Getting old really isn't good you no. lol.

missychrissy

On a lighter note I set off 4 gals of apple wine yesterday. It took 6 weeks in the summer from start to finish and was like a Pinot Grigio. It will be interesting to see how long it takes over the winter months especially as I keep my heating very low.

I have had 2 batches of wine that have just ceased to ferment: cranberry and blueberry and a rice and raisin. I have tried to restart them with yeast and I will let you know if it works.

My house is very cold, so that once the summer temps dissipate, I live at about 15 to 16 degrees. The wines kept in the boiler cupboard seem to do quite well but anything kept outside in a colder temp seems to stall a bit, though some do better than others and I cannot work out why.

Primrose

missychrissy - Do you have a couple of hot water bottles you could put close to your fermenting vessels and then wrap the whole lot round with a nice thick blanket of some kind? This would generate some gentle heat to keep your fermentation going. We've tried this in the past in very cold weather when the central heating has been switched off at night and that extra little bit of heat did help keep the fermentation ticking over.