Brewing up a Linthwaite Light

As soon as I got my previous brew bottled (the Munton's IPA) I gave the fermentation bucket a quick clean to remove all the obvious dirt and then left it full of a sanitising solution all day, with the stirrer and the lid in it. (I rotated the lid a few times as only half of it would fit in the bucket at once.) I didn't have much time in the evening, but I decided that there was still time to get the next brew going. I wanted to do it asap or else it could be another week before I got time again. I rinsed out the bucket as well as the stirrer and top and was ready to go.

I placed a can opener, jug, thermometer and hydrometer in the sink and covered them with warm sanitising solution. I also placed the two cans from the kit in the water to soften up the contents. After a few minutes I rinsed the jug and thermometer and half filled the jug with water from a boiled kettle and the cold tap, until I had water at about 20 degrees C. I added the sachet of yeast to the jug and gently stirred it with the thermometer. Initially some of the yeast stuck together in clumps but I ensured I broke these down, and then left the yeast on the side.

I rinsed the cans and the can opener, and opened the two tins, pouring the contents into the fermentation bucket. I then filled both tins with boiling water from the kettle and stirred both. Into one tin I also added the hop bag (like a large teabag) to impart the hops flavour and left this for 15 minutes. I removed the bag and poured both tins into the bucket again. I stirred the mixture in the bucket for about 5 minutes, until it was completely mixed. As with the last brew, it was easy to see when this was done as no extract remained on the stirrer. I then proceeded to fill the bucket with jugs of cold water from the cold tap up to the 4.5 litre level marked on the side. I deliberately poured this into the bucket very quickly and from a high, as well as filling the jug from the tap very quickly, in order to add as much air as possible.

Once the bucket was full, I measured the temperature of the contents, to ensure it was below 25 degrees C (as per the instructions). I found, due to the very cold temperature of my cold tap, the contents were actually at 14 degrees C. I was a little worried this might be too cold for the yeast, but decided to go ahead anyway. I pitched the yeast, which now had a small head on it, and stirred the bucket for another 5 minutes to ensure as much air was taken in as possible. I then took a hydrometer reading, for future reference. It was hard to see the exact level due to the head on the beer, but the hydrometer dropped to about the bottom of the red section - a reading of 1040.



Finally I gently rested the bucket lid on top of the bucket, and moved the very heavy bucket into the brewery and placed it on a large book, so that I would be able to attach a tube to the tap later on.



I wrapped a warmed towel around it and the job was done. However, I was still worried about the low temperature of the beer, so I whipped out the missus's hair dryer and gave the bucket a quick blast of hot air all around the base under the towel. Hopefully this will have helped bring the temperature up a couple of degrees.

Unfortunately, due to having to get this brew going quickly, I didn't have time to put an airlock in the fermentation bucket lid like I had intended so I will have to do without that feedback with this brew. Hopefully I will add it next time.