Pierre, looks like a lot of the viewers watch your channel too at th-cam.com/users/SimpleHomeBrew as you are chalking up the extra "Likes"! 😎 I'll keep the videos coming and some extra stuff related to it, too.
Make sure when you brew the Pale Ale, stir all the ingredients really good and then add the yeast. (That includes the priming sugar aka corn sugar to the fermentation.) iGulu is working to help clarify the instructions on future kits to avoid confusion.
I'm sorry it took that long, hopefully yours has a functioning CO2 as mine is a bit jacked due to being a pre-production unit. Hopefully it was worth the wait. I'll be doing a lot more brews on this very soon.
I recently found out mine is a "Pre-Production" so I've had a few very minor issues and have been working with iGulu to ensure they are resolved. It is sounding like the majority were fixed before I got mine. The only obvious issue is the app as it still has a lot of Chinese that needs to be converted to English. Already started the 2nd brew and will get that video up in the coming weeks.
I'm sorry you haven't received yours yet. I can tell you I recently found out my review unit was pre-production where they were working out a few bugs. I've had a few hiccups and they have explained a lot to me on what they found in pre-production and how it was fixed in production. The CO2/Pump valve had an issue in pre-production and was fixed in production by using a different part from a better vendor.
"We are currently loading the goods into containers for dispatch, which will be shipped from China by sea. They are expected to arrive in the US for delivery in early February. At that time, we will update you on the latest logistics status via email."
My iGulu arrived Wednesday - after a 6+ year wait as an original Kickstarter backer! I'm excited to start brewing and your videos have been extremely helpful, thank you! Once I work through the ingredient kits, I was wondering about doing some other recipes using similar ingredients (dry malt extract, etc.). Any recommendations on suitable recipes and how to size them for the 5L iGulu brew keg? I think a lot of the commercial kits from other suppliers are oriented towards a larger quantity. Maybe a future video on this topic? Thanks again!
You nailed it! I'm going to do the Amber Lager next and right after that one, I'll be brewing my own recipe which will be very simple as I don't want to over complicate things too early on. I'm kind of thinking a nice strong 7% IPA with lots of hops. Later, I'm thinking items like a Belgian style, and even a dark lager.
Fantastic! That sounds like a beer I'd love, and I'm very interested to see how you create the recipe. Clearly there are zillions of homebrew recipes around, but I don't know if you can just scale the ingredients linearly or not. @@BitterRealityBrewing
@BitterRealityBrewing does anyone besides iGulu sell no boil extract brew kits? I can boil wort and plenty of kits for that, just wondering about the “dump and brew” option!
@@jimfisher4362 Thanks Jim. I have seen several vendors selling 1 gallon extract kits but they all include either a small quantity of grains or hops (not hop extract) and require boiling. I guess I could buy ingredients and make my own recipe, but was wondering if anyone sold one gallon no boil kits besides iGulu.
Just started this brew two days ago. Can’t wait to taste it! The PSI keeps moving up over 30 - just hit 34. Did you see this and would you suggest releasing pressure with the PRV or will that trigger on its own when needed?
I'm so sorry, I hit like and then somehow lost your comment in the YT management system. 30 to 34 is a bit too high, I'd have just released some of the pressure to bring it back down to around 5 to 15 max. I did see my first one get up to just over 20 psi, and I let out a little, twice. The Hefe, I left alone 100% and it never got over 17 psi. I can't remember what the PRV is rated for but I thought it was pretty low, like 15.
@@BitterRealityBrewing Thanks! No worries, I lose stuff in my inbox all the time :-) ! I did get a reply from iGulu about this, they said don't worry but let the pressure out if you want to. I think it's a little scary that their instructions say the keg is rated at 29 but they said not to worry about it going over 30. I suppose there's some headroom in that number. The first batch of Pale Ale finished in 9 days and everyone loved it - by far the cleanest tasting, closest to commercial quality (actually equal to) beer I've home-brewed.
Hey some good news - they have extra brew kegs in stock at their online store, AND your discount code worked on the kegs and an amber lager kit. Saved about 15% on the total order. Thanks!
Do you have any recommendations for substitutes for their hop extracts? The shipping on their kits is too expensive, and we are looking to play around and try another option.
Yes, most hop extracts come in larger containers compared to what they ship in their kits, so those are very expensive also. I am looking to do a homemade IPA in the near future. My thought is to simply boil the hops in a small amount of water, but measure the hops for a full 1 gallon batch to help with IBU and such. As I have a pre-production unit, I'm not looking to do a dry hop. A dry hop would require a few purges of CO2 after the fact, which I'm not capable of doing. My goal will be hop bitterness and aroma with flavor with late boil additions. Once you've done this, you would simply allow the hop water to cool a bit, and then strain it into the keg with the additional water already in the keg. Add you dry malt extract and yeast and close it up to ferment. Thinking Citra or Cascade would be nice.
I just received mine. Did yours come with a CO2 tank? Mine did not. I guess I'll have to go get a SodaStream bottle unless I have find a way to adapt it to my 20 lb tank.
Awesome to hear! No, you will need to buy one. Supposedly there are lots of cheap alternatives to the "Blue version" of the soda stream one. I've also been considering buying an adapter for using one of my 10 gallon CO2 tanks. Did you get the "Black card" in your box? If not, reach out to iGulu as they are going to make this a standard and it will allow you to create programs on the iGulu for custom fermentations. I'll be doing some videos on that including many custom brews.
Honestly, I didn't do anything special, I simply unscrewed it from my Soda stream and screwed it into the iGulu. Your connections inside the iGulu and on the Soda stream bottle should look like these images. imgur.com/a/b1KoKV4 At the moment, I'm having a low pressure warning, although I can see plenty on the back gauge. I'm getting a new Soda stream CO2 tank that I know is full to test with at 6 PM EST Standard tonight. I think my CO2 tank is a little low.
I think I just found the problem. It would appear that newer Soda stream CO2 tanks have a quick connect system instead of the older twist connect. I'm guessing you have the newer quick connect one. I didn't realize they had changed it. I'm trying to locate an adapter as there appears to be a few people out there producing them.
Yes, normally but this typical priming sugar is corn sugar, so they used it to simply increase the abv% and thin the beer out a bit more. The carbonation was created during fermentation as it fermented under pressure. The CO2 I had connected was more for pouring the beer and the built-in air pump could have been used instead but the beer would have needed to be consumed the in one day.
@BitterRealityBrewing oh ok that makes sense. I would suggest the company doesn't call it priming sugar. A new brewer may get confused and when they buy a recipe kit from another company that includes actual priming sugar they may think it is suppose to be added prior to fermentation and not after as is the standard for something labeled as priming sugar. Sorry if sounding like an A-hole, but I think it would be good for the company to change it so as not to confuse new brewers later on. The iGulu looks like an awesome product that I think will get new people interested in the hobby. Thanks for showing it.
@@fastforwardx2937 A lot of the stuff gets lost in Chinese/English translation here. A brand new brewer won't know the difference between "priming sugar" and "corn sugar" and will simply add the stuff as power directions.
@jimfisher4362 I agree that a new brewer probably won't know the difference, but later down the road, they may get confused when their understanding of priming sugar is incorrect. Best to teach them correctly from the beginning.
I was and my expectations weren't real high. I have that video being released in the next day or two. (Finishing it up now in editing.) I had three taste testers and everyone agreed it was amazing. (I was shocked, but I could easily hand this to you and you would think it was a commercial beer without question.)
Wow what a device. I have seen others but this one seems much more intuitive. Looking forward to the results!
Pierre, looks like a lot of the viewers watch your channel too at th-cam.com/users/SimpleHomeBrew as you are chalking up the extra "Likes"! 😎
I'll keep the videos coming and some extra stuff related to it, too.
Just got my machine today. Thanks for this video.
Make sure when you brew the Pale Ale, stir all the ingredients really good and then add the yeast. (That includes the priming sugar aka corn sugar to the fermentation.) iGulu is working to help clarify the instructions on future kits to avoid confusion.
mine finally arrived last week (3/5/2024) ... i supported the kick starter in 2015
I'm sorry it took that long, hopefully yours has a functioning CO2 as mine is a bit jacked due to being a pre-production unit. Hopefully it was worth the wait. I'll be doing a lot more brews on this very soon.
Yay! I joined the Kickstarter a year after you. So excited to try it now.
Looking forward to experimenting with the igulu once it arrives. ⏰️
I recently found out mine is a "Pre-Production" so I've had a few very minor issues and have been working with iGulu to ensure they are resolved. It is sounding like the majority were fixed before I got mine. The only obvious issue is the app as it still has a lot of Chinese that needs to be converted to English. Already started the 2nd brew and will get that video up in the coming weeks.
Still waiting for mine to be shipped. Looking forward to it!
I'm sorry you haven't received yours yet. I can tell you I recently found out my review unit was pre-production where they were working out a few bugs. I've had a few hiccups and they have explained a lot to me on what they found in pre-production and how it was fixed in production. The CO2/Pump valve had an issue in pre-production and was fixed in production by using a different part from a better vendor.
Awesome. Thank you for responding. I contacted them and they said they will be shipping from China soon.
"We are currently loading the goods into containers for dispatch, which will be shipped from China by sea. They are expected to arrive in the US for delivery in early February.
At that time, we will update you on the latest logistics status via email."
I just got my recipe bags today and my iGulu last week after 8 years of waiting!!!! So I hope this is good haha 😊
Congrats!!! If you like American Pale Ales or mild IPAs, I'd do the Pale Ale first, as it was absolutely amazing!
My iGulu arrived Wednesday - after a 6+ year wait as an original Kickstarter backer! I'm excited to start brewing and your videos have been extremely helpful, thank you! Once I work through the ingredient kits, I was wondering about doing some other recipes using similar ingredients (dry malt extract, etc.). Any recommendations on suitable recipes and how to size them for the 5L iGulu brew keg? I think a lot of the commercial kits from other suppliers are oriented towards a larger quantity. Maybe a future video on this topic? Thanks again!
You nailed it! I'm going to do the Amber Lager next and right after that one, I'll be brewing my own recipe which will be very simple as I don't want to over complicate things too early on. I'm kind of thinking a nice strong 7% IPA with lots of hops. Later, I'm thinking items like a Belgian style, and even a dark lager.
Fantastic! That sounds like a beer I'd love, and I'm very interested to see how you create the recipe. Clearly there are zillions of homebrew recipes around, but I don't know if you can just scale the ingredients linearly or not. @@BitterRealityBrewing
@BitterRealityBrewing does anyone besides iGulu sell no boil extract brew kits? I can boil wort and plenty of kits for that, just wondering about the “dump and brew” option!
@@RowlandArcher You don't have to boil extracts. We only boil to extract the goodness from the hops. If you use hop extracts, no boiling is necessary.
@@jimfisher4362 Thanks Jim. I have seen several vendors selling 1 gallon extract kits but they all include either a small quantity of grains or hops (not hop extract) and require boiling. I guess I could buy ingredients and make my own recipe, but was wondering if anyone sold one gallon no boil kits besides iGulu.
Just started this brew two days ago. Can’t wait to taste it! The PSI keeps moving up over 30 - just hit 34. Did you see this and would you suggest releasing pressure with the PRV or will that trigger on its own when needed?
I'm so sorry, I hit like and then somehow lost your comment in the YT management system. 30 to 34 is a bit too high, I'd have just released some of the pressure to bring it back down to around 5 to 15 max. I did see my first one get up to just over 20 psi, and I let out a little, twice. The Hefe, I left alone 100% and it never got over 17 psi. I can't remember what the PRV is rated for but I thought it was pretty low, like 15.
@@BitterRealityBrewing Thanks! No worries, I lose stuff in my inbox all the time :-) ! I did get a reply from iGulu about this, they said don't worry but let the pressure out if you want to. I think it's a little scary that their instructions say the keg is rated at 29 but they said not to worry about it going over 30. I suppose there's some headroom in that number. The first batch of Pale Ale finished in 9 days and everyone loved it - by far the cleanest tasting, closest to commercial quality (actually equal to) beer I've home-brewed.
Hey some good news - they have extra brew kegs in stock at their online store, AND your discount code worked on the kegs and an amber lager kit. Saved about 15% on the total order. Thanks!
Do you have any recommendations for substitutes for their hop extracts? The shipping on their kits is too expensive, and we are looking to play around and try another option.
Yes, most hop extracts come in larger containers compared to what they ship in their kits, so those are very expensive also. I am looking to do a homemade IPA in the near future. My thought is to simply boil the hops in a small amount of water, but measure the hops for a full 1 gallon batch to help with IBU and such. As I have a pre-production unit, I'm not looking to do a dry hop. A dry hop would require a few purges of CO2 after the fact, which I'm not capable of doing. My goal will be hop bitterness and aroma with flavor with late boil additions. Once you've done this, you would simply allow the hop water to cool a bit, and then strain it into the keg with the additional water already in the keg. Add you dry malt extract and yeast and close it up to ferment. Thinking Citra or Cascade would be nice.
I just received mine. Did yours come with a CO2 tank? Mine did not. I guess I'll have to go get a SodaStream bottle unless I have find a way to adapt it to my 20 lb tank.
Awesome to hear! No, you will need to buy one. Supposedly there are lots of cheap alternatives to the "Blue version" of the soda stream one. I've also been considering buying an adapter for using one of my 10 gallon CO2 tanks. Did you get the "Black card" in your box? If not, reach out to iGulu as they are going to make this a standard and it will allow you to create programs on the iGulu for custom fermentations. I'll be doing some videos on that including many custom brews.
How did you get your sodastream c02 tank attached? I can't get mine to seat correctly.
Honestly, I didn't do anything special, I simply unscrewed it from my Soda stream and screwed it into the iGulu. Your connections inside the iGulu and on the Soda stream bottle should look like these images. imgur.com/a/b1KoKV4
At the moment, I'm having a low pressure warning, although I can see plenty on the back gauge. I'm getting a new Soda stream CO2 tank that I know is full to test with at 6 PM EST Standard tonight. I think my CO2 tank is a little low.
I think I just found the problem. It would appear that newer Soda stream CO2 tanks have a quick connect system instead of the older twist connect. I'm guessing you have the newer quick connect one. I didn't realize they had changed it. I'm trying to locate an adapter as there appears to be a few people out there producing them.
Isn't the priming sugar suppose to go in after fermentation to naturally carbonate the beer?
Yes, normally but this typical priming sugar is corn sugar, so they used it to simply increase the abv% and thin the beer out a bit more. The carbonation was created during fermentation as it fermented under pressure. The CO2 I had connected was more for pouring the beer and the built-in air pump could have been used instead but the beer would have needed to be consumed the in one day.
@BitterRealityBrewing oh ok that makes sense. I would suggest the company doesn't call it priming sugar. A new brewer may get confused and when they buy a recipe kit from another company that includes actual priming sugar they may think it is suppose to be added prior to fermentation and not after as is the standard for something labeled as priming sugar. Sorry if sounding like an A-hole, but I think it would be good for the company to change it so as not to confuse new brewers later on. The iGulu looks like an awesome product that I think will get new people interested in the hobby. Thanks for showing it.
@@fastforwardx2937 A lot of the stuff gets lost in Chinese/English translation here. A brand new brewer won't know the difference between "priming sugar" and "corn sugar" and will simply add the stuff as power directions.
@jimfisher4362 I agree that a new brewer probably won't know the difference, but later down the road, they may get confused when their understanding of priming sugar is incorrect. Best to teach them correctly from the beginning.
is that a 5 gallon batch?
No, it is the size of a large coffee system and is only capable of doing about a gallon. 115 oz of water plus the malts and hop extract.
Yup, I should have done research on it before asking lol looks pretty neat. Keep up the great content! Cheers@@BitterRealityBrewing
You interested in the results.
I was and my expectations weren't real high. I have that video being released in the next day or two. (Finishing it up now in editing.) I had three taste testers and everyone agreed it was amazing. (I was shocked, but I could easily hand this to you and you would think it was a commercial beer without question.)
Great video. Still waiting for mine.