Home brewing kits ....

Worts brewing away nicely as we speak.
Tbh I'm thinking of selling my stuff and getting smaller vessels. I've got 2 like 22-25l fermenters but I hardly drink.
I feel I'd enjoy experimenting and making a few bottles of different things.
Anyone had much luck re-selling gear?
 
Before I get too excited ...

How much am I looking at to get started? I can see kits for £60 to £100 are they any good?
 
So I was wanting to move to a secondary fermenter after primary to get it away from the trubb etc.
How do I know when this is? :p

The recipe guide just talks about '7-10 days or until SG is stable' then bottling, presumably the secondary fermentation should happen somewhere in the middle of the 7-10 days?
 
Never done it, I've read about it a lot but it seems to typically be done with conical fermenters with a bottom tap. Because you get a lot of trub (crap) falling out of suspension as well as yeast I heard it said you don't want the bottom 1/3rd as that's no good I can't remember if it was the oldest degraded yeast and you didn't want the top as that had a lot of other stuff but the middle 1/3rd was where you would have the most live good quality yeast. I believe it is normal practice in the brewing industry. I've also read about acid washing of yeast but that seems like a lot of work. Your worry is any drift in the yeast over generations will change the character of the yeast and hence beer.

When I've heard home brewers doing it it's typically a cup of the crausen (sp?) the foam at the top where the live yeast is floating that is taken but obviously that will have some sanitation risks. If I was going to do it I'd take from the top and re-pitch into a 500ml starter. If that looked good I'd use the starter for my next beer I think in a fridge a starter will keep for a week or so.

I found this yeast article years ago, worth a read and will no doubt turn you into a yeast obsessive :-D

https://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/yeast-propagation-and-maintenance-principles-and-practices
 
For me the St Peters kits are a big improvement over Woodfordes Wherry.

Kept getting stuck fermentations with the 2 wherry kits I tried but switching to St Peters = textbook fermentations.

I've got the Ruby Red in fermentation bucket at the moment. The Cream Stout is superb with the Honey Porter a close second.

Not kit but brewed my first hedgerow wines this season 1 gallon black berrry and 1 gallon elderberry in traditional demijons both have been racked and ready to bottle

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Just to bump this up nicely. What are peoples thoughts on the all in one things like Brewie?

They seem to be excellent from a convinience point of view and reduced space requirements. Then there's something like the Grainfather which seems more aimed at in depth playing with lots of extra etc.

I know they're not cheap but i'm tempted.
 
I suppose it depends what you're wanting. Looking at Brewie it looks like you can only make using their kits, which aren't cheap themselves, but as an all in one fire and forget, it looks easy. The grainfather would give you much more potential to develop your own recipies to what you want, and is almost half the price of the brewie. It's basically a stainless "Brew In A Bag" system, I think. I'll be honest that I've never looked into either system much as they are way, way out of my budget.
I quess the question to ask yourself between both systems is are you wanting ease/convenience, or are you wanting flexibility? I'd imagine that the Grainfather will be much more cost effective per brew for ingredients, maybe £10-£15 per brew, potentially less if buying in bulk, or not making hugely hoppy brews, where the "pads" for the Brewie are €40ish.

quick edit
Actually reading the Brewie site more it looks like you can do more than just their own kits. It looks possibly more advanced and flexible, but ouch at the price!
If you can afford them they both look nice bits of kit. Have fun!
 
Marvt74 said:
Just to bump this up nicely. What are peoples thoughts on the all in one things like Brewie?

They seem to be excellent from a convinience point of view and reduced space requirements. Then there's something like the Grainfather which seems more aimed at in depth playing with lots of extra etc.

I know they're not cheap but i'm tempted.
Click to expand...

i have recently purchased a all in one setup but haven't used it yet - need the garden hose attachment and hosepipe! brew devil is what i purchased
 
Ah be interested to hear your thoughts as just spotted that and it’s condiserably cheaper. Looked to be around £400ish for the full package.

As for my needs. I’ve dabbled in bits of home brewing in the past with the wherry kits but never made anything great.

Figured an all in one thing may help and be more successful and consistent.

I’d be looking to try and make big hazy IPAs and Belgian ales along with trying some sours.
 
i will be also able to get hops, malts and live yeast from my local brewery. they really support homebrewers too and i love all there beers.

i'll let you know, i'm aiming to do ipa's, stouts and porters and light golden summer brews.
 
Marvt74 said:
Ah be interested to hear your thoughts as just spotted that and it’s condiserably cheaper. Looked to be around £400ish for the full package.

As for my needs. I’ve dabbled in bits of home brewing in the past with the wherry kits but never made anything great.

Figured an all in one thing may help and be more successful and consistent.

I’d be looking to try and make big hazy IPAs and Belgian ales along with trying some sours.
Click to expand...

Hey Marvt,

I jumped in and bought the BIAB Klarstein mash kettle thing. I then added a nylon grain bag thing and job done. It's a good half way step from... buying beer... before going to the Grainfather or 3 vessel world. Oh, and a 20 quid cast iron mill thing I use to mill grain, although you can buy ready-milled, which I started with.

Anyway, results wise it's amazing. Efficiency can be a bit rubbish without re-circulation (I gone done that now oops, but it's easy enough) but at the 20L zone it's only a handful of additional grain to offset any low efficiency. Places like Brewersfriend have great recipe tools that can calculate everything for you, and they have plenty of recipes, as do books :).

Oh also something great: Clarity Ferm. Chops up whatever gluten is so you can make gluten free beer. I've used some sciencey people testing kits and then got sensitive coeliac friend to try the output. Now he can drink irish stout again for the first time in ten years!
 
I was given a cider kit for my birthday and have it brewing away. It didn't come with co2 balls or bottling sugar.
Can I use a baking sugar for the bottling stage? If so what type? I'd say the finer the better without going down to icing sugar?
 
Granulated sugar will be fine, 1/2 tsp per pint bottle, I can't see it's any different from beer.

I'm assuming this is a dry cider and the kit doesn't require you to kill the yeast with a Camden tablet. Sweet cider needs to be re-sweetened after fermentation and because the yeast is killed won't bottle carbonate. There are ways around both problems but a step beyond kit brewing.
 
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