Home brewing kits ....

well i got into home brewing xmas just gone i have got right into it :D
i have 4 presure barrels but have been using cornie kegs for last 4 months and love them shall post some pics soon ish :)
mex beer is very nice brew ;)
 
So i tried another bottle of the Mexican Cerveza the other day, its really starting to fizz up now and totally transforming the taste, i need to pick some limes up at lunch to get a real flavor of it. Very impressed tho, its super clear now, the pic looks a bit cloudy but thats just the glass.

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I also picked up a Coopers Stout kit at the weekend, has anyone got any experience of brewing this?
 
my keg started to leak around the tap which i hadn't spotted until yesterday. the ipa is ok, but i now remember it before, didn;t like it much but ok when i injected some life into it. came out like a torrant. i must say the colour is crystal clear though.

need another barrel and FV but not really the room.

time for my cooper pale ale to go on.
 
I want to get back into home brewing but my biggest issue is for larger's and the final phase where once bottled/kegged you need to keep it cool. What solutions have you guys come up with as oddly my wife doesn't agree with me taking over the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
 
I always went by the coopers blurb for lagers and once bottled it says store above 18 degrees out of sun light for up to 3 months for extended conditioning. I then chill them down for a week before drinking.

Store the bottles out of direct sunlight at 18°C or above for at least 1 week while secondary fermentation occurs. Your beer can be consumed after 2 weeks.

Bottles may be stored (conditioned) for long periods of time (3 months or more). Conditioning should improve flavour, reduce the size of the bubbles and make the yeast sediment more compacted.

STEP 4: Enjoy
While we recommend leaving your botlles to condition at or above 18°C for at least 2 weeks - Lagers generally benefit from further conditioning. Any slight sulphur aroma should dissipate with further conditioning.

Lagers are usually served very cold and bright. Keep your bottles standing upright and pour the brew in the one motion leaving the sediment behind in the bottle.
 
Itchytrigg said:
I want to get back into home brewing but my biggest issue is for larger's and the final phase where once bottled/kegged you need to keep it cool. What solutions have you guys come up with as oddly my wife doesn't agree with me taking over the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
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Depending on how far you want to take your brewing, and what space you have, you could always build a Kegerator this is a bit over the top for a simplr build, but if you search the many forums out there, you will find some good advice...

other than that if you store them in a garage etc, with a cold floor, make sure the bottles are at least 6 inches off the floor, as the extreme cold floor sometimes slows the clearing and settling of the trub in the bottom of the bottles
 
Kimi said:
Tonight its the 3.5weeks since i bottled my Canadian Blonde, time to give her a try.
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I've sadly only got about 10 bottles of mine left :( I've a few more kits to get through then I will put another one on, I really enjoyed it.

My pils wasn't a success. I got such a good ferment it's too dry for my liking. I can't see me doing it again, if I do I will add a bit more sugar. I will make it drinkable by adding lime or something but I wasn't impressed.
 
Adding more sugar won't make it sweeter, it would just make it more alcoholic. You could try adding a little lactose to sweeten it slightly as most brewing yeast can't ferment that (not sure about wine/champagne or turbo yeasts though).
 
seabiscuit said:
Adding more sugar won't make it sweeter, it would just make it more alcoholic. You could try adding a little lactose to sweeten it slightly as most brewing yeast can't ferment that (not sure about wine/champagne or turbo yeasts though).
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Surely it would only make it more alcoholic if it fermented it all. What was left would make it sweeter?

That was the advice I was given on jims beer kit :confused:
 
My understanding is, depending on what sugar you use, the yeast will ferment it all (given time). So you'd need a sugar that it can't ferment, such as lactose. (Or of you're all grain, mashing at a higher temperature so more unfermentables are produced.)
Or maybe I'm misunderstanding when you wan't to add the extra sugar.
 
@dannyjo22
Thanks for that, I could have sworn my old kit instruction had secondary stage needed to be kept cold, glad to hear that isn't needed! Just the week chill before wanting to drink

@Zosimus
I would love to be able to do that, once I've got a few brews under my belt I might revisit that as it does look awesome!
 
Put a coopers Australian pale ale in the fv last night. I only got it because it was in the tesco half price offer. Even with the brew kit enhancer the total cost per 500ml bottle will be 22p ish :D
 
@Garfo, looks a good setup with the Corny kegs, where do you get the C)2 bottles filled at that size? do you just ask your local to get a a swap out with their delivery etc? i have a canister that size, but nowhere to fill it :(

@~Divine~Wind~ there are some brewferm kits available specifically for Belgium beers, these are widely available but ive never tried them...
 
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Zosimus said:
@Garfo, looks a good setup with the Corny kegs, where do you get the C)2 bottles filled at that size? do you just ask your local to get a a swap out with their delivery etc? i have a canister that size, but nowhere to fill it :(

@~Divine~Wind~ there are some brewferm kits available specifically for Belgium beers, these are widely available but ive never tried them...
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no m8 have a local brew comp here £15 for it and its lasted ages they said I just take it back and I buy another :)
 
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