Home brewing kits ....

Decided to go for a Woodfords Wherry kit in the end as they are only £18 in Wilko with £3.50 delivery with a load of other stuff inc a couple of grow bags :eek:.

If this goes well then I'll keep experimenting with other kits. I'll have enough bottles to do two brews, so might even get one of the bulldog kits as well.

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/beerkits/woodfordes/woodfordes-wherry-bitter-3kg-40pt.html

64 reviews and 5 star rating so it must be pretty good!
 
Just checked on my Coopers Canadian Blonde variant. It's been in the fv for a week and it's down to 1.011 from 1.037, so not very strong but hopefully refreshing.

Going to let it sit for another week then bottle up next weekend. I'll check it few times to make sure it's stopped fermenting but from what I've read 1.010 should be about it.

I tasted the sample I used to measure the gravity and it does taste like beer. After a good while conditioning it should taste like good beer! Fingers crossed :)
 
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My Coopers lager after 98 days in the Coopers PET bottles. The carbonation hasn't dropped yet and it keeps getting better and better tasting. I have also noticed that the sediment is now compacted so that it doesn't mix with the beer as you pour it any more.

I hope this Wherry turns out as nice. Got the same issue of the airlock not bubbling again, but there is sediment, so it must be working. Must just be an airleak on the lid.
 
Bottled up my first brew, a Canadian Blonde, yesterday. Got 41 500ml bottles before getting too much sediment. Happy with that! Used the pets that came with the kit. Was going to use glass but they were in the back garden and it was teaming down so decided against it.

I think I'll invest in a bottling bucket or whatever they're called and batch prime in future. This time I used the carbonation drops that came with the kit but looks like and expensive way to do things.

Next up is Woodfords Wherry. Heard good things about this kit. Looking forward to it :)

Now, a quick question about UV. As I understand it, UV damages the hops in beer, hence the brown bottles. My question is how much exposure is bad. Eg, I keep my beer in a dark garage or fridge, so they only get a few minutes of exposure now and then; it's not like they're stored in the great outdoors. And suppose I ran out of coloured glass and decised to use clear pet pop bottles, would that be harmful to the beautiful nectar that is beer?

...and why is it that some beers, Newcaslte Brown Ale for example, come in clear bottles??

Thanks from a noob!
 
i keep my bottles in a box and in the shed so no uv probs.

kegged my admirals revenge today, started at 1051 and finished at 1012 so gives me a ABV of around 5.9% and smelt lovely. then straight on with the wherry for bottles. my euro lager is going down well now too and although not as gassy (i put 2 carb drops in the 1ltr pets which i think was to little) its tasting very nice.
 
I did my Wherry at 20 litres, I hope I didn't add too little water.

It has been in the FV for 7 days now so I might bottle it up tonight. The instructions say 4-6 days and it has been kept at a constant 20c, so I think it should be done now.

One question: Is it better to remove the labels from the bottles I have been saving? It's just that I could see it being a nightmare to get all the glue off :eek:. Instead of soaking them in a bucket of solution, could I just fill each bottle with the sterilising solution and keep the labels on?
 
Thanks for the tips, I'll probably remove all the labels as I drink the contents, so it doesn't take too long doing it in one go.

I bottled my Wherry up last night but I'll be amazed if I haven't messed it up. My ghetto clip to hold the syphon in place broke and the end that goes into the Fv was moving about everywhere stirring up the sediment. I ended up having to put a clamp in a plastic bag on to the syphon to hold it still :o.

So next purchase might be one of those bottling wands and maybe a bottle draining tree and some starsan.
 
My Fat Canadian Blonde (with added DME) has only been in the bottle for a week or so but dicided to give one a go during a BBQ on Saturday.

I have to say, when properly cold, this was fantastic! Very flavoursome. Can't wait for it to condition properly :)

It was still very cloudy but that didn't bother me in the slightest!
 
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