Home brewing kits ....

Is that where you add hops during the fermenting stage? Is there a chance this could infect the brew? Sounds nice, bet that would make a great beer for the summer.

I like the idea of experimenting like this but am always too scared i'll ruin it.
 
Mark A said:
Is that where you add hops during the fermenting stage? Is there a chance this could infect the brew? Sounds nice, bet that would make a great beer for the summer.

I like the idea of experimenting like this but am always too scared i'll ruin it.
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You add them after the fermentation has finished and then leave them in for up to a week or so.

Hops are naturally antibacterial so you're probably fairly safe.. However, you could always quickly stick them in boiling water first I guess - or starsan. You might end up losing a lot of the aroma doing so though.

Tbh I did mean to look into it properly but we were in a bit of a rush so we just chucked in a load of citra pellets when we had a spare minute :p
 
Sorry for the constant questions, but just have one more regarding priming the bottles.

On monday the beer will have been in the fermenter for 2 weeks and I just realised I need to sort something out for priming the bottles. I have used coopers carb drops before, but have seen a few comments on various forums and product comments saying that the drops aren't sterile and risk infecting the beer. Is this true?

I think I remember someone on here saying they boil some sugar/water solution, let it cool and then use a sterile syringe to dose each bottle. Has anyone got any more info on this, i.e sugar water ratio and how much to use per 500ml bottle for an ale?

If not i'll probably just go for the carb drops again, but just a bit worrying they aren't sterile. Trying to do everything 100% right this time as a couple of my brews have been disappointing.
 
Ordered 1kg of brewing sugar and some syringes, so will try it this way this time. It worked out at the same price as a bag of carb drops and should last for quite a few brews if it goes well. Or I might even just get another tap and use my spare bucket as a bottling bucket and bulk prime.

Carb drops weigh 3g and the carbonation was just right for the Wherry I made. So thinking of allowing 3g of the brewing sugar per bottle and then dissolve it in enough water to allow for 5-10ml per bottle.
 
Batch priming is the way to go IMO.

I boil up the total sugar need for priming in a little water then allow it to cool. Pour that into my bottling bucket than rack my beer onto it. Then I bottle.

The advantage of this is that every bottle, no mater the size, get the same proportion of sugar to beer. Considerably cheaper than carbonation drops and less faffing too.
 
I got my English ale bottled up on monday (mainly updating here so I dont forget when I did it lol).

The bottle tree I bought combined with the no rinse starsan and bottling wand made the job so much easier. It actually made the job a pleasure rather than a chore. The only bit that was a faff was the priming. I used an online calculator to get the weight of the dextrose (110g) and then put that in a measuring jug and added water to 225ml. Then after boiling I put the pan into a larger pan with ice water in it to cool it fast and added 5ml per bottle with the syringe. Hopefully my calculations were correct.

I also used a tip I came across on youtube which i have not done before. Fill all the bottles and just rest the caps on top until you have filled them all, so that the co2 being produced will purge the oxygen from the neck of the bottle. It seemed to be working as you could hear air escaping from the caps. Anyone else do this? Good or bad idea or doesn't really matter?
 
Another one joins the club! My GF got me a starters kit for my bday, not arrived yet, but I spent the entire weekend reading the entirety of this thread! I'll need some enhancer and carbonation tablets, but other than that, good to go. Sadly not much space for multiple brews on the go, and waiting 2 months for the first go to condition will be torture. The kit comes with a Muntons Bitter IPA which it didn't look like anyone had used so far? I'm already eyeing up the fruit and wheat beers! Our basement storage is around 22.5 degrees which I assume will be ok, just ferment a little faster than usual? Over 25 degrees in our apartment with the current weather, so not much choice!

Excited to get stuck in!
 
Thanks!

Yeah I plan on keeping notes on it all, as well doing some small experiments with sugar/carb tablets. I saw near the start of the thread there was an excel template, but like most of the images, the link was broken.

Will hopefully find some brew shops local to me, not sure the prices will be that competitive out here in Denmark, but it will still end up far cheaper than any nearby pub!
 
I'd recommend picking up a premium kit that contains 2 cans of malt extract for a first brew. Makes it a bit easier as you dont need to mess about boiling sugar, plus they seem to get better results. For a first try you want something that will turn out well so it wont put you off making more.
 
All the kit arrived this morning. The company uses some bizzare courier that delivered it at 3am. They deliver only between 10pm and 6am. Luckily they woke my GF and not me :D

Local brew shop is only open Friday and Saturday so will need to wait before I can start as I need some the sugar/brewkit enhancer/malt extract and carbonation tablets.

GF only go enough bottles for 18 litres which is 5 short, so I am sacrificing my liver in order to free up some other bottles. The things I have to put up with.... qmzKPKo.jpg
 
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