Home brewing kits ....

NickK said:
If you're using extract - heat it (it pours easier) and then use boiling water to remove the last sticky stuff from the can. Careful as it's like napalm if it's too hot!
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I had the extract can sat in some boiling water for 20 mins, but I didn't quite manage to get it all out without boiling water from the kettle.

FrenchTart said:
S05 gets a bad rep but I've used it for lots of successful brews. It's very forgiving of temperature fluctuations and the like- mostly because it doesn't really add any flavour...which isn't a big deal in the IPAs I tend to make :)

Something that occurred to me (well, if I'm honest, the guy I brew with a lot) is that if you're bottling infected beer you're inviting bottle bombs. You may want to store them in a very very very securely covered way. Just in case.

edit: I know you're on S04 but just thought I'd mention it. I used S04 for a brew recently and it's so much more demanding than S05. Despite that, it also doesn't have the best rep for really giving an english ale flavour to your beer.
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The 'infected' bottles are certainly rather tight at this moment in time, they're 2 litre plastic Lemonade bottles which *touch wood* seem to be holding up ok!

I discovered after pitching the S-04, that it's very very funny about brewing temperatures. I've got my Coopers Fermenter sat in a room which is 17-18 degrees, the upper limit for S-04 is 20 degrees, my wort, due to the yeast working is sat at 22 degrees, I'm hoping I won't get any off flavours in the finished article :o
 
Yeah, S04 seems to be somewhat more demanding in regards to brewing temperatures but perhaps (I'm not sold) it provides decent phenols and all that.

As 2L lemonade bottles can take a pretty damn high psi I imagine you'll be fine :p I just thought I should mention it as a just in case type thing.
 
Hey guys!

So i typically brew kits, in my coopers fermenter and then bottle them off into plastic bottles.

I'm wondering if i'm missing out on not putting my ales into kegs. Am I? How long can i leave an ale in a keg? As far as i know i can leave ales in bottles indefinately, is that the same for kegs?

I've currently got a Youngs American IPA brewing and not sure whether to buy a keg or carry on bottling.

What do you reckon?
 
I prefer kegs purely so i can decide how fizzy i want something and its easier much faster. I have a keg about 18 months old now and it tastes lovely.
 
Way To Amarillo has finished fermenting and tastes damn good already :D
Going to crash cool it for a few days before bottling to see if it makes much difference to the clarity.
Have a Brooklyn Brewshop all grain Everyday IPA that am going to make with a friend after i bottle at the weekend; it is only a gallon set so should have room in the fermentation fridge to condition the WTA and ferment the AG kit at the same time.
I am going to use my Sous Vide Supreme to do the mash and if it makes it really easy then i might do quite a few small all grain batches to get to know different hops/grains better.

I have to say i am impressed with the Way To Amarillo extract kit though, if it tastes this good already then after carbonation and conditioning it should be a really fantastic beer!

Is there anyone from Newcastle Upon Tyne from here brewing (thinking about saving by bulk ordering some of the stuff or doing half batches if there were one or two others who would be interested)?
 
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My Woodfordes Wherry kit is almost done in the FV. Going to give it a few more days and siphon it across. Can't wait to try it again, smells fantastic and the last batch tasted bloody good.
 
I'm getting back into the home brewing again, but limited to kits and at a push extract, just due to the small size of kitchen and flat in general.
Got the Young American Amber Ale on just now, getting kegged tomorrow. Smells greats, it took off after just 2 hours or so and the airlock was going for it for the next few days.

Got 3KG of light spray malt and 100g of Simcoe and 100g of Citra for the next brew, not sure what quantity and timings yet but will wait for the bucket to become empty anyway.
Quite tempted to do another "ditches" stout though, really enjoyed that last time.
 
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I've bought an STC-1000 and a 60w Heater tube to keep an old chest freezer at 18-20 degrees.

I also have..

* 1 can of John Bull I.P.A
* 2 x 1.5kg cans of Light Liquid Malt Extract
* 1 x Cobnar Wood Northern Brown 3.8 Kg Beer Kit
* 1 x Triple Tykes Special Export Ale 4.0 Kg Beer Kit

So which do I brew up first? :D

The Wilko Newcastle Brown kit made up with Safale S04, 1kg of BKE, 500grams of Dark Spray Malt, and 500g of Glucose is now in its second week of bottling. The two 500ml bottles I've consumed so far are quite tasty. I have however over primed them big time, resulting in half a pint of head!
 
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Ah, thanks Jimmy. Would I get away with an old fridge instead, as those are vented I believe?

It's worth mentioning that the room I brew my beer in is 16 degrees in the summer, and plummets during the winter. Therefore I won't actually be using the Fridge or Freezer (which ever I decide on) for cooling purposes.
 
Yes your fridge is vented, if your not using your chest freezer all the time them let it dry out between uses.

I have mine on all the time for lagering, cold crashing, yeast storage etc.

Since you have a freezer you may as well use it for cold crashing, lager and kolsch. I have mine set at 0°C since beer will not freeze until a few degrees under 0.
 
I'll be having a read through this massive thread but we'd like to make some homebrew for the wife's dad, he loves his ale and we're doing a home made theme for Christmas for as much as possible.

Anyone suggest any decent starter kits that will give some nice results?

I've got 3 old glass brewing jars that my dad used to make wine in, they any good or am I looking at having to buy buckets etc too?
 
3 demijohns probably aren't enough to hold a kit, which will typically be 5 gallons.

You'll need to get a move on to have a kit done for Christmas. 4 weeks is getting a bit tight. You'd expect a couple of weeks fermenting and a couple of weeks to carbonate - plus conditioning time on top of that.

Before I moved to grain brewing, I only made one kit (Woodforde's Wherry), which was good, but it needed a good couple of months to condition before it was ready to drink.

The two can kits generally seem to be better regarded than the single can kits.
 
An IPA or wheat beer would be more suitable for "drinking green" (i.e. young). A wheat beer would probably finish primary fermentation quicker too. Obviously not much use if the guy doesn't like IPAs or wheat beers though...

You can buy a brewing kit that will include an FV quite cheaply (often £20 ish) but the main thing you'll struggle with is getting a pan large enough to boil the wort. Either that or you'll have to buy/construct a kettle from a bucket. They are often well over £100 to buy but if you're happy to DIY it you can build one for £20 or so using a bucket/FV and one or two cheapo Tesco/Sainsburys kettles.
 
This might be a daft question but can I use my Coopers diy kit to ferment wine?

I've been enjoying getting into home beer making and want to try doing some wine. To save space and money I'm hoping I can use the 30ltr fermenter. In addition to bottles and corking stuff, and wine ingredients what else would I need?
 
saddler said:
This might be a daft question but can I use my Coopers diy kit to ferment wine?

I've been enjoying getting into home beer making and want to try doing some wine. To save space and money I'm hoping I can use the 30ltr fermenter. In addition to bottles and corking stuff, and wine ingredients what else would I need?
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Yup, you can make wine in the same kind of FV you'd make beer in. It may be a little harder to get really clear wine as you won't be able easily see the yeast cake when you're syphoning off the wine.

A syphon is one thing that you will definitely need :)
 
FrenchTart said:
Yup, you can make wine in the same kind of FV you'd make beer in. It may be a little harder to get really clear wine as you won't be able easily see the yeast cake when you're syphoning off the wine.

A syphon is one thing that you will definitely need :)
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Cheers, the Coopers FV is a clear plastic vessel with a tap so would I not be able to drain the wine off from this when the sediment has settled?
 
saddler said:
Cheers, the Coopers FV is a clear plastic vessel with a tap so would I not be able to drain the wine off from this when the sediment has settled?
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Sounds like it could work. You will still want to use a syphon rather than the tap though as otherwise you'll end up drawing through sediment. You can get away with that kind of thing more with a beer than you can with a wine, though as I assume you'll be making still wine you'll have more time to clear it especially after you kill off all the yeast.
 
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