Homebrew

Damn it! Thanks to this thread I bought the 40 Pint lager microbrewery from Brewuk with Coopers australian lager, Muntons beer kit enhancer and some bottles.

The way I convinced myself (which didn't take long) was to think of it as an investment. Once you have the equipment It's only going to cost about £15 for each brew.

I'm going to start stocking up for christmas!
 
yep leave the wherry for as long as possible :) if you can!

Another tip is when mixng the can contents really give it a good 10mins of rapid aeration. This will help a lot with fermentation.

I only have one keg at the moment, but plan on getting another two. So that I have one fermenting (secondary), one conditioning and the other drinking :)
 
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BenGibbs said:
Damn it! Thanks to this thread I bought the 40 Pint lager microbrewery from Brewuk with Coopers australian lager, Muntons beer kit enhancer and some bottles.

The way I convinced myself (which didn't take long) was to think of it as an investment. Once you have the equipment It's only going to cost about £15 for each brew.

I'm going to start stocking up for christmas!
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Careful with the final gravity and bottles. You'll want the FG to be 1007 or lower with a small amount of sugar in each bottle to product carbonisation. If you bottle too early either the bottle is a geyser on opening or worse will detonate at some random interval during storage :D

Which bottles did you get Grolsch pop tops or press on crowns?
 
NickK said:
Which bottles did you get Grolsch pop tops or press on crowns?
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I ordered 24x 1litre PET bottles so I know I definetly have enough to store a whole brew. I plan on getting some grolsch style bottles aswell when I have some more cash.

I'm not too clear on how much sugar to put into the bottles... Like how much sugar per 500ml.
 
I can't remember for sure but I don't think PET bottles are entirely gas impermeable so you're beer will lose CO2 and gain oxygen over time. It won't be a problem waiting long enough for the beer to condition but unlike glass bottles you probably won't be its best if you keep it for many months.

I see the PET bottles are clear so make sure you store the beer in the dark whilst conditioning or UV breaks down some of the chemicals that give taste.
 
PlacidCasual said:
I can't remember for sure but I don't think PET bottles are entirely gas impermeable so you're beer will lose CO2 and gain oxygen over time. It won't be a problem waiting long enough for the beer to condition but unlike glass bottles you probably won't be its best if you keep it for many months.

I see the PET bottles are clear so make sure you store the beer in the dark whilst conditioning or UV breaks down some of the chemicals that give taste.
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Thanks for the tip. Trust me though, this beer will not be stored for very long :)

If all goes well with the first brew I will start stocking up on nice glass bottles.
 
How's everyone's brews getting on?

I really recommend Woodforde kits for anyone new to brewing - they have really clear instructions and no messing about. I don't think you could mess it up unless you tried. Considering a new kit, finings plus the usual campden tablets & bits are only about £25 a brew, it's very cheap for 40 pints of beer.

I've just kegged my third ever brew and I'm doing a Woodforde's Great Eastern (with a touch of honey to be different). Hoping for a nice decent ABV.
 
Drinking a Great eastern at the moment. Its not bad but I think I preferred the Wherry.

Going to Keg my Coopers stout (with 1Kg spray malt) tonight and bottle my Coopers IPA on Sunday :D

The wine kit I am doing for mrs stovies is a right faff, over a period of time it needs to be racked off 3 times!
 
Energize said:
Distilling doesn't create harmful chemicals nor are alcohol vapours explosive, any flammable vapours are contained within the apparatus. All your simply doing is evaporating the liquids you want and then cooling them down again to get a pure sample.
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The problem is getting the correct stable temperature to ensure that. Also it's usual for whisky that the distiller rejects the first and last portion back into the Still.
 
Help!

After a couple of days in the King Keg, my tap (at the bottom of the keg) started leaking.... I think the pressure had built up inside...

I thought the valve on the top of the keg was supposed to release excess pressure?
 
I would probably siphon it off and tighten up the tap. Sterilise it again and then put it back in and add a co2 using a capsule or whatever else you might use (soda stream 1 sec blast).

And yes the top valve does let off pressure.
 
jp_bl_68 said:
Did you disassemble the tap when sterilizing the keg?
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Hmm, no I left the tap on when sterilising. I filled it to the brim and left it a day (then cleaned it out). No leaks at that point, so rinsed it out and filled it with beer.

Could the steriliser have damaged the tap? Or reckon it's a valve problem?
 
I will be getting my first kit in the next couple of days. I've been doing a fair bit of reading on the subject and feel pretty confident that I wouldn't ruin my first kit. I'm going to do this with a view to do my own all grain brew. I'm getting pretty excited about all this now, do love a good pint of ale.
 
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