Info please on home brew

[TWOTWOTHREE 152]

Hi

I'm fancying having a go at makin some home brew is any of you guys on here seasoned moonshiners, I want to brew bitter and lager,this is all new to me I have plenty of experience in the sampling of it lol but none in making it, is it best to buy a kit or individual set up,ie fermenting barrel co2 filler? etc

And info would be great as I intend to get the shed stocked up for bbq time this summer,

Thanks in advance,

[David K 172]

I have been brewing for a few years just using the kits and produce a tasty brew even if I do say so myself. There are suppliers out there who will do you the whole set up, fermenter, thermometer, hydrometer, paddle, sterilizer, barrel/bottles for an all in price or you could just find a suitable fermenting bucket and recycle some bottles, buy the kit, add sugar and you're a home brewer!

My own kit comprises of a 33ltr fermenting bucket with lid, long plastic mixing paddle, VWP cleaner/sterilizer, syphon tube and 24 glass 1ltr bottles(old Bulmers bottles) for the finished product. I tend to use just the Coopers beer kits, their stout, real ale and pale ale being my favourites. I have tried some of the cheaper kits, John Bull, Brewferm etc but found they didn't compare well to the slightly more expensive Coopers brand. I also use dried spraymalt instead of sugar as this gives the darker beers a more rounded mouthfeel, taste and better head retention, sugar works well but you can get some odd flavours. It's fun to try different things and I can see why people move on from kits to extract and full grain home brewing as this offers even more control on what you want to produce.

 

Jim's beer kit http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/ is an excellent source of information and guides you through your first steps into brewing, great forum on there as well for instant advice. If you have a local home brew shop, go in and ask them for some help, everyone I have have met has always been keen to help and encourage newbies, after all it's good for their business.

[TWOTWOTHREE 152]

Hi David

Thanks for the advice I'm going to a shop this weekend to have a look round and start building a kit up,how long is does it take from starting to finish for a brew?thanks again

Atb

[David K 172]

It takes about a week in the bin for the initial fermentation, I then bottle my beer with a teaspoon of sugar to secondary ferment and give the beer some fizz. I leave the bottles in a warm place for a week then into the shed outside for at least another week to settle. You can start to drink them then but it does get better as the weeks progress, the last bottle of a brew is the best and I do wish I could leave them as long a possible. I suppose the secret is to do consecutive brews then there is always some matured stuff to drink. I don't do lagers or lighter beers but I do think you need to brew them longer and at lower temperatures to get a decent lager taste whereas the darker beers and stouts are more forgiving to higher temps and shorter fermentation. Best of luck.

[TWOTWOTHREE 152]

Thanks I will be experimenting soon so thanks for the advice

Atb 223 