Homebrew Beer Howto

BeerNut

A couple of problems with that:

1. Your beer will be flat. You'll need to add some extra sugar to create fizz -- a teaspoon full per litre bottle should do it. Then leave them at room temp for two more weeks.

2. Those Ikea bottles are clear. The beer will spoil if it's exposed to light.

3. Pouring the beer straight into the bottles means lots of dead yeast and crud will end up in there too, which could ruin the taste. Muslin won't stop it. (Oh yeah, and the oxidising mentioned by oblivious below definitely will.)

oblivious

Des wrote: »

Ikea have them, and I can get someone to get me a staff discount, I'll probably buy 10 x 1 Litre bottles.

I have some of those the should be good, but since they are clear keep them out of sun light at it can skunk the beer (UV damage to hop oils double bonds)

Des wrote: »

Once the beer has fermented for 3 or so weeks, I plan to just pour it from the fermentation vat into the bottles, via a funnel with some muslin in the bottom, would that be ok?

I found the siphoning part very hard to do the last time.

Avoid pouring or frothing of the beer as oxygen is something you will want to keep away and will reduce the shelf life of our beer

Syphon taps are very hand and make the process much easer, fill up the tubling with water, place in sanitizer open taps allow sanitiser to flow though then close the taps and let it sanitize away. Then repeat with your beer



With fermenter/bottle provide you mat be able to rig something like this together with som3e plastic tubing or a bottling wand, an this is a very smooth and easy way to bottle

guildofevil

There really is no substitute for siphoning. If you find it tricky, buy a gadget!

filthymcnasty

hi all just another query, i'm about to keg my first batch (have about 20l) of brew, but am unsure how much sugar to add for carbonation- i've been told 2.5 ounces is ok (75g)- also should i boil this up before adding? thanks, filthy

oblivious

filthymcnasty wrote: »

hi all just another query, i'm about to keg my first batch (have about 20l) of brew, but am unsure how much sugar to add for carbonation- i've been told 2.5 ounces is ok (75g)- also should i boil this up before adding? thanks, filthy

75-100g of table sugar will give you good carbonation

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BeerNut wrote: »

A couple of problems with that:

1. Your beer will be flat. You'll need to add some extra sugar to create fizz -- a teaspoon full per litre bottle should do it. Then leave them at room temp for two more weeks.

Couple of things on this point.

a. When I opened the Mini Kegs to fit the tapping mechanism for the first batch, there was a loud "pssssshhhhht" sound, suggesting that it wasn't flat?

b. I left one of the kegs for 2 weeks before drinking, and it was ok-ish. I left the other keg for three months after fermentation before opening, and it was a hundred times better, would this be ok to do with bottles plus sugar?

BeerNut wrote: »

2. Those Ikea bottles are clear. The beer will spoil if it's exposed to light.

Not a problem, I can keep it away from any light, I have a fair bit of storage space.

BeerNut wrote: »

3. Pouring the beer straight into the bottles means lots of dead yeast and crud will end up in there too, which could ruin the taste. Muslin won't stop it. (Oh yeah, and the oxidising mentioned by oblivious below definitely will.)

So I definitely need to siphon, grand.

oblivious wrote: »

I have some of those the should be good, but since they are clear keep them out of sun light at it can skunk the beer (UV damage to hop oils double bonds)

Yep cheers, as I said, no problem keeping them covered.

oblivious wrote: »

Avoid pouring or frothing of the beer as oxygen is something you will want to keep away and will reduce the shelf life of our beer

Syphon taps are very hand and make the process much easer, fill up the tubling with water, place in sanitizer open taps allow sanitiser to flow though then close the taps and let it sanitize away. Then repeat with your beer

The main problem I had was keeping the tube in the beer in the fermenter, it kept moving around like a snake

guildofevil wrote: »

There really is no substitute for siphoning. If you find it tricky, buy a gadget!

I'm on a very strict budget, how much would I be looking at shelling out?

oblivious

Des wrote: »

.The main problem I had was keeping the tube in the beer in the fermenter, it kept moving around like a snake

Practising in the sink with some water is what I did

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oblivious wrote: »

Practising in the sink with some water is what I did

Ha

Siphoning it into the Mini Kegs was hard enough, I don't even want to think about these bottles

Reading in the other thread about the nettle beer and exploding bottles :eek:

Is that likely to happen with Ale?

oblivious

[QUOTE=Des;65735584Reading in the other thread about the nettle beer and exploding bottles :eek:

Is that likely to happen with Ale?[/QUOTE]

It can, either the beer was not give time to ferment out complete or infection carried on fermenting sugar the brewing yeast did not

A hydrometer and good yeast handing/fermentation will solve the first issue and good sanitisation practices the second

BaZmO*

Des wrote: »

The main problem I had was keeping the tube in the beer in the fermenter, it kept moving around like a snake

Get yourself one of these or make a makeshift one out of a plastic (sanitised) peg or something similar

BeerNut

Des wrote: »

a. When I opened the Mini Kegs to fit the tapping mechanism for the first batch, there was a loud "pssssshhhhht" sound, suggesting that it wasn't flat?

Not necessarily: you can get that if the CO2 is at blanket pressure and not dissolved in the beer.

Des wrote: »

b. I left one of the kegs for 2 weeks before drinking, and it was ok-ish. I left the other keg for three months after fermentation before opening, and it was a hundred times better, would this be ok to do with bottles plus sugar?

Yep. Maybe get some small plastic fizzy drink bottles too and open one every couple of weeks. When you like what you taste, guzzle the big ones.

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Couple more question.

Is glucose ok instead of sugar in the bottles for the fizz?

We've glucose in the press doing nothing.

Does the sugar actually turn to Alcohol in the bottles?

This should be a bit stronger than the first batch I made if so, yes?

Do I need to mix the sugar/glucose into the beer before sealing the bottles?

oblivious

Des wrote: »

Is glucose ok instead of sugar in the bottles for the fizz?[

We've glucose in the press doing nothing.

Yep or table sugar. An you can use other sugar but you will have to use different depending on the fermentability or fermentables in them

Des wrote: »

Does the sugar actually turn to Alcohol in the bottles?

Yes a little, less than 0.5% I believe, but its the CO2 your interested in

Des wrote: »

Do I need to mix the sugar/glucose into the beer before sealing the bottles?

you can get away with out, but I prefer to boil the sugar in a little water to sanitise it and make a syrup.

BeerNut

Des wrote: »

Is glucose ok instead of sugar in the bottles for the fizz?

Perfect.

Des wrote: »

Does the sugar actually turn to Alcohol in the bottles?

Alcohol, water and the all-important CO2. But you're only talking teeny tiny amounts of alcohol.

Des wrote: »

Do I need to mix the sugar/glucose into the beer before sealing the bottles?

You can just spoon it in -- though don't ask me what the spoonable quantities for glucose are. Best practice is to boil it briefly in a little bit of water (200mls or so), add to an empty sanitised bucket, siphon the beer on top, and bottle from there. But that's yet more siphoning. Second best option is boil it up, let it cool for a bit and whack it into the fermentor immediately before bottling. When stirring it in use a sanitised stirrer and do it gently: you don't want the beer to splash or it'll oxidise. Which is bad.

irish_goat

Great thread, must get into this over the summer.

Just 1 random question, everyones going on constantly about sanitizing and everything, how they manage to do it back in the day? Or did they just make do with nastier beer than what we're used to?

BaZmO*

Sanitizing is a precautinary measure, technically it's not necessary as you could get away without doing it. But do you really want to risk all that time, money and effort when it can be prevented easily enough.

BeerNut

irish_goat wrote: »

how they manage to do it back in the day?

Boiling water. People were sanitising using boiling water centuries before they understood what microbes were.

oblivious

An sulphur Strips or burn of Sulphur in wooden barrels to kill microbes/prolong the life of beer and wine has been done since Roman times

silliegillie

irish_goat wrote: »

Great thread, must get into this over the summer.

I have just completed my first batch and it was well worth it. I would highly recommend it. Going to start my second batch soon. There is a website where you can buy lagers 5 for the price of 6, Think I be trying that. Like to do the same brew first few times to help with perfecting it sort of as a control.

Saruman

I know it has been mentioned many many times on this thread but do not expect a lager kit to be anything like an actual lager.
A lager kit is really an ale kit with ale yeast. It is pretty much just a light pale ale kit.

Actually a lager kit might have more flavour than your average lager

Just Like Heaven

Hi i'm a first time brewer My friend and i have just ordered all the stuff needed including a couple of different home brew kits. I understand Brewing suger is needed aswell and that's been ordered, But do we also need to order some yeast?

Cheers

Saruman

There will be yeast in the kits so no. You only need separate yeast when you move away from kits and start making beer from scratch.

Brewing sugar is not needed. Table sugar will work fine BUT you should not use any sugar in a beer. If a kit calls for sugar then it is a cheap kit but substitute sugar for malt extract and you will have a much better beer than with just sugar.

BeerNut

What he said.
No, the kits will have yeast supplied with them. You don't need brewing sugar, as such. Generally speaking you shouldn't add extra sugar to kit beers at all, despite what the instructions might say. If extra fermentables are required, spraymalt works better.

oblivious

fewtinsoffroth wrote: »

But do we also need to order some yeast?

Not a bad idea to have some extra around you don't know how long the kit has been hanging around and been stored

silliegillie

Saruman wrote: »

Brewing sugar is not needed. Table sugar will work fine BUT you should not use any sugar in a beer. If a kit calls for sugar then it is a cheap kit but substitute sugar for malt extract and you will have a much better beer than with just sugar.

Im Confused, Can you explain this.

BeerNut

silliegillie wrote: »

Can you explain this.

Where instructions say "add sugar", add spraymalt instead. You'll get a much better beer.

filthymcnasty

BeerNut wrote: »

Where instructions say "add sugar", add spraymalt instead. You'll get a much better beer.

is there anywhere i can buy the spraymalt/malt extract other than online brew shops?

BeerNut

You can get baking-grade malt extract in health food shops. It's not great for brewing, I'm told, but is presumably a step up from sugar.

oblivious

filthymcnasty wrote: »

is there anywhere i can buy the spraymalt/malt extract other than online brew shops?

[EMAIL="http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/"]http://thehomebrewcompany.ie/[/EMAIL]

Caribs

Apologies if this wins the dimmest question of the week award but completely new to this lark but willing to give it a go.

I'm looking at making wine and have a 25 litre fermentation vessel. Do you need to fill it to the top or could you make 10/15 litres to start off. Reason I ask is I understand the air will react with the wine in the same way it does when you uncork a shop purchased bottle.